OneGuyFromBarlick

I like the local radio stations. And you're right, a lot of 60's music on them that suits me right down to the ground.
Your account reminded me of a trip out to a genuine bush cinema near Dubbo. Brilliant stars overhead as you watched the film on the screen and an occasional snake or fight on the back row just to keep you on your toes.....

Drove 600 kilometres today. No lush grass here, so parked on stones, though we seem to be living in the lap of luxury compared to nearby neighbours who are bunking down in bushman' swags. There is power here but no water ( well there is a tap but about 100 metres away...which I have visited to load our plastic lidded tub we call the washing machine. Clothes soak overnight and I shall rinse them at the same tap and hang them to dry in the morning. We have a pull out clothes line on our van...and I remembered the pegs!)
Plugged our camp oven in and had Lasagne ( made at home and thawed out today en route)
D has just checked, and ( joy of joys) we have some TV coverage. I think that as soon as the sun goes down we will be in bed watching that, and I will last 5 mins before I drift off.)

It's all red dirt and salt bush here ( and a million flies). One thing we chuckled at today, was at one point our Sat Nav said
"Turn right and continue straight on for the next 280 kilometres".
Now...I bet many of you haven't heard THAT before!!!!

Sand, flies and a long straight road...I don't envy you one bit!
Keep reporting.

Marilyn wrote:One thing we chuckled at today, was at one point our Sat Nav said
"Turn right and continue straight on for the next 280 kilometres".
Now...I bet many of you haven't heard THAT before!!!!

Got it a lot when I drove from California to New Mexico on the Interstate last year "In 400 miles turn right onto..." Made me smile too. I cheated and came off the Interstate at Phoenix and continued on the old roads, very little traffic, nearly as quick and time to enjoy the scenery.

What's the name of the place you camped Maz?

Last night was just outside Coober Pedy. Tonight it's Marla. Tomorrow we arrive at "Alice".
Camping on bare dirt here, beside a tin fence...but there is power and we have air-conditioning. Hubby is stretched on the bed underneath it.
There is a pool here and we've been told we can have a dip when the ancient gent finishes cleaning it.
I am told that 70 people live here at Marla.
We haven't actually located the Amenities block yet, so we must go for a walk around this dust bowl shortly...

The camper at Marla.....

All you need to know about Coober Pedy
I like opals.

I shall listen to Radio ABC Alice Springs tonight on my Roberts web radio.

Serious question - what happens if you break down somewhere in the wilderness?

Tripps wrote:I like opals.

As a mineral collector, so do I! Here's a pic of the rough opal specimen from Coober Pedy in my collection (unfortunately I didn't collect it myself). Opal, like quartz, is composed of silicon dioxide but the molecules also contain water which prevents it forming crystals. Instead it forms minute spheres. Precious opal is distinguished by the regularity in size and arrangement of the spheres which gives the opalescence (specimen about 8cm/3" across).

The last time I camped at Coober Pedy the locals broke into our camper, while we were in it. Frightened the life out of all of us!! Needless to say I screamed, they legged it.

An aboriginal boy (about 12) had his hand on driver's side door latch and I had the feeling he was about to reach in and grab whatever he could...but then he saw me (and I gave him my don't-you-dare look.) Hubby was filling the tank on the other side of the van, so I told him to lock his door in future. That was at Coober Pedy. Folk don't even leave chairs out overnight there. Police patrol hourly. I had the distinct feeling this kid took every opportunity he got. While I was sat there I saw an Aboriginal girl trying to break into a bus. Not the best place to stop...

Sorry Maz, I realised this morning I hadn't posted this....

The locals told us not to park our car in the street in town; we were told to go to the private car park at the pub. The likelihood of it being intact when we got back was nil. Doesn't say much for the community really. When I reported our break in the response was 'Oh aren't they naughty boys'. I'm not in a hurry to get back there.

Love the Alice though.

The funny thing is that no one said a word to us.
We stopped to fill up the van with fuel before finding a camp ground, so that incident occurred beforehand.
As soon as we pulled up to the camp, I noticed straight away that no one had so much as a pair of thongs left outside. A police car drove around us and the guy in the next van said he had only been there 2 hours and that was the 7th time the police car had pulled in and done a check.
What I can't stand is the stream of green snot from the children's noses...everywhere you look. And there were loads of flies about, so you can guess what happens. They don't even seem to notice. If I lived there I would be handing out tissues on street corners...with my white gloves on...

I think I'll stick to taking my holidays here in Cornwall - the only threat comes from the dive-bombing seagulls!

Not a pretty picture Maz.!

36C yesterday in Alice. Leaving early today to get to Uluru. Long drive...over 600 kms I think.
I'm getting tired because of the pace.. We hit the ground running every morning!

I pointed my friend Sarah in Perth at your posts about Coober Pedy and she was shocked even though she is a presenter on a TV station....

Back in Marla tonight.
Long day. Rinsed a few clothes, cooked a bit of dinner, off to bed to get the energy to get up and drive again tomorrow.
You wouldn't believe the dust that came out of the clothes I washed!
I must say that the wild flowers have been lovely (as I expected after the rains). But the scrub just goes on and on, mile after mile, and I have had enough of it. Need to get back to greenery!
Long drive tomorrow. D is already fast asleep, so I think I had better hit the hay too.

It sounds as if you are going to need a holiday to recover from this trip Maz!

Stanley wrote:I pointed my friend Sarah in Perth at your posts about Coober Pedy and she was shocked even though she is a presenter on a TV station....

There are quite a few places we've stayed with similar problems. Tenant Creek is one that springs to mind. We tried to walk down the street for a coffee there. The young people of the town pressured us off the foot path into the middle of the road. We found it very confronting so we decided we'd just go back to the van and drink another cup of instant coffee. That night there was a riot in town accompanied by gun shots. We left early the next morning.

I might add there are a lot of really great places too.

It's beginning to sound more of an endurance test than a holiday!

Just in from Maz



She reports they have power but no water!

Today was slightly better, in that we only drove 5 hours. We chose not to stay at Coober Pedy again, so drove another 2 hours to this "rustic" spot ( pic sent to Stanley). We have power, but it is our second night without water. We should be able to manage until tomorrow when we get to a bigger town. Last night wasn't a case of not having water at the site, it was that there wasn't enough taps for the powered sites. We witnessed owners of bigger vans ( with toilets and showers) almost coming to "fisty cuffs" demanding their rights to the water connections that were available. Being peaceful folk we just left them to their arguments and decided we would manage on what we carry with us. One large van refused to move his van when he discovered his power connection faulty because he didn't want to lose his tap connection. He demanded management get the electrician out to fix his power outlet instead ( which they did and very quick about it they were too).
They say the outback can send you a bit silly, and it really was the battle of those in the big vans who stuck their chests out the furthest!
Interesting to watch, from our camp chairs, as we sipped a glass of Red.
Had to laugh this morning when one of the big vans had sprung a leak with his tap/van direct connection....the woke to find their van in a huge puddle this morning and couldn't step out their door. It was hilarious. I walked past and asked if someone in there had wet the bed overnight. ( I couldn't resist it. They were all acting like children).
Why is it that these situations bring out the worst in folk.
We left early...hope no one came to blows!

Are you in Mad Max country, Maz?