EXPLORING COOBER PEDY

First of all...if you are ever in Coober Pedy, get a pizza from Stuart Range Caravan Park. It was the best ever!

Today we tried to sleep in, but were woken at 7ish by Freyja saying "Cook my breakfast!" We decided to ignore her and popped the van heater on....while we stayed in bed...as the nights in the desert areas are freezing 0 degrees...or below!

We lazed around, had cuppas, noticed when it was time for school to start and we all thought of you....well Bec, Heather and I did....Georgia and Freyja had made friends and were running around on the huge adventure playground in our park.

After showers and a tidy up, we went into town. First was The Old Timers mine. We had to put miners hard hats on....dorky! Mrs P needed a large for her big head! Lol... Frey threw a wobbly about going into a dark hole...but with a push, we all went inside a hand dug opal mine. There were statues of miners in there...real opal seams (one valued at between $20,000 and $40,000) and all sorts of tunnels and tools. The path went up a little and there was a second story of the mine that was a house. There was a kitchen, loungeroom (with TV), bedroom and bathroom (with toilet and shower!). On the way out of the mine/house, we went through the shop and got some souvenirs. Mrs P got a pandora opal charm...very nice!

Outside you could noodle...so before long most of us were in the stones washing those that looked like opal. The girls, Dad and Heather got hooked and we couldn't get them out of the noodling area.....so we went next door for a coffee....and guess what? You had to go underground! So there we were...under ground, in a cafe having a latte! Funny, hey? The cafe was part of an underground motel, so we looked around the rooms and halls (Some of which were part of old mines).

We drove up to the Big Winch where you could see 360 degree views of Coober Pedy. You could see the roof of people's homes...and it looks like piles of dirt and rocks with chimneys sticking out. There are wrecks of old cars everywhere too! Throughout the day we looked through 4 underground churches...the Catholic church was the nicest...and we lit candles for people that have died in their memory.

In the afternoon we went to other underground motels with expensive opal shops and museums. Mrs P bought herself a dirty great opal ring....very nice! I tell you guys...that lady has a handbag, shoe and jewellery fetish!

Bed early tonight as we're off to Ayers Rock in the morning and it's a 700km+ drive.... We've already done over 1500km! Thanks everyone for reading and special thanks to those that post...as we look forward to reading your comments. It lets us know who is reading and what you think. It also keeps us in touch with home, which is beginning to be so far away!

COOBER PEDY OR BUST!

Today was full on!

We got up at 6 am, packed and left Port Augusta at 730am.

The trip was an interesting one....better than I expected. I didn't think the countryside would be so interesting...huge salt lakes, rolling hills, scrub, saltmarsh, rocky outcrops and more.

We stopped for a wee at a roadside stop overlooking the Flinders Ranges. I heard Bec gagging and thought she was going to vomit. Then Heather came out coughing and retching! I thought....what carry-ons....and marched over to use the Mens....well....I couldn't even lift the lid....I nearly vomitted on the spot! The stench was so foul....so I backed out of the toilet quick smart and took a walk instead to find a bush....not many around though!

We stopped at Lake Hart and were amazed by it's size and how beautiful it was. For those that don't know, it's a huge salt lake with beautiful cliffs surrouding it in the middle of no-where! Heather, Georgia, Frey and I walked down to the edge and picked up salt crystals off the sand. The water was covered in a thin film of salt, which we thought was pretty interesting. On the way back up to the carpark we saw a pair of mulga parrots...new species for me!

On the way to Glendambo we saw wild families of emus running alongside the car and even a huge wedge tailed eagle eating a kangaroo carcass! One was also flying overhead. We had lunch at Glendambo and Freyja locked the van keys in the caravan....lucky she hid from me because she would've got a kick in the pants! I was so annoyed. Apart from that it was fun eating lunch in the sun and I even got through a few hours of the day in a tshirt....very sunny weather...but still cold.

We got to Coober Pedy at 330pm and set up in our park. After a quick cuppa....we were in the car for a look at the town. Wow! What an interesting place! Deb and Greg....we saw a few of your friends and they asked after you! Lol....

All of us piled into the Kluger and traveled out to the Dog Fence (over 5000km long to keep out the dingoes). This was reached after driving along a stretch of the Oonadatta Track (largely 4WD). We took a turn up a track and went to Moon Plain...a site that looks like the surface of the moon and used in horror and space movies....like Pitch Black for example. From here we went to The Breakaways....beautiful sandstone rock outcrops in the middle of nowhere....in all different colours....and magnificent with the sun setting on them....which we had. Unfortunately Georgia wasn't feeling great (sick tummy bug like Frey had last week) and spent the time dry reaching instead of enjoying the view...although I guess you didn't really need to know that! Lol

We got back to the park and ordered pizza from the caravan park bar....I'm typing this on the restaurant Internet kiosk...so no pics again...but definitely some in a few days when I use my brother's computer at Yulara (Ayers Rock)

Catch you all later....

MBGF