Heading Bush Day 4 - Coober Pedy opals

Great start to the day with our first dingo sighting.

Then stopped in William Creek to look at the memorial park which has the first stage of a rocket used to launch British satellite 'Prospero' from Woomera (west of Coober Pedy) in 1971. The satellite is expected to be in orbit until 2071, which is kinda mind-blowing.

From there headed through Anna Creek (cattle) Station, which is the largest cattle station in the world - more than 75% the size of Belgium. Having said that I'm pretty sure I didn't see a single cow!

Coober Pedy translates as "white man in a burrow' which pretty much sums it up. You buy a plot and can hollow out, for opals or living space or both, to within 4m of the boundary. That prevents accidentally burrowing into your neighbour's bathroom. I've wanted to visit Coober Pedy for a few years.
I treated myself to a small stone 😆

Better still we got showers!

After that we headed off to an art centre and kangaroo sanctuary to meet Tommy Crow who is a well-known Aboriginal artist and digeridoo player.

Camp that night was on the gibber plain just beyond Mount Barry, maybe 40 mins from the Painted Desert - ready for an extra-early start the next day to get there before sunrise. Another flat stony camp, but firmer underfoot than the night before.Read more