Now in Coober Pedy

Time is running out if we are going to have lunch before embarking on a tour of Coober Pedy and environs. It is not a picturesque place, in fact I'd rate it even lower than Doncaster as a place to live. The land around here is very flat; even by Australian standards it is featureless. The opal mines have dumped spoil heaps all about and all in all it does not charm. However, we have been reliably informed that the tour is interesting. Coober Pedy's history and underground buildings make up for its stark appearance.

Since my last post we have driven many kilometers and have seen the Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. It is a pretty big lump of sandstone, and the scientific explanation for its being there makes little more sense than the Aborigines' Dreamtime stories. We managed to catch a ranger-guided tour to explain some of the detail, walked another short trail and drove all around.

Then we went to Kata Tjuta (I think I've spelled that correctly) or the Olgas. These are smaller, but still impressive lumps of red sandstone. We walked some of the trails and had a very pleasant chat with a Melbourne couple over a cup of tea.

Rather than pay the famously high prices at the Ayers Rock Resort, we stayed at Curtin Springs Homestead, which provides a basic campsite 80km up the road. An emu wandered into the campground and eagerly approached a table bearing a bowl of salad. We heard an exasperated, "Nein, Nein." and more German that might have been an invitation to go away delivered under stress. However, the bird exercised some charm and was eventually rewarded with some left over lettuce.

We were not so generous ourselves, but nonetheless the pet emu decided s/he liked us and settled down for the night not 10 metres from our van.

After Uluru we went to Kings Canyon, of which we had heard excellent reports. It was a very pleasant little gorge, well populated with birds, including 3 species new to us. The rim walk is advertised as 3-4 hours, which would have put pressure on our schedule, so we took the 15-minute helicopter flight instead. It was great.

Gotta go!