Outback Archives - Tinytrekkers travel the world with kids.

Oceania

Tenant Creek

Tennant Creek Headed North, everyone will pass through this skid mark. A dive of epic proportions, Tennant Creek is 5 decades past a facelift and a century behind the rest of civilisation. Due to there being just a handful of places to stay, price fixing is in full force and nothing shy of $150 will get you a rusty bed in a shady, condemnable room with dodgy air con that stopped working a fortnight before it was invented. The whole town was sold out, not a shout out for quality, more a geographical necessity. Between Alice Springs and Katherine the choices are limited. Tennant creek is a nod to the struggles and issues of the indigenous population. Alcohol laws are in full force, loitering prohibited and crime levels high. It came as no surprise therefore that Tennant Creek was also the place we were robbed. Sat relaxing, I heard something…

Oceania

Alice Springs

Centre of a continent, and the biggest city between Port Augusta and Darwin. In Alice you are half way in and out of the outback and yet still a world away from real civilisation. The most dangerous city in Australia, it is a place that I was dubious about visiting. Everyone I had spoken to warned me, “don’t go out at night”. We scuttled into Alice Springs and headed straight for a resort I’d booked us which has suspiciously changed names from booking to arriving. A little research quelled my unease, Alice has quite a high Aboriginal population, and though most are general, law abiding citizens, a pocket love nothing more than getting smashed off their bonce and then fighting. Alcohol laws are strict, as are rules regarding loitering and, seemingly most things. It was the first time we had seen a strong police presence, with a police man stood…

Oceania

Ayers Rock

Erldunda Whizzing north out of Coober Pedy headed for Ayers Rock, and deeper into the outback brought with it phenomenal changes of landscape, wildlife and climate. It seemed to us that every morning was 1 degree warmer and each afternoon a degree warmer still. Erldunda is a self proclaimed famous roadhouse at the cross roads of Ayers Rock, or Uluru. When planning the journey from Coober Pedy I was faced with two possibilities, head all the way to Alice Springs (Alice) and then back track on a day trip to Uluru. I 100% couldn’t be bothered with wasted miles so zoomed in on google maps and came upon Erldunda, some 5 hours north of Coober Pedy. Between the two places is a great deal of nothing. We stopped for lunch in Marla, and then cruised into Erldunda at the new and improved 130kmh. The roadhouse itself looked somewhat different, almost…

Oceania

The Outback & Coober Pedy

Port Augusta is the crossroads for the north and the outback. A self proclaimed South Australian gem, I must have missed something. From what I saw, the only two things going on in the city was the road in and the road out. Added to the fact we chose to pay $150 for a luxury cabin at Discovery Parks Port Augusta and were completely ripped off, I couldn’t wait to leave the place. Leaving Port Augusta I thought of how best to summarise the place and really, Port Augusta is little more than a skid mark in southern Australia, with the most exciting part of the city being the road out of there. Cooper Pedy and the Outback Synonymous with opals, mining, caves and the outback. Rough and ready Coober Pedy was where finally the weather got decent, and where we all stayed in a gorgeous underground cave. Driving north…