Day 52 – Broken Hill

The route out of Port Augusta to Broken Hill passes through two quaint villages, of Wilmington and Orroroo both of which had caravan parks and looked like places to relax. There was also frost on the grass as we drove through the Flinders Ranges.

Broken hill has more than 30 art galleries many of which house works by artists who were born in Broken Hill. It is also home to the Brushmen of the Bush, Eric Minchin (founder), Pro Hart, Jack Absalom, John Pickup and Hugh Schulz, who raised over one million dollars for charity between 1973 and 1994. It would be easy to spend 4 or 5 days looking round the town and surrounds.

Broken Hill has unusual streets which double as storm water drains. This leads to some roller coaster rides as you drive across or through the drain areas.

Storm water flows along shaped roads rather than in underground drains

Outside Broken Hill the Living Desert Reserve is home to 12 sandstone sculptures. They were created in 1993 at the instigation of Lawrence Beck and intended as a tribute to the late Fred Hollows.

Silverton which was the site of the first mines at Broken Hill is just a spec in the desert landscape. It has a good heritage walk and quite a few artists. The Silverton Cafe provides an excellent lunch with a menu of drovers fare. Need to book, especially at weekends when it is very busy.

Silverton

Silverton and surrounds - there is a lot of space.

Day 50 Port Augusta

On the way to Port Augusta we past salt lakes that stretched far and wide over the plains.

Port Augusta is a flat town with few high buildings but great views over the Flinders Range. Larger stores seem to sprawl across the streets. It is home to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden with its selection of plants that grow in the deserts.

Day 48 - Coober Pedy

The manager at Hermannsburg had told us that Coober Pedy was ‘seriously weird’ and she had a point. It has the dubious reputation of having the most expensive water in the South Australia and possibly the whole of Australia. The small mounds of stone or mullock heaps are the most striking feature dotting the landscape. They are reminders of the opal that got away.

Miners use truck mounted vacuums to remove spoil from their mines.

There are one or two larger mines.

The Breakaways show different stone strata close together. They are known locally as 'Salt and Pepper' and the surrounding area is popular with film makers who shot films like Mad Max here.

The homes in the rock are at a comfortable temperature but the lack of natural light not to everybody’s liking. There is no plumbed waste water infrastructure in the town and the council have limited mining in the town. As a result houses have a disproportionately large number of deep waste holes. Of course digging so many holes does increase the chances of finding an opal and you just might strike it lucky.

The Serbian Orthodox Church is a little gem in this mining town.

Day 46 - Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta – the Olgas are different but no less inspiring. The rocks are more like gibber rather than the smoother sandstone of Uluru. Out of earshot of the bus loads of walkers the place felt peaceful and somewhere for reclaiming calmness.

Life in the desert is hard. Mt Ebenezer Station, area 1,640 sq Km (164,000 hectares or 405,253 acres) only supports 2,000 cattle.

Day 45 – Uluru

It is easy to understand why Uluru made an impression on the first white explorers. The massive rock is just the tip of a strata that extends about 7 kilometres underground. The faces change with the sun and the viewing position.

Ranger Steve is passionate about the aboriginal teachings. As with Wambirja, the ranger in Kakadu, he explained the levels of knowledge and the morals of the different stories. He also explained that there were different languages for higher levels of knowledge. The Anangu people had a sophisticated and strong culture supported by explicit stories and enforced over the generations. Steve had been trained in the stories by the elders and was careful to keep to the teachings without deviation.

Ranger Steve

Elders' cave with images of ancient elders in the stone!

Water is important in the desert and the Anangu people had strict rules and procedure for keeping water holes clean. One of the sad things about people clambering over the rock is that the water that has filtered through the stone now contains traces of E.coli. This has been traced to the detritus left behind by climbers and in particular where they have urinated or defecated on the rock during their climb.

Water hole where rain seeps through

After listening to Steve we understood some of the sacredness of the rock. The impact of our climbing over the rock would be similar to the impact of tourists climbing over the alters in churches, cathedrals or other special places of worship. We chose not to climb the rock and look forward to the day when the practice ceases.