Caravan World – May 2019

REPAIRS

Service and Warrantyworkshop

HUGE RANGE

Of repair partsforthetradesmanandhandyman

WARRANTY AGENTS

For most majorcaravanmanufacturers

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

For the home builderandrepairer

SYDNEY’S L ARGEST INSTALLER

For all Dometic and Air Command products

121 Hume Highway

Lansvale NSW 2166

Ph: (02) 9728 6366

SPARE PARTS

BA RNES

CARAVANS

CVW-QV-5032320-CS-553-XCC

OPEN

6

DAYS

“The Breakaways comprise MVRL52262

a traditional teaching

place for young men

and Antakirinja Matu-

Yankunytjatjara culture

does not permit full details

of the stories to be shared”

leadingtolowerstockingrates.

Turningnorthwestatthefence,thereis

a minordirtroadthatwindsitswayinto

theconservationparkforabout14kmto

thelookouts.Witheverypassingkilometre,

theformationsloomeverlargerandmore

colourful,passingPapaKutjara,Watiand

Kalayabeforeclimbingtheplateau,from

whichthebeautifulBreakawaysare

spreadoutbelow.

Asimpressiveastheyarewhenviewedat

closerangeongroundlevel,thiselevated

perspectiveaffordsvisitorsa stunning

panoramaoftheseancientmarvels,

especiallylateinthedaywhenthecolours

changewiththesettingsun.

Thereisnocampingoraccommodation

availablewithintheparkbutCooberPedy

offersseveraloptions.Mountainbikingis

currentlynotpermitted,andthereareno

bushwalkingtrailsotherthansomeinformal

tracksaround(butnotover)theformations

andbetweenthelookouts.

ButjustthesightoftheamazingKanku-

Breakawaysisrewardenoughfora visit— a

trulyquintessentialoutbackexperience

embracinga strikinglybeautifullandscape

richinIndigenousheritage.

TRAVEL

Kanku-Breakaways

Conservation Park, SA

numerous cretaceous marine creatures,

such as 5m dolphin-like ichthyosaurs,

plesiosaurs, fish and sharks. So unusual

is the modern-day landscape that several

filmmakers have considered it the perfect

setting for movies including Mad Max

Beyond the Thunderdome, Priscilla Queen of

the Desert, Pitch Black, The Osiris Child and

The Red Planet (about Mars, not the moon).

After about 15km, Kempe Road intersects

the Dog Fence — the world’s longest fence.

It was built during the 1880s as a barrier to

dingoes, in order to protect sheep flocks in

the fertile pastures of the continent’s south-

east, where the native dogs had largely been

exterminated. (One station alone lost more

than 11,000 sheep in a year due to dingo

attacks before the completion of the fence.)

One of the longest structures in the world,

the fence stretches 5614km from Jimbour

on Queensland’s Darling Downs through

the arid inland to the Great Australian Bight

near Nundroo, west of Ceduna. Although

the fence has helped reduce sheep losses

to these native predators, its effectiveness

has been reduced through damage caused

by feral camels and increased pasture

competition from rabbits and kangaroos,

TAKE A BREAK(AWAY)
Despite its remote location and forbidding
desert environment, The Breakaways are
easy to find and easy to get around. The
park lies 25km north of Coober Pedy via the
Stuart Highway, and is accessed from the
west by a 5km dirt road from the highway to
the main lookouts perched on the rim of a
crumbling escarpment with expansive views
of the beautiful formations rising from the
surrounding plains.
The alternative, and by far the more
interesting, route is to approach the
Breakaways from the southeast. From
Coober Pedy, follow Kempe Road east
towards Oodnadatta on a firm gravel track.
On the outskirts of town, travellers are
confronted by a road sign that blares in
large red letters, “Remote Areas Ahead”
and, cresting a low rise beyond it, Moon
Plain stretches away to the horizon in
every direction.
This vast, flat expanse is aptly named for
its likeness to a lunar landscape — a red
gibber desert, seemingly devoid of all life
— and a very daunting sight indeed. From
this ancient Eromanga seabed have been
recovered the opalised fossil remains of