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Welcome to our town!
A sheep lovers dream! Well blog addicts, it’s been a very long time since your last hit so we apologise for this. However, the main reason for this is the lack of stuff to write about.
But here goes……
Allow me to cast your minds back to our last blog. We’d just returned from Uluru and were in the lovely, welcoming town (read: ghetto) that is Alice Springs.
While in Alice we ventured down to the old Overland Telegraph station which linked the North and South of this vast country for the first time and then enjoyed a walk back along the very dry river which had cars driving through it and kids sitting in the middle - apparently it does have water in it sometimes!
We also went to the Royal Flying Doctors Service museum, which was really interesting and soon had captured Jill’s imagination - I don’t think that Eastbourne Hospital will ever be the same!
We left Alice Springs and headed south on our 2 day trip down to South Australia and Adelaide. I managed to grab the front seat and the crucial responsibility that came with it i.e. Roo watch (didn’t see any), Navigator (follow the straight
Our Underground home
Our room which was an old mine shaft. road), keeping the driver awake (not a problem with my sparkling personality) and DJ (DJ Jonno on the decks!). The last one was the most important as 1500km in 2 days = a lot of driving = very boring!
I have to say that the although there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to keep everyone happy for the journey I feel I coped admirably and even treated the nearby truckies to the Grease Megamix and ‘Walking on Sunshine’ (as the sun came up - nice touch I think) using the CB radio!
While I was spinning some phat ones up front Jill was taking place in the Poker Card school in the back. Every so often there would be a little cheer when she had won the hand! Luckily, only points were up for grabs so I didn’t get too concerned when after the initial beginners luck had worn off the cheers became less frequent!
Our journey included an overnight stop in Coober Pedy, which is responsible for 83% of the world's opals. This is a strange little town where bodies have been known to 'disappear' down mineshafts and the locals live underground to
What a long shaft!
It took me a while to get out of the mine due to slippery flip-flops hence the bare feet. avoid the extreme temperatures!
We went on a tour of an old mineshaft which had within it an underground home, complete with electricity and running water. We also learnt about the mining techniques and the different types of explosives used in mining. This was the most fascinating part because up until recently the ingredients for the explosives could be bought at the local supermarket and then the devices created by all the family on a Sunday night around the TV (certainly would liven up Songs of Praise), and if you were having a party instead of doing the boring thing of sending out invitations you'd let a bomb to alert the neighbourhood!!
Obviously, all this access to explosives isn't all fun and games because 2 policecars, the local courthouse and the local newspaper office have all been blown up following disagreements. The rumour is that the newspaper office was blown up by a Star-Trek fan who had stayed up all night to see the latest episode (as advertised in the paper) which never came on. So instead writing a letter or making a frustrated telephone call, he decided to blow the offices up!
After our tour, Jill had the
It's here somewhere!
Jill on her hunt to find an opal which will bring her fame and fortune! need to go 'noodling' (no this isn't yet another food reference) to find some opal in the public noodling area. So off we went, needless to say we were unlucky! But it took quite a while before I could get Jill to leave the area as 'needle in a haystack' doesn't even come close!
In the evening we went for a drink in the underground bar (a first for me - the underground bar, not the drink) and had the rules of Aussie Rules Football explained to us using various condiments and bottles of beer (with a folded over bottle lid for the ball) - and they wonder why it doesn't catch on elsewhere!
The following day was a long drag down to Adelaide, with nothing else exciting to write about (apart from my outstanding DJ-ing contribution!).
We've now been in Adelaide for about 4 weeks now. It's a nice little city with some very dramatic looking buildings, that look older than they are, and lots of green space. We've been working (Jill in a deli in the Central Market and me putting up pallet racking in warehouses - another key skill to add to my CV) so haven't seen a lot of the surrounding area. One highlight is finding a beer that actually tastes like beer rather than this rats-p*** lager, ironically it's called Sparkling Ale!
Next week we're going to watch the Adelaide Crows vs. Richmond Tigers AFL game so that should be good fun and not so confusing now following our lesson - providing that there condiments are on the pitch (or paddock) instead of players.
I actually managed to drag that out longer that I thought I could!
Now you can get back to work and stop skiving!!!
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flissy
non-member comment
once again youve given me heart failure
Cant believe you've been playing where people just 'disappear' down mines and blow each other up!! Im obviously getting too old for you crazy cats, but your in for a severe telling off when you get home!!!! X X X