Deane & Jack's Motorcycle Trip in
Australia and New Zealand
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Deane & Jack's Motorcycle Trip in Australia and New Zealand |
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April 3 - Coober Pedy - South Australia to Erldunda, Northern Territory 495 km (307 Miles) |
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Before we left Coober Pedy, the owner of the underground motel showed us through the various areas that they dug out for the rooms and halls of the motel. They started actual clean-out and enlargement of the mine in 1991, and have continued to add more rooms since then. We were in Room 16, and I would estimate they had twice as many rooms as that. It appears that they bought a mine which had several vertical shafts and several horizontal shafts, and proceeded to connect and enlarge them. They hired a mining friend to use his big machine to make 3 meter high (about 10 ft. high) ceilings through the rooms and hallways. They also have a dining area and a convention room which would hold maybe 100 people or more. Just imagine the size of a motel above ground to have all of those rooms and facilities, and you can appreciate the level of effort to do that underground. One thing about the underground rooms, if you want it dark, you can have it absolutely dark! Today's ride took us into the real "Bush" and "Outback". In the process, we crossed the boundary between the state of South Australia and the territory of Northern Territory. I think that the difference between a State and a Territory is the degree of self government. The Territory probably has more things provided by the central government, because of its sparse number of people to tax. The three Australia Territories also have fewer representatives to their Parliment. And Northern Territory is a very large, sparsely populated area. We are headed for "Ayer's Rock", with the native name of "Uluru", and for Alice Springs. It is definitely desert, although there were many areas having degrees of desert. First there were areas that got enough rain for trees and bushes like these.
And some other areas get very little rain, and look like this.
In all of the area that we rode through, the predominant color of the sandy desert is red, red, red!! That's why they call this the "Red Center", and I guess we are in the middle of the Red Center. There is only one paved road through this whole area, so you can't get lost (as long as you stay on the pavement). We met several "Road Trains" today, and they really didn't cause us any trouble as long as they were approaching us from the opposite direction. However, we rode up behind one going the same direction as ourselves, but slower, so we had to pass. Passing a truck pulling three trailers takes some guts, with the necessity for a longer time in the opposing lane of a two-lane road, while being beside those big wheels. We did meet one four-trailer tank truck, and counted fifty-eight wheels on that monster. How would you like to buy tires for that baby!! For the Wildlife Report, we saw three eagles today, one eating a snake, one eating road kill, and one sitting on the ground in the shade of a small tree. We have yet to see any more Kangaroos since that first day near Brisbane. However, we are making a consciences effort not to ride at dawn and as dusk when these nocturnal animals are out and about. Oh yes, the temperatures today weren't bad at all. We started riding at about 80 degrees, F, and rode most of the day at up to 85 degrees F, ending at our motel at about 88 Degrees F. Not bad. Tomorrow we are to go Uluru, and see that big rock. |
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