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F.O.R. San Bernard
Members/Volunteers
Gail Brinson -"Holeman"
and grandson, Wil
Sydney Harbor Bridge
Holeman’s Australian
Adventure
Part II Coober Pedy
Sunday: Day 7: The goal today is Coober Pedy, the opal
capital of the world, which is 600 miles NW of Broken Hill
via Barrier
 Highway
and the Stuart Highway. The Stuart Highway is a basic
equivalent of I-35 from Laredo to Canada. The road itself is
equivalent to FM 523 in construction, sometimes with a
shoulder and sometimes NOT. The last 178 miles into Coober
Pedy was devoid of services I.E. no water, food, or shelter.
Eleven and half hours later we pulled into Coober Pedy. We
had given up on seeing Andamooka (not enough time). After a
quick shower ($0.20 for 4 minutes) we had a very good Greek
dinner [lamb kabobs] and Greek Vino.
Monday: Day 8: Coober Pedy (aboriginal for “white man in
hole”) looks like a series of giant white anthills.
 There
are in the neighborhood of 250,000 exposed mine shafts (3’
to 4’ in diameter by 60’ to 80' deep) scattered around the
town. After taking a tour of a “working” opal mine, we drove
around and “noodled” a bit. Noodling is going thru muck
piles looking for opals that the miners had overlooked. Tim
finally found his free piece of opal so we could then go to
town and have a cold one.
The weather so far had been perfect, in the Hi 80’s / Lo
90’s in the day and Lo 70’s at night. Tim ran the AC (yeah,
we were roughing it) for the noise, but we had the flaps
open every night. After arriving at Coober Pedy, the day
temperature was 100 to 105 degrees the rest of the trip.
Temperatures in excess of 130 degrees are fairly common in
this part of the country. For this reason, many homes,
hotels and shops are underground. The ones we visited were
very cool and comfortable. Back to the Greek taverna for
dinner (eggplant for me – I love Greek food - and lamb for
Tim).
Tuesday: Day 9: Leave Pedy and head for Mintabie (another
opal area), but first a side trip on a track to the painted
desert. We got part way to the painted part when we ran into
a rainstorm so we turned around, not wanting to be marooned
there. Climbed a small mesa, took pictures, had a cold one,
then back to the Stuart Highway.
Mintabie was a disappointment. At the local (only) watering
hole, we were met by 2 very drunk, vulgar and obnoxious
Aussies (which isn’t the norm). We quickly drank our beer
and left. Tim said he thought he heard banjos playing
Deliverance???. We were glad to get out of Dodge. Spent the
night at Kulgera, which is just inside the Northern
Territory.
Australia consists of 6 states plus the Capital and the
Northern Territory (N.T.). In Australia, you have to vote in
National elections. The N.T. has voted twice to turn down
statehood. So, they MUST vote for a representative to the
Federal Government who can’t vote because they are not a
state. The N.T. is happy with this arrangement. The speed
limit in the N.T. is 130 kph which is just over 80 mph. Our
little 4 cylinder Toyota diesel would go 120 kph sometimes
downhill. Diesel cost around $6.00 a gallon.
Wednesday: Day 10: 210 miles to Ayers Rock “Uluru” and we’re
there by 1:15. We found (we think) a common brown snake by
the side of the road. It was almost green, very fast and
aggressive.
 If
we got too close to it, it would go after us very quickly. I
got some good pictures (with high magnification). Most of
the Aussie snakes are like the Coral snakes, short fixed
fangs but extremely venomous and are to be avoided.
After checking into the Caravan Park and e-mailing home, we
drive to and around the Rock. We decide to climb it in the
morning, before it got hot. Dinner is (for me) kangaroo and
for Tim, fish and chips. Roo is pretty gamey and after one
very large and very rare piece and I was done. It was cheese
and crackers for me back at the campground.
Thursday: Day 11: To the Rock by 7:30, but the climb was
closed due to high winds. So we decided to walk around it
instead. It is 9.8 km (6 miles) around it and took us almost
2.5 hours with lots of stops and Kodak moments.
 This
would be a good time to mention that beer was $25 a 6 pack
at Uluru. No worries, I had really developed a taste for
water by now! It was only $3.50 a litre. Back to the Caravan
Park for a 2 hour nap.
Australians are a traveling bunch. After 10 years of
service, many employees get 3 months off “paid”, plus 5
weeks a year, plus whatever they can accumulate. Our camping
neighbors were a late 30’s couple with 8 and 10 year old
boys. He had 5 months off “paid” and they rented out their
home and were living in an 18 to 20 foot foldout camper (NO
AC!!!). They had been traveling for 3 months and had 2 to
go. Another young couple had been traveling for 11 months.
