Firstly, thanks everyone for the messages you've been posting! It's great for all of us to hear from our friends.

Easy start to today with yummy pancakes for breakfast. We dropped Dad off at the Coober Pedy Golf Course and ventured to the public noodling area (noodling is where you sift through the discarded mullock (ie, dirt) for opals). We had better luck at the Old Timer's Mine and the kids got some nice colourful 'opals'. Up the road was "The Big Winch" - a nice high lookout over the town and also a very large winch of course. On the way back to pick up Dad we dropped into St Peter & Paul's Underground Catholic Church which was beautiful inside. Dad played 9 holes - parred 2, lost 2 balls: tip of the day - don't use white balls!

Nice leisurely afternoon back at the Stuart Range Caravan Park - kids played in the playground, Renee & Mum did a 4km run and we all made a big bolognese sauce for dinner - YUM!