Day 104 – Tuesday 9 September – Coober Pedy
We are out of the tropics and subject to the cool changes that occur this far south. Today was to be our first day with a maximum below 30 for some weeks. Strong wind was also around for most of the day.
I started the day, after breakfast etc, with a few car cleaning tasks. I then helped a 'damsel in distress' who had a caravan door latch that would not lock. I did not fix the lock, but I showed her how to jam the door and feel safe overnight.
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| A common scene in Opal-mad Coober Pedy |
It was a quiet day, to precede the hectic 4-6 day finale to our trip.
We found the highest point in Coober Pedy and took a couple of evening photos.
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Just before sunset
Above - Looking West over Coober Pedy
Below - Looking East over Coober Pedy |
Day 105 – Wednesday 10 September – Lake Eyre & Painted Hills
Today we knocked off a high priority item - a flight over Lake Eyre and a visit to the Painted Hills. A wonderful day that involved around 300 photos, later culled to 152.
It was around 9 degrees as we arrived at the Coober Pedy airport at 7:30 am. Shirley was nearly awake.
We were greeted by Abigail (Abbie) our young and lovely pilot. We were allocated our seats and I was the co-pilot. Shirley sat behind me and in front of a lady who got rid of her breakfast before lunch and her lunch before we got home.
Abbie was wonderful. Calm and reassuring as the tiny plane bounced around she gave a constant dialogue of where we were, what happens there, and what is to come. As we were travelling over water over two metres deep we had to wear life jackets until we stopped at William Creek. We wore noise cancelling headphones.
Abbie explained how the Diamantina and Georgina Rivers feed the Warburton River, which flows southwest and discharges into the eastern side of Lake Eyre. It is one of the state's largest rivers, and is part of the Lake Eyre Basin. It runs along the eastern side of the Simpson Desert, and drains water from Eyre Creek, the Diamantina and Georgina rivers from Goyder Lagoon, carrying it into Lake Eyre during its infrequent floods. The Cooper Creek also provides water in high rainfall years - which is this year. It also provided a stack of Yellow Perch.
We followed the winding Warburton for a fair way.
Abbie explained how Lake Eyre has a mere four metre fall along its 140 km, north to south. This means that strong winds can control where the water moves to. A strong westerly will move the water to the east.
The Lake Eyre we visited today has most of its water in the southern section, as the inflow has reduced and the south is lower than the north.
We landed at William Creek for a late morning snack and walked around the town in five minutes. We flew with WrightAir whose owner also owns the William Creek pub and all five houses in town, plus the caravan park. The WrightAir company owns 15 planes and is based in William Creek.
After leaving William Creek we flew to the Painted Hills and landed at an airstrip built by WrightAir. The Painted Hills (also called the 'Painted Desert') scenery and geology was breathtaking - it was truly magnificent. The Painted Hills/Desert is around 30 km long and up to 18 km wide.
We departed just after 8 am and returned around 2:30 pm.
Click here to see the photos from Coober Pedy via Lake Eyre to William Creek.
Click here to see the photos of the Painted Desert/Hills.
Please note that the photos from the air were taken at heights between 500 feet and 3500 feet in a rocking plane. The dark blotches on many of the photos indicate the clouds above us. A couple of the photos show a propeller from the plane.
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Tomorrow we start the 1600 km journey home, so our adventure is drawing to a close. However we will travel slow enough to 'smell the roses and spot any gems'.
Day 106 – Thursday 11 September – Trip Home Day 1 - 500 km
With a full load of
water and diesel (and an empty toilet) we set sail for home. The wind was gusty
all day but manageable.
It was an excellent
road nearly all day. The magnificent outback scenery was constantly changing. There were a lot of fluffy clouds.
We travelled over a
section of the highway that also doubled as an emergency landing strip for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Salt lakes were a big
feature of the day. Lake Hart was the first, popular in the 1930’s as a great
source of salt. We had to cross the Ghan train line to walk on the surface of
the lake. Shirley tells me the salt was extra salty.
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Left - Ghan line south
Right - Ghan line north |
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Above - Shirley pondering train tracks in the salt lake surface
Below - Another view of Lake Hart |
The following sign was
in a rest area beside the lake. We saw a number of similar signs related to indigenous people of that particular area.
