Coober Pedy 2023
5 September 2023A fun journey travelled with longtime friend, Judy, and we brought our dogs! It is a challenge finding pet friendly accommodation anywhere in Australia unless you have a caravan or motorhome in which they will sleep. We had neither. We travelled in my 2WD Toyota Camry Grande sedan, which is 16 years of age, but spacious, mechanically sound and comfortable, and it does have good tyres, suitable for the odd venture on to unmade roads. Plenty room for a couple of dog beds with doggie harnesses with seatbelts.
Taking our dogs was a bit of a concern as they hadn't seen each other for a while, but proved to be very successful. They kept each other company, and my dog was noticeably more relaxed knowing she was sharing the more difficult long hauls with another of her species.
The other upside was that in searching for pet friendly accommodation we came up with some options which would not have opened up if we had opted to go without dogs and look for road-house accommodation. Specifically, once we commenced our journey into the 'real outback', Pitchi Ritchi in the Flinders Ranges, Warraminna Cattle Station and our Coober Pedy dug-out were great options.
We incorporated a few of the art silos simply because we were passing by, or they were within easy access and also broke up the journey.
It is a long way from Port Augusta to Coober Pedy and any sign on the Stuart Highway with a camera symbol was an opportunity to break the journey, and usually was definitely worth the effort.
Spuds Roadhouse at Pimba was our first stop, and it would have been good if they hadn't run out of petrol (except for diesel, which was of no use). My plan when travelling distances is to top up fuel at every opportunity as you never know what will be available along the way. This paid off, as we had plenty fuel to reach the next roadhouse. Also, a good toilet stop (as there are few along the way), and a good roadhouse for lunches etc. Second stop was a side trip to the old Woomera Rocket Range Village, now used by the Defence Department for whatever projects they use it for, (they don't tell us much) which broke the journey as well.
An unexpected camera stop proved to be Lake Hart. I had travelled this highway on a few occasions but never noticed Lake Hart. A salt lake which was in the past mined for salt, it is now a rest area used by motorhomes and caravans for an overnight stop and is on the fringe of the vast Woomera Prohibited Area. Certainly worth our time. We also spent time here on our return journey.
Next stop was our accommodation at Wirraminna, which is a 2klm drive off the Stuart Highway on an unmade road. Just as well we didn't have a rental car.
Glendambo Roadhouse next along the highway. Now a new construction for supplies/toilets etc, but could not surpass the old historic roadhouse, which is no longer in use for supplies, meals, etc.
There was of course the mandatory stop for the emus crossing the road. How they avoided being hit by fast travelling vehicles I have no idea. We saw a few emus along the way.
Four days at Coober Pedy was just right. In retrospect, if we had another day, I would have taken the chance to tackle The Dog Fence Road (approx 70 klms loop), accessible from The Breakaways scenic lookout, in my Camry, at least as far as was feasible. The road looked freshly graded, so probably would have been fine.
If there is ever another opportunity(?), I would do this, and also revisit The Painted Desert. There is another Station (sheep or cattle, not sure) which is along the road which starts at Cadney Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway and continues to Oodnadatta passing the Painted Desert mesas. At least somewhere to spend the night to view the mesas at sunset. Last visit travelling with Rex, we drove straight through to Oodnadatta in the daytime and did not realise we could have stayed overnight.
The return journey was relatively uneventful, but equally enjoyable, punctuated by art silos, picnic lunch stops (dogs), and finally our favourite restaurant on the banks of Lake Wendouree in Ballarat which has a spot for dogs.