Day 99 – July 9 – NT / SA Border -> Coober Pedy
We saw lots of wedge tailed eagles beside the road – still following the Stuart Highway south. Back in South Australia again, driving through the SA Outback.
The countryside looks like a lunar landscape – desert plains and mounds of white rubble from the opal mines. It was so windy – tumbleweed blowing across the road!
Arriving in Coober Pedy it felt like we were on the movie set of Mad Max – corrugated iron houses, rusty old utes, dust and not a blade of grass or tree in sight. We went to the most helpful Visitor’s Centre in Australia – not only did they have good maps and information on local accommodation and attractions but they managed to find us the last underground accommodation available in Coober Pedy for the night – the ‘Underground B&B’. We were lucky that they had a cancellation, so we stayed in a luxury, cosy, modern B&B built underground in the side of a hill. No windows and the ceiling and walls were just the bare rock, painted white.
We went to the Old Timer’s Opal Mine where we went on a self-guided tour of an old 1916 mine shaft which had been deserted and then rediscovered in the 1960’s when someone was extending their underground house! We saw a demo of a rock ‘blower’ (which actually sucks dirt out of the mines) and went ‘noodling’ through some rock remnants and found some tiny slivers of opal.
We saw lots of wedge tailed eagles beside the road – still following the Stuart Highway south. Back in South Australia again, driving through the SA Outback.
The countryside looks like a lunar landscape – desert plains and mounds of white rubble from the opal mines. It was so windy – tumbleweed blowing across the road!
Arriving in Coober Pedy it felt like we were on the movie set of Mad Max – corrugated iron houses, rusty old utes, dust and not a blade of grass or tree in sight. We went to the most helpful Visitor’s Centre in Australia – not only did they have good maps and information on local accommodation and attractions but they managed to find us the last underground accommodation available in Coober Pedy for the night – the ‘Underground B&B’. We were lucky that they had a cancellation, so we stayed in a luxury, cosy, modern B&B built underground in the side of a hill. No windows and the ceiling and walls were just the bare rock, painted white.
We went to the Old Timer’s Opal Mine where we went on a self-guided tour of an old 1916 mine shaft which had been deserted and then rediscovered in the 1960’s when someone was extending their underground house! We saw a demo of a rock ‘blower’ (which actually sucks dirt out of the mines) and went ‘noodling’ through some rock remnants and found some tiny slivers of opal.
We had dinner at the famous John’s Pizza Bar – awesome pizzas and we bought some yummy deserts to take with us to have at home. We relaxed in our cosy B&B, had a spa (luxury!) and watched DVDs. Feels like a holiday from our holiday!
Day 100 – July 10 – Coober Pedy
Day 100! How about that – 100 days on holiday. It’s almost over now – we’re sad but looking forward to getting home.
We love the B&B so much we have decided to stay in Coober Pedy for the day and have another night here. The rooms were pitch black when the lights went out, and the only noise we could hear was the wind (quite strong outside) whistling down the pipe vents. Easy to sleep in here, as there is no light to come in through any of the windows!
We did some more noodling but didn’t strike it rich. We then did an excellent tour at ‘Tom’s Working Opal Mine’ – for two hours they explained the mining process from the start – pegging a claim, drilling the holes, mining underground and finally the sorting and selling of the stones. We got to use diving rods which they use to locate the seam of rock containing the opal (we were very sceptical but it actually works!), the kids got to ride on a winch partway up a shaft, and we even learnt how to make explosives! Apparently making explosives has become a lot more difficult and costly after 9-11 – probably not a bad thing…
We saw the Coober Pedy golf course – not a blade of grass in sight. Apparently the course has reciprocal rights with St Andrews in Scotland – quite different courses! We went into an underground church, and went to a little indigenous art gallery where we bought a small painting of Uluru as a memento of our trip.
Luke lost his second tooth for the trip! The tooth fairy will be busy..
We had a great BBQ back at the BBQ and watched DVDs again.. Onwards home tomorrow.
Day 101 – July 11 – Coober Pedy -> Woomera
The ‘Lonely Planet’ says of Coober Pedy “…with swarms of flies, no trees, 50 degree C summer days, sub-zero winter nights, cave-dwelling locals and rusty car wrecks in every second front yard, you might think you’ve arrived in a post-apocalyptic hell hole.” But nonetheless we found it to be a fascinating and intriguing place and the people to be very friendly, generous and funny. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.
Before we left the B&B we visited Ken’s opal shop and bought a few colourful samples, ane he generously threw in some freebies. He also showed us some magnificent black opal that he just found a month ago – very rare – that would be worth about $30,000!
Day 100! How about that – 100 days on holiday. It’s almost over now – we’re sad but looking forward to getting home.
We love the B&B so much we have decided to stay in Coober Pedy for the day and have another night here. The rooms were pitch black when the lights went out, and the only noise we could hear was the wind (quite strong outside) whistling down the pipe vents. Easy to sleep in here, as there is no light to come in through any of the windows!
We did some more noodling but didn’t strike it rich. We then did an excellent tour at ‘Tom’s Working Opal Mine’ – for two hours they explained the mining process from the start – pegging a claim, drilling the holes, mining underground and finally the sorting and selling of the stones. We got to use diving rods which they use to locate the seam of rock containing the opal (we were very sceptical but it actually works!), the kids got to ride on a winch partway up a shaft, and we even learnt how to make explosives! Apparently making explosives has become a lot more difficult and costly after 9-11 – probably not a bad thing…
We saw the Coober Pedy golf course – not a blade of grass in sight. Apparently the course has reciprocal rights with St Andrews in Scotland – quite different courses! We went into an underground church, and went to a little indigenous art gallery where we bought a small painting of Uluru as a memento of our trip.
