Marla / Coober Pedy / Pimba / Kimba / Streaky Bay, S.A.

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6 - 12 June 2011

After a long drive from Yulara we stayed at Marla for a night before hitting the road again in the direction of Coober Pedy. We simply couldn't go to Outback South Australia without a visit to the opal capital of the world.

It was an interesting place but not everyone's cup of tea I would imagine.. Driving into Coober Pedy was bizarre as there were mines for as far as the eye could see (some active, some no longer in operation). We visited the Old Timers Mine and did a self-guided tour, complete with hard hats and all! This part of Coober Pedy was the highlight - the tour was so informative and gave us a real life insight into how the miners lived back in the day. We could see the opal traces in the walls we were walking through - very interesting. Coober Pedy is also home to some of the oldest fossils in the world which we saw in another museum there.

The next area worth mentioning is Woomera which is a bit of a ghost town but with some interesting monuments and obviously loads of history attached. Just to think what other pieces of equipment are lying around the desert, yet to be located by anyone.....

So back to the coast we now find ourselves at a little hidden gem called Streaky Bay. What a gorgeous coastal town and also home to the largest great white caught by a hand rod. The shark weighed in at 1500kgs and was caught on a 5kg line - what a catch. Needless to say, Alex wasn't overly keen to get in the water and catch some waves...

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