I rode shotgun with the mailman in Australia’s toughest terrain

There are 101 ways to reuse a tyre in Coober Pedy. I spot half a dozen of them in the early hours, chugging out of town in Bruce Ross’ ute past truck tyres fashioned into retaining walls, signs, flower beds and letterboxes.

You need to be resourceful to survive in outback South Australia, and the locals don’t lack for creativity.

Another, much underrated resource is the mailman. Every day, Bruce completes a triangular 600-kilometre postal route from Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta and William Creek, dropping off essential supplies, groceries and online shopping at remote stations and homesteads scattered across this vast landscape.

I’m en route to see Lake Eyre, which is flooding for just the fourth time in 160 years (and is now drying up), but plane schedules and drive times have necessitated a couple of days in Coober Pedy. Seeking a break from opal fossicking and underground churches, I’ve decided to ride shotgun with Bruce, accompanying him on his daily mail run, hoping for a different perspective on life in the outback.

Together, we bounce past the dingo fence outside town and cross into the Never Never. Roadside spinifex and saltbush bloom a surprisingly lush green after recent rainfall. Stray kangaroos skip out of our path and wedge-tailed eagles, who feast on roadkill, flee into the air.

“Despite the vast distances, it’s a close-knit community. Everyone knows everyone because they move between stations,” says Ross, who is dressed in khaki pants and shirt.

The seemingly endless Stuart Highway reflects in his polarised sunglasses. “Being the mailman has its benefits. If I’m not at a particular place by a particular time, people start looking.”

That’s comforting to know. Even though he carries a radio and two spare tyres, his truck broke down the month before, and he had to be towed back to town by friends.

Our first delivery is to Mount Barry Station, managed by legendary cattleman Tony Williams and his wife, Jackie, who treat us to a yarn in the kitchen with tea and freshly baked biscuits.

“We rely on Bruce’s services for spare parts and groceries every Thursday. If we had to get it ourselves it would be six hours of driving. That’s a full day gone,” Tony says.

Larger than Denmark, the Williams Cattle Company occupies an enormous swathe of the outback, and the couple are just winding down after mustering 40,000 cattle across it.

Now the hard work is done, there’s excitement in the air for next week’s Bronco Branding competition, when Tony will defend his state and national title.

We drain our cups, then it’s back into the ute, passing more tyre signs as we call in at Copper Hills Homestead in Evelyn Downs Reserve, a stubbled Martian landscape the size of the Australian Capital Territory.

The property is owned by Bush Heritage Australia, which is working to undo decades of grazing damage, remove feral animals and restore habitat for native wildlife.

Bruce and I settle into comfortable chit-chat as we go down the delivery list, dropping bags of mail into isolated letterboxes then trundling off again into the desert. I ask Bruce if he ever gets lonely. Having grown up in Melbourne, he tells me he now enjoys the mind-expanding silence.

After a full day on the road, it’s sunset by the time we start heading back to Coober Pedy, but Bruce has one last surprise in store. We pull up at Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park lookout to see hulking mountains rise out of the flat expanse like red fortresses, their battlements spectacularly shifting colour from cinnamon brown to luminous orange and then scarlet in the emerging twilight.

It’s just us and the wind whistling through the mountains, then it’s dark. We follow the dingo fence back to Coober Pedy beneath a blanket of stars.

THE DETAILS

GETTING THERE
Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar fly direct to Adelaide from all Australian capitals, with connecting flights to Coober Pedy with Rex Airlines. Car hire is available with Budget and Avis at Coober Pedy Airport. Make sure to tell them where you plan to drive so they can provide a suitable car. See qantas.com, jetstar.com, virginaustralia.com, rex.com.au, budget.com.au, avis.com.au

TOUR
Mail Run Tour offers two full-day tours: The Mail Run Tour from Monday to Thursday, and The Painted Desert Tour on Saturdays, both from $350, including pick up, snacks and lunch. See mailruntour.com.au

STAY
Mud Hut Motel is close to Coober Pedy town centre and offers a mix of single and two-bedroom apartments, breakfast included. Single rooms from $170 a night. See mudhutmotel.com.au

Editor’s Note: Lake Eyre reached peak flooding in October and has started to evaporate again, with some areas still moderately flooded.

The writer travelled as a guest of the South Australian Tourism Commission. See tourism.sa.gov.au