North-ish

Morning broke over Glendambo in a stunning array of colours.  The photos truly don't do it justice as the pastel colours across the park were gorgeous and that pink in the clouds above the sunrise was breathtaking.  Unfortunately so was the cold air and so after standing watching the first light of day I headed for a shower to try to warm up.

We were well on the road by 9.00am with about 255kms to travel to our northern most destination of Coober Pedy.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky for the entire trip and even though there was a chill in the wind, the warmth of the sun was wonderful.  Although the trip itself was uneventful - it was full of reminders of just how dangerous this road can be.

 The road trains are the least of your worries.  With many of the cattle and sheep stations along the way being unfenced there are regular road crossings of animals, and lots of roadkill along the way.  We had been trying to get a shot of an eagle for a couple of days but they just proved elusive and will fly off if you pull up.  Shane did a great job of snapping a pic of this one just before it took off.  You really don't get a sense of how big it was from this photo.

And then there are the car wrecks.  Our last trip we were astounded to see how many of those old "Wicked Campers" were lying on their side or roof along the road.  We didn't see any of them so far this trip, but these are certainly a reminder to slow down, concentrate and arrive safely.

Just under halfway into the trip is the Royal Flying Doctor Service Air Strip which uses a length of the Stuart Highway for emergency landings.  Thankfully no planes landing today.

We arrived in Coober Pedy around 1.00pm to find a vastly different scenario from our last trip.  When we arrived there were hardly any vans in the park at all and were told to just take any site we liked.  There were no staff in the park and it was very quiet and relaxed.  A far cry from our previous visit when vans were lined up out the gate, there were multiple staff directing vans every which way along with strict warnings not to leave anything out unsupervised, don't leave anything unlocked or unattended, and lock your doors at night.  I can't tell you how welcoming that feels when you've never been to a location before!

Finally things begin to look a little tropical - even though we aren't going to make it to the tropics.

After setting up and settling in we decided to go for a bit of a drive around Coober Pedy.  It's an interesting town, as are the stories of some of the people who moved here.  I've always been curious what would draw someone to come to the middle of nowhere to live.  There is so little here by way of almost everything - entertainment, shopping, opportunities - and it's so far away from everything.

The town itself is fascinating but the housing is really something else.  There are the basic homes in the town and then there are the underground homes.  I'm sure there are some absolutely amazing homes out there but being buried in the ground - who would know!  Anyway - here are some of the shots from our afternoon trek.