Adelaide to Coober Pedy Road Trip – Our Amazing Australian Outback Adventure 🚗🇦🇺
After a good night’s rest in Adelaide, it was finally time to continue our big Australian road trip.
Our ultimate destination is Uluru, but instead of trying to drive all the way there in one day, we planned to stop overnight in Coober Pedy, one of the most unique towns in the Australian Outback.
I had been looking forward to this part of our journey so much!
We have lived in Australia for many years, but driving through the middle of this enormous country feels completely different from everyday life in Melbourne.
And today, our real Outback adventure began.
An Early Start – Around 7 AM
We knew we had a very long drive ahead of us, so we started our morning early.
For breakfast, we kept things simple and had cereal and Weet-Bix at home. Nothing fancy, but perfect before spending a full day on the road!
After breakfast, we packed everything into the car, checked our supplies one more time and set off at around 7 AM.
And off we went!
Next destination: Coober Pedy!
At first, the scenery still looked relatively familiar. There were towns, farms, trees and signs of everyday life.
But as we continued driving north, everything slowly began to change.
The towns became smaller.
The traffic became lighter.
The landscape became drier.
And the sky seemed to become bigger and bigger.
It felt like we were slowly leaving the city world behind and entering the real Australian Outback.
The Road Just Kept Going… and Going!
One of the most fascinating things about this road trip was watching the landscape change through the car window.
The further north we travelled, the fewer buildings we saw.
Soon, there was mostly just open land, blue sky and a long highway stretching towards the horizon.
Sometimes we could drive for quite a while without seeing much at all.
And somehow, that was exactly what made it beautiful.
Coming from Melbourne, where we are surrounded by houses, shops, traffic and people, this enormous empty landscape felt almost unreal.
At times, the road seemed endless.
You look ahead…
Road.
You look behind…
More road.
You look to the left and right…
Outback! 😂
This is when you really begin to understand just how enormous Australia is.
On a map, you might look at two places and think,
“Oh, that doesn’t look too far!”
Then you start driving.
And driving.
And driving some more! 😂
But that is also part of the fun of an Australian road trip.
For us, this journey isn't only about reaching Uluru. The road itself is becoming part of the adventure.
Lunch Stop at Port Augusta 🍔
After several hours on the road, we arrived in Port Augusta.
It was the perfect place to take a break, stretch our legs and have some lunch before continuing north towards Coober Pedy.
And what did we eat?
A very practical Australian road-trip lunch…
Hungry Jack’s! 😂
Sometimes when you are travelling, you don’t need a fancy restaurant.
You just want somewhere easy where you can grab some food, use the bathroom, have a short rest and get back on the road.
So Hungry Jack’s was perfect for us.
After lunch, we got back into the car and continued our journey towards Coober Pedy.
And this was when the scenery really started to feel different.
I remember looking outside and thinking,
“Now we are really entering the Outback.”
Into the Australian Outback
As we travelled further north from Port Augusta, towns and buildings became much less frequent.
The landscape became wide, dry and incredibly open.
There were stretches of road where there seemed to be almost nothing around us.
Just us, our car and the highway.
Every now and then, a vehicle would come from the opposite direction, and strangely, it almost felt nice to see another person! 😂
Driving through this part of South Australia also made me realise why people always tell you to prepare carefully before travelling through the Outback.
Fuel stops can be far apart, mobile phone reception can disappear in some areas, and carrying enough drinking water is very important.
This is definitely not like driving around Melbourne!
But despite the long distance, I loved looking at the scenery.
The Australian sky seemed unbelievably huge, and the road disappeared into the horizon in front of us.
You can see photographs of the Outback many times, but actually driving through it yourself is a completely different experience.
Finally! We Arrived in Coober Pedy
After leaving at around 7 AM and spending most of the day travelling, we finally arrived in Coober Pedy at around 6:30 PM.
What a long day!
But when we finally saw Coober Pedy, the tiredness suddenly felt worth it.
We made it!
And there was another surprise waiting for us.
Our accommodation here is very different from an ordinary hotel.
Coober Pedy is famous around the world for its opal mining history and its unusual underground homes and accommodation.
Because of the extreme Outback temperatures, many buildings here have been constructed underground.
And tonight, we are experiencing it ourselves!
The place we are staying is so unusual and beautiful.
The moment we entered, I was fascinated by the walls, the texture of the rock and the cave-like atmosphere.
It feels completely different from staying in a normal city hotel.
There is something peaceful and almost magical about being surrounded by the natural rock.
I kept looking around thinking,
“Are we really sleeping underground tonight?”
Only in Coober Pedy! ❤️
Of course, I took plenty of photos because this is definitely one of those places you have to see to understand.
Our Korean Dinner in the Middle of the Australian Outback 🇰🇷
After such a long day of driving, we didn’t really feel like going out looking for a restaurant.
Luckily, we came prepared!
And tonight’s dinner was probably one of the funniest combinations of this entire trip.
We had brought Korean military-style ready meals all the way from Korea! 😂
We prepared them with rice and several homemade Korean side dishes that I had made and packed before our trip.
So there we were…
In the middle of the Australian Outback…
Inside our unusual underground accommodation in Coober Pedy…
Eating Korean rice, ready meals and homemade side dishes!
I had to laugh.
How did our Korean food end up all the way out here? 😂
It wasn’t a fancy restaurant dinner, but after spending almost the entire day on the road, it tasted absolutely wonderful.
There is something so comforting about eating familiar food when you are travelling far from home.
Warm rice and Korean side dishes after a long drive?
Perfect.
Our food had travelled a very long way, but tonight it definitely did its job!
A Long Day, but an Unforgettable One
We left at around 7 AM and arrived in Coober Pedy at approximately 6:30 PM.
It was a long day on the road, but I don’t think of today as simply a day of driving.
It was part of the adventure.
We watched the scenery change as we travelled north through South Australia.
We stopped at Port Augusta for lunch.
We drove along seemingly endless Outback highways.
We watched towns disappear and the landscape become wider and more remote.
And finally, we arrived in one of Australia’s most unusual towns and experienced an underground stay in Coober Pedy.
Today reminded me that sometimes the best part of travelling isn't only the destination.
It's everything that happens along the way.
The long roads.
The unexpected stops.
The changing landscape.
The funny little moments.
And even sitting together at the end of the day, eating Korean food in an underground room in the middle of the Australian Outback. ❤️
Those are the memories we will probably talk about for years.
And our journey isn't over yet.
Because tomorrow, we continue north.
Our next destination is somewhere I have been waiting so long to see…
ULURU! ❤️🇦🇺
From Melbourne to Adelaide, from Adelaide to Coober Pedy, and now deeper into the heart of Australia.
I wonder what we will see along the way tomorrow.
One thing is certain…
Our Australian Outback road trip is just getting started! 🚗
Next stop: Coober Pedy to Uluru.
To be continued… ❤️
