There are some places that went on the “must see” list the moment that this trip was conceived. As we pieced our route together these “must see” places, located around the country, set the rough path and schedule for the trip. Most were places we had not visited before (or at least one of us had not visited before), some were places we had just heard about or that had been recommended and others were places from books or vague “I think I’ve heard of that” recollections. Some were logical paths to take and others were detours that would take us off the well known routes and into more remote areas. It also made sense that the places which were further away (from “home”) should garner more attention and time. After all, these were the places that were much more difficult to get to and therefore much less likely to be holiday destinations for a school holiday week at some stage in the future. So what started out as small sticky dots on a map of Australia gradually turned into our plan, well as much of a plan as we wanted to make anyway!

For both of us, Coober Pedy was one of those “must see” destinations. The self-proclaimed Opal capital of the World, where the majority of the residents live underground, seemed like a unique and fascinating place to view with your own eyes. Amazingly multicultural (there are over 45 nationalities in a town of only 3,500), incredibly harsh living conditions with searing heat and virtually no rain, as well as the romantic aura of prospectors dreaming of striking it rich around the next corner appealed to us on a number of levels. I really wanted to stay underground in one of the dugouts in the town and after a quick review of the options we booked in for two nights at the Desert View Underground Apartments (hoping that the name itself would be a good indicator as to the location of the rooms!).

With our water divining business still in full swing (meaning the rain still seemed to be our ever present companion) we were starting to wonder if we could turn our bad luck with the weather into a business opportunity in these drier parts of the country where water is the most precious of resources! I am sure that many an opportunistic “business” man had turned a profit from far less in the past! In terms of places to visit in the rain, a town where the majority of its attractions were underground seemed like quite a good option. Of course the rain also meant the roads turned to mud, many of the roads to local attractions like the Breakaways and the Painted Desert were closed to all traffic and some of the more outdoor attractions of town were closed.

When it does rain in Coober Pedy (and they only get around 175mm per year!) the locals all pretty much bunker down and stay indoors, there is not much that can be done in the rain and it makes sense just to wait it out as it normally doesn’t last too long!

Parking outside our underground home you can appreciate the benefits of living underground the moment you step inside. Being dug into the hillside the rooms remain a pretty constant temperature (23-25 degrees) day and night and all year around, so in the heat of summer or the cool of winter you can always be at a very pleasant temperature. It’s also pitch black, so although you are slightly concerned with the fact that there are very few windows and that at any point the roof could come falling in around you (less likely with the modern digging techniques but we spoke to people who had hand dug versions that perhaps weren’t so structurally sound!), it certainly makes for a great night’s sleep!

The Umoona Opal Mine and Museum offers a bit of everything – a history of the town and its settlement 100 years ago, a tour of its underground rooms, an Opal mine and a jewellery shop where you can purchase some of the local Opal. We were guided around the mine and accommodation by an old timer (Rudi) who had settled in Coober Pedy some 50 years before and was full of stories about how they hand dug the shafts looking for that tell-tale depth where the Opal lives.

These guys did it hard, 5 days to dig a shaft in the soaring heat (well before the machinery came in to shorten the process to 20 minutes), basic conditions and amenities and constantly hearing stories of others success while you yourself were barely making enough to survive! He also explained the process of how you dug out your home, navigating in the darkness underground using your compass and measuring tape to make sure you didn’t bore a hole into your neighbours bedroom! There are some “underground rules” to try to preserve the integrity of the digs, which set out how close you can be to the next dugout and when you can use explosives etc but it still seemed a bit haphazard to me!

For every story of Opal success there were many more stories of modest Opal finds and barely getting by on dreams. I can’t imagine what it would have been like at the peak of the mining boom, the buzz of excitement and anticipation of a big find just around the corner. It’s a bit infectious and you can imagine yourself getting caught up in the middle of the excitement, working just that bit harder, digging that bit longer, as that dream of success and riches seemed illusively just out of reach!

Taking our Opals back to our apartment (Hayley ended up with some earrings, April a necklace and Denver an Opal boomerang) we were happy to be back indoors and out of the rain! The kids passed the rest of the time between our apartment and that of the owners, Tony and Linda, whose kids Charlise and Lily had befriended the kids the moment we arrived! The kids form bonds so quickly it must be disappointing to always be leaving “friends” behind, but I am hoping that the joy of making friends and the enjoyable experiences they have with them will make them stronger and more adaptable in the long run. If nothing else they learn that you can make friends anywhere if your open to it…

Leaving Coober Pedy we continued up the Sturt Highway until an opportunity presented itself to go onto the famous Oodnadatta Track. Admittedly (this time) we were hardly making the 620km unsealed trek between Marree and Marla, I think we were on it for all of 500m in the end, but it’s enough to get the taste for it! Next trip (whenever that may be) I would like to gear up to explore the more rugged country and cross some of the stock routes, tracks and deserts that make up this wonderful land. This time was just a quick refuel, followed by an overnight stop at the Kulgera Roadhouse on our way to Alice Springs for another catch-up with Nana. We were passing the turn off to Uluru and Kings Canyon but we would be back that way after spending some time in Alice.

