Both day 7 and 8 were spent in and around Uluru and Yulara. Today we visited the rock morning and evening, and avoided the heat by snoozing on the shady side of our caravan during the middle of the day while the kids played board games and devices, and played on the playground.

The first walk on day 7 followed the same path we had taken the previous evening, the Marla walk, however, this time with a pair of indigenous guides. They explained how the various caves were used, the meaning of the cave paintings, bush tucker, some of their creation story and traditions, as well as a geological description of the formation of Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). There were certain parts of Uluru that we were asked not to photograph, as they were considered too sacred. They likened them to scriptures.

We had some downtime back at the caravan in the middle of the day, deciding that rest was a good idea!

In the evening we had planned to walk to the Mutitjulu waterhole, on the other side of Uluru. However, we realised the light would be better in the morning, so we returned to the Marla carpark, where we had been the previous evening, and that morning. Here we split up, with Kate and Adele retracing their steps (but with the good camera) from the night before.

Isaac and I headed in a counter-clockwise direction for about 20 minutes, before we all met back at the car.

On the way back to the caravan park, I took the chance to take some pictures of Uluru in the dark!

Our shortest day of towing today, just 3 hours along the Lasseter highway toward Yulara. It was not long into our journey before the landscape begun to change, with red dunes, and more strikingly, a variety of trees. None of us expected there to be this much vegetation in the red centre – the most abundant being the spinifex grasses, and the “desert oaks”. The desert oaks are quite a striking and unique tree, looking a bit like a drooping pine tree.

We were of course on the lookout for “The Rock”, and at one point Kate thought she had spied it through the trees and dunes. However, once we had a clear view we realised it was quite a different land form. A flat top mountain, with a “skirt”, in the middle of a plain. We pulled over for a view (along with a bus and several cars – you are never really alone along the roads we were venturing) of Mount Conner, and over the dune on the opposite side of the road was another salt lake.

Eventually the real McCoy came into view, that icon of Australia’s dry red centre, Uluru. In some ways, I think seeing the rock in person for the first time was like meeting a famous actor. Someone you have only seen on screen.

Our campsite at Yulara was right on the red sand. Superfine and dry – so it got into everything, but didn’t stick. After setting up we went exploring and found the well-stocked IGA with prices quite reasonable for some items (Old Gold chocolate, Connoisseur Ice-creams, and Paddlepops all on special and cheaper than at home, bonus!) and quite expensive for others (especially capsicum at $12/kg!).

In the late afternoon we headed to Uluru. After paying for our Park pass (they extended it beyond the normal 3 day expiry free of charge, so it would be good for our entire stay) we headed to the Cultural Centre, which was closing so we only had brief visit, before arriving at the Marla Carpark. The kids had a quick climb 20 metres up Uluru, then we walked clockwise along the base for an hour or so. This was the biggest surprise of our trip to date – the walk was stunning. The rock was glowing in the sunset, the sky a striking saturated blue, and the path lined by trees, and cooled by a gentle breeze. Never had I imagined that the base of Uluru would be so picturesque, having imagined it just rose from the desert sand. The walk covered various caves, rock art, and finished at a small gorge – that at this time of year is completely dry. Our first experience of Uluru brought a smile to our faces and satisfaction to our hearts.

We left Coober Pedy mid-morning, heading up the Stuart Highway toward the Erldunda Roadhouse, our destination for today. Our departure was delayed slightly, as we queued to fill our water tank, at 20 cents for about 3 minutes of tap run time. Water is a precious commodity up this way.

The landscape was fairly consistent for the entire day, just scrub and red dirt/dust. We had two stops along the way, Pimba for a “pit-stop”, and Marla for fuel, lunch, and some treats from the servo (Ice-break double shot coffee for me). To this point price of fuel had been fairly reasonable, Marla was approximately $1.70 per litre for diesel.

We arrived at Erldunda, which is on the corner of the Stuart and Lasseter Highways, i.e., where you turn left to head for Uluru. We were pleasantly surprised, with a shady, grassed, caravan site, to go along with the gorgeous weather. The evening was spent watching and feeding the various animals they have onsite, including a dozen or so emus, several Red Kangaroos, a Camel, and a Rooster that apparently thinks it is also a kangaroo. There was also a pool, but unfortunately it was “staff only”, at least that’s what our kids were told...

No towing! Today we took a break from our run up the centre to explore Coober Pedy. After a quick drive around town to get our bearings, our first stop was “Faye’s Underground House”.

After ringing the bell we were informed that the next tour would be in 5 minutes. Then for 20 bucks “Grant” showed us through the 6 room underground home. This home was dug out in the 60’s by Faye and her two female friends. Faye was originally from Queensland, but after coming to Coober Pedy she worked at the pub as a cook. After refusing to cook unsafe meat the publican fired her. The miners were unhappy about this and built her a café. Unfortunately, the café was destroyed by a tornado some time later. At this point Faye decided to try her hand at Opal Mining. She sunk down a shaft and in no time found a seam of Opal that set her up for life. She then set about building her home. After digging out the kitchen and dining room by hand, by herself, she enlisted two friends, Edna and Sue, to help.  Over the course of the next 10 years they dug out the rest of the house, which included a bar and open fireplace as well as an entertaining room above ground, complete with indoor pool and billiard table. The entertaining room was used by many in the town for various events and parties. The fireplace was used once – it rendered the house uninhabitable for some time due to the heat. The house has been kept original, including all the 1970s furnishings.

After the underground house we visited the “Big Winch”. This is the highest point within the township, and afforded views for many kilometres around Coober Pedy. The current winch is a replica, as the original was also destroyed by tornado.

We had a quick trip back to the caravan park to rescue our washing from the line as the winds had picked up. We also found that our power lead had been unplugged due to electrical works – which is less than ideal when your freezer contains several premade meals. Before heading back out, we ensured power had been restored and that our precious food was safe.

