Coober Pedy... (hello sunburn) The famous township of Coober Pedy (population 2,700) was our first stop "in the Outback". No, Adelaide does not count... don't you be so cheeky. (and thanks to BT for that expression!). Although we had quite pleasant weather, at just 26 degC, our ghostly Melbourne-Winter complexions soon turned a nice shade of red under the clear blue skies. Good, at least people will know we've been somewhere and, if the peeling ends, we'll have something to show off. We stayed in an underground motel, and have never woken in a room so dark and quiet in our lives. It was easy to sleep through until 11am. As "Coo-bers" is a good sized town with many tourists, there are a number of places to eat (and two very well stocked and reasonably priced supermarkets). We enjoyed the meaty quail at the Greek-inspired Louisa's, despite the dining room being near 260 degC (more cold beers!). The following night we had a pleasant splurge at the upmarket Desert Inn -- the local saltbush-fed lamb was excellent, as was the generous piece of kangaroo, but they really shouldn't have attempted to serve a decent bottle of Shiraz at "room temperature". Given the prevailing weather, the bottle was actually warm to the touch! (And please ask your wait staff not to refer to the customers as "youse". As in, "Are youse guys ready to order?". They were all making such an effort in their spiffy uniforms, it would be a shame not to polish off that rough edge.) We also enjoyed our lunch at Temptation Cafe, just off the main street and next to Underground Books. Thank heavens, after 2 days on the road, someone who not only knows what a short mac is but can also make a decent one! And a good crispy salad too. Temptation Cafe is also unusual for Coober Pedy in having an outdoor dining area, something we always go looking for. We later discovered, we must have left some impression... but more of that later :-)

Surrounded by low hills, the dusty town of Coober Pedy straggles out before you. The area is best, or perhaps only, known for its extensive opal fields and the town makes an interesting stop if you haven't seen that type of thing before. The town is also known for its underground houses, a sensible way to avoid the scalding heat of Summer. Staying at a comfortable 24degC, many hotels have underground rooms and you can leave town knowing you really are a troglodyte. The area from Woomera and around Coober Pedy was easily the driest and most desolate area we travelled through and is not much more than dwarf salt-bush and a few lonely shrubs.

"Does this pathetic thing actually work???" About 20 km out of Coober Pedy is The Dog Fence. Designed to keep dingoes out of the sheep country to the South, the fence stretches nearly 6000 km from Queensland to Western Australia. As we have seen dingoes on both sides of what must be a frightfully complex barrier for such a dim-witted animal, we can only presume someone from the Dingo Liberation Front must be smuggling them across of a night.

An easy 30 odd km drive from Coober Pedy lies Breakaways Reserve, the area made famous by the Mad Max films and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Accessible by conventional vehicle, the trip, including walks, takes about 1 to 2 hours. (And before any of you point this out; yes, Grant would have officially failed a photography exam with this one... look at the bottom right of the shot...)

In the distance you can see two hills, one white on the left and the other brown. What I'm about to tell you is, apparently, Secret Men's Business to the local aboriginals -- the hills represent a white dog and a brown dog that belonged to some man (drumroll, and an awed silence falls over the crowd). That is, according to the not-so-secretive signage in the Park. Why this story previously needed to be a secret, or why it was only men's business, is not something as openly explained. Anyone? Update: we had a reply. But must not repeat it for all and sundry to read. Sorry :)

"Damn, I knew I should've bought the Tina Turner wig... how am I going to get into Thunder Dome looking like this?" "Here, maybe these dark glasses might help?..."

And finally, after some 2000 km of driving, we hit the border of the Northern Territory -- this meant Grant had now visited every State and Territory in Australia. Excited by the prospect of roads without speed limits, we were soon to discover that the Territory has altered it's road rules to 110km/h maximum... bummer. Of course, that is merely the legal speed limit; we were overtaken by someone obviously doing more than 140km/h in, of all things, a Hyundai Excel. We're not sure if that driver deserved a round of applause, or perhaps some brief institutionalisation on the grounds of tendency to self-harm. (140km/h in an Excel, urghh, scary...)

	Having crossed the border into the Northern Territory and taken the obligatory photograph, it's back in the car and straight through to Uluru. Gee, only another 335 km to go...

	Explore the rest of Grant & Dale's Outback holiday
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