2002/11 Australia trip - Mount Remarkable |
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The country south of Coober Pedy is desolate. The maps show lakes, but they are salt lakes, and the countryside around these is much like the area west of Salt Lake City. We stopped at one of these lakes for lunch and walked down to the “beach”, only to find a sign that said that the lake was part of a bombing range and contained unexploded bombs.
There was a railway line along the lakeshore and I was lying on the track exploring camera shots when a 
train came around the corner. In the USA, I would have had plenty of time to take a picture and saunter out of the way. Not here! The train was doing about 60 MPH, so it was a scramble to get off the track and shoot off one picture while the engineer kept his hand on the horn.
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Stuart Salt Lake (3.17) |
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Pyramid Lake (0.58) |
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There were more salt lakes as we continued south. We reached Pimba, the “gateway to Woomera”. Woomera has been closed for decades, off-limits to civilians, so this was intriguing, but a quick look at Pimba convinced us not to bother with Woomera.
We reached the sea at Port Augusta, about 1500 miles from the beach in Darwin. The coast was not very interesting, so we planned to camp in the mountains. We found our way to Mount Remarkable National Park. We didn’t think the “mount” was very remarkable, but the park was a magical spot.
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Mount Remarkable (11.31) |
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The forest was straight out of “Lord of the Rings” with wide, spreading trees, with gnarled and massive 
branches. We expected to see elves and hobbits any minute.
What we did see were emus and kangaroos on the ground and hundreds of birds in the trees. The emus are very inquisitive and we met one beak-to-nose on the trail. 
He was very interested in meeting us and only backed off when I used the camera’s flash.
Monday October 28th
We were up well before dawn to get ready for a 1000 Km day. Is a 1000 Km a megameter? I heard someone walking up behind me as I was cooking an early breakfast, and then a beak came over my shoulder to see what was on the menu. Emus and humans have similar weight and stride and appetite.