Headed off for more of the same as far as the landscape goes but just for an election special they threw in a bit of water in the dams, very large cows meandering down the road and a fleet of road trains. Saturday seems to be their “load them up and ship them out day.”
I have some level of concern I am bringing home a new age Genghis Khan. Jack has once more added to his arsenal and has fashioned a num chucker from a spark plug lead. Wouldn’t let him touch the bit of Agg pipe when the “can I have this?” was followed by questions about pipe bombs. He now has 2 knives, 1 tomahawk – which he sharpens regularly – a new skill from Pampa, at least 3 spears, though there may be more he has secreted and 3 whips – one of which he can actually get to crack - all self made. He does appreciate how much they hurt having caught himself on the cheek, he thankfully had sunnies on. I was persona non gratis for a while after one of his spears blew off the roof; I hadn’t tied it down well enough or noticed when it flew off. He is currently researching making a spear thrower.
The cruise control failed again this morning after 10kms – some wiring fault but Gordon is spitting chips as it works fine each time I have used it so we are heading into the oncoming wind with no luxuries.
Booked into the underground motel which was a real treat, had organized to have parking for the van which turned out to require a feat in precision reversing that we do not have so ended up pushing the van into spot before risking wiping out 100k plus of other vehicles. Headed off to the old timers mine for a machinery demo and tour. The demo covered both original and modern machinery which was really interesting partly because of the ingenuity. Modern machinery is often cut down versions of coal mining machinery cobbled together from old car trucks and tractor parts. Didn’t get to the tour as Jack was introduced to the noodling pit (searching for tiny pieces in the rubbish) and they spent the rest of the afternoon there searching for treasures. Dragged them out as the sun went down to have a look through a couple of other places. Out to dinner but big night out in Coober Pedy, with the pizza joint going to take up to an hour and the tavern booked out so ended up in the local Chinese – kids really happy but it was the traditional Australianese so Gordon and I classed food as edible rather than good. Woken throughout the night by rain which was pitter pattering on the metal cup of the air shaft to our room. It is very disconcerting in the room as it is so dark you can’t guess the time. Jack even had some glowing spots in the ceiling above his bed. This was the only light in the room. The rain became quite constant and heavy. Morning road condition checks proved depressing. It had rained so much William Creek road was closed and wouldn’t be open for up to 4 days if it stopped ranging NOW, which it didn’t look like doing. Not worth hanging around for that long so will head for Port Augusta and make plans from there. Back down to the Museum for a tour. People had been extending their house when they broke into an old mine shaft, so got to tour the mine plus the house which had not been lived in since the early 90s. They don’t have paintings on the wall but rather framed and lit up naturally occurring opal. In digging a new entry door they found another 50K worth or opal, not bad for lucky strike one morning of renovating. Jack having collected a bottle full of scraps to go through at a later date put this and a bag with a couple of souvenirs behind the desk whilst we did the tour. Sent Jack back to collect them, he got his scraps but not the souvenirs. Didn’t realise this for a few hundred KM, rang from next lot of service to get them posted, they couldn’t have been more helpful organizing postage home. Went to give credit card to cover the cost and their attitude was “don’t worry we’ll sort it”. This has been the attitude for all places in Coober Pedy which is in marked contrast to everywhere else where they are out to gouge every cent from you. Morgie wanted to buy herself a necklace, had set a budget of $30 – told the lady this but she spied a piece she liked at about $40, whilst she was umming and arghing about the change in budget the owner walked up and reduced it to $30 – small bickies for them when the majority are thousands but nothing we have experienced anywhere else.
I have some level of concern I am bringing home a new age Genghis Khan. Jack has once more added to his arsenal and has fashioned a num chucker from a spark plug lead. Wouldn’t let him touch the bit of Agg pipe when the “can I have this?” was followed by questions about pipe bombs. He now has 2 knives, 1 tomahawk – which he sharpens regularly – a new skill from Pampa, at least 3 spears, though there may be more he has secreted and 3 whips – one of which he can actually get to crack - all self made. He does appreciate how much they hurt having caught himself on the cheek, he thankfully had sunnies on. I was persona non gratis for a while after one of his spears blew off the roof; I hadn’t tied it down well enough or noticed when it flew off. He is currently researching making a spear thrower.
The cruise control failed again this morning after 10kms – some wiring fault but Gordon is spitting chips as it works fine each time I have used it so we are heading into the oncoming wind with no luxuries.
Booked into the underground motel which was a real treat, had organized to have parking for the van which turned out to require a feat in precision reversing that we do not have so ended up pushing the van into spot before risking wiping out 100k plus of other vehicles. Headed off to the old timers mine for a machinery demo and tour. The demo covered both original and modern machinery which was really interesting partly because of the ingenuity. Modern machinery is often cut down versions of coal mining machinery cobbled together from old car trucks and tractor parts. Didn’t get to the tour as Jack was introduced to the noodling pit (searching for tiny pieces in the rubbish) and they spent the rest of the afternoon there searching for treasures. Dragged them out as the sun went down to have a look through a couple of other places. Out to dinner but big night out in Coober Pedy, with the pizza joint going to take up to an hour and the tavern booked out so ended up in the local Chinese – kids really happy but it was the traditional Australianese so Gordon and I classed food as edible rather than good. Woken throughout the night by rain which was pitter pattering on the metal cup of the air shaft to our room. It is very disconcerting in the room as it is so dark you can’t guess the time. Jack even had some glowing spots in the ceiling above his bed. This was the only light in the room. The rain became quite constant and heavy. Morning road condition checks proved depressing. It had rained so much William Creek road was closed and wouldn’t be open for up to 4 days if it stopped ranging NOW, which it didn’t look like doing. Not worth hanging around for that long so will head for Port Augusta and make plans from there. Back down to the Museum for a tour. People had been extending their house when they broke into an old mine shaft, so got to tour the mine plus the house which had not been lived in since the early 90s. They don’t have paintings on the wall but rather framed and lit up naturally occurring opal. In digging a new entry door they found another 50K worth or opal, not bad for lucky strike one morning of renovating. Jack having collected a bottle full of scraps to go through at a later date put this and a bag with a couple of souvenirs behind the desk whilst we did the tour. Sent Jack back to collect them, he got his scraps but not the souvenirs. Didn’t realise this for a few hundred KM, rang from next lot of service to get them posted, they couldn’t have been more helpful organizing postage home. Went to give credit card to cover the cost and their attitude was “don’t worry we’ll sort it”. This has been the attitude for all places in Coober Pedy which is in marked contrast to everywhere else where they are out to gouge every cent from you. Morgie wanted to buy herself a necklace, had set a budget of $30 – told the lady this but she spied a piece she liked at about $40, whilst she was umming and arghing about the change in budget the owner walked up and reduced it to $30 – small bickies for them when the majority are thousands but nothing we have experienced anywhere else.
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