foodie52 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I just found these and feel like sharing. We loved everything about Australia except for the distance from the rest of the world....or perhaps that's what makes it so wonderful. Here are a few outback photos. We drove from Melbourne, to Adelaide, then to Coober Pedy which is the opal mining capital of the world. Opal mines consist of small (the size of a person) holes drilled deep. The opals are mined off the sides of the hole and then the miner digs like a ant in an underground anthill, horizontally until he finds another vein. It is forbidden to dig more holes in the town of Coober Pedy, but around the outskirts of the town, there are more than one MILLION holes. You buy a small plot and then pray for opals....most people are not successful at finding them. You are strongly cautioned about walking in the opal fields because the holes are not marked. We spent one day with the mail delivery person for two outback stations. He did the 500 mile trip clockwise every Monday and counterclockwise every Thursday. We rode all day with him on his mail delivery in his jeep. We couldn't do the whole circle because one of the roads was down - there had been a lot of rain and it was washed out. We crossed the dingo fence: this is a fence that stretches across Australia from east to west and keeps the dingos out of the south of Australia (where the sheep are). Apparently they don't bother cattle. It's a heck of a long fence.... Dingo fence The DANGER sign for holes! Oh: and here's the daily dilemma we faced - where to go to drink!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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