27.02. 2023 from Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

27.02. 2023 from Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

I know, for anyone looking at the map, this 568 km long stretch is too much, but there is a lot to see, however little or no hiking. Especially because between Woomera and Coober Pedy there is a huge prohibited area, a military restricted area. I am repeatedly warned by large signs that Stuart Highway is only a transit road, leaving is strictly prohibited. We have to decide today, there are 3 options. Go back to Flinders Ranges, where we have already been to Mt. Remarkables NP, or turn in Woomera to the Oodnadatta Track, where we have already been in 2018, or go straight to Coober Pedy. We have already driven there in 2001, but why not.

We are looking forward to the Outback, driving is fun, Frank sets it to 100 km/h and I entertain him. We stop at every lookout point and see the large and small salt lakes, landscapes with and without shrubs, it doesn't get boring. First stop at Pimba Roadhouse, classic interior design style, stickers, car signs and badges. One of them is from Munich.

The next Roadhouse is brand new, only 6 months old, and when I ask what is going to be put on the walls and ceiling here, the old toothless man says, nothing, it's new!

The further we progress on the road, the further away the homesteads, the farms are from the road. It is only after a few hundred kilometers that we see the first cows. But many kangaroos lie dead on the side of the road. At night, they are simply run over by the road trains, the drivers probably don't even notice.

Far before the town of Coober Pedy, which by the way means white man in the hole, we see the first large and small opal mining areas. Access to the large mines is strictly prohibited.

We are glad to have arrived in Coober Pedy, it has been getting warmer along the way, currently 33 degrees here. Just in time to find a spot at the first campsite we come across, actually the reception is already closed, but the C place is almost empty, we are the second guests, the lady at the reception didn't want to miss that.

We cook for ourselves, 2 lamb steaks sizzling in the pan, served with green asparagus and a red giant potato. Of course, there is also fresh salad.

And we have free WIFI. All my fears of not being able to communicate are initially shattered.