Coober Pedy

Day 3
Coober Pedy is a mining town for Opal. It is mined by independent miners who all live underground as we did for the two nights. We visited an underground home and then explored a mine and saw seams of opal and opal cutting demonstration. Needless to say we had plenty of opportunities to view and purchase opals and of course I got one.  Opal is basically minute water droplets trapped in cyclone the size and number of these droplets determine the colour of the gem. Later after supper we went to a Kangaroo orphanage. A couple take injured Kangaroos nurse them back to health and return them to the wild there is a network of people across Northern australia that do this and they rely on donations to care for them  Naoise and Tiaran guess what I got to cuddle a 3 month old baby Kangaroo I have lovely photos to show you  We moved to our hotel underground for the 2nd night much to the cat calling and teasing of our new young friends. It was pure luxury the temp is a constant 23c summer and winter underground and our room had all the modern conveniences incl a big screen satellite TV.  We had a great sleep until 4:30am when we set off for our 850kg to Uluru (Ayers Rock). By now I have been up nearly every morning before 5am my body has gone into shock. Nancy I don't know how you do it everyday.  To be continued ...  MR&K

Mary Rose