Leaving Uluru we headed towards Alice Springs back along the Lasseter Highway then turned North along Stuart Highway. Keeping too not travelling many kilometres in one day we decided to stay a night in an overnight rest area about a hundred k's from Alice. Generally when stopping about 2pm we normally get a choice of spots but this one was almost full by the time we arrived. We thought the main mob must be starting to catch up with us but after talking to a couple who past through a few days later said the rest area was empty we must have just picked a busy day.
The weather has been so nice in Yulara especially after Coober Pedys rain storm. Every day has been clear blue sky's with gentle breases and warm durring the day and cool nights to make sleep easier.
While in Coober Pedy we visted a number of the popular tourist sites. Most living and working in Coober Pedy is done underground but the shopping centre and service stations were all above ground. Opal selling is big with many a shop dedicated to this. A number of the shops also include museums and history tours of life working in a mine with some telling the storie of how opal was first discovered. There are a number of old mines in town setup for tourists to wander through such as Old Timers Mine and Umoona Opal Mine. There is even an underground bookshop and underground arts centre.
Currently we are in Coober Pedy just waiting on the Mail run tour scheduled for Monday the 14th. We were suppose to have been on the tour Monday the 10th but the downpour on Tuesday put a halt to that where Coober Pedy had a years rainfall of 115mm in 1 day. The main street was under water and we had a river flowing past our caravan.
We are currently in Port Augusta preparing for the next leg heading towards Alice springs. We had originally planned to spend a couple of nights free camping roadside somewhere but the forecasted temperatures of 38 degrees and Northerly winds had us looking for a caravan park to run the airconditioner instead. We plan to head off tomorrow when the winds are predicted to blow from the South which is more favorable for us.