The Great Outback

Hi all, Sorry this is a bit late! I had to collect my photos and then there was no service! So here we are! The first photo is near Lake Hart and is Island Lagoon We stayed near here for the night It was just so amazing! I have forgotten how the outback is so interesting. Some people think it is boring but I have always found it always changing. You get these little hills and of course, at the moment, there is water around, which is unusual.
We went into Pimba and then on to Woomera, which is only another 10 kms. there was a really interesting park with lots of rockets and old planes etc from when woomera was launching these things in the sixties

I am currently travelling with a lady i met through the solo cmca group internet. She is from Port Lincoln, and was widowed last year or so, she bought a motorhome and is warming up to travelling. She has a 3 children all grown up of course, we are much the same age, and have similar interests, wine, wine and more wine!
The countryside we are driving through is very bare i am not the best of photograpers as you know, but I do my best. We went into Coober Pedy. Stayed the night and went and saw the underground bar! naturally, played the pokies, in the undergound pokie parlour!
Went and looked through the underground catholic church. It had beautiful stained glass window. then as the 4th photo shows went into an underground house "Faye's" house, a single lady with help from a couple of lady friends built it over a 10 year period while also working at mining for opal and polishing. It was much better than Turkey's houses in Cappadoccia, there was not the wetsmoke smell in coober pedy like there was in Turkey. I think that is because Turkey"s underground houses are built from volcanic rock. Faye has also built a swimming pool, 3 bedrooms and "partyroom" she evidently did a lot of fundraising for the town. She has retired to Qld but has difficulty getting around now. On our way out of town we saw a mine in action and managed to get a snap as we drove past of a truck in action at a site blasting away "hopefuly" opal ore.
We camped out at Agnes Creek, which was quite pretty, except!!! It was overrun with mice! they are totally fearless, run over your feet, dived into some neighboring folks camp oven (it was empty of food, just soaking in water), ran all around the ground ugh!! We were very careful to keep hatches and doors closed.
Every roadhouse we passed through had them running around the floors! And they all smelt terrible! (the roadhouses I mean) I don't know how they get on in their kitchens?
Any way we kept on driving and here we are at Ayers Rock, oops, beg
your pardon, Uluru/Yulara. paid $1.90 per litre for diesel at Erldunda, but it is 0ver $2. here at Yulara. The caravan Park is quite reasonable though.
Any way must go big day tomorrow which will get posted next week! Hope you are all keeping well. I am!
Love vicki

Happy Trip to Clare Valley

Ken and Yvonne at Burra copper open cut mine

Happy Trip to Clare Valley

Hi Everyone! Here I am at Burra, near Clare in SA. I travelled over from Loxton last friday to my friends Yvone and Ken, in Clare. They have been running me around the Clare sights and tastes! They have a lovely new home just on the outskirts of Clare, on about 2 acres, really lovely outlook. ((the photo is not of their backyard!)
We drove over to Burra to look at this lovely old town, with lots of old shop frontages, some antique shops and nice galleries. It was previously a copper mining town. We are standing in front of the open cut and on the far hill is two buildings related to copper mining, I forget which! Any way Burra is famously freezing cold in winter and it was! But we warmed up in a pub with a fabulously warm fire and had some lunch and then continued on our merry way.

It is a public holday in Sa on Monday so Yvonne and I gave Ken a rest fom sightseeing and we hit the nearby little villages and did (I) some wine tasting. Clare Valley has verry nice reislings, among other wines! Here I am at Mintaro in a maze that is there, making a wish for a peaceful world. Mintaro has a world class slate quarry, where you can get pieces big enough for billiard tables! (you learn something new every day). We also went to Sevenhills where there is a monastery run by the jesuits and they make a large proportion of the catholic worlds' altar wines. Also some verry nice fortified wines for the likes of you and me!! All in all a nice little run around for me, but a dry one for Yvonne, who not only was driving, but was also on antibiotics and being very good about not drinking!
On the way over from Loxton, I had to drop into Renmark to have somebody look at my fridge (again), this time the fellow decided that the wiring was wrong, as when the fridge is on gas, if the bottle runs out it won't restart when the new bottle is connected. (I have had this problem at least 4 times now, about $50-100 a time) I have written down exactly what to do this time, and hopefully that is the end of it. I must admit I felt a bit foolish as i closed off the gas after he had got it sorted, to discover that i hadn't flicked the lever over!! and it was just using the last bit in the old bottle! whoops!! I didn't tell him that! I just drove off quietly down the road!
I stopped at Overland Corner, on my way to Morgan for the night , as when I came through before it was closed. I had a drink before a roaring fire and had a chat to a couple from Bunbury, didn't say their name, but he was wearing a dockers cap! (And hey we won again!!) Also a most interesting "young" man who was doing the Murray river in a tinnie (a dinghy for the uninitiated). He had been down to the mouth and was returning to Dalby (I think) in Qld. But he had spent 4 years living in UK and a couple of years driving all over the USA and Canada, but he had some great stories to tell. (If only I was 20 years younger!!) Naa. Too late now!! All in all a very enjoyable stop.
So here I am in Clare and trying to work out where I am going to next, but I will keep you posted!
Keep well and I will live to blog another day! Love
Vicki

Yorke Kimono

Hi Everyone, I have put another beautiful sunset from Yorke Peninsula, If only I could tak the photos better! This is looking towards Adelaide from Ardrossan, It really is beautiful. I wish I was a fisherman, as that is what seems to be the winner at most of these little seaside places.
I came across a group of patchworkers in Port Vincent and spent some time with them at their "sit and sew", and managed to get most of my Kimono quilted. I drove over to Elizabeth where I connected with a packet of my mail, sent over by my sister. Now that is a problem, trying to work out where I'll be ahead of time so I can get my mail! So far it is working!
So I came back to Levi Park, my third visit! and Saturday I went off to my Kimono class. Where I almost managed to finish it. Just a hem to put on it and the loops for the tie belt!
I hope you like it. I am going to make another one as I got bit carried away,
with making sure it was big enough, and now it is a little large, or "cosy"! The colours don't show up as well as it really is. When we finished the class Julie, the teacher, gave us another pattern for a jacket as well. I might make that too. Now I am driving up to the Riverland to my cousin Paulines' and then across to Clare to my friend Yvonne's.
Just a short message to you all this week.
Love Vicki