Tag: holiday

Sweeping down to the sea

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I’ve an old friend. We met through a play scheme we worked on in Antrim over 40 years ago. Erik got in touch a few weeks ago to say he was off back to Northern Ireland and did I fancy going walking with him.in the Morne Mountains. Yes I did, and off we went.

The Kilmorey Arms Hotel

We met at Dublin airport and drove up to Kilkeen for a few days. Our base of operations was the Kilmorey Arms and this place was amazing. Comfortable and welcoming, staff could not do enough for us. The town itself is a little down at heel, a working fishing village with a reputation for excellent sea food. I have to say we are well at the hotel although the options around town were limited. The little Italian restaurant was good also. Family friendly and without an alcohol license if that’s a deal breaker. It wasn’t for us.

Doan in the Mournes

We asked our breakfast server for advice and were recommended Doan as a challenge but not too much. Good choice. We made either to the top (593m) in just under two hours and down a little quicker. The rain set in as the car park came into view.

Soggy

Day two was horizontal rain from the get go. We decided that our walk today would be down memory lane. Erik and I met as a result of being idealistic young people back in the mid nineteen eighties. We were workers on a series of play schemes which crossed the political divide. People were used to slogans and shootings in Antrim and Belfast, Armagh and Portadown. Children grew up heavily indoctrinated. We wanted to be part of the solution. We went to play and to somehow help children from Republican and Unionist sides to meet. Thankfully the peace process was successful with the Good Friday Agreement. It is not 100% but it is good to know that driving a vehicle with a Dublin number plate is no longer a guarantee of an attack in the North. We saw what was going on back then in the ‘troubles’.  One place more central to the peace than you know is a priory in a tiny speck of a place called Benburb. We went back through Newry and Armagh to visit.

Benburb Priory (Service Order) was founded in a former mansion and estate on the edge of the town. The members of the order, mostly priests but we know of a couple of nuns, made it their business to serve. Local people were involved in events onsite and slowly came to accept the presence of these outsiders. The priory today still serves the community with a cafe and small museum and library. The grounds are open for walking and quiet contemplation as well as festivals and celebrations. Many people wanted to speak with us. Some had personal connections.with Erik and his family.

At Benburb Priory

A day of high emotion and comfortable silences on the return journey as we each thought about how this place has shaped our lives.

Day three was grey. We had a late breakfast with friends from the Benburb area. When they left to carry on family duties we took to the hills again. The aim for the day to make it to the Blue Lough. A well-defined and short footpath lead from the walkers car park and we looked up to the clouded hills.

Path to Blue Lough

We were wrapped in waterproof jackets and strong boots. Whilst there were some puddles to cross.on the way up it was not raining heavily but as we climbed the cloud came down and we had to turn around short of our goal. We were soaked to the skin. Back to the hotel for a warm shower and a cup of tea. Reading in the hotel lounge for a peaceful hour was the perfect end to the day.

Staff cheerfully greeted us at six forty five handed the packed lunch we had asked for in lieu of breakfast as we headed back to Dublin and our respective flights home. The simple cheese sandwich was an actual platter with salad and crisps and fruit and impossible to eat in the car! We passed through the border by simply driving along the A roads. There is no boundary as such. In some ways what we were working for has happened. The island is basically one again.

While we were away a man was publicly killed in the USA. We still do not know why at time of writing. It brings to mind the ‘Troubles’. It took a long time for a fragile peace to be established in Ireland. I fear for the USA. We talked about it on our drive both hoping that this doesn’t spark revenge after revenge. Violence is never the answer.

What a week. Lovely to see an old friend. Wonderful to see the glorious countryside. Amazing to remember the part we may have played and the people who did more that we ever could to bring peace. My American friends please take care. Remember that this will pass. Peace takes effort on all sides but mostly inside yourself.

Happy New Year

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I start the year with one less parent. It’s a strange feeling. It was a strange Christmas too. There seems to be less people at the table every year. Don’t get me wrong I’m grateful for the care given to my dad in his final months. The NHS is a treasure we must fight to protect with every fibre of our being. I’m also grateful to the hospice staff. I couldn’t do their job for any amount of money.

On the upside I still have one parent. She’s well enough and involved in many community groups and organisations which keeps her busy and surrounded by friends. She’s also been used to the absence of my dad as he spent his last months in hospital. My brother pops in daily. I call her to chat as do her sisters and friends. In fact I practically have to book an appointment to visit which I love because it means she’s not alone.

We are warm and cosy here despite the recent snow in the area. We grit the path outside the house and along the streets as far as we can to help prevent people slipping and falling. In truth the ice doesn’t seem so icy today somehow. It is due to drop to minus two Celsius tonight. Meanwhile in California LA is on fire. 

