This morning we were awoken with a strong SW wind blowing. This was buffeting the Karavan a fair bit but it could not cause any damage. The temperature had dropped due to the wind change. This meant that I should put up some more of the awning to stop a bit more of the wind.

We drove into the town to get a few items. I found a temporary replacement for the Leatherman tool that I mislaid during the past week. Prue bought a T shirt to get her through. Some chemist items were also acquired.

I gave Prue a massage which is the first for the trip. It has been too cold to do it in the open or under the awning since we left home. Hopefully, that has helped her a bit.

Then it was lunch and we had some nice homemade pumpkin soup that Prue had brought from home.

After lunch we joined a tour organised from the Stuart Range Caravan Park that we are in. They have their own Toyota Coaster buses to take us around. Our driver, Geoff, introduced himself to us all and briefed us on what we would be seeing and doing in the 4 ½ hour tour of Coober Pedy and close in district.

The tour started with a bit of a run around part of the town. One of the first stops was near the Oval where Geoff told us about the Greek born Town mayor who planted olive trees with council money and would not disclose to the others why he had done so but said to wait 2 years. After 2 years the olives were blooming in the desert due to their ability to find moisture. The next project was the oval so it was excavated and filled with rubble and topped with sand and the grey water from the town is used to keep it green. It is an operation that the mayor knew from Greece.

Then we moved out of the town by way of the new Police Station that came about as one of the miners had blown the old one up. Part of the old station is now a Pre School. While there Geoff also outlined how to get a miners licence and what it entails.

Now we moved on to a mining area past the pock marked landscape. There have been more than 4 million holes drilled in the area to explore where the opals may be. We stopped at a mine that was working. All that was visible was the big suction system bringing overburden to the surface. A certain amount catches in a big bin then the weight of it trips the door allowing it to drop onto the heap. This is being dug by a boring machine just below the seam of opal. This overburden is often dug over by fossickers and rarely by the miner who is after the big haul. There are so many holes around and it is very dangerous and tourists are not permitted to wander about.

Then we moved onto the lookout near the Magnificent Breakaways. They are not dissimilar to the Painted Deseret that we saw only yesterday. They are so colourful and enchanting. The tour took us around the base of these hills.

Eventually, we left the Breakaways and entered the stark Moon Plains. There is Moon rock all over this area which runs into many square kilometres. For a geologist it would be extremely interesting. So much of this is so old geologically and the talk is in millions of years old and having been part of an inland sea. There were samples of fossilised mussels, potatoes, and pipis. All remnants of long ago.

Then we came onto the Dingo or Dog fence that runs for over 5300 kilometres and through three states. It is maintained by people who look after about 300 kilometres. The aim of it is to keep out Dingos from the sheep areas in the three states. It is apparently reasonable successful. One problem that is regularly encountered is the male camel coming into season and a show of his prowess is to smash parts of the fence.

Once through this area, we turned onto the Oodnadatta Coober Pedy road that we had been on yesterday. We were told about the reverse osmosis water system that supplies the water to the town and the past history of water here. This included water being brought from William Creek by camel dray with a limit of around 200 litres per family per week. Eventually a tank was built to allow the muddy water to settle and be drawn from the top. Now the town has this great system. The electricity is generated by 2 banks of generators which include 3 massive individual generators in each bank. One bank is on standby at all times and is subsidised by the SA government to around $3million each year. There is also a wind turbine to help with the supply.

Our first stop in town was the Umoona Mine and Museum. It is entirely underground and gives a feeling of what it may be like to spend time in such a location. On entry, we were ushered into the theatrette to initially watch a demonstration of cutting and polishing an opal. While there, we were shown how to identify solid, doublets or triplets of opals. There are many low quality opals around and shonks that are selling them even here. Then we watched a short movie of the opal industry in Australia and in particular in Coober Pedy.

Following on from the movie, we were guided into an underground mine to be shown the various parts of an opal mine, how to blow the overburden with explosives. Then we were taken into an underground demonstration home. It is remarkable how people can live in this area using the underground as a form of insulation against the intense summer heat and the very cold desert winter. The temperature is a continuous 25 degrees all year round.

We then went to the Serbian Orthodox church. It is entirely underground and is stunning to visit. It even has a full immersion baptismal tub which is part of the tradition. It is at several levels and uses stained glass in several places. It is really amazing to see.

That then drew our most interesting tour to and end and we were dropped near our ‘homes’. We had ordered pizzas for dinner from the Park Cafe. They were really nice especially when washed down with a nice bottle of merlot we bought in town yesterday.