Coober Pedy day 2

Coober Pedy is awesome. We had a look at some of the underground houses and they were amazing. It is very cold here in Coober Pedy but in the underground houses it is always between 20 to 26 degrees no matter what the temperature is like outside ( highest 47, lowest -2 celcius). At least 50% (although one local today claimed it is more like 80%) of the townfolk live in these underground houses. Some even have pools! According to the guide book there ar even underground mansions which I can beleive after having a good look around today.

We have managed to see all that we want to see in one day. It is such a fascinating place. You can find out more here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia

Coober Pedy and surrounding areas have been featured as backdrops in films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Red Planet, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Salute of the Jugger.

We will be heading bush and camping alongside Lake Eyre http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Eyre and along the Oodnadatta track http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oodnadatta_Track for the next few days. Will fill you in when we are near a computor again.

Oh yeah and I think Bret is fabulous!

Coober Pedy via Uluru

Well here we are in Coober Pedy. Would have been a post at Ayers Rock but the computer is out of action...thanks Sue!!

Ayers Rock really does have the "Wow" factor as it looms up out of the landscape. Ayers Rock is the most commonly used name, especially outside Australia. Ayers Rock is called "Uluru"by Aborigines and is a sacred site for them. Uluru is one of the oldest rocks on Earth.

Uluru is located in the middle of Australia, in fact very close to the actual geographical centre. It is not the world's largest monolith, this title actually belongs to Mt Augustus in Western Australia.

Uluru is
862.5 metres above sea level,
348 metres (1141 feet) high,
3.6 km long (2.2 miles),
1.9 km wide (1.2 miles),
9.4 km or 5.8 miles around the base (that's walking),
covers 3.33 km2 (1.29 miles2),
extends about several km/miles into the ground, it is not exactly known how far (despite the numbers you might have read). Bit like an iceberg in that we can only see the very top bit above the surface.

Research suggests that Aborigines have lived in the area for at least 10,000 years.
The first white person to see Uluru, at least from a distance, was the explorer Ernest Giles in October 1872.

Title to the lands was handed back to the traditional owners, the Anangu, on the 26th of October 1985, with the condition that they lease the park back to the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service for 99 years, that it would be jointly managed, and with the condition that Uluru remains open to climbers. However we have it on good authority that the climb will be closed within 10 years.

While we were there we did the base walk which was over 10 km long. We also went on a short tour with a ranger which was really interesting and we learnt alot about the aboriginal people and their lifestyle and customs around the rock.

We went to the outrageously priced "Sounds of Silence Dinner" and thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone visiting that area. It was great. http://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/sounds-of-silence/ Check it out, it was fabulous.

Will add more tomorrow about Coober Pedy.

Till then

Love ya

Sue and Bret

Here we go, here we go, here we go...

O'kay so we will be off a day later than planned but it will be on the original departure date that we had decided on.

The ute is packed and ready for us to get into and hit the road. It is complete with all of lifes essentials...such as potato chips, magazines, books, bundy and beam...oh and stuff like food water, first aid kit and other stuff.

As promised here is a picture of Bret's wound that he sustained as he prepared us for our Outback Adventure. Departure time roughly 4am and next stop Leinster.

Till then,

adios amigos

One more day

Lunch time tomorrow we will be hitting the road. Still working on the software issue but expect to have that resolved today so will be able to include photos without it taking forever to download onto peoples computers.

Will post something before we leave and have a picture of the ute as well as a picture of Bret's wound from walking into some tin when he was preparing the ute for travel.

2 more days

Well it is 2 more days till we go. Turns out upon investigation we do not have a program on the computer that will downsize photos to put on the blog. I am working on it (or rather my wonderful sister is). Sadly Adobe Photoshop is not an option at this stage but will look for some free software.

Riviting stuff I know but it is all part of the preparation to be on our way come Monday.

3 more days.

Preparations are well under way. Most of the food has been acquired, the ute is serviced and prepared, the swag has clean bedding and books etc packed.
3 more sleeps and we are hitting the road with our first stop in Leinster for the night.
Bret cut his leg when he was getting the ute ready and had 6 stitches. It looks very tender and he is limping slightly but still doing everything to get ready for the trip.

Getting ready

So now the blog is set up for us to share photos and let everyone know how our trip is going.
The next post will let you know more about our preparations and some of the places we are hoping to visit while we are away.
Till then,
Sue