Our next stop was the Old Timer’s Mine, for a walk through a mine as it would have been “back-in-the-day”. We donned our hardhats and headed into the mine. The kids thought it was fantastic exploring all the corners and seeing the dummies posed as miners in different situations.

We made a quick stop to the Catacomb church (Anglican), one of the many underground churches in Coober Pedy. The church door is left unlocked, with a welcoming message, and instructions to make sure you turn off the lights and shut the door when you leave – “And may God bless you on your travels”. Being underground the church is cool, and peaceful, with room for about 40 congregants.

Coober Pedy has a fully stocked supermarket (IGA) and we felt the prices were reasonable given the location. We stocked up on some items, and ate some ice-creams, before heading to the Opal shops to spend some money the kids were given by Grandma. Eventually an opal and a decorative frilled neck lizard had been chosen, after much deliberation!

After spending the day in Coober Pedy, I remarked to Kate that I felt like we weren’t even in Australia anymore. It felt very alien.

We finished the day with a trip out to The Breakaways, about 20 kms north of Coober Pedy. This trip included 11 kms of unsealed road. It was a bit rougher than expected, or perhaps I was driving too slow, as in places the corrugations threatened to shake the car apart. Although Kate would suggest I’m being a bit melodramatic. Despite this, the drive was well worth it, with breathtaking views the reward. The earth drops away to an enormous plain, almost as if it were the sea, with mesas rising from the plain like islands, appearing that they have “broken away” from the mainland. It was truly a beautiful location.

Dusk was setting as we returned, taking our time in case kangaroos ventured onto the road. To date we have not even seen a live kangaroo on our journey.

Here is Isaac's vlog for today. Sorry about the audio quality, trying to work on (it is noise coming from the active gimbal):

https://photos.smugmug.com/MudieFamily/Red-Centre2018/i-FBPgJmd/0/d22557ad/1280/Isaac_day4-1280.mp4

Another day of driving!! We were not long out of Port Augusta before we felt we were heading into the Outback. Long straight roads, red dirt, scrub, striking land forms (which the kids kept asking if they were Uluru), and many warnings of animals on the road. The scenery settled into a rhythm, alternating between flat land covered in saltbush as far as the eye could see, and tree covered land, as far as the eye could see. Every now and then we would "buzz" across a cattle grid, indicating that we had crossed from one Cattle or Sheep “Station” to another. I found that even though the roads were straight, overtaking was difficult in the morning, as the heat mirages on the road made long distance vision difficult. Also it felt like we were always heading slightly uphill, giving the impression we were always heading toward a crest – I suspect it was because we were heading up the map. I’m sure coming home it will feel like we are heading down hill. 😉

Every now and then the countryside would be broken up by a dry lake bed, often encrusted in salt, or by a huge vista from the top of a cliff. Unlike the first two days, today we managed to stop a couple of times to take some photos, rather than shooting through our dusty windows. On one occasion we pulled over to check our defrosting dinner sitting in the sink of caravan, and we were greeted by the most incredible sight of the salt pans of Lake Gairdner. We hope to plan our return journey to allow us to have a better look at this spectacle.

We stopped at the Pilba and Glendambo Roadhouses, the latter for a quick lunchbreak. Glendambo to Coober Pedy is the longest stretch of our journey between any sign of civilisation, at about 250 km. There was little variation throughout the 250 km, although about halfway the Stuart Highway served double duty as an air strip for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, complete with runway markings.

The sight of mullock heaps indicated that we were closing in on Coober Pedy, along with signs warning of hidden shafts. About 5pm we arrived and took the quintessential, if not original, Coober Pedy family photo. A rapid fire setup whilst the kids were on the playground (Isaac made a girlfriend, that is a friend who is a girl), a spaghetti bolognaise, and a quick explore of the campsite, and that was the day!

We enjoyed our brief stay in Mildura at the Buronga Riverside Caravan Park. Well technically it was in Buronga (as the name suggests), on the NSW side of the “Mighty Murray River”. Kate and I rapidly packed the caravan (we were pretty proud of ourselves to tell the truth) while the kids amused themselves on the conveniently located jumping pillow. While I did the final part of the pack, and hooked up to the Territory, Kate and the kids did a short exploration down to the river.

After collecting some supplies in Mildura, we headed towards Port Augusta. And, like yesterday, we wished we had time to explore the region we were travelling through. We had lunch in the “Historic Port of Morgan”, which had a fantastic park and playground, complete with Paddle Steamer.

We were struck by how much the landscape changed as we travelled. Not long out of Mildura, after passing vineyards, wheat fields, and almond groves, the landscape became particularly arid, sandy, scrubby, and I’m pretty confident I even saw tumbleweed. I think both Kate and I, with our limited knowledge of South Australia, thought that this might last for much of our journey. However, as we approached Burra, the scenery abruptly changed, with the arid landscape making way for green rolling hills. Apparently this was the northern end of the Mount Lofty Ranges. This region was quite beautiful, and was home to a number of Marino Stud and more canola fields, along with a cluster of sizeable wind generators.

Eventually we connected up to the A1 Highway, and headed toward Port Augusta with the Spencer Gulf to our left. Port Augusta was formerly a Sea Port, but now trains seem to be the major form of cargo transportation. We passed a train with more than 50 carriages, many with two shipping containers. From our caravan park we could hear machinery at the rail yards constantly, but more as  a dull rumble (like the ocean), so it didn’t disturb our sleep.

Finally you can watch Isaac's Day 2 vlog is here:

https://photos.smugmug.com/MudieFamily/Red-Centre2018/i-F8D4SG4/0/9c62e9fa/1280/Isaac%20day2-1280.mp4