Camping Underground: Coober Pedy

Dear Adventurous Reader,

Tonight we are sleeping underground. Our tents are pitched with no pegs, some corners held down by large sandstone rocks, within three walls and everyone is asleep. Except me.

Today was a big driving day. We finally got out of Port Augusta later than we wanted.

The luscious blue, clear sky stretched far overhead. The sun shone upon the road heating the expanding bodies of dead kangaroos. The outback eventually took over the landscape; drying out the trees and salt bush until a low lying cover of grass could be seen growing from the red sand.

In the distance the watery haze of a mirage sat always at the end of the road where it joined the horizon. Occasionally a truck with three containers behind would rocket past in the other direction, a road train on the job.

It was not hot, yet; 28 degrees is not hot when the forecast is saying 38. Those ten degrees can change a lot and it caused me to start dreading those coming days.

The Change was Too Soon

I was watching the temperature gauge when it started to rise. It moved slow, at first and the sudden jump was when I caught a glimpse. Turn the heater on inside the car and allow the needle to drop. Crisis averted for now, but from then on I watched the needle with interest.

I broke the news to our companions over lunch. They were not familiar with the foibles of our car. I do hope and pray that band-aid solutions will see us to the end of this road trip.

So We Are Underground

We pitched out tent using boulders of sandstone that are everywhere. Coober Pedy is a mining town and a few houses are constructed underground. "I have always wanted to do this, even though I never knew it." one of the boys said as he walked down into the old mining tunnels.

The walls were cool, despite the 38 degree day outside, all over them etched deeply with the claws of a heavy mining drill. The ground was covered in small sandstone peddles, cast from the walls, which made it impossible to walk silently through the hallways. Elijah's voices echoed off the hard walls, followed by the "shushing" of an adult or older brother following behind. Excitement was high.

The spare day we had we spent seeing some of the attractions in the small town. Feeding baby kangaroos at an art store and visiting an underground church, carved out of the sandstone. I took the car to the mechanic.

Coober Pedy is build upon sandstone. It can be seen from the highway, heaped into small white piles on the surface while the miners are below the ground looking for opals. It lays under the region which is how the underground camping was constructed, etched and clawed below the land the sun beats down upon.

The region gets around 13cm of rain each year. It is hot with the sun baking down upon the vast, open earth and the little shade does not help in finding a cool place. At least we can retreat underground to get out of the sun.

Kids, Older Kids and Uno

The boys are enjoying having company past themselves. The Miller boys are fun to be around, they understand the little guys love hanging out with them and they have time for all of our guys.

It is lovely to watch Gabe hang out with Adeline. It is fantastic to see Elijah give everyone a smile with his antics. Joash is fantastic for a discussion, with his observations explained with detail.

With the hot days Nathanael, Ezekiel and Levi have been spending their time making new friends. I walked into the eating area at our accommodation to find our boys, the Miller boys and a few German tourists playing Uno.

The road is a great place to make new friends, even if it just for an afternoon card game. We were planning on meeting them up at Uluru, as they were heading our way for the next few days.

Staying Still for a Few Days

Dear Adventurous Reader,

The past few days we have been enjoying keeping a tent up for more than a single night, while enjoying a camp ground in the Barossa Valley. Here we met new friends and saw many vineyards that give the region it's name. There is a jumping mat that the boys have been leaping on most of the day.

Car Trips and Kids - The Beginning

Car trips can be short but a road trip, by definition, includes a lot of driving. For the driver it can be fun sitting behind the wheel and looking at road, most of the time the driver is the only one with something to do.

For kids in the back of a car on a long day it can be boring and tedious. We haven't had a long day of driving yet, they are to come, when it gets hot. For now we are still finding a groove in which to belong on the road; there is yelling; there is crying; and there is fun hidden in amongst the bad things I remember.

The driving part is an inescapable part of this trip. I am sure we will find a groove. But for now we are finding a two hour drive a long way. It should be too, we have no driven this far on consecutive days in a very long time; the last time we did I remember it not going so well.

