Coober Pedy

Wow, what a surreal place!

We had a relatively short drive from William Creek to Coober Pedy - about 160 km down a track very similar to the Oodnadatta Track. When you arrive there are huge signs all over the place warning you not to run, warning of deep shafts and not to walk backwards or you may fall in a hole. This warning should not be taken lightly! There were so many mounds of dirt covering the landscape that it felt like the moon.  Its amazing what we do to the landscape to get a few pieces of coloured rock out of the ground. 

Declan with an explosive!

We went on a opal mine tour at Tom's Working Opal Mine. The guide was an authentic miner whose son just turned 14 and got a drill (with jack hammer attachment) for his birthday. They live in an underground house and he was in big trouble for digging behind his bed. Apparently he was trying to dig to his friends house next door! In a another case a resident in Coober Pedy was putting on an extension to his underground house an went a bit too far and ended up finding the neighbour's flat screen TV attached to the mining equipment he was using.

Thomas on the winch

We discovered opal mining can be as addictive as the pokies. We learnt about two different types of machinery, how it's used and how to make explosives - just what Declan needed to know! Since 9/11 the cost to make an explosive has risen 700% from 70 cents to $7.00. We tried out searching for levels in which opals can be discovered using divining rods (which will only work for about 60% of the population - it is the same way you can search for water). The boys had a turn on the winch that is used for getting the miners out of the mine through a narrow shaft. Declan loved 'noodling' for opals and we found heaps! I think he might become a geologist.  We also learnt that if you want to 'dig' a house and it stays up for seven days, the council will give you a housing permit and you can live in it. Great OHS standards.

Sunset over Coober Pedy

We lashed out and spent the night at an underground hotel. The temperature is very constant in these rooms and are cool after the hot 'upstairs' environment. On the downside the rooms seem warm at night when the air outside is much cooler. We went out for dinner and the place we ate at had the royal wedding on on a big flat screen TV. Most of the staff sat down and watched the wedding - obviously they didn't know the footy was on Channel 7! Declan lost his front tooth while having dinner.
We woke early the next morning and turned the TV on to watch the news while we were getting ready to go to Yulara. Declan saw that all they were talking about was the wedding and said "Is that wedding still going?" On the way out we stopped at the local water authority to pay for water to fill our camper trailer - it claims that it has the fifth best quality water in Australia! We knew it couldn't be any worse than the quality of water the rest of South Australia is drinking. So we are saving it for the dirt tracks.
On to Yulara, Ayres Rock and the Olgas! A big drive of 750 km.