Setting up the Annex, complete with our “Welcome Back Nana” sign, we realised we had timed it well (and also that it was good we had booked!). The Finke Desert Race was on the weekend we were in Alice, so there was plenty of activity at the campsite, with cars, bikes, buggies and all sorts of spectators in town for the week. I had never heard of this event before, but it was celebrating its 40^th anniversary and as the stories grew around what was involved you started to get a real appreciation for the professionals and amateurs alike who flocked to take on the gruelling challenge. A return trip from Alice to Finke over two days covered what they eloquently describe as “multi terrain” but really is some of the harshest outback your ever likely to come across.

With a couple of days before Nana arrived there was time for us to do a few chores as well as finish off Denver’s schooling for the fortnight. Hayley had been talking for some time about cutting her hair short. Inspired by her sister in law Danielle on her visit home she had returned with renewed vigour and with my encouragement we had determined that Alice Springs would be as good as anywhere to find someone who Hayley would trust with the task. As it turns out she found a young Irish girl who inspired enough confidence to go through with it, even if there were some nervous moments as the hair fell all around her. In the end, despite the “cutting and cutting” it looked amazing and I loved it from the very beginning, even if it took Hayley herself a couple of days to get used to it!

When Nana arrived it was great to catch up again but we weren’t just relaxing. The day after Nana arrived we set off to explore the West MacDonnell Ranges (West Mac’s to those in the know!) – with walks around the top and bottom of Ormiston Gorge, through the Ochre Pits and then onto Serpentine Gorge. We weren’t quite up for the 223km Larapinta Trail that extends the length of the ranges, but at Serpentine Gorge Nana and I did tackle the steep climb to the lookout! This was only a couple of kilometres (admittedly almost straight up) and it certainly showed us we didn’t really have the conditioning for anything too much longer!

The second day we went to visit the “School of the Air” base (which is now one of 16 around the country) to explore the history of the service and see some live lessons taking place. We were also thinking that it may show Denver just how good he has it with this current schooling situation! It’s amazing to see the progress that technology has allowed over the past decade. While it may have lost some of the novelty and character of the older remote radio contact the current full digital interactive sessions with teachers and students certainly has made a vast change to how the children are taught and connect with each other over these vast distances.

That afternoon we headed off on a camel trek through part of the West Mac’s. These enigmatic (it’s hard to call them beautiful, especially with all the cud chewing) “ships of the desert” used to be the main transport for mail, supplies and expeditions through the middle of this vast country. Many posts, stops and townships have disappeared or had to reinvent themselves since this humble creature and the droving of cattle were replaced by “technology” once again (in this case a truck often in the form of a road train which can be upwards of 55m in length!). We all loved it, although Hayley had some reservations about the “wild” camel that seemed to enjoy chewing right next to her leg! The kids could have happily ridden around for hours and to get them off we had to convince them that this would not be the last camel ride of the trip!

That night (I told you we weren’t relaxing!) we saw a play at the local theatre which Denver had been dying to see since we left Sydney. The 26^th Storey Treehouse book had been adapted and was in town for one night only. These books are an enjoyable read about Andy and Terry who live in a tree house and have all sorts of adventures. As soon as we had seen it was on we had booked and managed to get front row tickets for the five of us! To avoid the rush and just check out the venue while everyone got ready, I ducked into the theatre and learnt not only where it was, but a valuable lesson about the car at the same time! As it turns out the Jeep will happily keep running if the key fob is removed from the vehicle (say in a backpack which your loving wife may remove to unpack) while the engine is still on. It’s not until you stop the car somewhere else (say in front of a theatre to pick up some tickets) that you realise you cannot start again!

Fortunately it was only me and despite all the activity in town everyone else was able to get a taxi to the venue (bringing the keys with them so we could actually drive our car away this time!)… Normally the car beeps and flashes all sorts of warnings about the key fob “leaving the vehicle” so I am not quite sure what happened this time, but it sure made for a more interesting evening!

On the Saturday we returned to the West MacDonnell ranges to visit Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm, both of which we had run out of time for on the previous visit (probably due to that extra hike I had encouraged Nana to come with me on!). I think the areas around Alice Springs often get overlooked (judging by the amount of campsites that have people come in one day and leave the next) but both the West and East Mac’s are certainly beautiful areas and well worth the time to explore!

The caravan park puts on an amazing array of entertainment and activities and Nana got to see the Didgeridoo show (starring our very own Denver and April!) as well as enjoy a free pancake breakfast on the Sunday morning before heading to the airport. As we waited for the plane we bumped into the cast from the 26 Storey Treehouse play and spent a while chatting to them as well as getting photos and insights into what touring this show really involves!

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Nana after another most enjoyable visit. As per the last visit in Tasmania we not only got to catch up and enjoy each other’s company, but we also filled our days with an amazing array of fun activities!

During the “playtime” of Nana’s visit the kids had managed to make some great friends with two boys from Melbourne, Julius and Oliver who were also spending just over a week in Alice Springs. After saying goodbye to Nana we headed back to the campsite to catch up with the Zelder family and arrange an afternoon in the East MacDonnell ranges, with a walk (and rock jump) at Emily’s Gap followed by a walk and BBQ dinner at Jessie Gap.

A trip out to see the cars and then bikes on the return leg from the Finke Desert Race was a good way to finish off our visit to Alice Springs. We saw the KTM of the 4 time winner Toby Price flash past us and then agreed to stick around until the first 5 bikes had come through, watching NSW take out the trifecta of podium positions.

The following day we were headed to Uluru and the “heart of Australia” as Denver calls it. It was time to cross another one of the “must see” places off our list!