Youngs' travelling adventures: Coober Pedy

Saturday the 7th of May
We left Roxby Downs and continued up the Stuart highway towards Coober Pedy which was our next destination.
On the way we stopped at Lake Hart to stretch our legs.Lake Heart is another huge Inland salt lake. South Australia has a lot of salt lakes because millions of years ago it was a huge inland sea and the salt lakes are what is left of that period. It looked like it was a popular spot for tourist to camp in even though it was just a rest area.
A little dog came over and when we were getting food out of the caravan it jumped in to have a look then went back out.

We stopped at Glendambo to fill up with petrol and have lunch.The flies were really bad and when we left I think there were more in the car than out.

Todd's parents had continued on to Coober Pedy and were going to book accomadation for us.
Coming into Coober Pedy the Mullock mounds from the mines started to appear and then there were more and more. Everywhere was covered in Mullock mounds.

We arrived at the caravan park that we had agreed on and went to the site she had given us.
The site was squished into the corner and other people had to move their cars for us to get in.
We were not very happy. As I was taking the kids to see the T.V room and pool we walked through another part of the park which looked a little better. I went to the office and asked if we could change our site. She gave me some options- one site was without power. We chose this site because it was easier to get in and out of because it was a little bigger. It didn't bother us that we didn't have power because we had solar to run the lights, but the kids were complaining because they couldn't charge eir D.S's.
We had filled up our Caravans at Roxby Downs with water because all the Caravan Parks in Coober Pedy don't supply water. It cost 20c for approx 20 to 30 litres at the council water depot.
The showers at the caravan park cost 20c for 3 minutes. The first night we had a shower Todd got undressed and put his money into the machine but no water came out. He banged it and still no water came out so he got dressed again wondering what he was going do to when he jiggled the keys in his pocket. A thought popped into his head and he stuck one of the keys into the machine jiggled it around and water started to come out. He quickly got undressed again and jumped under the water, had a quick wash down then his time ran out. He returned to the caravan cursing the showers.
Sunday morning Luke was the first one up to wish me a Happy Mother's Day then Alanna then Careena.
Val and Tony came over to our caravan and we had a cooked breakfast on the B.B.Q which was quite nice.
After we were ready we went into town to the Tourist information centre. We picked up some information and decided that we would go and see the Breakaways --A mountainous area approx 50klm out of town. Half way there Tony remembered that we needed a permit and flashed his headlights for us to pullover. We had to go back to the tourist info centre to get one. On the way back we decided to stop in at the airport to see about booking a scenic flight over lake Eyre. We got to the airport to find it shut. (It was a very small airport)We met some people at the airport and got chating to them and one person from their group wanted to do the flight also.As the cost was $150 cheaper for 4 or more people we said that he could join us.

All of us headed back to the tourist information Centre and along the way one of the annoying flies that was still in the car landed on my forehead. I thought I would be smart and rolled down the window to brush it off my face but as I did that my hand hit my sunglasses and they went flying out of the window much to everyone's delight.
Todd had to reverse back and get them.Alanna was yelling out in the back "I can see them. Little bit further dad" .Luckily he didn't go to far and I jumped out and picked them up.
We went back to the VIC and caught up with Todd's parents and the kids couldn't wait to tell them that I had thrown my sunglasses out of the window. ( Kids love to change the story.) At the VIC we booked a flight for Monday afternoon.( We were going to drive out to William Creek but the road kept closing due to rainy weather so we decided to do a 4 hour flight from Coober Pedy which was better value for money.)
Then we decided to have lunch out because it was Mother's Day.

