Rock Patrol: Days 1 & 2

Alligator Gorge

Day 1 Early on Wednesday morning I arrived at the Groovy office where tour guide Brian was waiting for me with the Groovy bus to start our desert trip. The swags, our beds for the next few days, were all loaded on the top of the trailer.

We picked all the 15 passengers up from the hostels in town and made our way up north. The first stop was at Clare Valley, which is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions, where we stopped to buy some drinks to share in the evening.  

The Southern Flinders Ranges are located next to the Clare Valley and east of the Spencer Gulf known for its beautiful nature.  Our campsite was in Wilmington, Stoney Creek. We had lunch at the campsite and because the rain seemed like it could come down any minute we decided that we would sleep in bunk beds in the shed that night. 

In the afternoon we took a hike through Alligator Gorge and spotted some kangaroos bouncing around. The walk through the Gorge was about an hour an a half and was absolutely beautiful. During this time people got to know each other a bit better, as most people were asleep on the bus.

After a lovely barbeque dinner at night the entire group played some card games, but didn’t go to bed that late because we had to get up early the next morning, to drive to Coober Pedy.

Don't fall asleep - you might miss a camel crossing

Day 2 After breakfast we headed to Coober Pedy, which was around 600 km away from Wilmington. The landscape that you drive through on the way is very remote; you can drive for hours and not see a car, person or town. You should pay attention though because you will spot camels, snakes, lizards, kangaroos, dingos and other wildlife over the drive. We made a stop at a Lake Hart, a beautiful salt lake where we took some nice pictures.

Lake Hart

Late in the afternoon we arrived in Coober Pedy, which is known as the opal capital of the world. We did an opal mine tour at Umoona, where you see a video about the history of opal mining and take a tour through an opal mine. They also show you how the town’s people live underground, which is quite interesting to see. For dinner we ordered some pizzas and enjoyed a couple of drinks, played some more card games and enjoyed each others company. That night we slept like the locals, underground! The locals sleep underground because the temperature outside is really hot and underground it is always constant and comfortable at 20 degrees Celsius.

Opal Mine - Coober Pedy

Next week you can read more about the Rock Patrol tour, we will cross the border of the Northern Territory and will finally see the big red rock: Uluru, do the amazing Kata Tjuta Walk and go to Kings Creek Station.