2 Jan 2009: Pt Augusta to Coober Pedy

Map: Coober Pedy is under the "F". The road continues to Alice Springs. We will have to double back to Port Augusta to resume our journey home.


The Ghan, the train from Adelaide to Darwin, passed in front of our motel cabin in Port Augusta this morning.
Drove past several salt lakes.
A defaced sign.
South Australia is more desolate than the Nullarbor.

Lunch break
Opal shop
Main St, Coober Pedy
An underground church.
Our motel exterior
Our underground room

Motel lobby
Ventilation shafts for rooms below ground.

Days - Lost Count

Spent many days at Nick and Dev's home in Mt Dandenong.

Had lots of food.

Nick & Dev drove us around to see the Christmas lights.


For Christmas Eve, we shared in the LaSalle family tradition of home made pizza.Cheryl, Nick and Dev went to the test match at the MCG (not my cup of tea).

More food, from...

...Miss Marples at Sassafras, a touristy town on Mt Dandenong.

Nick and Dev's home
Their dog Zhaan.

View from top of Mt Dandenong. Melbourne CBD can be seen on the horizon.
Finally we left Victoria, and crossed back to South Australia on our journey home.
We went through the Coonawara wine region.
Visited Angel again (Cheryl's sister's dog).
Went up Mt Lofty on New Year's eve to see the fireworks over Adelaide, but were too late. Saw a brilliant sunset instead.
Continued on our journey on 1 Jan and got a shot of the windfarm at Snowtown.
Back at Port August, enjoying the Esplanade Wharf.


We have decided to make a 1000 km detour on our way home to visit the opal town of Coober Pedy.

So, a little bit more to come soon.

Day 6: 23 Dec 2008: Adelaide to Melbourne

Long drive today, from Adelaide to Melbourne, which takes us over the SA/Victoria border.

Some views through the windscreen.

Rest stop at Ararat.

Also in Ararat, this Chinese Heritage Centre documents the history of the Chinese in the Victorian gold fields.

And so we arrived at Nick and Devon's home.

I might post some pics if we make any interesting diversions on our way home.

Otherwise, it's goodbye for now.

Day 5, 22 Dec 2008: Pt Augusta to Adelaide

Map:  "A" marks Snowtown. 

A short day's travel today, just about 300km.

Near the town of Snowtown was a wind farm and we stopped at the town to see a display of one of the windmill wings.

Snowtown is also infamous for the "Bodies in the Acid Barrels" serial killings.

These barrels were stored in the vault of a disused bank till they were discovered in 1999.

We walked around the little town looking for the disused bank building and, from memory of the newspaper pictures, picked this one.

Note the Christmas decoration on the lamp post.  A later check with Google images showed that we were right.

In Adelaide, we were guests of Cheryl's sister in the surburb of Crafers in the Adelaide Hills.

Below is a beautiful view from her kitchen window.

And we had a restful afternoon with the chooks...

...and dog.