Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ons, utes and 4WDs from $125 per day. Based at the Mud Hut Motel.
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Coober Pedy to Marla
The
Breakaways Reserve
is a stark but colourful area of arid hills and scarps 33km
away on a rough road north of Coober Pedy − turn off the highway 22km west of town.
You can drive to a lookout in a conventional vehicle and check out the white-and-yellow
mesa called the
Castle
, which featured in
Mad Max III
and
Priscilla, Queen of the
Desert
. Entry permits (per person $2.20) are available at the Coober Pedy visitor inform-
ation centre.
An interesting 70km loop on mainly unsealed road from Coober Pedy takes in the
Breakaways, the
Dog Fence
(built to keep dingos out of southeastern Australia) and the
table-like
Moon Plain
on the Coober Pedy-Oodnadatta Rd. If it's been raining, you'll
need a 4WD.
If you're heading for Oodnadatta, turning off the Stuart Hwy at Cadney Homestead
(151km north of Coober Pedy) gives you a shorter run on dirt roads than the routes via
Marla or Coober Pedy. En route you pass through the aptly named
Painted Desert
(bring
your camera).
Cadney Homestead
( 08-8670 7994; cad ney@bigpond.com; Stuart Hwy; unpowered/
powered sites $15/25, d cabin/motel $60/115; )
itself has caravan and tent sites, ser-
viceable motel rooms and basic cabins (no linen, shared facilities), plus petrol, puncture
repairs, takeaways, cold beer, ATM, swimming pool...
In mulga scrub about 82km from Cadney Homestead, Marla (population 245) replaced
Oodnadatta as the official regional centre when the
Ghan
railway line was rerouted in
powered sites/cabins $15/25/40, d $100-120;
)
has fuel, motel rooms, camp sites,
pool, a cafe and a supermarket.
Frontier-style Mintabie (population 250) is an opal field settlement on Aboriginal land
35km west of Marla − there's a general store, restaurant and basic caravan park here.
From Marla the NT border is another 180km, with a fuel stop 20km beyond that in
Kulgera.
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