Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Coober Pedy

Entrance sign to Coober Pedy.

We were able to leave Port Augusta before 10 am. I was so excited to be driving to and visiting Coober Pedy today! It is an underground town built in the dugouts from the opal mines. According to the 2013 Coober Pedy visitor guide, WWI soldiers shared the idea of dugout living here upon returning from the trenches. Apparently, the advantages of living in the ground are the constant 23 to 25 degree celsius temperature. The guide also reports that fifty percent of the population in Coober Pedy live underground.

For me, the real attraction are the OPALS! And soon we would become noodle-ers!

But before we could get to Coober Pedy, we would need to pass Jeepers Creeper AGAIN! We spent all of the previous day unintentionally traveling with this strange vehicle, and it looked like today would be very similar.

We arrived on the moon, oops I meant Coober Pedy, around 3:30 pm. Jeepers Creeper was not far behind! We checked in to the Underground B&B http://www.undergroundbandb.com.au/ after talking with owner, Ana. She had an impressive collection of opals which her and her husband, Ken, mined…so colorful and brilliant.

The front of the Undergroud B&B.

By the time we got settled into our stunning dugout darkness had arrived, so the run for the day was exchanged for a pizza at John's Pizza. Great pizza!

Drove 566 kilometers.

Ran 0. 😦

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