The 7 of us decided to have lunch at a little underground Cafe but when we got there the owner said "no food today the chef is away ."He suggested the Pizza shop across the road. Val and Tony decided to go back and have lunch at their caravan because they wern't to keen on Pizza. After they had left I looked at the map of other places to eat and we chose to eat at the Crystal Cafe at an underground Motel. We walked in and it was very nice. There were only 2 other couples and 1 family in the Cafe.( Not at all like Mother's day at the Richmond Club where it is very busy.)
It was very relaxing, the food was good and not too expensive. After lunch we walked through their Opal shop and their underground display on Mining. It was really well set out and we enjoyed ourselves.
After lunch we met up with Val and Tony again and drove out to the Breakaways. The Breakaways were once part of the Flinders Rangers but over time they have broken away hence the name.
They are made of many shades of sandstone and look quite pretty.
We continued down the dirt road and came across the Dingo Fence. The longest fence in Australia.
We followed the dirt road along the fence and then found the back way into Coober Pedy.
While we were there we did a couple of mine tours. The first one was the Old Timers Mine which was quite interesting because it showed how mining was done in the earlier days.( All by hand.)
The second was Tom's working opal Mine and it showed how mining is done today.On the tour we were shown some of the equipment and tools that are used.We were also shown how to make bombs to blow up the sandstone.( The wives make the bombs while watching T.V instead of knitting.)When they get to the Opal it is dug out by hand the old fashion way.
Anyone can start mining for Opals. It is 1 claim per person, 50m x 50m. There are no big companies.
The old mine tunnels are never filled in because if someone else comes along and tunnels underneath a filled in shaft the loose dirt will collapes and kill them.
A lease lasts for 1 year.If it is not renewed someone else can take over the mine. Some people constantly check the expiry dates on the posts.
One story that we were told was about a man who thought he had got all the Opal out of his mine. He pulled up his pegs and one of his friends decided to take over the mine and put in a lease for it. He scraped the floor with a bobcat and found approx $40000 of Opal in the first week.
Approximately 2000 people live in dug-outs or underground homes.
We looked through Faye's Underground house.It was started over sixty years ago. It took her 10 years with 2 friends to dig it out by hand using picks and shovels. It has Three bedrooms with walk in robes, living room, bar, wine cellar, Billiard room and swimming pool. The swimming pool is above ground but Faye hand dug it into the rock and built a room around it. The house is carpeted and tiled.It also had a fireplace. In the roof matches are placed into the cracks of the rock.If a match falls out it means the rock has shifted and someone has to come out and check the stability. Faye lives in Queensland now and is over 70 years old. Her house is still lived in and the owners give tours of the house.
It was better than I expected but that is what Coober Pedy is like--A mess on top of the ground but get underneath in mines, shops,hotels or homes and it is beautiful.
Monday afternoon we flew over Lake Eyre. We were all cramed into a little plane.Todd was in the front with the pilot. Careena was behind the pilot and I was behind Todd. Alanna was behind Careena and Luke was behind me. Everyone was excited and I was a little nervous. Careena was holding my hand but when we took off she let go. She was having a great time. We had a lot of turbulance on the way out. Everyone was O.K except Luke who had to use the sick bag and then went to sleep for a while. We had to stop at William Creek to refuel and I had visions of spending the night there with Luke because I thought he might not want to get back on the plane again. (William Creek is in the middle of nowhere with a permanent population of 3.I wasn't sure how I was going to get back to Coober Pedy the next day if we did have to spend the night.)Luckily he got back on the plane without a problem and I sat beside him for the return trip. The trip back was a lot smoother and he wasn't sick again.( Don't know if he would want to fly again.

I'm having trouble putting the photos where I want them. They are a bit mixed up but they look good anyway.

The Breakaways

Alanna testing out lift in mine shaft
Tom's working Opal Mine

Sonia testing out lift in mine shaft
Tom's working opal mine

Todd testing out lift in mine shaft
Tom's working opal Mine

Lake Ayre from the plane

reflection of clouds on lake Eyre

Reflection of clouds on Lake Eyre

Scenery from the plane

William Creek pub
population 3

The walls of William Creek Pub are covered
with business cards and lots of other stuff
that visitors leave behind.
Todd put his business card on the wall.