Driving the Outback was an incredible experience (and a seemingly endless one). People often don't realize just how big Australia is until they drive it. It is as large as Canada without the northern islands. We drove for four full days to get to Uluru in the Red Centre. We stopped in Dubbo, Broken Hill, Coober Pedy, and finally Uluru. As soon as we crossed the Blue Mountains near Sydney, we left the green eastern coastline behind and entered the sparse, desolate interior. Gradually there were fewer trees (or at least large trees) and the hills gave way to the flatlands. And yet there was a beauty there (if you looked hard enough and weren't overcome by the boredom and the heat and the flies). There are communities out here (often hours apart) that survive because of mining or agriculture. The farms (or stations) are humongous because the cattle or sheep have so little to graze on. We had a hard time understanding how they could make a living with so little water. We often saw a mailbox (usually a drum or milk can) by the side of the road but no house in sight since it could be many kilometres away. The best way to locate an occasional farm (or station) was to look for a watervane on the horizon.
The people who live out here are a unique breed who will casually say that they drive all day to go shopping in Adelaide for a weekend. It's like telling people you are headed to Calgary (from Winnipeg) to get some new clothes (with no towns in between). And you'd better make sure you watch your gas gauge because there are often two hour gaps between roadhouses (and three or four between tiny towns). We gave one person a ride who had miscalculated. The roadhouses are islands in the middle of the vastness and it is quite a shock to walk into one after not seeing another building for two hours and finding all the amenities of a store or restaurant back in the city (at insane prices of course) with extremely helpful and seemingly normal people working in them (despite being so isolated).
One of the things that really hit us (not literally, thankfully) was all the roadkill. Animals are everywhere in the Outback and quite often that means on the road as well. We had to watch out for roaming cows, horses, and goats since there were next to no fences. Then there were all the kangaroos, emus, and camels (originally brought to bring supplies to Alice Springs but then set free to roam and destroy the desert vegetation). Eagles were often sitting in the middle of the road cleaning up the dead animals and almost daring you to not swerve around them. Besides animal carcasses there were also plenty of 'dead' burned out vehicles on the side of the road. We were told to NEVER leave your car if something goes wrong or there will be nothing left when you return.
We also had to watch out for the roadtrains which were often three trailers long and could practically blow our little car off the road when they passed. We passed the occasional salt lake as well as dry river beds with metre sticks to show how deep the water is when it floods the road. Out here you don't bother building bridges for a river that flows a few days a year. Another interesting sight was the train traveling along the lonely track all the way from Perth a few thousand kilometres to the west.
And then there was Tony Mangan, an Irish long long long distance runner, who was slowly limping his way down the empty desert highway in the oppressive heat while swatting a gazillion flies. He has been running around the world since 2010 and hopes to finish by the end of next year. We actually ended up passing him three times as we made a few back and forth trips near Alice Springs. Can you say tough (or crazy)? It was interesting to stop and talk to him and he would have talked all day since he was probably bored out of his mind. He holds the 48 hour distance records in competition and treadmill categories. I wonder what he's running from?
Besides watching for animals, roadtrains, and lost Irish runners, we realized that you also had to look up to ensure you weren't driving on the unofficial runway for the flying doctor's service. Out here you use whatever is necessary to get the job done so the highway doubles as an airport runway.
There is a beauty to the Outback and after staring at the red horizon endlessly for ten days we can honestly say we certainly saw lots of sights we wouldn't have seen anywhere else. A ghost gum tree against a blue sky with red soil all around is a glorious sight. Now if only there was a way to deal with the bazillion flies that follow you everywhere and can literally drive you mad.
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