Coober Pedy

Weather: 31c, sunny.  Saturday 14^th

Nice drive from Kulgera to Coober Pedy arriving at about noon – here is Sharon driving!!

After quickly booking into our motel, The Mud Hut, we went off in search of lunch.  Coober Pedy is known for two main things – opal mining and underground homes, but that also involves other underground buildings – including our eatery, the Underground Restaurant.  The food was fabulous, the location and set up was great, and I would really recommend it to anyone passing through.

 

 

 

Our next port of call was the Old Timers opal mine,  We saw a demonstration of the ‘blower’ used to remove debris from the mines – kind of like a huge vacuum cleaner, then had a wander round the mines.  Again, it was amazing to what people went through to earn a living and/or to ‘strike it rich’.  We learned that opals come in many colors . . . . and a pair of silver star shaped opal earring might have fell into my shopping basket!

We were just leaving the mine when I spied a leaflet for a Kangaroo Orphanage in Coober Pedy – and you could feed the ‘roos.  Hell yes, book me in!  I should explain here that whenever we go to any country shows and they have the small farm animals for the little kiddies um, everyone to feed and touch, I'm in there.  We arrived for their 5.30pm feeding . . . . if that my hand that these cuties are munching from?  You betcha :)

The funny thing was, if my hand was too far away, they used their little paws to pull my hand so that they could get the food!  All these cuties have been orphaned - mostly due to their mothers being victims of roadkill.

And then they brought out the baby:

I am sure one would fit in my hand luggage . . . 

A Town Like Alice

Weather: Sunny, 34c (Thursday 12th September)

Today was hot, hot, hot – with a lovely warm breeze blowing through (thank goodness).  We spent the day in Alice, wandering around the shops; picking up gifts (including some lovely fabric for myself with aboriginal prints on them) and taking lots of photos.  In one of the art galleries we were given the ‘5 minute tour’ by one of the members of staff and she explained about different patterns used in painting by men and women and that only certain patterns can be used.  It really opened our eyes and made us think about the items that we were buying and the meaning behind the patterns.  After lunch we started the touristy part of our outback trip and went to see the sites.  First off though, here are a few picks of Alice – including my meeting with some local Police Officers:

 

It was really neat to have a chat with them (for those who are not aware, I was a Police Officer in the UK prior to emigrating to Canada) and they were able to answer a question that had been bothering us from the night before – why were Officers on duty outside the IGA (supermarket) when we went to buy some food?  It turns out that there is a huge problem with alcohol being consumed in areas where it has been banned – and therefore they were checking up with shoppers, making sure that they did not have contraband to drink illegally.  I find this rather sad, as the main offenders appear to the aboriginals people.  Sadly, this is an issue that we also have with the First Nations in Canada. 

We then went to pay our respects at the war memorial which is situated at the top of a hill, overlooking the town.  Amazing views.

Next up was a trip to the Royal Flying Doctor Service – I am embarrassed to say that I did not realise that is was for real – I thought that it was just a TV show (I consider my wrists to be well and truly slapped!!)

We then couldn’t resist the ‘Old Timers Museum’ which was essentially a large Quonset/shed, but was really quite interesting.  Of course I gravitated towards the old sewing machines and it is quite amazing to realise all that they have gone through – traveling across country as the pioneers forged their way into the wilderness.

We finished off with a walk around the Alice Springs Desert Park – and guess what we saw????  Kangaroos!  Woo Hoo!  So exciting to see them, they are such cool creatures.  There were a couple lying down on their sides, legs crossed – so funny!  We also saw a pregnant mum with a young joey and another baby in suspended animation waiting for its turn to be born.  My trip is complete!

We leave Alice tomorrow and head for Ayers Rocks – also known as Uluru.  Looking forward to that!

Into the Outback - Day One

This is a bit of a treat - as we are now driving (for 3200km), I am able to sit back and and write a bit more about the day, rather than just posting pictures.  So here we go!  With a picture - this is the yellow peril, aka 'Skippy' that will take us up adventuring into the outback.  We luv ya Skip!

We left Adelaide in the rain - stormy clouds overhead, and began our journey to Coober Pedy, a small town known for its opals and underground houses.  We went via Port Augustus - the last piece of coast that we will see for the next week.  So far we have driven through the lush, green countryside that has been photographed in other posts and we are now looking at scrubland with baked red earth, made from the local sandstone. 

We have seen a couple of herds (?) of emus (one point to Sharon for spotting them).  They were pretty hard to see as they have brown bodies and long dark necks - very well camoflaged.  They are a little like meerkats and follow you with their heads as we drove by - no photos, sorry.

We have not see any kangeroos yet - live ones that is.  There have been dozens 'sleeping' at the side of the road - they look like small, disused carpets.  Very sad.  It is interesting to see that as the vegetation changes and there are more bushes & trees - the more sleeping 'roos we see.  Sigh :(

We have seen a lot of small lizards/geckos (I'm not sure of the difference) but they are about 8-12" long and like to sunbathe on the road.  C'mon guys - you are not doing yourselves any favours.

We also found out why the typical caricature of an Australian shows a hat being worn with corks hanging down . . . boy - the flies are a pain.  We got out the car to take the photos above and there must have been dozen descend upon me within seconds.  I'm surprised the photos turned out so well - what with me waving my hands round and shouting like a lunatic . . . . no one warned us about these.  Grrrr!

Nonetheless, we arrived safe and sound in Coober Pedy:

Very picturesque in the evening sun!  Talking of which - doesn't the sun go down quickly?  As we are not allowed to drive at dusk (an insurance disclaimer due the kangaroos being a hazard on the roads) we were interested to see what time it started to go dark this evening - 1830hrs, and 15 minutes later the place was in darkness.  Whooosh!

Tomorrow we continue on to Alice Springs, then we get to rest for a couple of days and take a look around.

A big thank you to those who have commented on this blog - much appreciated :)