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| KOKATHU – ONE PEOPLE, ONE COUNTRY, ONE DREAMING |
There was plenty of
animal life to be seen. One dingo, five emus, some cattle, lots of shaggy sheep
some with lambs, lotsa roadkill (cattle & roos), two wedge-tailed eagles,
dozens of crows, lotsa goats.
Due to poor signage in
South Australia we missed a couple of our preferred free camps and ended up
being 30 km north of Port Augusta – 500 km for the day. We camped 100 metres east
of the Stuart Highway and 200 metres west of the Ghan railway line –
around 3:45 pm. It was a better spot than our earlier preferences anyway. I was
too tired and lazy to light a fire (and a bit worried about the wind). It was
around 20 degrees and sunny.
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| Our free camp site. Stuart Highway to the left. Train line to the right. |
A goods train trundled
passed as I wrote these words around 4:45 pm. A few more went by before and after bed time.
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| Passing goods train |
Day 107 – Friday 12 September – Trip Home Day 2 - 427 km
A passenger train went by at 4:10 am. I assumed that it was the Ghan. A goods train went by around an hour later. By 7am we were eating breakfast and heading towards Port Augusta before 8 am.
We stopped in Port Augusta to top up the diesel then trundled south and south east. Not far out of town we found a quaint coffee caravan nestled under some gum trees. The local guy made excellent coffee and lemon muffins.
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| Coffee Van |
It was soon apparent that the red dirt and salt bush of much of our recent travels had been replaced by lush farming land. Rich healthy crops were plentiful and fat sheep seemed contented. I am guessing there. |
| Left - Grain crop. Right - Canola |
The navigator made sure that we stopped at Lochiel and took a photo of 'Loch-Eel' in Lake Bumbunga. Legend has it that a bullock team driver made an attempt to take his team across the 'hard' lake (after a visit to the pub). Alas, the cattle left the correct path and got stuck in the 'bog'. By the time that the 'bullocky' had returned with help the wagon and the cattle team had sunk under the surface - never to be seen again. Legend has it that the team was eaten by Loch-Eel - a large monster who lives in the lake. It can still be seen today.
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Above - Lake Bumbunga
Below - Loch-Eel |
We stopped in Gawler for pumpkin soup and pressed on. The scenery was excellent. |
| Some magnificent trees |
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| "Murray Bridge" |
We stopped for the day at the Tailem Bend Football Ground - the home of the "Eagles". Tomorrow we will be back in our home state - for the first time in 105 days.
Day 108 – Saturday 13 September – Trip Home Day 3 - 413 km
It was 7 degrees at 6 am so the first job was to turn on the heater. For the third day in a row we were on the road before 8 am.
The first hour of driving was interesting - a heavy fog and plenty of Victorian cars heading home with Hawthorn scarves trailing out window(s) - thanks to their great AFL win over Adelaide in Adelaide last night. We counted 33 scarves for the day.
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| Fog and Hawthorn supporter |
The rest of the day was one of our best (for this trip) driving days - very good road, no wind, sun behind us, beautiful Aussie scenery. We travelled past tens of km of canola crops that looked like the winter rains came when they were needed.
We noticed that the middle of the Bordertown racecourse was filled with a superb Canola crop - good use of a piece of land.
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| Great scenery |
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| Great Canola crop |
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| Guess |
We stopped at Horsham and bought a Cornish Pastie for lunch, then visited Coles to restock the fruit & vegetables cupboard - for when we get home.
We camped for the night at the Great Western racecourse (no Canola) which is walking distance to the big Seppelt winery complex. No nearby trains and no nearby highway tonight. Just peace and quiet.
We are around 250 km from home.
Day 109 – Sunday 14 September – Home - 257 km
A short day for our last of the trip so a sleep in and a cooked breakfast. We were still on the road by 8:20 am. It was around 7 degrees.Fifteen minutes later we were at the Ararat Sunday market, buying fresh jam donuts and a metal bizzo for the garden.
Some time later we stopped at Ballarat for diesel, then Ballan for coffee and were home by noon.
Our neighbours had their caravan in the street so we unpacked the caravan, gave it a wash and returned it to its home.
I got home in shorts - no jeans for over two months. That is maybe about to end.
*** This chapter is now complete ***
Last updated at 4:30 pm on Sunday 14 September 2025 (Victoria time)
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