What a great sleep we had in the pitch black darkness of the underground! We woke up around 8:30am (well, some of us were awake earlier but happy to snuggle in the warm bed). The boys were shocked that it was so late in the morning as they really thought it was the middle of the night still given how dark it was.
We finally got organised to hit the road and stopped off at the Visitor Centre again to get a pass for The Breakaways. Just up the road and our first adventure awaited – Tom’s Working Opal Mine. Thankfully, we arrived only a couple of minutes after a tour started so were able to join that. It was such a great tour and the boys really enjoyed finding opals which they could keep. At the end of the tour we were even treated to homemade scones which were divine!!! I’d highly recommend this particular mine tour to anyone visiting Coober Pedy.
Nearly two hours later we were on our way to see some more sights. Next stop was the Serbian Orthodox Church which is incredible but there were a few hungry tummies so we decided to pop back to our hotel for lunch in the underground cafe. Honestly, it was pretty average.
Keeping with our religious bent for the day, we checked out the Catacomb Church and then the Catholic Church – both nice but not nearly as impressive as the Serbian Orthodox Church. Some nice stained glass though.
We also checked out the Big Winch and were hoping to book in for dinner one night but we found out there is a big event happening for the next two days. People could go on a tour from Adelaide, including a flight, mine tour, dinner at Big Winch watching sunset over the landscape, an overnight stay etc etc. Hopefully we will be able to go to Big Winch for dinner on Monday night instead.
Next stop was the Coober Pedy Wellness Labyrinth which is essentially a labyrinth built of stones which you walk (or run as may be the case for the boys) all the way to the centre. Needless to say, once you reach the centre, like the couple before us, we simply stepped over the stones to get back out rather than follow the path all the way back through.
A quick stop at the IGA to pick up some picnic supplies for dinner and we headed home for a little rest before heading out again. Just before 5pm we left for the Breakaways, stopping first at the Dog Fence – longest fence in the world – before making it up to the lookout to watch the sunset over the Breakaways. Such an amazing sight watching the colours change as the sun went down as we enjoyed our picnic dinner.
Back “home” for showers and a relaxing evening and to plan adventures for tomorrow.