Blogs from Coober Pedy, South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 6

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 ... read more

Tis us again! Well it’s now 10th May and we have sadly left McLaren Vale and said goodbye to our friends Alan, Justine and families. We had such a great time during the six or so weeks there. The five days on Kangaroo Island were magic with daily trips to see the sights. The funniest moments happened at “Little Sahara” giant sand dunes, where Alan discovered that his arms do not stay in sync with his legs when running down steep slopes!! He did a nosedive into the sand as a result. His young grandson Cody met with the same fate, followed by a great impression of a seal (boo hoo). We spent last Saturday night at “The Gov” in Adelaide, to celebrate Alan’s birthday and our leaving. Didn’t get home until 2.00am. Needless to say ... read more

En quittant Port Augusta par un temps pluvieux, nous avons bifurqué sur la « Stuart Highway », direction le nord de l’Australie ! Nous plongeons ainsi dans le centre du pays, réputé pour sa culture aborigène florissante, représentante du pays et du spectaculaire passé de cette ethnie, pour ses terres d’un rouge fascinant, pour son outback saisissant. La «Stuart Highway » est une route principale qui relie Adelaide, au sud (capitale de l’Australie du Sud) à Darwin, au nord (capitale des Territoires du Nord). Entre les deux villes, 3021 kilomètres s’étendent, principalement dans une zone désertique et aride qu’est l’outback australien. Ce qui est tout de même hallucinant, c’est de penser à l’histoire d’un trajet comme celui-ci. Le nom de ce tracé nous vient directement d’un homme ayant réalisé une prouesse voire un petit miracle pour ... read more

Monday 11th April Travelled from Port Augusta to road site overnight stay at Bon Bon (164klms from Cooper Pedy) - very basic and close to the road but did the job. We were up early the next morning and only a couple of hours drive into Coober Pedy - booked into the Opal Inn Caravan Park for 2 nights - nice little park but a little cramped for parking of the caravan but right in town and easy to walk around. $27 per night with Top Tourist discount. 20c for 4 minute shower but water very good and hot. This is an amazing place with over 85% of residents living in the under ground homes - the temperature underground between 20 - 25 degrees all year round (it can hit the 40 to 50 degress above ... read more

After breakfast we treated Hilda to an oil and coolant change and some new spark plugs. I think she appreciated it as she started and ran like a brand new van. We set off about 1pm and made our first outback fuel stop at Spuds Roadhouse in Pimba. We had decided not to risk carrying extra fuel in the heat, instead planning to stop at every place available to fill up. There are long stretches of the Stuart Highway with nothing to look at apart from the outback, and today was going to be one of those stretches. The outback was however looking much greener than we had expected due to an unusual amount of rain in the weeks before we came. We stopped in Glendambo, with its population of 20 for the night. It was ... read more