Alex headed
off on a tour with J&R and M&A this morning while Jill had a relax – if
you could call doing the washing and cleaning out the fridge relaxing. Rudi was the guide for the tour, an old Opel
Miner and he had lots of information re the history of Coober Pedy. Called at the underground Serbian Church, did
a bit of fossicking (didn’t find anything), drove around the town past the golf
course (oil greens) and areas of working open mines, finishing up at the Umoona
Open Mine and Museum where we were shown an underground dwelling and an old
mine. Could also buy opal if you were so
inclined. The museum is certainly worth
the visit.
After a
quick coffee at the Desert Cave Café we all met up at the Underground Bookshop
to buy permits (one of three needed to cross the Anne Beadell) for the first
part of our trip. This is a fascinating
little shop and very well resourced.
Jill and I
had a burger for lunch at John’s Pizza Bar and Restaurant – very nice, before
heading back to the caravan park for a swim (it’s no warmer today). Checked the wheel bearings on the camper –
new ones put in at Mullumbimby and we were told they might need adjusting. They didn’t.
At about
4:30 we headed out to the Breakaways (23km up the highway and then 10 km east) - some spectacular country with lots of mesas. After some exploring, we had drinks and nibbles
while watching the sunset. There was
some cloud about so the sunset did not disappoint.
Back to
town and some of us headed for the restaurant at the Desert Cave
