Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Opal mining in Coober Pedy

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Opal mining as compared to Silver mining to me didn't seem as life threatening but I am sure it had its hazards.
We visited the opal museum at Coober Pedy and found that 85% of the worlds opal are mined here. Did you know also that the person who stumbled across this rich opal country was a 14 year old boy. The way opals are formed is a really interesting phenomena which I am sure your going to run off and google. But it does provide undeniable proof that area of desert Australia were once covered with water. Enjoy the pics

Day Dream Mine

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On our trip back from Silverton and a very funny ride on a camel, we drove about 30 km off road to visit an old Silver mine. It was about 35 degrees (it was a cool day by usual standards) and we went on a surface tour. In its hey day this mine had a police station, bakery general store and 500 people living there. The ratio of men to women was about 1:50!!
The life that these miners lived was incredible. All rock was moved by hand and the yield of silver was only a few grams for every tonne.
Because the work was so hard the miners often lived in constant pain. To assist this they often smoked opium to dull their pain however this ultimately caused their lungs to breakdown and for them to die early from respiratory failure. The photo of the hole is where the explosives was kept due to the fact that it had to be kept at a cool temperature.this was also where women kept their babies - in with the explosives.
There were boys as young as eight working claims in this area.

Year 2 and Mining interests

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G'day Mrs Esther, Miss Duggan and year two. I hope you are all well and learning lots this term.
Mrs Esther sent me a message in Edmodo letting me know of your interest in mining. I have taken a few images I hope they help you visualize a bit better
The first image is of a mine at Cobar which is located East of Broken Hill. We didn't stay there but we took a trip to the lookout and what we saw blew us away. The size of the pit and how far down it went was amazing. In the photo you might see a littl black hole at the Bottom- that's the entrance to the mine and it is big enough for a huge earthmover to fit inside.
Then onto Broken Hill where the huge mounds of dirt left from mining can be seen from all over town. On top of the hill where these photos were taken is a memorial remembering all those who have died in the mines. This was a cold reminder of how dangerous this work is.

Reflections on the Oodnadatta Track

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Now that we are long off the track it is good to look back. I was really looking forward to roughing it with corrugated roads, river crossings, camping out with campfires, seeing the wildlife around lake Eyre and seeing parts of Oz that not many do.
Well, the track was all those and more. However a punctured tyre spoiled taking a few extra side trips to see the water around Lake Eyre. Out here the isolation is exhilarating yet if you don't have the correct equipment it can be a real problem. In the three days we were on the Oodnadatta Track we met a few people at different stops but that was it!! William Creek was where we had our tyre replaced ($330 for an unknown brand new tyre) and petrol was $2.20 a litre. The third day on the Track we passed not one car. The only sign of life was a group of young jack/jillaroos herding cattle on bikes and an ultra light plane.

Dubbo to Broken Hill

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One of the things that has been hard with limited coverage for phones and internet is the opportunity to add to these blogs. So i am going to steal text from another of our blog sites i hope this is ok? I will try to include lots of photos

Our first free camp experience was at Meadow Glen rest area. This was60km out of Cobar. What an experience. For those of us who drive the coast road regularly, it was like camping in a rest spot - no drinking water, no electricity heaps of red dirt, goats emus and a fox!!! Of course there were fellow campers who have been our best resource yet and all of whom highly recommend free camping. We had satay chicken wraps for dinner and toasted ham and cheese wraps to fill us up - all washed down with a couple of cold drinks-bring on the carbs!!!!! We are headed for Broken Hill where we will stay in a caravan park to wash ourselves and our clothes!!!!