Rainfall less than 5-inches pa - You get nothing

Look closely and you will see camel tracks

The road from William Creek to Coober Pedy was 162 kms of dust, salt beds and gibber desert. I doubt if we saw one animal during the drive and the only birds would have been migrating corellas and tiny finches. The place was deserted. Rainfall was probably less than 5 inches each year. The old sea floor was dead-flat as well as dead of life. Some salt bushes tried in vein to make a go of life. Just outside of Coober Pedy we crossed some riverbeds that had seen some water of late and colorful wild flowers had their moment of glory. We came to see the desert… and we found it all right!

Even a little rain brings rewards

Our underground motel room. Look at the rock colours

Joye checks out an historic mine

Mullock heaps at Coober Pedy

Large volume of mullock from a
small opening to mine

Coober Pedy catches the imagination while still 10 kms out of town. It is surrounded by painted hills (the geology of the different colours is beyond me… but it sure looks great. Nearer to town we could see large mining activity in selected hills… chasing the elusive opals. We drove into town to select our motel. The first place in which we enquired was the site for one of the very early mines in the area. The current owner had acquired the closed mine, had bought in mining equipment to transform the layout into a motel and had furnished the site with antique furniture. The place looked magnificent. The colour of the walls had a marbling effect of whites and reds. Seams of Gypsum rock added another feature to the walls. The rock regulated the temperature at a steady 27 degrees Celsius (apparently in both winter and summer). Our fascination with the place was somewhat contained when we discovered the bed linen had not been changed after the previous occupant… but Joye’s experience with housekeeping soon put that blemish right. Late in the day we visited the Old Timers museum (located next to our motel). We were amused by the miner of 30 years experience who demonstrated how various pieces of machinery work. The day had a successful close as we watched Australia (and the French Referee) trounce the South African Ruby Union team (Viva la France). During the night we saw some minor evidence experienced by local indigenous persons. They congregated around the gambling area of the hotel. At least these patrons were not overly intoxicated. Up until then we had seen very few aborigines. At Coober Pedy indigenous issues remain to be resolved.