Monday March 22, 2010 – to Coober Pedy.

It was not hard to get out of Port Augusta. We left the park turned right onto the highway then stayed to the right and we were on our way. It did not take long for the landscape to change. I finally drove 3 months of not. It took about ½ hour to get feeling comfortable. There can be any number of animals on the road; cattle, sheep, kangaroos, or camels. Most of the kangaroos come out at dawn and dusk. I was most nervous of them as they can hop out of the bush at any time. Luckily we did not see any live animals actually on the road. We did see a few dead cows and kangaroos. We saw a number of emus in the wild in the fields alongside the road. Through the day we went from bush with trees and scrub grass to just scrub grass. There were flat top hill in the distance. It was very fascinating to see the changes in the landscape. May be after the next few weeks we will not think it is so interesting.

The road is well maintained and easy to drive. There was not very much traffic on it. Just enough to realize that it you got in trouble someone would be along soon. They have road trains which are transport trucks with more than 1 trailer. As we started along the road we saw transports with 2 trailers. As we got further north the trucks had 3 and some with 4. We were told at the tourist info centre in Port Augusta that some even have 5. They were amazing to see.

There is an area that is prohibited. The road goes 292 km through is area. It said on one map that the area was a defence area, maybe for army training. There are a couple of sheep or cattle stations along the way through this area. As this area was coming to an end mound of dirt started appearing. Some big, some small. All opal mines. We are warned about the dangers of walking in the fields as there are many mine shafts one could fall into. Cooper Pedy along with Andamooka and Mintabie produce about 85% of the world's opals.

 

We arrived at our accommodation at 2:30. We are staying just outside of Coober Pedy in an underground B&B. It is very nice. It is cooler than being outside but not by much. There is a fan over the bed and one in the living area. There is also a small 1m deep pool outside. It was very refreshing. I had a very difficult time getting in but finally was able to.