Up William Creek without a paddle.

Day 24: Friday, July 10th
Steps taken: 5,769

The cave was amazingly comfortable, and I slept really well.  Possibly the best sleep all trip.  I liked sleeping in the cave hotel in Cappadoccia, Turkey and it probably would have been this good if I wasn't ill during that trip.  I highly recommend trying out a cave hotel...unless your claustrophobic.  Even then I still think it's a cool experience.

I washed up, had breakfast, and packed up.  Once everyone was ready, we made the arduous walk next door to the Mining Museum.  We met with the curator, walked around for a few minutes, and started the tour.  It began with a 20 minute film about the history of opal mining in Australia.  It was a little campy, but informative.  It could have been worse.  Then we were shown the process of shaping opals.  From there we saw a replica of one of the underground homes.  In their summer, this area can reach temperatures of 50 C/122 F, so they build their homes below ground for comfort.  We took a path down to what the mines are normally like.  There was a crew from the Adelaide Museum filming while we were there, so we may end up in one of their videos.  When the tour was over, we went to the gift shop.  Some really nice pieces that I didn't have the cash for at the moment.  SORRY ANYONE I KNOW WHOSE BIRTHSTONE IS OPAL!

The next stop was down the road at the Josphine Gallery and Kangaroo Sanctuary.  Famous Aboriginal artist Tommy Crowe was there painting, and playing the didgeridoo.  He was painting three piece at one.  I really wanted to pick up one of his works, but again didn't have the spare cash at the moment.  I also wanted to pick up one of the didgeridoos and try it, but it probably would have been a didgeridon't! (I'm sorry.  Please keep reading my blog.  Actually, I'm not sorry.  I like that joke!) Then we went to the backyard and fed some kangaroo.  We even got to pet a baby roo/joey.  I was tempted to take the baby roo home, but didn't want to start an international incident.  We watched Tommy Crowe paint a bit more.  He also explained some of his painting and didgeridoo techniques.  He must have painted 6 incredible works while we were there, and was working on 3 more.  Quality and quantity working effectively together.

By this time we had an hour for lunch.  My first goal before food was to get to the bank.  I went with Corinna, and Michelle, but was disappointed but not surprised to find out that they didn't do currency exchange.  I ran back to the bus to get one of my credit cards which I really didn't want to use.  I headed to John's Pizza for lunch and ordered a small Coat of Arms pizza, which was emu, kangaroo, cranberry, and camembert.  It was really good, and it stayed together this time.  Emu seems to taste like pastrami.  I also had a pear and honey ice tea with my food.  A solid lunch.  Since there's not too many restaurants in Coober Pedy I'm tempted to open up one there. (Sorry, John!)

After lunch, we hit the road but stopped quickly at the Serbian Church of Saint Elijah the Prophet.  It was a nice little church that was founded by Serbians in the early 90s who came to Coober Pedy to mine for opals.

Not too much else exciting on the trip to William Creek except for Kodak getting out after we had crossed over a grate in the road and confusing us.  He said there was a game with grates, but we would try for a better grate...Okay? The Stewart Highway also became rough and unpaved at this point.

When we got to William Creek around 3:30, we all didn't know what to think about this either.  William Creek is a man made town/campgrounds to help travelers between distances.  The town has a steady population of 12.  We went into the general store first.  We had to preorder our dinner.  I ordered a pumpkin soup, and a Rekorderlig Winter Cider, but the woman opened up my cider there even though I wanted it with dinner.  I would have been annoyed by this, but this was the most delicious cider I've ever had.  It had hints of vanilla, and cinnamon.  It tasted like Christmas! I also had a red velvet Coronet ice cream cone.

After getting settled in, Lazar, Lorraine, and I walked about 'the museum'.  Since there used to be rocket launching in this area, most of the things in the ground were related to that.  The galar birds were flying around, and chirping incessantly.  Apparently if someone talked too much, they are compared to a galar.  There was also an airfield.  There was an option to fly over Lake Eyre for $150, but only a few signed up.  Allie came along, and told us about the cat tree, which we somehow walked past.  This tree with fake cat carcasses was a prop from the film "A Cab to Darwin." Suck it, PETA! Not real! Although still disturbing.

Dinner was pretty good.  The pumpkin soup was rich and creamy.  The bread with it was good especially when dipped in the soup.  After dinner I read before sleeping as usual.