After the Tom's Opal Mine Tour we went out for a drive through the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park to the north of town. There were some amazing rock formations and a chance to drive along a section of the dog fence that runs through this area separating the stock animals to the south from the dingoes to the north.
Our first full day in Coober Pedy. We spent the morning wandering around the opal shops and checking out the quirky street art around town. On the way home we stopped by the large public noodling area where we spent an hour or so digging through the large mounds of debris looking for opals. Sadly we did not find much.
Then in the afternoon we toured the Old Timers Mine. It was a self guided tour through an old opal mine followed by several rooms of a house that the previous owners of the mine lived in. To watch the sunset we drove up to the "Big Winch" and its attached cafe for drinks and NY Times puzzles while the sun set over the dessert.
Another day on the move. Today we are headed to the start of the Oodnadatta Track at Marree. Along the way we stopped at Nipena Ediacara National Park entrance for a road side lunch and fossicking for cool looking rocks. Next stop was at the Orche Pits, which were beautiful outcrops of red, yellow, white, and orange orche deposits. Our last stop of the day was at the ghost town of Farina, where a group of volunteers come for 8 weeks every year. They work on rebuilding the old town and running an underground bakery oven to supply the cafe next door with bread. We lucked out and were there while the bakery was running.
We rolled into Marree late afternoon, found a campsite, and wandered around town until sunset.
Today we decided to spend a bit more time around the Rawnsley Station. Turns out they have an orienteering course so the kids ran that and earned a sticker for completing the short course. Then we explored a bit more of the area with a walk up to Kangaroo Pass out the back of camp. Olivia even got in some clarinet practice this morning.
Later in the day we headed out for a drive along the Moralana Scenic Drive then circled back to Hawker on our way back to our campsite.
Up early we headed into the National Park today. Our first stop was Wilpena Pound and a walk out to Hills Homestead along the dry creek beds lined with the beautiful old red river gum trees.
Once back at the car we continued north stopping at several of the view points and walks including Cazneaux Tree, Hucks Lookout, and Stokes Lookout.
We saw lots of birds today - including a very large flock of galahs (pink and grey), emus, ringneck parrots (bright green), apostlebirds (dark grey) and plenty that I didn't get photos of!
To finish off a great day, we had our first campfire of the trip and of course roasted marshmallows for dessert.
Today we hit the road heading north to the Flinders Ranges National Park. It was another long day of driving (411 km) to get to Rawnsley Park Station (just south of Wilpena Pound). We rolled in just before sunset.
After dinner we made sure to have our own 70s dance party since the kids were missing their school disco tonight. We didn't have any 70s themed clothes so they stuck with oodies instead.
Finally a dry day again. So we headed out to township of St Kilda, north of Adelaide, to check out a super cool playground. We have never seen so many slides in one place. Sadly the slides were not that slippery. However, the Pirate Ship and zip line were big hits.
Bit more rain over night but by mid-morning it had stopped so we headed into the Adelaide Central Market for lunch and a wander through the stalls. Then walked over to the Museum of Discovery and Rundle Mall for the afternoon.
Rain rain go away!
A rather wet day which we spent catching up on washing then driving into the city to walk through the South Australian Art Gallery and Museum.
A quick drive into Adelaide this morning had us arriving before midday at the Levi Caravan park.
As it got above 20°C today, the kids could not resist getting their first swim in. It was a lot colder than they were expecting in the caravan park pool!!
The rain and wind started tonight...
