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Published: July 19th 2011
Sick of this bloody rain
Our matting outside the caravan (with the awning out....)Well here we are at Ayers Rock and there has been a distinct change in the weather and our outlook. Before we get onto Uluru we'll fill you in on Coober Pedy. Last time we left off things weren't looking real flash. The caravan park was a bit dumpy and the weather was average. So average in fact that Coober Pedy averages two days rainfall in July, two of the days we were there. However we're happy to say that the rain stopped on the second morning which allowed us to get out and about. And we must say the town was much better the second time. We started the day off by visiting some underground places which were absolutely amazing.
The highlight was Faye's underground house which was 'built' by a 29 yo woman in the 60's by herself and later with the help of two lady friends. It has five bedrooms, a cellar and indoor pool, all below ground. There is still a couple who live there and manage the place (we actually walked in while they were cooking lunch and had a sinkful of dishes....) The landscape is amazing and everywhere you can see air holes popping
up which signifies a house underneath the ground. Due to all the mining, and the extreme climate there's hardly a blade of grass which is exemplified by the golf club which has reciprocal rights with St Andrews.
In the afternoon we had a drink in the underground bar (nothing like the old Underground in King St..). Only one drink though. One beer, three lemonades & two bags of chips - $27.00!!!! I nearly had to dig into my opal stash!! The day was rounded off with a visit to Josephine’s Art Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage (we think the gallery came first) where the kids loved patting some baby roo's.
The next day we ventured into the mines so we could show the kids what daddy does for a job!!! It was a great experience with demonstrations on how opal mining has changed over years. The guide (who came to town 35 years ago to make it rich) highlighted the act that nowadays all the 18 yo's can get a job at the local commercial mine on $95k a year, more than what most of the local opal miners make.
So, all in all our trip to Coober
Pedy was actually very good. The town is definitely worth seeing from the wrecks of cars etc of people who have come & gone to the houses and other sites which really stir the emotions. Next stop Uluru.
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