Coober Pedy

Arrived at Coober Pedy late that afternoon, by 4pm we were at Tom's Working Mine for a tour. Our tour guide walked us through the underground mine, explaining the workings of the mine and how opals formed. The boys particularly liked how to make explosives. He also spoke about the early days in the wild west. If someone was to get on the wrong side of an opal miner and his lot, that person would simply disappear, (down a hole).

Day 2 at Coober Pedy we went for a drive to the Breakaways, great view but absolutely freezing. From there we went to Fay's house for and underground tour. Fay's house was dug out by hand by three women in 1962, it took them 10 years to complete. She was the original cook of the town. Glad to leave the so called Oasis Big 4 Caravan Park.

Left Coober Pedy to head north to Erldunda for stop over before we head to the rock tomorrow.

Broken Hill Day 4

Off to The Royal Flying Doctors and The Pro Hart Gallery. If we only had a spare $15,000 we could have bought an original. Jack loved the art work, we'll just have to wait for one of Jack's paintings. Then onto Port Augusta, another long day. Not much to do here apart from locking up valuables and listen to the trucks, a good night sleep for all, not. Coober Pedy here we come!

Broken Hill Day 3

Set alarm clock for 6am, woke up at 6.45am (alarm clock set fro 6pm), packed and kids fed, gone by 7.30am to Broken Hill. Left with beautiful sunshine and half our into trip hit fog, spent the next two hours dodging sheep, goats, didn't see any kangaroo's other than dead ones. Arrived in Broken Hill at 10.30am with clear skies, time to take the layers off.

Had an early lunch, and headed off to the Day Dream Mine, 30 minutes out of Broken Hill. It was very informative, and the kids enjoyed the underground tour.



Next we went to Silverton, a historical town, it was very interesting, where films such as Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed. Then Back to Broken Hill to the Line of Load (hilltop lookout). It is a memorial for all the miners that lost their lives in mining accidents.

Mildura Day 2

Started the day with freshly squeezed orange juice from the great Orange World farm. Continued on with a train ride and commentary through the orchids. From there we travelled to Wentworth and visited the old Wentworth gaol, the kids enjoyed seeing the shackles and stories of how the prisoners were kept. Then on to Perry Hills where we enjoyed a walk through the sand dunes.

Mildura

Well, we set off on our tour today headed for Mildura. The road was quite rough, opened the caravan door to... the smell of beer. One stubby down, cans for the rest of the trip. Looking forward to a sunny day tomorrow, yay. We're camping right on the river and looking forward to going on an adventurous day tomorrow, maybe even Orange World, has anyone been to Orange World?

Forgot to mention, we made our first new friends, Pat and Bev from Warrnambool. Turns out their grandson goes to Mandama as well.

So sorry... but it has to be said

After waking up to a miserable old day in Geelong, I can't wait till we head off.

Who's counting?

16 more days to go, yay!

How to add a photo...

Added this photo for a laugh, while I work out how to blog and add a photo before I have to actually do this for the trip. This is Marc at the boys footy, very very cold. The pom poms look quite cute! Now lets see if it has worked...