Day 77: Fri 07 Aug 26 - Coober Pedy

Fri 07 Aug  26 - Coober Pedy

8 to 22 Deg, feeling 5 Deg cooler all day with a strong NW wind, clear and becoming cloudy mid morning with some light showers throughout the day. Overall, a cold, windy and miserable day.

I was out the door early to catch sunrise at the Welcome to Coober Pedy sign and put the drone up over the nearby opal minefields for a few photos. The rest of the day for me was very quiet, I was tired and didn't feel like doing much at all. I think the pace of the past few weeks has caught up with me. Noel went into town mid morning and visited the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum while I stayed behind to catch up on some admin and cared for Olli. After lunch, I had a nana nap then took the car in to town to refuel. On return, Noel took off again mid afternoon to join a guided tour in the Umoona Mine and Museum, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, she said no photos were allowed on the tour. I'm glad we stayed at Coober Pedy another day, as it gave me a chance to rest, and for Noel to have some time to herself visiting a few attractions. We will leave tomorrow, continuing our journey south, but rain and strong winds are forecast for the next 2 days, so we may have to reassess free camping plans. All going well, we plan to overnight tomorrow at Lake Hart, not far from Woomera. We have a week to fill in before needing to be at Quorn next weekend (14-16 Aug) for my friend Kingsley's belated birthday celebration with family who live in SA, then we will head home.

Welcome to Coober Pedy at Sunrise

Welcome to Coober Pedy at Sunrise

Welcome to Coober Pedy at Sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise - beautiful sky this morning

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise
Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Coober Pedy Opal Mine fields at sunrise

Stunning Sturt Desert Pea

Stunning Sturt Desert Pea

Stunning Sturt Desert Pea

Noel's Umoona Mine & Museum Visit

Noel's Umoona Mine & Museum Visit

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Days 8-27 Sat 30 May - Thu 18 Jun 26 - Gladstone (New daily posts at the top of this page)

Image
Sat 30 May - Thu 18 Jun 26 - Gladstone & Rockhampton New daily posts added below. Thu 18  Jun:    17 to 24 Degrees, mostly clear with light easterly winds. I started the day with another long morning walk then took Mum to a GP appointment as a follow up to her surgery so I could join her while I'm still in town - needless to say, Dr Abi was thrilled to see Mum smiling and pain free again. With us leaving Gladstone tomorrow, I had a few more odd jobs to finish and appointments to schedule - in home Physio appointment Tue, GP review Wed and Orthopaedic post-surgery review in July. Meanwhile Noeleene was busy in the Greenhouse and Olli was running himself into the ground playing with Greg's dog 'Whiskey'. After lunch, school mate Barry and Helen dropped by Mum's for a visit for a couple of hours, and it was great to catch up. A few more farewells followed, then we had dinner with Mum before returning to the van, ready for bed. It's been a very busy day, and pre...
Read more

Day 50: Sat 11 Jul 26 - Dinosaur Creek to Cloncurry

Image
Sat 11 Jul  26 - Dinosaur Creek to Cloncurry (279km) 11 Deg overnight to 29 Degrees at Cloncurry, clear with light winds. It was very quiet last night and we had a very good sleep. After a slow start, we eventually pulled away from a wonderful overnight stay, and first stop was a little over 100km away at Kynuna. My only interest here was the Blue Heeler hotel, but the hotel didn't open till 11:00, and the grumpy old woman inside wasn't having anyone take a look inside any earlier, even though the 'ricketty old shack' was wide open. It didn't look that interesting anyway, so we continued on our way to our next stop McKinlay. The Walkabout Hotel at McKinlay, was a very different story to the Blue Heeler, buzzing with activity, and the lady behind the bar was very friendly. Noel and I had a soft drink on the front verandah, took a few photos then continued on our way to Cloncurry. The road today was very rough and bumpy for 2/3 of the way to McKinlay, then although a ...
Read more

Day 2: Sun 24 May 26 - Molong to Coonabarabran

Image
Sun 24 May 26 - Molong to Coonabarabran (276km) 10 Degrees and partly cloudy at Molong, to 20 Degree and partly cloudy at Coonabarabran.  A bit of a restless first night, but good to be travelling again. I took Olli for an early walk around the golf course, then after 30 minutes of ridding him of the sticky red dirt followed by breakfast, we set just after 09:00. Surprisingly for a  Sunday there was a lot of heavy transport on the road, but overall it was another cruisy day on the road. We had a short fuel stop at Wellington, then at Gilgandra we had a nice long lunch break at the information centre rest area, then continued to Coonabarabran. Our stopover for tonight is at the Coonabarabran Showgrounds with plenty of open space, a nice grassy site (without prickles) and sharing it with only 2 other vans. The powered site with water costing $25 for the night.  Lunch break at Gilgandra Lunch break at Gilgandra - The town of Windmills Lunch break at Gilgandra - The...
Read more