Rolling into Coober Pedy (CP) is an experience probably unmatched by any other town in Australia, let alone the world! Piles of white, orange and red coloured overburden, big and small dominate the previously stark, barren flatlands of the last couple of hundred, pretty boring kilometres. You notice the small treeless hills that are in the town have front doors and fences around them, giving our first glimpse of the underground world, this small mining town is famous for. The other overwhelming aspect of CP is the sheer amount of machinery, equipment and just general junk that is obviously a side effect from many years of progress (which is pretty limited as I found out!) in mining over an equally long period of time. Not to mention the ability of old time miners to hoard all sorts of s*** til the end of time! Parts of CP reminded us of Mount Isa from 10 years ago and other parts are very much unique to CP itself and are what make it such an interesting place for visitors.

Obviously the most famous and valuable attraction to Coober Pedy, and the reason the town exists at all, is the Opal. Now not being very interested in jewellery at all, either of us, we were definitely not struck down with opal fever. However being very pretty rocks the girls, who have been collecting rocks all the way around the country, were keen to try the art of "noodling" for opals. Old Timers Mine is a tourist mine in the middle of town built from a genuine working mine and former underground home of one of the original and best local mines. The guide Dave who has been mining in town for 30yrs also gives live demos of some of the home made mining gear that were actually invented and built locally by miners not engineers. After a tour through the mine and underground home we were able to let the girls loose on the noodle pit?! After a few tips from Dave and an hour or more of washing rocks and explaining to Charli that not every rock was precious and should be taken home with us (we already have a box full of assorted "Precious" rocks) we had managed to scratch up some small chips of opal as handsome treasures of our trip to Coober Pedy.

On the outskirts of CP is a tourist drive that takes you out to the Breakaways, a mix of gorge style and range style rock formations with some crazy names to try and understand? Kylz favourite was the twin peaks named the "two dogs" or even "salt and pepper" with the next peak supposedly the owner of the two dogs? Kylz own version was more like "snow-cone and salt and curry!?" She has a very unique and baffling take on her surroundings at times???? Further along you turn to follow the famous dog fence. The longest fence in the world, and famous as being the only thing between the multi-million dollar sheep and wool industry, and disaster! It is continually maintained and leaves me with many questions as to how well it really works as no fence I have seen can stop all dogs?!

Reaching Coober Pedy also had us a little more excited as it was from here that we were finally going to be able to leave the van behind and get out amongst some of the real memorable areas of the Australian 4WD touring scene. Months earlier we had mapped out a small track (known locally as the mailrun) that would see us spend a couple of nights in the swag as well as cover part of the Oodnadatta track and hopefully see the most famous inland water hole in the country, Lake Eyre. The weather was both, good and bad, good that there had been some rain a few weeks earlier to settle the dust and bad that it was overcast and windy with the chance of light rain still on the cards!

With all roads open we headed back east towards William Creek, a small township on the world's largest cattle station, Anna Creek. When I say small it has a permanent population of 6! However after a leisurely drive of about 200 kays of pretty good dirt we arrived to a buzzing little town obviously enjoying the start of the tourist season and the extra attention it is getting due to the, still filling, amazing Lake Eyre. All sorts of touring rigs were on show from a couple of large off road vans to smaller camper trailers and tray-on campers as well as some very well built tourist coaches including one stand out Mercedes Benz rig which was a real eye opener. It was like a luxury Dakar truck! It had everything that opens and shuts and is definitely the cosmopolitan approach to outback touring.

Getting a flight over the lake was one of our goals and we were a bit unsure as to how we would go with the place being so busy. After a brief discussion with the receptionist at Wright Air we were told the prices and then on the side, the very helpful young lady, told us to hang around and see the boss as he would be back very soon. The confusion was over the price to fly the two girls as they had only a full fair price allocated to children. After meeting Trevor, the owner, and a quick chat he had us booked in that day and with a very generous deal that we were very appreciative of. It was really good to meet someone in the tourism business that actually has a realistic approach to his business and also is open to catering to the needs of people touring with children.

Now with this being Kylz and I first flight in a small plane and the girls first flight period, we were both a bit unsure how things were going to go. It was then we met our pilot Marcus who made us feel more then comfortable even if he was talking of strong cross winds maximum tail wind take offs and other such pilots talk. The girls were told to put on their head phones and buckle up as we left the ground and headed out to Lake Eyre at maximum warp speed in a very small Cessna aeroplane!? Flying low at 500 feet or less over Lake Eyre is special and something my words could never do justice, except to say it is definitely the highlight for me so far this year. Even for such a short time and a windy day the view across the land gives a very different perspective of vastness, compared to just travelling along in a car. Without the benefit of this aerial view it leaves me to wonder how pioneers like Kidman had the vision to see anything more in this country then the obvious massive amounts of nothing. We flew low over Halligan bay and were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a bloke kite surfing on the lake. Apparently he had been there for a few days. While Kylz took a small turn for the worse (not quite a spew but pretty green!) on the way home we had a smooth landing considering the very windy day and were both grateful we got the opportunity to go. As a small side bar to the rough flight, Charli managed only ten minutes awake and slept the rest of the way even having to be woken up after we landed! Kids eh?

