Coober Pedy to Marla

3rd August 2022

Woke to bright sunshine 🌞 28 degrees today. Such a contrast from yesterday’s cloudy sky and wind.

Tried to wash our campervan.. 2.9m clearance. We just made it only to realise that the car wash wasn’t working so we did a quick grocery provisioning at IGA. A massive shop and a pleasant surprise that the prices weren’t massive also. Very reasonable. Fuel 242 cpl.

Then off to Tom’s Opal Mine for a 90 minute tour 🙂
Did a self tour as the guides only work at 10am and 1.30pm.
One staff member Mila from Prague did however give us a mini tour and pointed out what to look for. Beverley got to shovel some dust into a tube which was instantly sucked out to ground level for sifting. She also tried her luck at divining also called noodling.

Apparently, from 16 years old you can buy a plot of land 50 x 50m for $60 Register your business then $50 for 3 months for your claim and keep renewing it as you dig for opals. We saw lots of mounds near the town.

Then off to Marla which is the last town in SA before we enter NT. Fortunately, we had a much smoother ride with tarmac roads. We did stop at a Gravel pit for 5 minutes and that was enough.

Next stop Cadman’s Park to make a cuppa and afternoon tea whilst we hid from unexpected rain which fortunately didn’t last long. The sky however is thick with clouds.

About a hour from Marla, We hear a massive explosion, and the van lurches. We have blown the left rear tyre on the nice, smooth tarmac and only driving at 90km/hr. There are pieces of tyre spread over 300 meter along the road. Parked on the side of the highway we had to do another tyre change (getting a bit of practice). With no spare tyre, we took it slowly to Marla.

At the fuel station we were advised to try Errol, the local “Lord Mayor” for a tyre replacement. He did not have the right size and could not get any for 4 days. He suggested we call the mechanics at Ayres Rock and see if they can help.

A quiet night in Marla Caravan Park.