Coober Pedy

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Here I am at 3.25am adding to a bloody blog because I can’t sleep. How old am I again? There is a storm outside that is mostly thunder & lightning with only small spurts of rain. I’m pretty sure that the miner named David that I met yesterday said that it only rains twice or three times a year in Coober Pedy. What are the chances??? Not that I’m particularly upset though. I threw the tarps up as soon as I heard the first drops so things should be a lot better than at Burrum Heads when all of our sleeping gear got soaked!

Yesterday we wandered around the town & looked at some of the cool stuff underground. First stop was The Old Timers Mine. It is pretty much in the middle of town & is an abandoned mine that has been turned into a shop with a tour through some of the untouched disused mine & some living quarters that were used for around 40 years up until the 1980’s. It was really good. They did a demo (the bloke Dave I mentioned) of some of the older & newer mining equipment including a “blower” which is basically a big vacuum to suck the rocks/dirt from underground to the guys sorting it on the surface. We bought Suz an opal necklace thing & the kids did a lucky dip with Amy grabbing an opal & a trinket while Nath got a fossilised shell & an opal key ring that he has since lost. After being warned numerous times to leave it with Mum for safe keeping. Grrrr.

Second stop was at the Underground Cave – a bar/gallery/cafe/museum place that was really quite well done. Some good exhibits on mine rescues & the building of the Stuart Highway. Had some lunch as well that was a) yummy & b) the most reasonably priced thing I have eaten since the five dim sims for $2 that I had at the local shop before we left Tassie!

We then headed to the local Catholic Church for a look. This place was beautiful. I took some pics & we bought a postcard or two. An amazing place. Apparently the Serbian Church here is also really good but we didn’t make it there. The kids spent the rest of the arvo in the pool, the games room & generally running around. We played darts for a short time but that was a little dangerous.

Off to William Creek in a few hours. I hope the rain isn’t too bad as apparently the tracks aren’t in the best nick. Oh well – we’ll never know if we never go. At least there’ll be a bit of extra water (from the rain) in Lake Eyre :-)

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