Entering Coober Pedy
April 28, 2015

Coober Pedy

After a quick stopover in Port Augusta, we started heading north - up the Stuart Highway - which virtually runs up the center of Australia all the way to Darwin - our final destination in our Britzy Beast, on the 9th of May. Now is when this road trip will get exciting, or boring - however you look at it! The road is straight, the terrain boring - in a beautiful sort of way- and you are pretty much alone with the exception of the rare car or road train you might pass. The road trains here are enormous semi-trucks pulling anywhere from two to five trailers and can be up to 150 feet long. They are serious stuff and we do watch out for them! That, and kangaroos, and cattle. You do not want to be on the road when dusk comes and the kangaroos become more active or you don't have good visibility for cows. Larry keeps reminding me when I'm driving; whatever you do don't swerve, just hit them! And whenever you have the chance to fill up with fuel you do, as you won't see another stop for a long time.

The great thing about being in the motor home, is there are plenty of places to pull over, use the bathroom, make lunch, and touch your feet on terra firma - unlike traveling in a boat. It's starting to really grow on Ben, realizing how lucky he is to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to see this great, big, vast country! He passes the hours of driving by daydreaming about all the things he is so excited about to go home to, and listening to his music. I think it's great for our kids to just have to sit sometimes, with nothing else to do but let their mind wander. It doesn't seem like there is much of an opportunity for that anymore in our normal, busy lives.

So, after one of our potty breaks, as we are just starting to pull out, this cute little bright green Jucy van pulls up in front of us waving and smiling. Huh?! Ding! The light bulb goes off...well, it's none other than our friends from the sailing vessel Spruce - whom we haven't seen since last August in Fulaga, Fiji! Once again - what a small world! Sue and Andy are from the UK, and are just so vibrant and fun - with a real zest for life and a love of traveling. And, it just so happens they are heading the same way we are - Coober Pedy - the mining mecca of Opals!

Suddenly, as you're driving through the dry barren desert, the terrain becomes riddled with holes and huge piles of dirt. Road signs suggest you be careful walking - never at night and never backwards as there are more than a million little mineshafts created by the wishful frenzy of hitting it big! Coober Pedy is very unusual in that most of the town is built underground or into the sides of hills as the temperature in the summer season can reach 50 degrees celsius or 122 degrees fahrenheit. Yikes! But what an interesting place. We have never seen anything like it, and really enjoyed the Old Timers Mine Museum and their self guided tour. It just so happens the underground church is next door which is also attached to the underground Comfort Inn in which Sue, Andy, and the three of us were treated to a personal tour by Cecil, the caretaker. I have to say, it is a bit eerie, walking the hallways - looking into the empty hotel rooms, very nice - but very underground...quiet...dark...cool...empty...oh, I said that already....What a place, and what a life these people have who live here, and all because they are lured by a rare gemstone.

So, the story goes; in the early 1900's three men and a young boy were prospecting for gold on their camels, and ended up in this God forsaken area and had run out of water. Three of the men decided to take a day searching for water while leaving the fourteen year old at camp. Upon their return the boy was nowhere in sight and the fire camp coals were cool. The father of the boy decided to build a new fire, in hopes of luring his son back in case he was lost. Shortly thereafter the boy showed up holding a bag of stones - tossing them to his father he said, "Thought this might be something you would be interested in," and the rest is history!

Check out the photo gallery "Coober Pedy" for pictures of an underground hotel, church and our mine tour!