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!
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!
