July 16, 2012

Journal notes:

• Adelaide to Coober Pedy in 1 day
• I pick up a stranded motorist

Pictures:

Wind power is catching on Down Under

Australia's longest wooden jetty

Port Germein Hotel

Rob and Bob.  Bob is part dingo.  Rob is 100% human.

Belle

Radeka's - 6.5 meters underground

I spent last night in Adelaide, and tonight I am the sole occupant of a 4-bunk dormitory room at Radeka's Downunder, 6.5 meters below the earth's surface, in Coober Pedy.  Making it one day was a feat, in and of itself - nearly 9 hours nonstop (if I had done it nonstop).

I left Adelaide around 9:00 AM, stopping on my way out for gas and coffee.  Aussies don't do drip coffee; the closest you can get is called a "long black," which is espresso mixed with hot water.  It's good, but I waited a good 15 minutes at the Shell station just to fill up my travel mug.

Just before I hit Dublin, I passed some scrap metal statues.  I turned the car around and took some pictures of them.  Somehow, I was less impressed by them after I realized they were put up as an eco/political statement.  I don't know why, I guess protest art just isn't my thing.  I didn't stop in Dublin.

This part of South Australia was mostly rolling green fields.  Further up, I stopped in Port Germein, around 1:00, and saw the longest wooden jetty in Australia.  I stopped at the hotel there, with the intention of eating lunch, but instead I just had a couple beers.  There, I met Rob, the bartender.  He's been all over Australia and even lived in Melbourne for a time, but he prefers the quiet country life.  We talked for an hour or so, and I told him about my travels and showed him some pictures, then I got back on the highway.

A couple hours later, I saw a broken-down SUV on the side of the road; a young man was messing around under the hood while a young woman (about my age) stood by the side of the road with her thumb up in the air.  When I pulled over, she ran up to my car, introduced herself as Belle, and asked me for a ride to Pimba.  On the way there (about 20km), she explained to me that she and her husband had just bought that vehicle a few months ago after their last car broke down.  A mechanic had stopped to assist, but said it was a bad timing belt and left.  They are from Tasmania and were on their way to Burning Seed (the Australian version of Burning Man), with an 18-month-old in the car, when smoke started pouring out of the engine compartment.  She said they had not been there very long when I stopped.  I told her it was a hell of a place to break down.  I dropped her off at a roadhouse called Spud's and went in for a pit stop.  When I left the place, she was on the phone with someone - hopefully a tow-truck driver.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful.  I got into Coober Pedy around 7:30 and stopped at John's Pizza Bar for dinner.  I had looked up a place called Riba's on the Internet, which offers underground camping, but when I got to the dirt road, there was no sign and the place looked like whatever was there had been torn down.  Since I couldn't find Riba's, I went to Radeka's instead.  The sign on the door said they were closed, but Martin (the proprietor) was sitting on the front porch and asked me if I needed a place to stay.

He looks like he walked straight out of a cartoon, every bit the grizzled old prospector, from his floppy wide-brimmed felt hat to his long bushy grey beard.  Yet, I found him to be quite warm and friendly.  "We don't have many backpackers at the moment, so I can put you in a 4-bed dormitory room by yourself.  The carpark is pretty full, so just pull your car in next to my truck, and I'll show you the way down to your room."

I could have had a single room for $85, but a dorm room to myself is perfectly comfortable, even if it doesn't have a door - the entrance from the hallway is a wide sandstone arch.

I had planned to spend only one night here, then look for more comfortable lodging tomorrow, but I think I'll extend my stay here and maybe take a mine tour tomorrow.

Other thoughts:

• Free wi-fi has yet to catch on in Australia.  In most places I've found in Coober Pedy, you pay a $2 coin for 20 minutes of very slow browsing on a public computer.  Considering the prices I paid for everything (especially food and drinks), you'd think they could afford a decent connection.
• In Coober Pedy, my phone can see the Telstra and Optus networks, but the Vodafone SIM cant connect to them; Vodafone has no coverage here.
• Apparently, the thing to do at Radeka is to write on the bed slats of the bunk above you.  There are lots of messages here.  The best one I've seen so far reads, "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be."