Coober Pedy

Another full and interesting day!
We'd told the children that many people in Coober Pedy live in underground houses where they can escape from the extreme temperatures during summer, and they were really keen to see such a dwelling.
So after making some enquiries we drove about 10 km out of town to visit an underground house and mine which used to be owned by a local character known as "Crocodile Harry"... but it was rather a disappointment.  The house was completely wallpapered with his "art" which was in bad taste and highly inappropriate for the children. Fortunately Esther and Arthur were more interested in exploring the adjacent mine and playing with the resident dog anyway, and didn't even notice that we gave the house a miss.

The good thing was that the man in charge at "Harry's" told us of  "the Breakaways", a spectacular lookout further along the road. Following his directions we drove along 12 km of dirt road through apparently flat desert, which suddenly and abruptly came to a stop on top of a steep escarpment. The photos don't do it justice! Several locals have told us that they have never seen the desert as it is just now, covered in grass instead of the red soil they are used to, and with so many flowers for this time of the year.

That's our car on top of the ridge!

The drive back into Coober Pedy took us past a "moonscape" of mullock hills- pile and piles of dirt dug up by opal prospectors looking for a strike.  There are warnings everywhere to be careful if walking in the opal fields, as every mullock heap is likely to have a 30 metre deep shaft at its foot!

We had lunch at "John's Pizza Bar".   We were enjoying the lovely weather- yesterday's gale-force winds had died down and it was a sunny 20 degrees- so it amused us to see the proprietor turn on the gas patio heaters for a group of locals who were feeling the chill!  Which just goes to show that it all depends how you look at it! Another local told us that he originally came from "out back" (waving vaguely in an easterly direction), but decided nine years ago to move to the "city". Meaning Coober Pedy. This is the main street of his city:

Speaking of the chilly diners at the next table- Arthur had been staring at them with great interest and I had fully expected him to comment on the fact that they were aboriginal, but instead he asked: "Mum, do you think that man is a grandfather?" 
A little later, while Philip was in the hardware store, we went for a walk down the street.  Spotting some people with a dog, the children went up and asked- as they do every time they see a dog!- if they could pat it. Again, they seemed not to notice anything different about the dog's owners, chatting away cheerfully about all sorts of things and asking all about the dog.

After lunch we visited "Faye's Underground House".  We hoped it would be more of a success than this morning's experience and weren't disappointed.  The couple who live there now were very welcoming, showed us through all the rooms and told us the interesting story of the woman who built it back in the 60s. (If digging holes can be called building!) Being built underground means that the whole house maintains a constant temperature of between 20-25 degrees Celsius and needs no heating or cooling. The children were fascinated, but for them the real highlight was the only room built above ground- the "Pool Room".

Our guide told us that this room, while not as cool as the underground rooms, was well insulated and didn't get unbearably hot during summer- not more than 35 or 40 degrees. 

The final activity of the day was a visit to a kangaroo orpahnage, where we watched some young red kangaroos and joeys being fed. (The grey ones are also "red kangaroos" The grey colouring -which is red under the grey- is common in females, and they are known as "blue flyers".)  We were told about the circustances that had brought them there and how they are rehabilitated into the wild whenever possible. It was entertaining to watch the male joey have a boxing bout with his carer, too.

 Esther found another example of local wildlife while we were listening:

Tomorrow we head further North. We have about 700 km to travel to our next major destination, but with the caravan in tow we can't make that in a day, so we'll have to break the journey somewhere tomorrow night.  We'll work that one out in the morning!