Sculpture
Spaceship
Check out this amazing leftover prop from the film Pitch Black, which has crash-landed on Hutchison St (a minor Millennium Falcon?). Intricate, creative, unexpected and somehow disquieting – words can't quite do it justice.
Outback South Australia
The area north of the Eyre Peninsula and the Flinders Ranges stretches into the vast, empty spaces of the South Australian outback – about 70% of the state, covering the traditional lands of dozens of Indigenous nations. If you're prepared, travelling through this sparsely populated and harsh country is utterly rewarding.
Heading into the red heart of Australia, Woomera is the first pit stop, with its dark legacy of nuclear tests and shiny collection of left-over rockets. Further north on the Stuart Hwy and along the legendary Oodnadatta and Strzelecki Tracks, eccentric outback towns such as William Creek, Innamincka and Coober Pedy emerge from the heat haze. This is no country for the faint-hearted: it's waterless, fly-blown and dizzyingly hot. No wonder the opal miners in Coober Pedy live underground.
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Outback South Australia.
House
Crocodile Harry's
As seen in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, this wildly eccentric underground abode was once home to Arvid Blumenthal, a Latvian-born runaway (quite possibly a Nazi) who poached crocs in Queensland for many years then moved to Coober Pedy. Covered in graffiti and spangled with sculptures, artworks, posters, hats, carvings and relics of his love life, Harry's house is bizarre, amusing, amazing and pornographic in equal doses. It's about 6km northwest of town, beyond the golf club (not the Thunderdome).
Nature Reserve
Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park
The Breakaways Reserve is a stark but colourful area of arid hills, mesas and scarps 32km north from Coober Pedy along a rough road − turn off the highway 22km west of town. Entry permits ($10 per vehicle per 24 hours) are available at the Coober Pedy Visitor Information Centre; note that Indigenous land owners may change this process at some stage in the future. Get some solid directions from the visitor centre too.
Nature Reserve
Innamincka Regional Reserve
Within Innamincka Regional Reserve (if it's not too hot) there are some great hiking opportunities, plus canoeing and shady bush camping sites along Cooper Creek, which has deep permanent waterholes. Innamincka Trading Post sells camping permits (per vehicle $12), or you can use a Desert Parks Pass. There's a hot shower ($2) and toilet outside the Trading Post.
Lake
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, the world's sixth-largest lake, is just off the Oodnadatta Track. It's usually dry but a couple of times in recent years it has filled with flood waters running in from Queensland. When this happens (only once every decade or so), the explosion of bird life is astonishing! It's also the lowest point on the Australian continent, bottoming-out at 15.2m below sea level.
National Park
Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Park
Prior to European settlement, this area – an amazing ecosystem of semi-permanent desert wetlands – had a large Aboriginal population; relics such as middens and grinding stones can still be seen. Campsites are available (per vehicle $12). The park is 100km northwest of Innamincka; ask at the Innamincka Trading Post for directions.
Museum
Old Timers Mine
This interesting warren of tunnels was mined in 1916, and then hidden by the miners. The mine was rediscovered in 1968 when excavations for a dugout home punched through into the labyrinth of tunnels. As well as the great self-guided tunnel tours, there's a museum, a re-created 1920s underground home, and free mining-equipment demos daily (9.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm).
Sculpture
Mutonia Sculpture Park
Mutonia Sculpture Park – about 60km west of Marree – emerges from the desert unexpectedly. All sorts of wacky weldings stand mute in the heat, including several planes welded together with their tails buried in the ground to form Planehenge. For a preview, check out www.atlasobscura.com/places/mutonia-sculpture-park.
Museum
Umoona Opal Mine & Museum
For a terrific introduction to Coober Pedy – including history, fossils, desert habitats, Aboriginal culture, ecology and mining – take a wander through this free maze-like underground museum, run by the Umoona shop. Book yourself on a guided tour (10am, 2pm and 4pm) if you want a deeper insight.