Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Coober Pedy a great source of the Australian Opal. Opals are on display in the numerous tourist shops along the main street. Viewing an opal mine and observing how the raw product is fashioned into the gem we know. Half the population of Coober Pedy live underground, that way they live in a constant temperature. Motels, shops, churches are all underground.
My highlight at Coober Pedy was to take a flight out over Lake Eyre and the Painted Mountains with a stop off visit to the old William Creek Station. Now mainly a stop off for refueling of planes and tourists. The flight took approximately 4 hours. We flew over 2 outback Stations, 10 of thousands of kilometres in area. apparently the stock ration is one animal per square kilometre. We also flew over the dog Fence and the old Ghan Railway.
Lake Eyre was fascinating, the lakes have not been as full since 1974 as they are now . I learnt that there is a North and South Lake. The South Lake is fed only from the local rivers and creeks. The North Lake is fed by The Warburton River whose main catchment area is in Queensland and Northern NSW. The fresh water comes into the Lake with its fish etc but due to the salt living species do not live for long. The Lakes looked like a huge inland sea, from the plane we cold see specks of moving white forms which apparently are pelicans and gulls. The middle of the North Lake has the lowest measured spot of our continent hence the flow of water into it. The overall lake is only about 5 metres in depth and all salt when the water evaporates.
- comments