Day 21 – Coober Pedy to Curtin Springs

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We gained four days... how? After having a very calm night underground, we woke up refreshed on a cloud free day. However, the roads on the whole of Oodnadatta track are closed and without a good prospect to be open soon. That means our travel plans have definitely changed and instead of heading towards Oodnadatta, Dalhousie Springs and Finke, we are bound for Curtin Springs just 80 km before Uluru. With this change of itinerary, we gained some four days we will spend at another place. However, we for sure plan to come back to complete the Oodnadatta track.

Coober Pedy town from The Big Winch Lookout
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After topping up petrol we visited the big winch in cooper pedy. This is lookout point that gives a 360 view of the place. Apart from the buildings we could make out the pipes coming out from the ground which mark underground houses as well as heaps of rubble which indicate the mining areas (current and old). We soon started to make our trip north.

The first stop was about 20 km North of Cooper Pedy at the “Breakaways”. This is a short drive from the Stuart Highway and gives a breathtaking view on formations that are caused by erosion. The site has been a setting for movies such as Mad Max III. We saw so far the biggest lizard on our tour.

The Breakaways. Where MadMax, Adventures of Priscilla and Queen of the Desert was taken.
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We drove up north and crossed the dog fence for the third and last time. To our surprise, the scenery from Cooper Pedy changed and it was much more bush land and green than down south. The rain of course added to the effect and some parts looked greener (with a carpet of new grass) than Sydney.

A highlight on the Stuart Highway is of course the Road Trains. They are large trucks the length of 10 cars. The trucks carry a sign in front saying that they are road trains. However, the first few trucks simply were trucks with a trailer. But the longer the trip went, the more we saw and the most we have seen so far is a truck with 5 trailers. We also overtook one of them (just to have another highlight). The Stuart Highway is quite a nice road, completely sealed, and kilometres are made easily. However, compared to the Oodnadatta Track and the dirt roads we took otherwise it was quite boring.

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The next stop was Curtin Springs. This is already on the highway towards Uluru and just about 80 km before it. The location is a roadhouse as well as a cattle station from where tours depart. Close by is Mt. Connor which lucks remarkable like the Ayers Rock and supposedly is often mistaken for it. The weather we got is much warmer than in Coober Pedy although it is quite cool due to the recent rainfall. We camp here for the night where camping is free, except for a powered site which costs $25. The sky so far is clear and the stars are beautiful. Some of the 4WD roads are closed or may be closed if there is more rain. We hope that we still can visit Uluru tomorrow and the Kings Canyon without being stuck in either one.