Apr 25, north from Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

Today on the news they announced that the population of Australia is now 23 million and growing fairly rapidly through immigration.

Stopped in Port Augusta and looked at a long mural in front of the Catholic Church. It was made of 2500 handmade tiles and depicted the history of the area from prehistoric times to the present. Very nicely done.

Then we drove and drove and drove. The countryside quickly went to sparse trees and scrub. The road went by a few seasonal lakes, some dry and salty looking and a couple with some water in them. We saw emus in the land by the road and one very close to the road. We saw a lot of ravens and huge buzzards. The land is very harsh and animals die. They are also hit by the cars and trucks that race by, so the ravens and buzzards find them.

We stopped at Woomera, the base of the largest land-based missile and rocket range in the western world. The British and Americans worked at the site. NASA operated a tracking station here too. There are still some defense and space operations, but the town looked pretty deserted. The only gas station was on the highway 5km away.

At Glendambo we stopped for fuel and lunch, then drove on. The scrub became shorter and the gravely desert surface was covered with black desert polish (scree?). In some caves in Arizona, the native Americans scratched pictures by removing the scree to expose the red rock underneath.

At one point there was a sign on the road warning drivers that ahead was a stretch of highway that was designated as an emergency airstrip for the Royal Flying Doctors Service. The service flies people from remote areas to hospitals.

As we got closer to Coober Pedy we could see evidence of opal mining - piles of dirt around the desert. Now we're in Coober Pedy and will look around town tomorrow. Coober Pedy comes from the Aborigine meaning "white man in hole". The early miners found that they could dig homes underground and remain comfortable in the high summer heat. Now there are underground restaurants, hotels, and churches.

Pictures - Tile of girl attending school by radio, Working on train track, Missile at Woomera, Lake Hart, Road Sign, Coober Pedy Opal Mining Truck