Day 5

A quick breakfast and then up the trail, but not before seeing our first camels of the trip, in a pen in Marree. Along the way we stopped at South Lake Eyre, where I sank into the mud up to my calves (which is a long way). We drove by a few springs which produced oases and followed the track that parallels the old, abandoned Ghan railway. The dirt track road was long and dusty, with nothing in sight from horizon to horizon, except the occasional ruin of an old homestead, some still with cars rotting away.

We stopped for lunch at William Creek, a one-pub town, and the smallest in all of Australia (or so they say), set in the middle of the largest cattle ranch in the world, Anna Creek Station. At the pub there was a real outback crowd -- an aboriginal, who kept insisting that he was "Pete's head stockman" and had two horses, a race horse and an apaloosa. There were also several government workers and real tourists, in white slacks and all!

We then drove to Coober Pedy, opal mining capital of the world. Apparently, we also saw and crossed the doge fence, but we were so tired of seeing station fences we didn't realize it.

Arriving in Coober Pedy, we walked about before having dinner at John's Pizza Parlour and turning in. We still have some stone buying to do.

written by  shoshtrvls on April 6, 1990 from Coober Pedy, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia (1990)
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