Mildura to Erldunda

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After a wonderful 3 nights at Mildura we popped into Deakin Cafe' before heading off towards Burra in South Australia...what a delightful little town Burra was tucked away in the Clare Valley...well known for its wineries and gourmet food.

The countryside changes almost daily in some way, approaching Burra we wound down through glorious green rolling hills to the town which seemed to be straight out of Europe...we thought so anyway! The old blue stone buildings like you find in Adelaide were everywhere...very chilly though! There was a feeling of Europe for sure as we strolled around the town, spotted an old Pub where we found a beautiful open fire...there we stayed and stayed and stayed, eventually having 'bangers and mash for dinner and was it yummy...oh yeah!

The following day we braved the cold, rugged up in our hats, scarfs and gloves to hook up and make our way to Port Augusta...along the highway every sort of car/truck/bus seems to pull something along...but a plane, that was the first and last plane being towed by a ute we have seen so far!

Interesting to see how far the water comes in the Spencer Gulf right up to Port Augusta from the Southern Ocean...by the time it gets to Port Augusta it is a wide river, obviously attracting lots of water sports as we saw many boats being towed here and there.

Onto Coober Pedy the next day...well, what a place Coober Pedy was!

Every place has some charm I thought but it was definately not easy to find in Coober!

The caravan park was fine, as you can see from the photo there was not much in the way of shade but that was OK as it was still very chilly anyway...we managed to squeese in some washing and with it being somewhat windy it dried very quickly.

The highlight of staying at Coober Pedy was our wonderful day tour out to The Breakaways...absolutely wonderful!

The Breakaways was a spectacular sight, it is the shoreline of an ancient inland sea...we saw small shells and pippis that were fossilized from millions of years ago...all very interesting...the photos do not do it justice! Priscella, Mad Max and Return to Mars were all made in the area.

Our day tour also took us to an Opal Mine, once again Keith headed down the mine like he did at Broken Hill and I stayed up top for a cuppatea! Interesting to see at the underground Opal Museum that Opals when found are like long streaks of Opal which is then cut up and made into indivual Opals for jewellery. There are many houses underneath the ground, we visited one but I found it very closed in...whatever the temperature is outside it is always 25deg underground...hence it is the best place to be either in Winter or Summer.

Everywhere you look at Coober Pedy there are piles of white rubble from where folks are digging hoping to strike it reach...all a bit sad really as it looks terrible and looks like you are on the moon...didn't like the place at all.

Off to Erldunda and our way up through The Red Centre...our one night stay at Erldunda Roadhouse was really good...we had a good site and enjoyed watching Paris (the kangaroo) hop around our site...also loved the beautiful sheep dog that lived at the Roadhouse.

Tomorrow we'll be up early for our drive to Kings Canyon...we have done 8000 klms so far and been away from home 9 weeks...where has the time gone!

Everyday is amazing and we continue to meet wonderful folks with wonderful stories...every story is different and everyone is heading off somewhere or just been there!


Go to next page for more photos!

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Comments

[Narelle]

Coober Pedy
It was lovely to have an update and it is hard to believe where 9 weeks has gone but you have certainly not missed much with lots lots more to see and do. Good old Coober Pedy isnt for everyone but at least you can say you have been and can see how people live and carry on with their lives there it is unbelievable it makes for some very tough people. Cant wait for the next edition Love and Hugs Narellexx