Friday, our last day on the Ghan

Oh, a much better sleep last night for me, despite the narrowness of the bottom bunk.   After breakfast we were summoned off the train in the order of our excursions.    We had had chosen the seven hour trip around Coober Pedy, and our coach was not too much of a walk once we off the train.  

On all excursions, a member of staff from the Ghan accompanies the coach, and today we had Gloria with us.    Our first stop was the The Breakaways, one of South Australia's Outback gems. They're a striking rocky landscape of flat-topped mesas.    The Breakaways were once covered by an inland sea. They are now home to an array of native fauna and flora.   An absolutely amazing place, and I believe at sunset rival Uluru.   
Next stop was the dog proof fence, which like all Aussies had heard about but never seen.  South Australia’s contribution to the fence which runs between Queensland, NSW and Sth  Australia  is  2250    The whole fence cost $10 million dollars a year to maintain.
Lunch in an underground hotel was our next stop, and then a short tour of a mine.  
Moving right along, we then visited the Umoona Opal mine and museum, where we learned about opals, and the mining of them.  We also visited an underground  “dug out” home.  Our guide assured us, she would never live above ground again.   It’s so very hot in Coober Pedy, up to 50 degrees in summer, and underground is much cooler .   

The Serbian underground church was our last stop, built in the mid 1990 ‘s.

The landscape at Coober Pedy is so very desolate, and there are dead cars and bits of heavy machinery almost everywhere .   Dirt piles litter the landscape, no one bothers to move dirt when digging a shaft to look for opals.  

We returned to the Ghan to a most welcome bonfire, being greeted off our coaches with a drink and canapés.   Enjoying the desert as the sun went down was more than pleasant.  

Another delicious dinner, and an early night in preparation for the end of our journey tomorrow.