We spent two nights in Coober Pedy location for Mad Max and you can see why . These “blowers” are vacuum cleaners on steroids and bring up the soil from underground . Very mad max .
The landscape is crazy -thousands and thousands of spoil heaps from Opal Mining from weekenders to corporations.
Click on the link to see some drone shots for this part of the trip Red Centre 2021
The backdrop is a horizon that never ends , in one direction gibber fields (fist size rocks ) and the other sandy desert . Lots of opal shops and petrol stations . It is also famous for many buildings being under ground from houses to hotels and even a campsite. Being underground protects you from the hot days and cool nights of the desert . Its also a great hook for tourists ! We tried to find a dog friendly underground hotel but that was too niche ! We stayed at the Old Timers Museum which is a free site so we took the tour round the old mine and underground house . It was fascinating . 
From Coober Pedy to Old halls creek we travelled around 1300 km of some very challenging gravel /offroad tracks. We went to Oodnadatta then onto Marla , the Buchanan Highway to Top Springs then down the Buntine and Duncan Highways to Old Halls Creek settlement . We had a night in Alice springs in the middle but to be honest its a pretty depressing place at the moment with substance abuse and crime . So we used the time to food and fuel up and get out of Dodge.
Our off road endeavours resulted in all of our water pipework being ripped off or damaged , the grey water piping from the shower being smashed .Now repaired and replaced with metal parts where possible . We had a few amazing bush camps in the desert near Oodnadatta and Top Springs .
And of course we had to mark World Nude Gardening day too. Apologies to the road train truckie that past behind us when the shoot took place . 
We then had 5 days to recharge at Old Halls Creek Lodge . This spot is steeped in European settlers history , the first place in Western Australia to find gold , the old settlement still can be seen in places with old streets , fireplaces still visible and one building preserved . Old Halls creek also played a key role in the setting up of the Flying Doctors . In the early 1900s a postmaster operated on a sick man receiving directions from a doctor 1300 km away . The operation was a success but the mans health declined and the doctor made the journey to try and save the man . Unfortunately he arrived 24 hours too late. This incident was pivotal in the creation of the Flying Doctors service.
Ross was the caretaker at the Old Halls Creek lodge, he had suffered a horrendous mining accident when he was maintaining a roller conveyor and his fingers got trapped resulting in him having his arm torn off at the shoulder . They were unable to re-attach. He runs a landscaping business but was helping out a friend by looking after the lodge .I was feeling like I needed some exercise so i got my chainsaw out and dropped a few problem trees for him and cut them up into logs for us and the other campers. .It was doing this that I met Estonian Henry . Henry and his partner Grace were stranded at the lodge because their little van was having its timing belt replaced in Halls Creek . Henry was from Estonia and was extremely interesting with stories of his national service , black market vodka smuggling , nose to tail recipes from the old country and the diy drone he was making from scratch . Henry mucked in clearing up the cut trees and debris.
It was during this big clear up that I engaged my feet and placed then firmly in my mouth .We were moving a stack of logs about 100m . I asked Ross if he had a wheelbarrow we could borrow .He said no .
I woke in the night with a start realising what i had asked for – my conscious mind may have been numb but subconsciously there was some life . Unsurprisingly he didn’t have one . Wheelbarrows are somewhat testing for a one armed man ! 
I also was asked to help Ron the local painter out . He is also a gold miner and has a lease of 200acres near the lodge . He got his little vehicle stuck in a creek and had to walk the 5k in 37 degrees back to the lodge .We drove back out to his van and we managed to easily tow him out . Ron can only mine in the dry season because he requires very dry earth for his machinery. But for 6 months of the year he can get an ounce of gold a day with only his labour and 100 dollars in diesel ! He told me an ounce of gold fetches about 2000 dollars …….
He was also lamenting about his town of Halls Creek . He had 5 cars stolen in the last 12 months and reckoned this was not out of keeping with other residents experience . Mainly taken for joy rides and a few to take his tools of trade.
It may surprise non Australians that the prohibition of alcohol exists in many remote communities in rural Australia. In Halls Creek you can only buy packaged alcohol of a strength of 2.7%. So no wine, no spirits and only weak beer or rtds. A case of 2.7% beer costs 70 dollars and a case of full strength beer on the very active black market comes in at 150 dollars (nearly 4 times what i can buy it for in melbourne) . There are no plans to limit the strength of the methamphetamine that has got a hold of these areas at the moment . Who knows what the solution is to the substance abuse in rural communities and the causal effects behind it but prohibition doesn’t work based on what we saw first hand in Halls Creek .
Very impressive filming ! You seem to be settling in well with a variety of different people😂 I still think you must have bought that big fish