DAY 7 – Saturday 9 June 2012 Coober Pedy (exploring)

Trip Meter Reading Start – 1033            Trip Meter Reading Finish - 1120

Total Km Travelled – 87 km

Fuel Costs & Consumption

Fill up Coober Pedy

LPG @ $1.05; 65.38 litres $67.95
Petrol @ $1.66; 65.13 litres $110.00

Comments -  Luke Baker

We went into Coober Pedy for a look around.  We went to Fayes underground house to see how people live underground.  It is 20 – 24 degrees all year round under the ground.  I went ‘noodling’ which is looking for opals on the surface, where I found some.  We went down the Oonadatta track through to the Breakaways.  There were lots of different coloured hills.
Comments – Mum and Dad
After catching up with our washing and internet commitments, today we set off at around 11am to explore the town of Coober Pedy. 
First stop was Fayes underground house.  Fay today is 89 years of age and lives in Brisbane.  Fay came to Coober Pedy and was one of 8 women.  She dug out her home by hand in her spare time in between starting up a cafe and working in the mines.  She was a pioneer who kicked off tourism in the area.  It took her up to 20 years to dig out her house; she wired all the electrical cables herself and with the help of two other women they dug out her bedroom and walk in robe.....what a woman!!! The home is complete with an underground wine cellar and swimming pool.  This place is a must to see and not for the faint hearted; it gets up to 50 degrees in summer, hence the reason people in this community live under the ground; only the local aboriginal community and the ‘Greeks’ live above ground for cultural and religious reasons. 
For lunch we dined at the famous Italian restaurant Johns Pizza.  A large pizza would feed a family of 6 and beats Dominos and Eagle Boys down pat. We had enough left over for dinner, which makes eating out cheap!
Visited the Desert Cave Hotel which is an upmarket hotel, however it is free for anyone to visit the gallery and underground museum.  Unfortunately I walked into the jewellery shop and found a beautiful doublet opal set ring in silver.  Had to have it; and drove back the next morning to pick it up.
Headed out to the Breakaways, just north / east along the Oonadatta track; along the way was the ‘Dog Fence’  which was built to keep the dingos and sheep separated.  It runs all the way east to the Gold Coast approx 2-3000 kilometres (now that’s a long fence)....; through the mica fields toward the breakaways there were 2 lookouts for viewing of rock formations such as ‘The Castle’.