Dusty windswept Coober Pedy

The road south was straight, easy driving but dead boring! As we got closer to the South Australian border, the landscape became more a moonscape with little vegetation. Closer to Coober Pedy after 8 hours driving, we became more interested in the mounds of dirt we assumed were mullock heaps. The warning signs were a tad worrying. Don't think I'll be noodling (fossicking) here!!

We eventually found the caravan park and even though we'd booked a site for 3 nights a few days ago, we seemed to be put in the less than optimal overflow area. Vinnie was unimpressed with the camp kitchen as most of the barbecues were not operating and the showers were the smallest I've seen since boarding school! And 20c a shower would you believe! We decided not to put up the annex - big mistake, we both spent the rest of the night cursing about lost implements & "Where did you put that Julie?!" The caravan park was supposed to be a Big 4 but we won't be returning here in a hurry(in fact I'm not keen to return to CP at all, but it does have to be experienced!).

We had been told to do the town tour which includes a mine tour with a bit of the history as well so we headed out on a mini bus early the next morning. Our tour guide Rudi, was a European miner, who arrived in 1962 and will be carried out in a box, so he says "But I'm not in a hurry, at 72 I'm keen to hang around a bit longer" He told us that he didn't strike it rich otherwise he wouldn't be still working!! There are 45 nationalities in CP, quite an interesting mix of people with all opal dealings being carried out in cash. Miners don't really trust each other. Prospectors are allowed to dig anywhere outside the town as long as they have a permit which becomes null & void after 12 months. They don't have to repatriate their claim hence the thousands of mounds of dirt next to holes with a depth of 22m!! We finished the tour with a visit to an old mine and the obligatory opal shop. You guessed it, I couldn't resist supplementing my earring collection, particularly as I had lost a pair when we had dinner in the desert.

Coober Pedy is an environmental disaster. There is junk everwhere and no one seems to give a rats about the amount of old equipment and rubbish in the town. Vinnie can't believe how authorities have allowed the dangerous mining shafts to be left in the open and what irks him even more is the fact that all deals are done in cash - no tax!!

We're always keen to get on the bikes after a long trip so we headed into town to stock up with supplies for the perceived lack of supermarkets in the wilderness ahead. We also managed a beverage or 2 at the local watering hole. On the way home carryong bags of groceries, we nearly got blown off our bikes! Glad we didn't have to ride far. We put up the annex because the wind was buffeting the tent & we hoped it would not turn into a dust storm. My hair felt like straw and a fine layer of dust seem to cover everything. During the night it rained and I think I was actually quite pleased as it meant that there would be less dust.

Even though we wanted to see the Painted Desert, it was a 400km return trip so we decided we'd do it when we next visit Oodnadatta. We drove out to the Breakaways, a mountain range of rocks about 30km from town. It was blowing a gale & we weren't keen to do any walking because it was so unpleasant. We drove back into town following a group of locals who were walking, jogging,riding the 30km into town to raise funds for a local playground. We gave them a donation, what an effort. The way the wind was blowing they would feel like they'd covered twice that distance.

We visited "Faye's House" an open house which was a dug out chipped out of sandstone by one of the first female miners in the town. She and a few other women who joined her later, used a pick to dig the rooms out. The advantage of living underground is the constant temperature of between 20-24C all year round. Faye no longer lives there and for the miserly cost of $5, the caretaker will take you for a tour and tell some anecdotes as well. Pumpkin soup was bubbling on the stove as we were shown through the house.

We will probably be out of range for the next 4 or 5 days as we travel to Innamincka and up to Cameron's Corner - with perhaps a bush camp along the way, Vinnie has been saving his firewood for this leg of the journey. Tomorrow we have our flight over Lake Eyre so we are really looking forward to that. Hope this wind drops, or it won't be very pleasant flying in a small plane!!