162 caravanworld.com.au
T
he Kanku-Breakaways Conservation
Park, in the heart of South Australia,
is a unique and strikingly beautiful
landscape of profound cultural
significance to Aboriginal people as
well as a major drawcard for the nearby opal
mining town of Coober Pedy.
It embraces almost 15,000 hectares of
majestic arid scenery — flat-topped mesas
rising from a stony gibber desert, daubed
in a palette of brilliant white, golden yellow,
rosypink and sunburnt ochre.
Itis important in itself and as part of a
etwork of reserves that are critical to the
conservation of the SA outback.NATURAL WONDERS
From a distance, this scattering of low hills
appears to have ‘broken away’ from the
higher escarpment of the nearby Stuart
Range, earning them their common name of
‘The Breakaways’.
But appearances can be deceptive and this
simple epithet gives little clue to the complex
forces of nature that have created these
geological marvels.n“These erosive forces continue to work on the ancient
landforms in a climate that is arguably the hottest and driest
of any region on the continent”
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE The vista from above is phenomenal; back in camp after a day trip out to the Breakaways; overlooking Hutchison St in downtown
Coober Pedy; one of the Two Dogs at Papa Kutjara; The 'Blower' is an integral part of small-scale opal mining at Coober Pedy