We pulled into the Op Shop Campground, aptly named as it is the yard of the local Op Shop. It's hot and dusty but we have power, fresh rain water, a flushing toilet and a hot shower. Luxury! Gary is the camp host and he welcomed us warmly and provided us with a wealth of local knowledge on what to do and see while in town.
After feeding the troops our first stop was the Old Timers Mine.
The original mine dates back to 1916, but was abandoned and hidden shortly after. The mystery is why the original miners never returned to dig out the opal that remained. Perhaps they went to the First World War and never came home again. It was not until 1968 that the hidden mine was rediscovered by local Ron Gough, when he was digging an extension to his underground home.
Inside the mine it is cool in comparison to the heat outside. In fact all underground buildings in Coober Pedy average between 23 and 25 degrees all year around. It makes sense in these harsh conditions and certainly saves on air conditioning!
The museum showed how miners, usually working alone, would dig the shafts and blast holes and winch the dug soil up to the surface, all by hand, with only candles and carbine lamps for illumination. The shafts were only dug as wide as each individual miner and we think some of these guys must have been pretty small!
There were lots of little nooks and crannies for the boys to explore. There were also lots of interesting displays - it's fascinating to imagine how people lived this underground life, from the 1920s right up until the 1990s and beyond.
An underground kitchen.
Considering it's underground it's quite amazing how light and airy it is!
Coober Pedy had the only underground Post Office in the world.
After spending about an hour in the mine museum, we spent the next two hours noodling for opals in the noodling box in the car park.
We got some great new opal specimens to add to the hundreds we got yesterday at Andamooka!
Next we just HAD to check out the big winch!
Another of those BIG things!
(this is Coober Pedy's second big winch, the first being destroyed by a cyclone in 1986)
It was late in the afternoon by this time, so we headed home for an early BBQ dinner and an ice cold beer. Later, with full tummies and homework finished, we headed east to the Breakaways Reserve (30 kms north of Coober Pedy on a red dirt track) to watch the sunset over the Stuart Ranges.
The Dog Fence
The Longest Fence in the World
The South Australian section of the dog fence is 2250 km long. It forms part of an unbroken barrier that stretches over 5300 kms through South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. It is the only barrier that prevents dingoes entering the sheep country in the south. The desert like moonscape along the fence, known as the moon plain, is full of fossilised shells (remnants of the past inland sea)
He just had to!
From here it was just a short drive to the Breakaways, so named as they are a set of colourful low hills which have broken away from the Stuart Range.
This outcrop has been used in a number of films and advertisements, including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Ground Zero.
Bruce just couldn't help himself.
He had to drive up it.
The desert colours were spectacular!
I can see my house from here!
It was after 9pm before we got the troops home again. Dead on our feet, we were just tucking Jarrah in when he commented that he was going to go straight to sleep in order to give Mum and Dad time to decorate the caravan for his birthday tomorrow! Arghhhhhhhhhh...
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