Coober Pedy

We arrived in Coober Pedy on Monday after a long drive from Port Augusta. We left really early - 6.30am, which was a bit of a mistake as it was still dark, and there were signs warning to look out for animals, cows, sheep, as well as kangaroos and emus. There are no fences on the side of the road, and I did see one dead cow as we went along. The scenery was really interesting once it got light, varying from trees, to low shrubs to grassy plains then back to trees again. The land stretched away as far as the eye could see on both sides.

We had a stopped to refuel at each little township and stretched our legs. I even drove for about 100 kms, the road just stretched out in front of us, and it was really easy to pass other slower caravans. Randall passed a road train that had 3 'carriages' on it - apparently they can get 5 carriages!!!
We stopped at Woomera briefly, but it was a bit of a disappointment to us, and nothing was open as it was only about 8am when we got there. We had a bit of a walk around and looked at the rockets and planes on display.

We knew we were getting close to Coober Pedy when we started seeing mounds of gravel in the distance. Randall had been in touch with an old workmate who was also on the road, and he said he was staying at the Stuart Range Tourist Park, so we headed there straight away. We also knew that Randall's Aunt and her partner were also in Coober Pedy, so we looked out for their little A Van and sure enough, they were here too!!(There were 2 other parks they could have been in). They were on the mail run, and we knew they would not be back til late, so we left a note on their door. To add to all the fun, we saw Allan, the groundsman at Illawarra Primary- we'd also caught up with him on the boat. So, you can't get away from the Tasmanian connection!
The township is just so interesting - not a blade of grass, very messy, I suppose just like any mining town - Queenstown for example!

We did a tour the next day, going around various sites in the town, then out to 'the breakaways', an amazing geological feature a few kilometres out of town.

Our tour guide was an absolute pain, and talked far too much for our liking, a lot of it just stupid jokes etc. However we did see and hear about lots of local stuff so we put up with it. We drove out to the dog fence as well, a fence longer than the great wall of China. It was put up to stop the dingoes coming south to kill the sheep. It is called a dog fence now, as apparently there are no pure bread dingoes on the mainland, only on Fraser Island. (I've acutally been there and not seen one dingo!)

We have spent 3 nights here, and our plan now is to head up towards Uluru. I cant' wait to see it all- again, it is all new territory and wonderful to see such interesting places.

Adelaide to Port Augusta

We are now in Port Augusta after an interesting and long trip from Adelaide. We had a bit of a late start, as we had caught up with some old friends from home as well as my sister and brother in law, the night before, and were very tired. (No, we hadn't overindulged!!)
We left Adelaide aroung 10am and stopped at a few places for things before we really got going. Our petrol stop at Dublin proved a bit funny. There was a local butcher there, so we got some meat fo make a schnitzel. I asked for some steak cut 1cm thick, only to be handed steak cut twice that thickness. Oh! said the butcher, if you'd told me it was for schnitzel.... Hello, what does 1cm thick mean to you??? Anyway, we got this adulterated meat but I think it will be ok for schnitzel:)
I had a nice sausage in bread next door anyway!
Our trusty GPS system led us astray yet again. We were looking for a nice camping ground suggested by BIL, and entered what we thought were the correct coordinates. We had gone quite a way off the highway and on this back road, when the 'man' said: "You have reached your destination"!!! To cut a long story short, by the time we got to the correct destination it was getting quite late and was very dim so we decided to cut our losses and head straight for Port Augusta.
The town is quite interesting and none of the houses have nice gardens like at home. They seem to be just gravel out the front with a few plants in a little kind of garden or nothing at all!!
The town was very quiet even for a Sunday, so we had a bit of a drive around then headed back to our camp for a relax.
As for the weather - it's the same as Tassie!!! Been about 16 degrees and cool overnight. At least all the clothes dried today - did a big wash.
Our plan is to head for Coober Pedy tomorrow - up very early and heading off around 7 am!

Adelaide

Well, we are spending a few days here in Adelaide to catch up with family and friends. Yesterday was my birthday, so Randall and I headed into town to see the pandas at the zoo. They were so cute - we both enjoyed looking at them.
Then we headed to Glenelg on the tram for lunch and a stroll along the beach, which was very enjoyable.
I went out for tea with my sister and her family to a gourmet pizza place - delicious!!!
Today I met Penny for a coffee in town and had a great wander around the Botanic Gardens. It was really beautiful, and the highlight was seeing these huge lilly pads in a pond.

Day one on the road

What a busy few days!! Randall and I were absolutely exhausted when we left home yesterday at about 3 pm. Didn't leave much time for error to catch the boat but we got there in time .
Our cabin was rather luxurious thanks to Randall, with towelling robes, TV in the room and a double bed. All rather nice to kick start the holiday.





We got off the boat at 6.45 am and headed towards Adelaide. We decided not to stop at the Grampions as we hadn't got enough k's under our belt. We stopped at Ararat for breakfast, where our order was confused by the lady serving us, too bad what kind of milk coffee you ordered! We had another stop at Horsham to shop for supplies for tea only to have to ditch the fruit and veg at the SA border for fear of a fine!! Anyway, we are now at Keith for an overnight stop then off to Adelaide tomorrow.

Yay!! The canopy is finally on.

Now we can really get organized.

Location:Takone St,Geilston Bay,Australia

Getting ready

We emptied the caravan and put eveything downstairs! The caravan went in for a service.

Starting another adventure.

Well, Randall and I will be heading off on a big 16 week holiday soon. We have purchased a new 4 wheel drive for the adventure.


We are in the throes of getting organized. Only three weeks to go! We will be heading up the middle of Australia to get the warmer weather.

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