Despite a rather rocky start in Adelaide, my trip through the centre was about to become interesting and exciting. My friends and I had booked a tour with a company called Groovy grape which would take us from Adelaide all the way north to Darwin. This company operates for backpackers mainly. If driving, I recommend you work out in advance where you will fill up on petrol, as stations are far apart and you don't want stranded in the Outback!
Our lovely driver, think he was called Bruce but might be making that up, kept us entertained during the more mundane parts of our 10 hour drive to Coober Pedy with historical facts about the Stuart Highway (the road that almost takes you from Adelaide to Darwin) and last minute stops to show us lizards at the side of the roads.
We stopped off at Glendambo and the picture below is no joke. The flies would drive you crazy here!
Nearby, we did a quick photo stop at the salt lake at Lake Gairdner. It was worthwhile to see but after we took some photos we hopped quickly back on the bus. By this stage, excitement was building on our wee tour bus as our final destination that day was Coober Pedy.
Coober Pedy is a small pretty town in a desert like area in South Australia. It gives you a sense of visiting "The Real Australia" and in fact many Aborigines live in this town. Many people living here live in "caves" ( houses built in the hillsides) due to the hot days and cold nights. It is very famous for it's opal mining and I recommend a visit to the Umoona Opal Mine Museum which shows you how opal is collected. It also shows the inside of what the hillside dwellings are like. Usually I'm not a fan of museums but I really liked this one. It has a gift shop with many enticing presents to treat yourself and others.
For backpackers or those who don't mind communal accommodation, I thoroughly recommend staying overnight at The Opal Cave which is underground. The "rooms" are for 4 people and you draw the curtain over at night for some more privacy. For something more luxurious, individual although expensive I recommend the Desert Cave hotel. These are the only 2 places I saw and can comment on but there are plenty more options - see the link below.
The Opal Cave
It's a nice little town to just walk around, has a nice church on the main street and has spectacular sunsets which you can't miss. There are not many places to eat and I would say that the most time you would want to spend here is 2-3 days. There are day trips you can do to explore the local area although I never did any of them so can't say if they are worth it.
Again, this was really only a transition stop for me en route to Alice Springs and Uluru, but I thoroughly enjoyed Coober Pedy and would recommend stopping off even if you can only stay a few hours. You get to see a different way of living and wonder how people can live in such an isolated place.
Tomorrow, my post will be about Coober Pedy- Alice Springs.
Useful links :
http://www.cooberpedy.net/tours
http://www.groovygrape.com.au/
http://www.umoonaopalmine.com.au/
http://www.desertcave.com.au/
http://www.southaustralia.com/info.aspx?id=9001968
Previous posts about Australia:
http://pourquoiviajartheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/backpacking-australia-adelaide.html
http://pourquoiviajartheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/backpacking-around-australia-before.html
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