After landing it was time to get ourselves settled down and back into the car and drive the last 70km for the day to our campsite in Coward Springs. Being a restored former Ghan railway and drovers stopping point there are many reminders of the hardships and triumphs of a bygone era. The campsite is maintained and was restored by an onsite couple who really keep the place well looked after. You could be forgiven for thinking you may do without a few luxuries being out in the middle of nowhere, but rest assured you are well catered for at Coward Springs! Large campsites are screened from each other by dessert oaks and are very private with individual fire pits. Amenities are top notch with the cleanest long drop toilets in Oz with water and soap as well as a "do it yourself" hot water "donkey" for a nice hot shower after a dusty drive. In the daylight it is a short stroll to the restored railway building that houses many old books and memorabilia as well a book that details the work that has been done. You do have to pay to stay here but the price is very much in line with other camp sites that operate in much easier climates and environments. Now the "piece de resistance" of Coward Springs has to be the rustic railway sleeper bore drain spa. Jumping into the spa on a day that had only reached about 10 degrees was amazing. The warm bath type temperature, that the artesian water reaches as it flows out into the spa, is quite unexpected and something that you hear about from all those who visit.

It is here also that we got our first hand experience with the mice plague that is well and truly on in these southern desert areas and further south into the grain country at the moment. They were everywhere when the sun went down! At 3:30 in the morning they were running up and across our tent between the fly and the actual tent! We had been warned and had our car sealed up tight as well the tent. The little b******s persist though and even after getting back to CP we found where one had made his way into a loaf of our bread?!

After finally dragging the girls out of the spa, the next day, we set off north this time back through William Creek, towards one of the most well known inland desert towns, Oodnadatta. While we were travelling along without a hitch enjoying our drive it is not an area to be travelled ill prepared. People choosing to tow there vans and trailers as well as travel in light duty cars along this stretch of road, defineately do so at their own risk! We passed a commodore along this road! While you can no doubt get away with lots of things one time, the test of anything is endurance. Driving in a well prepared vehicle is a pleasure and allowed us to head off the road to look at various features as well as travel at a decent speed all day long if needed. On our arrival back in CP we heard the tale of three vans and cars that did not last the distance and had expensive rides into town on the back of the tilt trays!

We called into various ruins along the track and finally set up camp on North creek just south of Oodnadatta. Why drive on and pay to stay when a night under the stars by the side of the road beckoned? Letting the girls loose in the bush provides us with some memorable moments as well as plenty of cringing ones. Teaching them about fire safety and a little bit of common sense around the bush has been, and will be, a constant effort for both of us. Hopefully having more time with them this year will be good for their outdoor skills. After helping get the wood collected and fire going the girls were keen for dinner but both faded to bed very early with Kylz and I not far behind. Hearing nothing but the dingoes calling throughout the night reminds you how far you are from the rest of the world.

If that reminds you of how good it can be well you are back to reality when you reach Oodnadatta! Ever since I had dreamed of travelling Australia this town was on the outback tour list. Now having been there I am not so sure how it generates so much hype!? For anyone who knows, picture Doomadgee, without the Nicholson River flowing beside it!! While it may service some large properties and tourists with fuel and a stopping point it does little for either of us. Without the iconic Pink Roadhouse I don't think it would even rate a mention in any of the popular 4WD mags?! And how's this though, the government dishes money out to build playgrounds and then cover them right, well no cover over the one in Oodnadatta! New playground and no cover, in one of the hottest, harshest areas in Oz. What a show! Nice equipment already faded and damaged. Very disappointing to see that money wasted more or less.

Driving back into CP I was looking forward to getting cleaned up and watching the first state of origin. (we did win for any one that missed it! Queenslander!!) Ordering pizza from the wood fired ovens of the caravan park was our treat and it went down well with large rations of home grown XXXX. Yelling and screaming and flashing my lights still failed to stir up a response amongst our more senior neighbours. Our fellow Queensland supporters and Hervey Bay locals Peter and Kym, who we had met earlier in our stay in CP, had already departed so it was up to us to do the celebrating and fly the flag in CP that night.

With packing and unpacking surprisingly a lot quicker than we thought we were cleaned up and ready to roll out to continue our travels northwards.