Roadhouse mayhem

Our final day at the Red Centre was spent with a final morning at Uluru.  We visited a few stops we’d passed earlier on the trip including a walking track that took us right up on to the base of the rock itself.  Close up you really start to appreciate its uniquely textured surface.  We did momentarily stop to consider climbing the rock.  However, the trail was closed due to high winds at the summit.

Our final hour in Yulara was spent visiting art galleries.  We were keen to find the perfect Aboriginal artwork for our apartment.  We’d almost given up hope when we stumbled across a spectacular piece created by Justin Ronberg Japurrula.  It’s now framed and sits pride of place at the top of our internal staircase.

We then took a leisurely 247km drive back down the Lasseter Highway.  Our destination for the evening was the Eridunda Roadhouse, situated on the intersection where the Lasseter Highway meets the Sturt Highway.  It’s considered the largest Roadhouse on the Sturt Highway so we thought it’d be the ideal place for us to experience at least one night at a classic Roadhouse.

Along the way, we stopped at the Mt Connor Lookout to soak in the view of this mesa formation towering over the desert.  Mt Connor is privately owned and so, for most visitors, this is as close as you’ll ever get.  On the opposite side of the road from the lookout is a vivid red dune.  We climbed it to get a better view. At its crest, we discovered it also offered an impressive panorama of several permanently dry salt flats stretching out across the Outback.  The entire lake formation is hidden from the road by dunes.  We’d have never seen it had we not stopped and gone for a walk.

Our Roadhouse stop proved to be more of an adventure than we’d ever expected.  The experience started well.  We arrived late afternoon in time to witness our road trip’s most stunning sunset from a viewing platform built on a low hill behind the main complex.  The Roadhouse also houses a menagerie of Outback fauna including Camels, Kangaroos and Emus.  We then enjoyed a wholesome meal at the Roadhouse Diner before settling down for the night.

The following morning our Roadhouse experience took a turn for the worse.  At times it was like watching a slow-motion car crash unfold.  Almost everything that could have gone badly wrong did.  I rose early and made my way to the shower block. Inside I found every toilet was overflowing and the showers were running cold.  Needless to say, I turned and walked straight out again.

Then, as we got ready to depart the campground, I managed to lock us out of the Motorhome with the keys inside. We tried every conceivable idea to get back in with no avail. We began contemplating a call to the hire company and resigning ourselves to a lost day of travel and hundreds of dollars in callout fees.

Then, just as all hope was lost, a late-departing couple told me the maintenance guy was still on site. I’d been told earlier by a rather dopey back-packer receptionist that it was his day off. I eventually tracked him down in a nearby cabin and secured a wire coat-hanger.  Garry then worked his magic and eventually got a sliding window to open.  Even better the shower block drains had cleared and the hot water was back on tap. We finally departed the Roadhouse only hour or so behind schedule.