St Mary's http://st-mary-s.posterous.com This space is for all the folks back at Georges Hall who we couldn't fit in the car for the road trip posterous.com Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:19:42 -0700 An update - where's Blue Kangaroo http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/an-update-wheres-blue-kangaroo http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/an-update-wheres-blue-kangaroo

Blue Kangaroo has been very busy hopping across Australia. Can you figure out where Blue is?

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Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:47:21 -0700 A Special message for Miss Nieuwenhuizen http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/a-special-message-for-miss-nieuwenhuizen http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/a-special-message-for-miss-nieuwenhuizen

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Saw this great location on the way from Coober Pedy to to Port Augusta, thought you might like to visit. Cheers Bon!!!

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Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:50:25 -0700 Opal mining in Coober Pedy http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/opal-mining-in-coober-pedy http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/opal-mining-in-coober-pedy

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

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:23:31 -0700 Day Dream Mine http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/day-dream-mine http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/day-dream-mine

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.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:05:28 -0700 Year 2 and Mining interests http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/year-2-and-mining-interests http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/year-2-and-mining-interests

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.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:49:02 -0700 Some video of the Track http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/some-video-of-the-track http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/some-video-of-the-track

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:31:44 -0700 More Oodnadatta Track images and video http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/more-oodnadatta-track-images-and-video http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/more-oodnadatta-track-images-and-video

Coward Springs

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:30:13 -0700 Reflections on the Oodnadatta Track http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/reflections-on-the-oodnadatta-track http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/reflections-on-the-oodnadatta-track

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.

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Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:55:00 -0700 Testing flickr account- where's Blue Kangaroo http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/testing-flickr-account-wheres-blue-kangaroo http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/testing-flickr-account-wheres-blue-kangaroo

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Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:18:22 -0700 Dubbo to Broken Hill http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/dubbo-to-broken-hill http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/dubbo-to-broken-hill

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!!!!

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Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:07:39 -0700 Message from Mr C http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/message-from-mr-c http://st-mary-s.posterous.com/message-from-mr-c

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G'day to all at St Mary's
I hope your term four has started off well and I am sure you are all missing me terribly. As you are aware the Couplands are at this moment embarking on a huge road trip across Australia and I am happy to take all of you with me - only you will have to do it via this blog site. So I hope you check in every now and then and see where and what we are up to.
At the moment I am sitting in our camper in a small caravan park in Broken Hill which is just a short distance from the South Australian Border. We have had a great couple of days prior to this in Dubbo where the boys were able to get up close to lots of wild life. If you though Taronga was great - you definitely have to see Dubbo's Western Plain Zoo. Mitch in particular took a liking to this furry friend

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