One bloke (I love that word) had driven 30,000 km and was
still on the road. We met people from all over the world
touring Australia for 3-6 months at a time. We drove back to
the Rock to watch the sunset and the change of colors.
Dinner tonight was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When
I went to the shower, there was a group of young people
watching a Ranger (?) remove a Western Brown Snake
(aggressive and nasty) from the shower area. I’ve had better
showers!
Friday: Day 12: Have to be at the Caravan Depot in Alice
Springs by 4:00 p.m. It’s 274 miles so we have plenty of
time if we get an early start. We seen 2 herds/ groups/
bunches/flocks?? of camels.
 Did
you know there are over 250,000 wild camels roaming the
Outback? After they finished the railroad across the
Outback, they turned the camels loose. Australia now exports
camels to the Middle East. With our short cuts, 377 miles
later we arrive at Alice Springs in time to get semi-lost,
fill the caravan with fuel, and arrive at the depot at 4:15.
The depot closes at 4:30. The attendant was good natured,
but she insisted that I buy a new windshield, because that
16 inch crack wasn’t there when I rented it. I asked if I
could have the old one, and she said, “Yes, where would I
like it?” So I bought a $325 windshield and let her keep the
broken one. We then took a cab to an ok motel (she arranged
both) across the street from a K-mart. We washed the dust
off and went walkabout. We had the Outback medley for dinner
– Emu, ‘Roo, Camel, and Barramundi (a fresh water fish). Two
years ago, I had this and the Camel filet was great, but
this time the ‘Roo was the best and the Camel, Emu and fish
were OK.
After dinner, we stopped at a waterhole and I counted 4 big
burly security guys at the door and patrolling. At 9:00 they
took all of the bar stools away from all the customers. The
bartender told us they do that to prevent them from being
thrown in the event of a disagreement. I’ve been in a lot of
beer joints in my life, but that was a first. We left
shortly after they took our stools away and were ready for a
good night’s sleep.
Saturday: Day 13: Leave Alice Springs around noon for Sydney
and arrive about 4:45 p.m. A $30 cab ride got us to our
hotel (Holiday Inn). Nice hotel and people but a very slow
lift. Check in, shower, and then look for food! We had a
very good pizza, in a tiny place on the main drag. Tim got a
tattoo at a place called Max’s Tattoo Shop (you can Google
it!). I watched, but didn’t feel the need for a Tat. We were
in the party district with lots of young, very well dressed
and well built Sheilas out and about. It made me feel a bit
old because I could have grandkids almost this age. So, we
watched the parade a bit longer, and then headed back to our
rooms for sleep.
Sunday: Day 14: Plans for today are to walk to the Opera
House and walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. This was on
legs that were just recovering from the walk around the
Rock. We reached the Opera House and Tim asked if we really
wanted to walk the bridge. I threw out my chest and said
well YEAH!!!! Tim is 8 years my junior and I couldn’t appear
weak at this point, so – we walked the bridge – both ways!!!
Then we took a cab back to the hotel and I took another 2
hour nap.
Dinner that night was Thai again, a tiny BYOB place and it
was excellent – again. Back to the hotel to do the final
packing. Then one more walkabout to the internet café and
make a post on the F.O.R. forum.
Monday: Day 15. Slept late, go out for a good breakfast,
then a cab ride to the Airport. The 14 hour flight only took
13 hours because of the good tailwind. Luckily, on this
flight, I had an empty seat beside me. It was wonderful to
have the whole seat to myself. On the earlier L.A. to Sydney
flight, I sat by a HUGE, barrel chested elderly man that
claimed the armrest AND part of my seat. The egg omelet at
about 7:00 a.m. didn’t sit so well, so I wasn't finished
eating until I got home around 8:00 p.m. Monday evening.
Australia is a great place with friendly people. It’s about
the size of the U.S. but with only 20 million inhabitants. I
recommend it to anyone that wants to experience something
different and I would be glad to share my maps and limited
knowledge.
Back home I was attacked by a very excited 10 year old, who
was extremely happy to have his playtoy back.
We had rode,
drove, flown and walked over 22,00 miles.
It
was great to be back on the river and home again.
Holeman
Sydney Opera House
Read
Part I of Holeman's Australian Adventure
CLICK HERE
Australia
photos by Holeman 11/07
Dromedary Camel photo: Wilkipedia
csw/07
One of F.O.R.'s
primary functions is to educate the public
regarding the issues concerning the San Bernard
River and it's Communities. Contact Pat Webb
pat@sanbernardriver.com to schedule a
guest speaker for your group or special event.
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