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Published: September 8th 2008
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Sept 3, 2008
Port Augusta
2088 km so far.
Good help from the chap at the Home Hardware (yep home) concerning gas (propane) and bottle exchange, etc.
Good help, too, from the lady at the Info Centre. About roadhouses all the way to Alice Springs.
A bit of a warning to keep away from some of the bore (well) water. Pretty salty and not good for you.
Walked along the Esplanade in Port Augusta. Not very long, but really well kept. Right on Spencer Gulf.
Good meal and a beer at Ian’s Western Inn just down the road from the caravan park.
Second night we had BBQ Lamb steak. First time I had barbequed it and likely the first time we have ever had lamb steak before.
Sept 4, 2008
Port Augusta to Glendambo
Nice easy drive on the Stuart highway.
Nice steady 80km pace, with very little traffic.
A few pretty large looking salt lakes. One might have been Ironstone Lagoon
Very harsh country side with little or no ground water.
Campground at Glendumbo in back of a nice old pub that appears to be old wool shed. Decent amenities and a number of tanks
full of rainwater. Not to be used to excess, only of necessity.
Sept 5, 2008
Glendambo o to Coober Pedy
5 or 6 Porsches were at the petrol station. One of the fellows said they were just a bunch of mates going up to Alice Springs, then back down to the Flinders ranges.
Saw our second bicyclist on the road. About 90km from Coober Pedy and 160 from Port Augusta. Had to be a tough chore, certainly a long distance to anywhere. Better him than me.
A lot of ‘grids’ on the major roads. Texas gates to those in North America
Very short trip. Visible mining (old) visible about 50km from Coober Pedy. Piles of rock about 1 metre high.
We had just checked into the caravan park and we signed up for an afternoon tour. An hour for lunch and then onto a really great tour. Guide had been an opal miner and was very good at being a tour guide. Lots of stories to tell and knew the area like the back of his hand. Out to the Breakaways, the Two Dogs and plenty more. Couldn’t have seen as much if we had done
it by ourselves. Not enough time and the roads were pretty corrugated (washboard)
IMHO worth the money.
The tour was done by the caravan park, Stuart Ranges Caravan Park. Just off the highway.
Coober Pedy pipes its water in from a few km away. They then use a reverse osmosis process to desalinize the water and make it drinkable. At the caravan park and near the drive in theatre (yep!) you can buy 40 litres of the good water for the large sum of 20 cents!!
Sept 6, 2008
Checked out of the caravan park and went to the Information Centre. FREE internet access . Unless there are people waiting, you can stay on the computer as long as you like.
Then we went opal shopping. I got a small, costly one for my chain. Linda managed to find a nice pinky ring.
Tried our hand at ‘noodling’, looking for opals with a shovel. In our case since we had no shovel we bought a tin cup and a bowel. Of course we didn’t come up with any opals, just a couple of pieces of coloured rock.
Tonight we are taking a break from the campervan and are sleeping
in an underground motel, The Lookout Cave. Nice. Have minimal TV with which we hope to catch up on some news.
Sep 7.
Something like 3200km so far.
Underground sleeping is OK, for a one time thing. We didn’t realize that the temp would be 25degrees all the time. Until we turned on the fan and got things a bit cooler. Don’t get us wrong, it was still a great experience.
Even got to watch a bit of TV. First time essentially since we got here.
Need to catch up on the news somehow.
Stopped in Erldundra for the night.
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Jan Harris
non-member comment
Just got a new computer. My old one wouldn't let me on your site. It sounds as if you are having a great holiday! What a wonderful trip. I would love to get the notifications you mentioned on the home page of your blog. This is one country I have always wanted to visit. Have a wonderful time and don't forget those of us who are living vicariously through your blog and pictures.