Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

We travelled down to Port Augusta in the rain which was a bit of a shame as the road runs right along one of the mountains in the Flinders Ranges but we couldn’t see it because of the mist and cloud.
We had to go and do some shopping which took up the rest of the afternoon but the rain cleared by the evening and our caravan park looked across the Spencer Gulf to the Flinders Ranges which were bathed in the sunset colours.
The next day we had to buy a new battery for the van and we had a quick look around the town. Port Augusta is a major rail and road centre as it is the link to the west, north and east. Large freight trains seem to pass through all the time. The Port is no longer active as Whyalla has taken over.

There is an amazing Arid Botanical Garden here and it wasn’t far from our caravan park so I rode my bike there. I love riding around as you get to see different parts of the town. I rode through some of the back streets and noticed that not many houses have lawn and not many gardens due to a very short supply and a very low rainfall. The Botanical Gardens were started by one man and then taken over by the council. They have an amazing array of drought resistant plants and the birds and native animals love it and they look out to the ranges. It was so peaceful and interesting. The ride there was quite a bit further than I thought but I really enjoyed it.
The next day was clear and beautiful as we set off for Coober Pedy. The drive out of Pt Augusta was beautiful. There are three large flat top rocks looming out of the flat landscape which is quite green now. After that vegetation varies from flat saltbush (grey) dotted with green (other bushes) and red (soil) which is makes a beautiful contrast, to more bushy plants and a few twisted trees.


We also passed some salt lakes and our free overnight camp was overlooking a very large salt lake known as Lake Hart. The calm water reflected the cloud filled sky. As we walked down to the water’s edge the ground crunches under your feet as it is thick with layers of crystallised salt.
I tasted it and it was very salty. Unfortunately the flies were very bothersome and we were glad we had fly nets. Once the sun went down they went away and we enjoyed our dinner cooked over the fire.


The next day was a long drive to Coober Pedy although it was broken by a visit to Woomera where we viewed some rockets, aeroplanes and the remains of the launching rocket for the first satellite. This was found in the Simpson Desert all smashed up. It seems such a waste . Woomera had a very sterile feel about it as all the buildings were the same.
After that we had 252ks of long straight road and very flat landscape which gradually became hilly as we approached CP and then as we entered CP we saw the landscape give way to mullock heaps as evidence of the mining. We were grateful of the recent rains which have resulted with the whole area being tinged with green.



PS. the first picture is from our caravan park at Pt Augusta. If you look closely you can see the train.