Last night we camped in a rest area 170kms from Coober Pedy with about a dozen other travelers, there wasn’t any phone coverage so today you get 2 blog updates (lucky aren’t you) When we left the rest area this morning it was incredibly foggy and wet, the camper was dripping. We didn’t know you could get fog out here and from the banter on the UHF I gather it’s not that common.The rest area was right beside the road and huge road trains would thunder past during the night waking us up. A Hyundi 4wd was towed into the rest area and left there with a knackered auto gearbox, they had only had it reconditioned 4 months ago, mind you it’s a Hyundi automatic and it was towing a very large old caravan, really don’t think it was the right vehicle for the job. Not sure what was going to happen to them??

We have spent the day in Cobber Pedy and have camped in a really nice clean caravan park just out of town. In the town there are a lot of indigenous people standing around on street corners not doing much, a few were drinking, not really sure what to make of it though and it won’t be the last time we see it either. We went on a self guided tour through The Old Timers Mine which was underground, it was very interesting and quirky in that you were wore a hard hat and actually went down into an old opal mine where there were exhibits of how they mined in the old days. There was also an old and new example of how people live underground in a dug out house.

There is a noodling area at the end of the town where you can try your hand at digging for opals in a large area of mine tailings….got bored in about 15mins and gave up!! Coober Pedy isn’t a very attractive town but what mining towns are? Most of the houses are underground so you can see a front door and then lots of air vents sticking out of piles of dirt

Have spent the afternoon drying out the camper in the sun, washing clothes and bodies. A load of washing cost me $6 no seperating colours and whites, I shoved it all in one load!!

Pushing on towards Uluru tomorrow, it’s too far to make it in one day comfortably so we should be there Wednesday. It still hasn’t sunk in that we are so far from home and getting further away or that we won’t be back for another 11 weeks. Have checked in on the boys today and all is well (happy Mum)

Photos from mine tour (with very freaky dummies!!!)

PS We have finally taken off our merino thermals and showed our arms the sun this afternoon, it was 18.5 degrees at 5pm…. toasty!!