Signage advising not to walk backwards
In the Old Timer's Mine
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th June, 2009
We pulled into Coober Pedy and decided to get clean and cosy for a few nights in a caravan park. Steve, Mal and John parked the cars outside the park while checking in – we didn’t want the owners to see the state of the cars. Driving to our sites brought many stares from the current residents as we all pulled in to sites next to each other. Many people came up to speak to us just because of the state of the cars and everyone in the park knew who we were. After two days here, Steve and John went to the car wash and cleaned them down a bit.
Mal and Donna spent two nights here with us – the kids got along famously. Being on the farm Mal’s kids were all kitted out in their denims and pull on boots which Cam thought was the greatest look he’s ever seen (compared to his everyday attire of thongs and boardies). Anyway, Cam’s sneakers were unwearable after Lake Eyre, so he decided he wanted boots as well. We went into town and bought him a pair, so when we got back to camp, he put on his jeans and hat also so he could look just like Teagan and Jayden. You can imagine his surprise when they came back from the shops in boardies and thongs shouting “Look Cam, we’re just like you!” The first night here, we were all so starved for junk food that we had pizza for dinner. Mal and Steve went to buy them and $109 we had a feast for 3 meals on them. Needless to say, we’re over it now.
While here, we went noodling (which is the word for fossicking on the nodules of piled dirt) for opals and found a few little potch chips. Enough to keep the boys happy in their desire for rocks. Then we went to the Old Time Mine Museum which took us through an opal mine, into underground homes and showed us the machinery used in mining. It was one of the best attractions I have ever been to. Really worth the money.
Wednesday saw us meeting Jamie and Miranda with their children Kiara and Jaxon. Great young couple that we ended up watching the State of Origin in their caravan that night. They are Queenslanders too, so it was the first time in ages that I wasn’t in the minority. Can I say – What a great result too! Cameron and Kiara also took their bounty of opal chips and tried to sell them to other people in the park. Ever the capitalists they made $1 each.
It is also here that Cameron has finally seen that he is not the only child that has to do schoolwork. Up to now, all the other children we’ve met have just taken 3 months or so off school without any catch up work to do. This is why Cam’s been balking at his work so badly. Here in Coober Pedy, he has met four other kids that all had to do daily studies, and it finally hit him that he is no exception. I think up til now he thought I was making him do work that he didn’t need to do. Now he seems to realize this is normal and I’m not the bad guy! Whew, the last couple of days have been an absolute pleasure with Cam being motivated and enthusiastic in his work.
Apart from that, we’ve just been chilling out around camp enjoying not having to pack or unpack for a few nights. Next stop – Erldunda where we’ll meet up with John and Kay again.
We pulled into Coober Pedy and decided to get clean and cosy for a few nights in a caravan park. Steve, Mal and John parked the cars outside the park while checking in – we didn’t want the owners to see the state of the cars. Driving to our sites brought many stares from the current residents as we all pulled in to sites next to each other. Many people came up to speak to us just because of the state of the cars and everyone in the park knew who we were. After two days here, Steve and John went to the car wash and cleaned them down a bit.
Mal and Donna spent two nights here with us – the kids got along famously. Being on the farm Mal’s kids were all kitted out in their denims and pull on boots which Cam thought was the greatest look he’s ever seen (compared to his everyday attire of thongs and boardies). Anyway, Cam’s sneakers were unwearable after Lake Eyre, so he decided he wanted boots as well. We went into town and bought him a pair, so when we got back to camp, he put on his jeans and hat also so he could look just like Teagan and Jayden. You can imagine his surprise when they came back from the shops in boardies and thongs shouting “Look Cam, we’re just like you!” The first night here, we were all so starved for junk food that we had pizza for dinner. Mal and Steve went to buy them and $109 we had a feast for 3 meals on them. Needless to say, we’re over it now.
While here, we went noodling (which is the word for fossicking on the nodules of piled dirt) for opals and found a few little potch chips. Enough to keep the boys happy in their desire for rocks. Then we went to the Old Time Mine Museum which took us through an opal mine, into underground homes and showed us the machinery used in mining. It was one of the best attractions I have ever been to. Really worth the money.
Wednesday saw us meeting Jamie and Miranda with their children Kiara and Jaxon. Great young couple that we ended up watching the State of Origin in their caravan that night. They are Queenslanders too, so it was the first time in ages that I wasn’t in the minority. Can I say – What a great result too! Cameron and Kiara also took their bounty of opal chips and tried to sell them to other people in the park. Ever the capitalists they made $1 each.
It is also here that Cameron has finally seen that he is not the only child that has to do schoolwork. Up to now, all the other children we’ve met have just taken 3 months or so off school without any catch up work to do. This is why Cam’s been balking at his work so badly. Here in Coober Pedy, he has met four other kids that all had to do daily studies, and it finally hit him that he is no exception. I think up til now he thought I was making him do work that he didn’t need to do. Now he seems to realize this is normal and I’m not the bad guy! Whew, the last couple of days have been an absolute pleasure with Cam being motivated and enthusiastic in his work.
Apart from that, we’ve just been chilling out around camp enjoying not having to pack or unpack for a few nights. Next stop – Erldunda where we’ll meet up with John and Kay again.
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