Coober Pedy Mail Run
"Where are you goin"?
"Mail run William Creek".
"Oh yer"
"All the way up there".
"Oh yer, the weather's beautiful today".
Monday morning and John Stillwell . . . or Stillie to his mates . . . is off to pick up another load of mail.
This stretch of bitumen through the rough and tumble town of Coober Pedy is the last we'll see for about six hundred kilometres as John soon heads off on the William Creek road with its warnings to all those who venture off the beaten track.
Stillie's done this remote mail run about 700 times before . . . and there's always a few unseen spectators marking his progress.
While it looks hopelessly barren and inhospitable . . . this country marks the divide between two of our most profitable rural industries.
"Well dingoes as you're probably aware are wild dogs and they love killing sheep. Without this fence, we probably wouldn't have a sheep industry in the pastoral part of Southern Australia".
Out here people like to think big. The sign says the dog fence is over nine thousand, six hundred kilometres long. In fact, it's just over five and a half thousand . . . and that's long enough when you consider how remote this is. The fence was built in the thirties and forties and snakes its way from the rugged cliffs of the Great Australian Blight all the way to the Queensland coast . . . a truly epic engineering feat.
"It would have been especially in the days of the late thirties and forties, all the posts cut by hand and post holes dug by hand".
To one side sheep industry . . . to the other cattle and country vast enough for any dingo to roam free. Soon enough we spot one.
In the shimmering heat of the afternoon sun . . . he's slowly covering ground in search of a feed and prefers to be left alone.
The next stop on the mail run . . . is a bit of a surprise.
"So, this is the Lake here or the inlet"?
'Yep, that's it the Curiappa inlet . . . and up on the rise you'll see the lake take a bend around to the left".
"So, it's a pretty big lake"?
"Yer, it's a good size, yep".
Maybe not the biggest stretch of water, but it certainly has an impressive name . . . Lake Cadibarrawirricanna. Apparently it's the longest place name in Australia. It's an aboriginal name which means stars shimmering on the water. Today we're a bit early but the sun is certainly doing its bit.
Like I said out here they think big . . . and rightly so. This salt water lake sits on Anna Creek Station . . . the biggest cattle station in the world.
"About ten thousand square miles give or take a little bit".
"As big as some countries"?
"Yer about the same as Holland".
"It is"?
"Yer Roundabout".
"And that's just one station!"
"Yer, Holland's got a population of seventeen million, and Anna Creek's got a population of about twenty odd . . . give or take one or two".
But what it lacks in people . . . it makes up for in flies and cattle.
In fact there are sixteen thousand Santa Gertrudis cattle on this station scattered across miles and miles of outback South Australia.
John's a man who likes to keep moving. He was once a Star Force Police Officer in Adelaide . . . then become the local cop at Coober Pedy.
"I left the Police Force in 85"
"And then an opal miner"?
"Yer I was mining for quite a few years . . . and then I started doing this mail run and mining as well. I haven't been mining now for about three years, I guess since I finished mining".
"And for people you look after this is absolutely essential"?
"Yer they, I guess they rely on their mail, and it's a twice weekly delivery now, so that's a bit better than it was a few years ago".
This road's a four lane highway compared to the ones that early mail pioneers like Tom Kruse used to cover on his trips to Birdsville, but even so it can pose a few problems when the rains strike.
But for us, the mail does get through to Grant McSporron . . . the Station Manager at Anna Creek.
"How ya goin John"?
"Good".
"What ya got"?
"A bit of mail".
"How ya goin"?
"Good to meet ya".
We arrived just as John was briefing his mustering pilot. He'll take to the sky and radio back information on the location of cattle . . . and for a job like this, you need to get your bearings.
"This is the main highway here".
And while some are gearing up for a big day . . . others at Anna Creek Station think about the work ahead and then think again.
And finally we arrive at our next mail delivery . . . the William Creek store before taking in the sights. For out of towners this might seem like the middle of nowhere . . . but for the locals all roads lead to William Creek and with Woomera relatively nearby . . . you never know who or what will drop in.
But regardless of why you're here . . . the outback sunset makes it all worthwhile.
Come morning and a new day beckons on this epic road trip . . . but not before a little sustenance.
Heading north from William Creek and you're on the legendary Oodnadatta Track . . . a track steeped in the history of this ancient land.
"Common area for aborigines to wander along"
"Like a trade route".
"Yer, there were lots of springs and natural water along here".
As you drive this track . . . the history of this nation is everywhere. The explorer John McDougall Stuart come through here on his transcontinental crossing. The old Overland Telegraph line linking Australia to the outside world followed this route and so to did the Afgan cameleers . . . after whom a railway would later be named.
But the absolute essential out here is water. And there's plenty of it . . . underground. The Great Artesian Basin lies like an inland sea beneath the surface . . . and where ever it's drawn to the surface life bursts forth.
As we pass through creek crossings . . . the tourist traffic increases . . . and many have come a long way to see impressive examples like these . . . in nineteenth century steel . . . of how the early pioneers sought to conquer this harsh country.
The old Ghan railway bridges and railway sidings glide by and soon we're travelling through pink gibber country which helps makes sense of our next mail top . . . the Pink Road House at Oodnadatta. From here there are other epic trips to be made in even harder terrain where it pays to show the country infinite respect . . . but also retain a sense of humour.
For us its time for an Oodna Burger and then another two hundred kilometre trip back home to Cooper Pedy.
The Cooper Pedy Mail Run costs $90.00 and departs every Monday and Thursday. For books contact John Stillwell on 1800 069911.
For more information you can email: info@postcards.sa.com.au
