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Mar 2016 back issue
Catching the Last Post with Peter Rowe
by Tim Whitby
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The Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run delivers mail twice a week to some of the most remote homesteads on earth.   At the centre of this great service for over twenty years has been legendary postman Peter Rowe.  Peter knows the people, animals and landscape of outback Australia like no one else.  Travelling through the world largest cattle station, Anna Creek and along the famous Oodnadatta Track is a unique experience.  As Peter regales fascinating stories that he has no doubt told many times before I can’t help wondering how much long Peter will be willing to share this special day job with travellers to the red centre of Australia.
Passing the Dingo Fence, a 5,614 km long pest exclusion fence designed to protect the relatively fertile south-east of Australia.
A bearded dragon runs under the path of the mail truck, narrowly avoiding getting run over.
The first stop, on the outskirts of Anna Creek Station, the largest working cattle station in the world.
The de-rigueur activity for postmen everywhere, being chased away by a dog.
Being the world’s most remote postman can be a lonely job.
Peter moved to Coober Pedy in 1963 to try his luck at making his fortune in the Opal fields.
The William Creek Hotel, one of the worlds most remote pubs is a welcome half way point on the Oodnadatta Track.
Peter carries his post bag twice a week to the William Creek Hotel.
Entering the William Creek Hotel.
Peter rests at the William Creek Hotel.
A sign for the William Creek Golf Course, which boasts the lack of a single blade of grass
Cattle roam the huge expanses of the Anna Creek Station.
Peter always carries a checklist of his deliveries.
Heading back out onto the Oodnadatta Track after lunch.
The Oodnadatta track is an unsealed road stretching 620 km between Maree and Marla.
Unloading post to the Pink Roadhouse, the focal point of the town of Oodnadatta.
Peter Rowe, delivering post to the Pink Roadhouse, one of the most remote places on earth.
Peter Rowe, contract postman for Australia Post.
The sun sets on the the ledgendary Pink Roadhouse in Oodnadatta..
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