Barossa Valley

Kilometer after Kilometer, after Kilometer of vineyards welcome us as we enter Tanunda. The sky which was darkened with rain had been left before we came over the hills and now a cold but less-threatening sky greeted us.

Check in to the caravan park was simple, we even got a spot right next-door to our friends who were waiting to meet us.

We still do not have a pattern happening when we arrive, being the second day of travel we still have to yell out for a hand to get the tent set up. The temptation for the boys to run off and play with new friends is too much.

The boys made friends quickly with Oliver and despite the burden of setting up the "house" for the next few days they were off toward the jumping pillow where they were to spend most of the next few days.

We had escaped the unpredictable and mostly cold weather of the Bellarine Peninsula and driven to the next state to enjoy the wonderful weather. The sun was beautiful in the Barossa.

The boys played in the open green grass while I sat and worked in the common room. This trip was not a holiday, it was to experience a way of life that is different and work on the road is what pays the bills.

While My Husband Gently Works

So I worked and the kids played and the mothers talked. Jacqui had read all of Jill's Blog before we had left so it was nice for her to meet and connect with Jill. I think she thought that she would find a friend in her.

Whomever thought of retaining air under a mat and surrounding it with sand was a genius. The boys spent hours jumping and wrestling on the parks inflated mat, or running around the park play-fighting with each other. Some of the boys set out on an endeavour to make some money collecting rubbish, which turned into a few dollars.

We ate and laughed. Adeline and I jumper on the mat too, she loved it - being up there with the big boys.

On the last day we went to two wineries to enjoy to old landscaping and sample some of the wines. I can see how the Barossa Valley has a lot to offer to tourists, it is an enjoyable place made nicer by the people we were spending time with.

Then as we went to the last shopping centre to get supplies the sound of the road calling gripped me. It was time to move on from old and new friends and to find the unexpected and uncertain path that lay before us.

First Day on the Road

Dear Adventurous Reader,

We have come a long way since we left home. Further than we might have if a few things had not taken our attention.

Tree Top Adventure

First we headed in land to visit a Tree Top Walk. It was fascinating to see how the trees changes as we walked down hill to the forest floor. Huge trees surrounding us, reaching and competing for the light creating a vast canopy towering over us. The Trees that covered us created a vast forest floor, with ferns and damp bushes that smelt wonderful.

From the forest floor we walked along the tree top walk, standing high above the ground on a metal walkway, looking below to the ferns and above and across to the trees that once covered us below.

The boys walked along the metal walkway not phased by the height, looking for places to go higher. The steps to the top of the canopy was ascended with impatience and once conquered it was down to the bottom again. Sometimes youthfulness is about being first and watching the losers loose, not about enjoying the view when you get there.

We sat in the car park of the tree top adventure upon mats and dined on the finest cut veggies, rice cakes, tuna, and salami sandwiches.

Spooking

Driving is fun, I enjoy it a lot. But for the other people in the car it can get boring, hot and sick-inducing. Twisty roads at high speeds, narrow dips and furrows in the road and the warm sun baking the back of a van is a perfect recipe for car sickness. (Un)Luckily the Great Ocean Road is all of those things.

Poor Joash found himself feeling ill when we stopped for petrol at Warrnambool. His face turned sour, like his tummy and with a quick word of encouragement found his way outside before he was "Actual Travel Sick".

He told our traveling companion, Jenn, that he had just "spooked" while he held the Encouragement Ice Cream she had just bought for him. She asked him what he had said. "I spooked. But I got out of the car in time." Car sickness through the eyes of youth.

Camping

We set up camp between the trees in a camping ground that was not planned. It was unplanned because of the distance of the Great Ocean Road and the stops that we had.

It was a nice camping spot. The bugs we had collected on the windscreen driving in were at the camp when we first arrive but were blown away by a steady wind that came with a cool change.

The tent was setup in the wild for the first time. The boys were fed by The Amazing Jenn, who prepared food while we put up tents. And after the boys were put to bed we sat out under a darkened sky to talk about our day and previous adventures.