Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline - 25-27 May 2009

For this trip, we were on Ngadjuri and Andyamathanha Country.

Entering the Australian desert. The sign points the way.


Wind turbines at Hallett.


The barren red landscape of the desert.


Our ride, a Toyota Prado.


Flinders Ranges in the distance.


Enjoying the view.


Just like the Hunters and Collectors song "When the River Runs Dry". These rivers are impassable with a bit of rain.




We were just driving along when all of a sudden, this roo jumped out from behind the bushes right into the path of our car to its death.




Magic at sunset.


Spectacular desert sunrise.


Gammon Ranges in the background.

We stayed the night at the compressor station 4 accommodation. This is where all the field maintenance staff stay when they are on roster. These guys work for 15 days straight for 10 hours per day out along the pipeline in the middle of nowhere and then have 14 days off. One of these guys lives in New Zealand and flies into Adelaide when he's on roster. Given that it's probably a good 200-300km to the nearest town, the place is stocked up! It has a bit of a school camp feel to it.

The Compressor Station 4 accommodation.


The spacious kitchen.


The dining table.


Recreational area.


Comfy bed in my room.


A 3-chamber walk-in fridge with all the essentials.


All meat and ice cream you could ever want.


The pantree.

On to the boring stuff.

Burra Meter Station.


A gas station at Whyte Yarcowie.


Compressor Station 5.




The pipeline itself. Without this pipe, Adelaide would go into meltdown.