Coober Pedy

 April 10th

Awoke fresh and raring to go, amazing what a good night's sleep will bring. Coober Pedy today, had to be ready to board the coach by 10.50 am. we were on coach 6, last cabin and now last coach! Just call us tail end Charlie! Anyway we got the excursion we wanted and first stop was to the Breakaways.

Wow, we were all blown away by what we saw. What a landscape, amazing nothing quite like it have we seen before. There was also drinks waiting, we could really get used to that!

 Back on the the coach and the next stop was the 'Dog Fence'. This is the longest man made fence in the World even beating The Great Wall of China. I took this from Cooberpedy.com  

This 2m high wire barrier stretches for over 5,300km across three States, to protect the sheep country in the south from the native dog, the Dingo. The desert-like moonscape along the fence, with its fossilised shells, grey, soft clay dirt and cracks that appear to be bottomless, has been nicknamed the ‘moon plain’. It too has been the scene for numerous movies.

 Onwards toward Coober Pedy and plenty of Opal mine workings to be seen. Nearer to town and we began to see signs of underground dwellings. This is, I believe, to be Australia's only underground town. White ventilation pipes were the only sign that showed how big the dwelling actually was. A constant 22 degrees in what the locals call 'dugouts' which had a pleasant feel in the hot summer months and kept the owners warm in the cool nights of winter. 

First stop was the Serbian Orthodox church. This had been chiselled from the earth to look like a ballroom but even underground stained glass windows were present as well as one of those fonts that fully submerged the worshippers during baptism.

 Another short coach ride to the Umoona Opal Mine. Here we first went noodling (chiselling the rocks with pickaxes) to try and find that one Opal to make us all rich. I found one very small bit, given another by one of the guides and told that both combined may buy me an ice cream cone! Hardley the millionaire I hoped to be at the end of this experience.

This was what we were looking for.

 

Lunch was then served underground, more bubbly dished out, gosh we will be drunk before the return to the Ghan at this rate!

Anyway after discovering nothing but sandstone dust and dirt, it was time to stop hunting for that opal and go and see a proper underground house.

 And another tour deeper underground to see the mine workings

 Finally we stopped to see some of the mine machines used. A drum attached to a car seemed totally out of place but this is used to suck up the dirt and blow it into mounds.This was then sorted to find the opals.

Once back we boarded the coach back to the Ghan and was given a surprise when the driver crossed the rail line to give us the one and only chance of seeing the Ghan from one end to another. Wow, absolutely brilliant, we knew it was long but to see it all was a sight to behold.

 

And then on arrival back to the train, more drinks and canapés to enjoy with a roaring fire to give that final outdoor experience. It was one of the best ways to end what was truly an amazing trip.