Luke lost his second tooth for the trip! The tooth fairy will be busy..
We had a great BBQ back at the BBQ and watched DVDs again.. Onwards home tomorrow.
Day 101 – July 11 – Coober Pedy -> Woomera
The ‘Lonely Planet’ says of Coober Pedy “…with swarms of flies, no trees, 50 degree C summer days, sub-zero winter nights, cave-dwelling locals and rusty car wrecks in every second front yard, you might think you’ve arrived in a post-apocalyptic hell hole.” But nonetheless we found it to be a fascinating and intriguing place and the people to be very friendly, generous and funny. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.
Before we left the B&B we visited Ken’s opal shop and bought a few colourful samples, ane he generously threw in some freebies. He also showed us some magnificent black opal that he just found a month ago – very rare – that would be worth about $30,000!
Driving south through the Woomera Prohibited Area we passed a road train which had jack-knifed and the 3rd carriage had rolled onto its side. Unfortunately a dozen cattle carcasses were strewn across the road.We visited Woomera – an almost deserted little town, population 300 with a pool, a theatre and a bowling alley - the site of the rocket testing facility from 1947-1980. We visited the interesting rocket museum and saw displays of original rockets, missiles, bombs and satellites.
We stayed the night at a roadside stop in a huge dusty area on top of a hill where you could see for miles over the lunar landscape. The kids played AFL while we prepared dinner. We ate outside in the dark and watched the road trains approach from the distance and roar past. Then we sat and watched the stars in the huge sky – we saw three planets, half a dozen satellites as well as a couple of shooting stars.
Day 102 – July 12 – Woomera -> Silverton
We continued driving past landscape that looks more like the Nullarbor than the Nullarbor does! We saw sheep, lambs, emus and flocks of galahs. We drove into the lush pastures and rolling hills next to Port Augusta – but then moved quickly into the flat arid land of east South Australia, and on into NSW.
We drove over the 39 dips between Broken Hill and Silverton (only 20km away!), and on another 5km to Mundi Mundi lookout, which has views so expansive that you can see the curvature of the earth. We had a quick look around the old mining ghost town of Silverton, and camped for the night at the local campground.
Day 103 – July 13 – Silverton -> Cobar
We were woken by a strong gale blowing, along with rain. Luckily we were nicely cocooned in Winnie!
We had a look around Broken Hill in the morning at various mining sites, art galleries (including Pro Hart’s art gallery – great art), and mineral museums, finishing with ice cream spiders and warm milkshakes at Bell’s milkbar.
We drove through continuous heavy rain along the Barrier Highway and stayed in a rest area 50km west of Cobar.
Day 104 – July 14 – Cobar -> Sydney (HOME!!!)
We left before dawn to cover the last 800km to Sydney – keen to get home! A much better day for driving today, lovely and sunny. The kids spotted kangaroos, goats, sheep and cows. There is a lot of water lying on the flat lands and flowing through the creeks after yesterday’s downpour. We finished off the spelling homework – and tried to teach Erin to say ‘aich’ instead of ‘haich’.
In Bathurst we detoured briefly to Mount Panorama – and drove Winnie around the racetrack. Bruce even stopped the motorhome on pole position and revved the engine a few times! It was a struggle driving up the motorhome however, and we certainly broke no speed records.
We continued driving past landscape that looks more like the Nullarbor than the Nullarbor does! We saw sheep, lambs, emus and flocks of galahs. We drove into the lush pastures and rolling hills next to Port Augusta – but then moved quickly into the flat arid land of east South Australia, and on into NSW.
We drove over the 39 dips between Broken Hill and Silverton (only 20km away!), and on another 5km to Mundi Mundi lookout, which has views so expansive that you can see the curvature of the earth. We had a quick look around the old mining ghost town of Silverton, and camped for the night at the local campground.
Day 103 – July 13 – Silverton -> Cobar
We were woken by a strong gale blowing, along with rain. Luckily we were nicely cocooned in Winnie!
We had a look around Broken Hill in the morning at various mining sites, art galleries (including Pro Hart’s art gallery – great art), and mineral museums, finishing with ice cream spiders and warm milkshakes at Bell’s milkbar.
We drove through continuous heavy rain along the Barrier Highway and stayed in a rest area 50km west of Cobar.
Day 104 – July 14 – Cobar -> Sydney (HOME!!!)
We left before dawn to cover the last 800km to Sydney – keen to get home! A much better day for driving today, lovely and sunny. The kids spotted kangaroos, goats, sheep and cows. There is a lot of water lying on the flat lands and flowing through the creeks after yesterday’s downpour. We finished off the spelling homework – and tried to teach Erin to say ‘aich’ instead of ‘haich’.
In Bathurst we detoured briefly to Mount Panorama – and drove Winnie around the racetrack. Bruce even stopped the motorhome on pole position and revved the engine a few times! It was a struggle driving up the motorhome however, and we certainly broke no speed records.
We finally arrived home at 6:30pm, in the dark after striking various traffic jams through Katoomba. We felt strange and nervous to arrive home – we even contemplated bypassing Mosman and continuing onwards on another adventure…
One day we’ll definitely go on another adventure to see the parts of Australia we didn’t get to on this trip. Stay tuned for the McKinnon’s next adventure…
One day we’ll definitely go on another adventure to see the parts of Australia we didn’t get to on this trip. Stay tuned for the McKinnon’s next adventure…
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