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I'm struggling with this sentence: The town of Coober Pedy is only accessible by a small airstrip, by coach tour or private car, and via the Ghan railway line

I'm struggling with this sentence: The town of Coober Pedy is only accessible by a small airstrip, by coach tour or private car, and via the Ghan railway line running between Darwin and Adelaide. So... it's "only" accessible by air, automobile, or rail? Does their readership travel exclusively by steamship? Camel?

atlasunshrugged 5y ago
I would guess they prefer major airstrips to fly directly into? Maybe the implication of small airstrip is that it is only chartered planes and therefore super expensive? But yeah, I also thought that was funny
- prawn 5y ago
  Even then, you can fly from the nearest capital Adelaide in two hours for AU$300. Anyone sane is likely to be doing it by road as part of a trip from Adelaide to Uluru/Alice Springs/Darwin.
austhrow743 5y ago
Even just "private car". What an odd way to say you drive there. Aka the only way to get to most towns. Having a railway and airstrip makes Coober Pedy more well connected than most. I think that might be the most rarely leaves megacities sentence I've ever read.
brabel 5y ago
It is accessible by car, but only after 850km (528 miles) driving through mostly empty desert. I guess the author wanted to convey the isolation of the town, but the wording just turned out very awkward because yeah, despite the huge distances from anywhere else, the place is actually quite accessible if you have the time to spend on the way there (or the money to get a plane there somehow).
nmcveity 5y ago
A ticket on the Ghan starts at around $2600, it's a luxury service ... it's not "rail" like you might suppose. It _is_ a weird sentence though. I guess they wanted to say its only accessible by road? But that's also a bit weird as that describes 98% of towns in Australia.
prawn 5y ago
You could also get there by camel (loads of feral camels north of there) and bike (I've seen people crossing the continent on bikes). So, pretty much just rules out watercraft and large planes!
- crashbunny 5y ago
  bicycles? I read a really good blog series of articles about an american riding his touring bicycle from adelaide to darwin. He had to calculate his water and calories as towns were often over a days ride apart. Quite a few cars and trucks on the highway though. You would only have to wait an hour at most for a stranger to drive by, stop and help in an emergency.
  - prawn 5y ago
    Yes, bicycles. Also once saw someone presumably walking the 3,000 km, pulling a wheeled supply cart.
vermilingua 5y ago
Virtually anywhere around the coast of Australia (at least from Cairns clockwise to Perth) is accessible by public transport. The point they're making is that the outback is very much not.

atlasunshrugged 5y ago

I would guess they prefer major airstrips to fly directly into? Maybe the implication of small airstrip is that it is only chartered planes and therefore super expensive? But yeah, I also thought that was funny

prawn 5y ago
Even then, you can fly from the nearest capital Adelaide in two hours for AU$300. Anyone sane is likely to be doing it by road as part of a trip from Adelaide to Uluru/Alice Springs/Darwin.

austhrow743 5y ago

Even just "private car". What an odd way to say you drive there. Aka the only way to get to most towns. Having a railway and airstrip makes Coober Pedy more well connected than most. I think that might be the most rarely leaves megacities sentence I've ever read.

brabel 5y ago

It is accessible by car, but only after 850km (528 miles) driving through mostly empty desert. I guess the author wanted to convey the isolation of the town, but the wording just turned out very awkward because yeah, despite the huge distances from anywhere else, the place is actually quite accessible if you have the time to spend on the way there (or the money to get a plane there somehow).

nmcveity 5y ago

A ticket on the Ghan starts at around $2600, it's a luxury service ... it's not "rail" like you might suppose. It _is_ a weird sentence though. I guess they wanted to say its only accessible by road? But that's also a bit weird as that describes 98% of towns in Australia.

prawn 5y ago

You could also get there by camel (loads of feral camels north of there) and bike (I've seen people crossing the continent on bikes). So, pretty much just rules out watercraft and large planes!

crashbunny 5y ago
bicycles? I read a really good blog series of articles about an american riding his touring bicycle from adelaide to darwin. He had to calculate his water and calories as towns were often over a days ride apart. Quite a few cars and trucks on the highway though. You would only have to wait an hour at most for a stranger to drive by, stop and help in an emergency.
- prawn 5y ago
  Yes, bicycles. Also once saw someone presumably walking the 3,000 km, pulling a wheeled supply cart.

vermilingua 5y ago

Virtually anywhere around the coast of Australia (at least from Cairns clockwise to Perth) is accessible by public transport. The point they're making is that the outback is very much not.