It can only happen in the Northern Territory. We decided to wash the car and caravan in Katherine as there is no water restrictions on use but the moment we put the water on the car the fire authority decided it would be a good idea to burn off the grass / bush right next door to the caravan park. Here we are washing the car with lots of black ash falling from the sky much to the amusment of the ground staff.
We could have spent more time in Alice Springs and as much as we didn't want to set a schedule for this trip we had committed ourselves to be in Darwin by the 11th of May. Darwin being a popular destination means if you want to spend any significant time there comfortably you need to book in and get there reasonably early. Darwin is the place we want to spend the time so we Left Alice Springs and headed North once again.
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.