Whitefella's Burrow 3

We also took in the views over the township today. See those mounds over to the left? These are hotels, mines and various other touristy businesses. If you look carefully you can see the entrances. They extend backward, underground into the sandstone hills.





Here's an example of the air vent pipes that we didn't notice before but now seem to see everywhere.





It's been a great day today, and is about to get better. We have booked a tour to visit the Breakaways at sunset which is supposed to be magnificent. We're gonna go have a cuppa and then change into some warmer clothes before we head for the hills (literally!).  Hopefully we'll have some good photos to share with you tomorrow.

Coober Pedy Township

Coober Pedy is the "Opal Capital of the World" so we thought it only fitting that we start our exploring with a tour of an opal mine. Since the town is basically made up of opal mines it wasn't too difficult to find the one pictured below.

Notice how arid it looks in the first photo? Water is so scarce here that the whole township is like this without a blade of grass in site, and very few trees. We must look like a couple of idiots driving around with what looks like a surfboard but is actually a folding boat (even worse?) on the top of our car!







We took a self guided tour which explained how the opals are dug out, and saw a few impressive specimens of opals and opalised shells. Plus we got to wear groovy hardhats...









Not only is water scarce, but it gets extremely hot here. So much so that there are underground hotels, restaurants, camping spots and even many underground houses. In fact, it's said that Coober Pedy was named after the Aboriginal phrase "Kupa Piti" meaning "Whitefellow Burrow". Below is an example of an underground house.

More Coober Pedy Township

We also visited an Aboriginal art gallery and a Kangaroo Rescue. These poor roos were found in the pouches of their mothers who were hit by cars.








Apparantly not everyone drives a big four wheel drive in the outback. This smart car had been driven all the way from Queensland, at least a couple of thousand kilometers away. Squeezy!

Coober Pedy Bound

Here are a few of many photos taken on the road from Woomera to Coober Pedy. Many of the photos simply didn't do justice to the magnificent colours or overall beauty of the area.

Woomera

On Monday morning Mike discovered that his CPAP machine had stopped working.  An internet search revealed that ChemMart in Port Augusta carried the machines and after packing up we headed over to see if they could help. The staff was incredibly nice and accommodating and we were able to replace the CPAP and successfully avoid disaster (other than a substantial dent in the wallet). We're lucky that it happened before we had moved onto more remote areas where replacement would have been far more difficult.

Throughout Port Augusta I kept seeing references to it as the "gateway to the outback". As we drove along our surroundings started to look like what I'd imagined the outback would be like. No sooner did I ask Mike if we were "officially in the outback", that the car jostled as we rode over a cattle grid - on the highway! Moments later a huge road train appeared in front of us complete with a horrible stench and animals crapping over the sides of it. Yep, we were in the outback!









A couple of hours drive through beautiful country and we arrived in Woomera with plenty of time to have a good look around. We visited the Heritage Centre, the Rocket Museum, as well as the Outdoor Museum. Where else but in Woomera would you see disused Rockets displayed along the main streets?

Woomera is small town in the middle of arid nowhere with a big history. After the Germans bombed England during WW2 Australia went to great lengths to set up Woomera to be used as a launching site for Britain's Rocket, the Blue Streak. Workers would have went through hell working in horrible conditions. Woomera commonly reaches 50 degree temperatures (122 Fahrenheit) in the warmer months, not to mention the flies! You can imagine the disappointment when the British realized that the rocket program wasn't financially viable and canceled it. Luckily they saved the day by converting it to a satellite launcher and the testing at Woomera went ahead.

Woomera soon became a launching site for various other countries as well. There was a European joint effort at a satellite launch which involved Britain, Germany, France and Italy. The British, French and Germans each built a stage, and the Italians built the satellite. They attempted to launch three times, but unfortunately it was a complete failure due, in part, to considerable cultural and language differences.




The United States has a substantial presence in Woomera as well even when I'm not visiting :). The US Army had a surplus Redstone Rocket which they agreed that Australia could use. Thus, in 1967 Australia successfully launched the Australian sattelite WRESAT, making Australia the fourth country in the world to launch a sattelite behind the USSR, France and the USA.

NASA operated a Deep Space tracking station between 1960 and 1972, and the Defense Department operated a communication facility and testing facility at Nurrungar. An American military facility remains there today.

Woomera is still used for missile, blast and ballistic testing by Australian and other authorities. The range was once over 1700 kilometers long, but has now been reduced to an area about the size of England.




As I write this we are in Cooper Pedy, where we arrived this afternoon. More on that once we've had a chance to do some exploring.

Port Augusta

We left Eden Valley on Saturday morning stopping at Port Germain for a look at the pier (the longest wooden one in Australia) and a bite to eat.  Although we had already driven past the majority of the storm it was cold and we still had patchy rain on and off all day.





Upon arriving at Port Augusta we were thrilled to find much improved weather. It was cool (not cold) and for the first time in days the sun shone brightly. I can't tell you how nice it was to spend the afternoon chatting with other campers and sipping a glass or three of wine in the warm sun instead of being cooped up in the camper with the heater.

We decided to spend two nights here instead of one which gave us a chance to get some organising and housekeeping done (laundry, food shopping, etc), and also have a much needed break.  It was wonderful having a relaxing morning rather than rushing around packing up in the rain. Mike does look thrilled, doesn't he?




Port Augusta must be on the holiday track because we've started meeting fellow travelers and have really enjoyed chatting and comparing notes.  One group of guys that we met were walking (WALKING!!) 4500 kilometers from Perth, across the Nullarbor to Sydney to aid the disabled.  They are walking to highlight the issues of those with mobility problems and work to assist them by providing wheelchairs, transport, carer cars, etc.  They're a great group of guys.  If you'd like to help or find out more visit The Big Roll 2010.  Below Mike posed for a photo with one of the walkers and the dummy (a teddy bear) that they're pushing in a wheelchair for all those kilometers.



We also had time to do a bit of touring of Port Augusta. We visited the Wadlata Outback Centre where Mike and I almost got eaten by viscous outback creatures!

Luckily we were able to make a clean escape and lived to enjoy the rest of the exhibition.

Tomorrow we head toward Woomera. It's a shame to leave beautiful Port Augusta (check out the gorgeous view of the Flinder's Ranges below), but there are lots of beautiful places just up the road a bit..