Outback Day 3: Maree - Coober Pedy

Shortly after getting under way on Day 3 we pulled up beside the south shore of Lake Eyre, the world’s 4^th largest lake. As we gazed at the water, or salt, I couldn’t be sure which is was, we become even better acquainted with what is by far the worst part of the outback: the flies. Never in all my life have I come across flies so enormously and consistently irritating. 

No matter where in the outback you may be or pull over, you will be instantly swarmed by flies which won’t be content until they land in your ears, eyes, nose, or mouth. I had to constantly swat all around my head like a crazy person to get any relief (I have since been told this is called the Australian salute). It makes no sense to me how there can be so many flies everywhere in this seemingly lifeless environment. What the hell are they doing the 99% of the time when there’s no humans or big animals around?

The flies go away at night, which is good, but what am I supposed to do the other 10 hours of the day? When we pulled over in Coward Springs, I got my answer. When we arrived I was greeted by, I think, the owner who displayed his horrifying method of coping with the flies. He adopted the “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em approach.” All over his nose, mouth and ears there were at least 20 flies furiously scurrying and filling in every facial crevasse. Even with the most neglected and sickly horse or cow, I have never seen such a dense population of insects on a single head. Coward Springs is pretty much the only tourist attraction along the Oodnadatta Track, and other than fly-infested faces it is just a grimy lukewarm spring/ hot tub that is most welcome to anyone who hasn’t showered in a day or so.

Mr. Fly Face was also kindly able to tell us that it would be raining that night, and all of the roads would be turned into mud. Up until this point we had just been blithely carting ourselves across the outback. Being armed with actual useful knowledge, and desiring not to have fly orgies on our faces while stuck in muddy roads for up to 4 days, we decided we needed to make it to a sealed road before dark. We took a detour from the Oodnadatta Track and made our way to Coober Pedy to get on the Stuart highway (the main Adelaide-Darwin highway).

 

William's Creek: Australia's smallest town (6-10 people) and the turnoff from the Oodnadatta Track to Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a major sight along this highway, but I suppose that is not saying much. It’s main claims to fame include roughly a million piles of dirt stacked from opal mining, a grassless golf course, underground houses, and the backdrop for post-apocalyptic films such as Mad Max 3, Red Planet, and Pitch Black. Since, none of us had much interest in mounds of dirt from Vin Diesel movies, we headed north to find a deserted road we could camp beside.

This proved slightly more difficult than planned since most side roads have large signs that read “Mining Area, Stupid. Explosives and bottomless pits everywhere. We’ll fine you big time.” Eventually we did find a good spot and had another impromptu goon and desert party.