Another day, another early start for another tour! This one, the 7 day Groovy Grape Desert Patrol was leaving Adelaide for the outback via the old Ghan train line through the Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy and the Red Centre. Sunsets and sunrises at Uluru and Kata Tjuta and then Kings Canyon, before the final 500 km are consumed on the way to Alice Springs.
A few highlights of the trip;
Angorichina, a beautiful spot in the Parachilna Gorge where we stopped for the first night, a few beers over a great barbecue of Kangaroo, beef and the usual tucker. No shrimps though, need to check that one out next time! Approximately covered 400 km on day one, stopping at a few of the old abandoned towns on the Oodnadatta track where it just became to inhospitable to grew crops or farm due to the high summer temperatures and lack of water!
William Creek, the second most isolated town in Australia, you have to go 200 km in any direction to find any sign of life! Its your typical outback pub, guys wearing singlets and thongs, Cowboy Hats and mullets, usually holding a can of VB! It was our first night in swags under the stars around a huge campfire! Brilliant fun and worth it to get up early to watch the sunrise!
Beer o’clock on the way to William Creek, the setting sun turning the red outback sand into a sea of orange before disappearing completely…just enjoying the simplicities of life with an ice cold beer!
Talc Alf, a bit of an outback institution and eccentric, he has developed certain theories about the meaning of letters in the English alphabet…e.g. Aboriginal, is the original man and woman! He has also designed a new flag which he is campaigning to replace the current Australian flag.
Coober Pedy, a rather bizarre place, halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs, its 750 km in either direction. In the summer temperatures can get anywhere up to 56 degrees Celsius so most of the folk live underground where the temperature is a constant 26 degrees Celsius. Ideal for living in you could say! We checked into our hostel, of course, its underground before heading off for a tour of the town…our guide Sandy was particularly good hearted, telling us stories of blowing up her fathers car when she was just 7 for fathers day and finding 16,500 AUS dollars of Opal before breakfast. Some people have all of the luck! The opal is after all the only reason for staying here, its been mined for over many years and is one of the major sources of opals in Australia, if not the world!
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