Andamooka to Coober Pedy.



A view of the town from the Medical Centre



 Left the sunshine of Andamooka and camped up at the Pimba Roadhouse with prob. another 30 or so RV vehicles., then it was off to  Coober Pedy to cold and overcast weather.  We camped up at a caravan park, the first job was laundry and then of course Happy Hour.   We stayed out too late and it was dark and cold when we all retired.  Helen had to go off to the local Hospital to see a Doctor for a bad chest infection and the next day we were at the Doctors for Rick who had a Sinus Infection.  .  The Town is made up of 80% of underground housing and the rest is pretty ramshackle.  A large amount of empty boarded up houses and businesses here.  There isnt anything much to do other than the touristy things of opals/mines/underground buuildings.   It feels like a town just hanging in there.  Cant say I liked it much.  We visited a 50 y.o. underground house that was a  warm 24oC almost all year.  With temps. up to 50oC, you can see why they would go underground.  Not sure if I could handle it, but a really top shelf 4 bedroom underground house will set you back $210,000.  We also saw underground churches, mines and museums.   Everybody sells opals here and virtually nothing else other than the usual tacky giftlines.  Our friend Grant has an old mate called Yarnie, who works at the Umoona Underground mine.  So we looked him up. He gave us a talk on the very different types of opals and how and why they change in value so greatly from 100s of dollars to 10s of thousands.   That was very interesting, especially if you are in the market for such a thing.   We all went out to Tom and Marys Greek Restaurant for a great feed which was a good way to say goodbye to Coober Pedy.    After two days it was time to hit the road again .  We drove out about 34kms. and turned off to see "The Breakaways" a rock formation.  About 1 klm. in we decided it was too rough for the motorhomes, so we parked them up on the side of the road and hit the dirt in the Suzi.   They were great to see, extrememly windy out there, but we were glad we made the effort.  



Having a "drink" in the underground house





We left Coober Pedy and headed out to the Breakaways, a group of rock formations about 34kms up the road.  The road going in was pretty bad, so we decied to park up the buses on the side of the road and drive in with the Suzi.  It was a good decision, the roads were corrugated but the views were beautiful.  The wind was howling and it felt like an arctic winter.   A hot coffee was the next best thing back at the buses.Then we hit the road, did 100kms and ended up at Cadney Homestead/Roadstop.   There was a great wood fire going in the bar, so Happy Hour took place around the fire.  We were joined by some others and it was so nice, we all decided to stay on and have a meal. Roast of the Day was the popular choice.   The next morning, Helen and Eric opted to "chill out" and Rick and I headed out to the "Painted Hills".  This was a 200km round trip over the roughest, rock/corrugated /mud/water/creek crossing roads.  Rick loves to sit on 120 on these roads, but we were down to 50 in some spots.  Once again, I thought we were never going to find it, and then there they were.   Words cant describe the views.  Just amazing rock formations in the middle of what looks like simple arid flat countryside.  We parked the car up and took a long walk up to the top.   That was worth the effort.  Lots of photos taken to capture the right one.  The sun kept hiding behind the clouds and the colors changed constantly.   Left late in the afternoon, camped up just before the N.T Border and then it will on to Ayers Rock/Uluru.  More pics no doubt to come.