Uluru/Ayers Rock Road Trip Day 2

Today was a VERY long driving day. We drove over 1200 kms today... roughly 12 hours on the same road just about.

We left Port Augusta relatively early to account for the long drive. We didn't want to get caught driving in the dark for too long with the myriad of wildlife that tends to run across the road.

Driving through the outback was interesting. Every now and again there would be long stretches of nothing but dirt and some grassy shrubs. At other points it was incredibly green with bushes and small trees. Being on the same road for so long was a little bit boring, but you couldn't fully relax because at any point a kangaroo, emu, goat, or cow would appear in the road! And there was sadly so much road kill.

We stopped off in Coober Pedy for gas and the bathroom. On the way up here, and after it, we saw mounds of dirt all over the place. Turns out, opal mining is a main event in Coober Pedy. We also learned that 90% of the world's opals come from Australia, a third from Coober Pedy area alone!

After Coober Pedy, our drive continued. We stopped at the border of South Australia and Northern Territory for a break before continuing on. We got a pretty good sunset from the car which was nice, but did mean we had to drive about an hour in the dark on wildlife watch. Luckily not too much came near the road, just an occasional cow.

We got to Ayers Rock Campground just before 8pm. We got parked, has some showers, and then made some dinner. This is a pretty nice camper, and is redeeming the campervan life for me after the last couple. Because we have a powered site, we even had the A/C on! Tomorrow we are up early for sunrise at Uluru.Read more