The pure joy of a walk in the icy weather this morning really raised my spirits. I heard back from my PhD supervisor about our next meeting as time slips away before I am due to submit. I need to focus more. I have no excuse. I hope you are all well and safe and surrounded by people you love and who love you. Happy New Year.

On the road again…

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I’m off to Valencia. I’ve never been before and it’s 50 years at least since I was in Spain. The journey is part holiday and part Ingress Anomaly. Ingress is an Augmented Reality Game (ARG), which I’ve been playing for a number of years now and which I’m using as the basis for the ole’ PhD. One day (maybe two) will be battling  for my team on the global battlefield, and the rest will be rest.

I wrote the message above before we left on the 30th October. We heard there had been heavy rain. People at the airport were happy enough but as our flight time approached there was increasing concern as I was seeing messages from friends already there that roads were closed and they were having to walk from the airport. The flight took off as planned but staff began talking about the metro system being totally closed … No taxis… City buses may or may not be running…

We arrived to find a queue for taxis which stretched back for hours (talking to people in the queue). Thankfully we snagged an Uber within minutes and made the city and our apartment just before 10 pm. Our hosts were very concerned and very confident that the trip we had planned by train out of the city was not going to happen. Local government information suggested we would be ok at that time.

Then we caught the news.

Waking up in a beautiful restored historical monument of a home in a city searching for it’s own was surreal. The historic centre of Valencia was totally dry and safe thanks to Franco having drained the river years before in case of just such an emergency. This was not something local people wanted to acknowledge had saved lives. We wandered the streets a little dazed. How do you act as a tourist when people are dying just a few miles away? What could we do? Of course the obvious thing was to leave and let the people get on with repairing their city. Naturally flights were booked up and also (naturally) the scalping had begun with one airline raising ticket prices over 500% How is there not international law against this?

We found there was no way out until our planned leaving date anyway and it wouldn’t be our planned route as 3 km of track had been washed away and train tunnels filled with rubble etc. We were not going that way. In fact we ended up flying into Mallorca and then home.

Unsurprisingly the events planned for the weekend had been cancelled. I was more than a little irritated by fellow players complaining about this because they wouldn’t get their badge! FFS! People have died here. That evening we called in to the meet up said our hello’s, ate, collected our game packs and left still wondering what we could do.

The answer turned out to be to donate to the food bank. We took a couple of bags of the things they had requested. It was little enough. This image is one of five collection points half an hour before it was supposed to open. I honestly don’t think it had closed for siesta. There was a lengthy queue of Valencians waiting to bus out as volunteers. The rules were : wear boots and bring a broom.

We saw quite a bit of the old city. The ceramic museum , S Joan and S Nicholas churches, the ancient city wall (part of which we were staying in).  We spent a whole day at Oceanagrafic, the aquarium. We met new friends and found ourselves invited back when the city has recovered. The mayor is in trouble for a breach of his duty of care. The king was covered in mud from the clods thrown at him on his visit but we were invited back. We tried to be thoughtful and respectful. We asked after people their friends and family. They shared their stories and thanked us. Good luck Valencia.

The Greatest British city

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Happily watching Susan Calman as she tours Liverpool. The joy of this is that I know and love this city well. People if ypu can get the UK channel 5 please check this out.

The Liver Buildings, Charles Dickens, Williamson’s Tunnels, the Atheneum, St George’s Hall. It’s an amazing city about more than the Beatles, more than tne football teams.

If you’ve never been, please visit. Walk the  streets, see the sights but above all talk to the people. You won’t regret it.

Its been a while…

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Family stuff, as they say. One such was a wonderful visit to my second home in the Netherlands. Utrecht is one of my favourite cities in the world. Thus year I had the chance to take my young nieces to visit and explore the city.

Our first meal in Utrecht

Of course they had never tries Dutch food so day one, meal one gad to be traditional ‘borrelhapjes’. To be honest, the wee one can be a touch fussy, so bar snacks offered the widest opportunity for something to be OK. Butterbollen. Kaarstengels. Loaded fries. Loempias. And the best baked apples ever. We ate, we collapsed.

For anyone planning a visit, I’d recommend the Strowis. It’s a workers collective run hostel. Clean. Quiet . It even has a garden…but no sharks.

https://www.strowis.nl/

We stayed in a shared bathroom twin in the attic. Showers are large and clean and there are plenty of loos on each floor. There’s a kitchen too for making your own food though sadly breakfast is no longer available (covid). There’s a bar and coffee available. Games, art materials and they own the pub axcross the garden too. We chatted to Aussies, Koreans and Americans. That’s the joy of hostels you never know who you’ll meet. The staff are great and proved very helpful on this occasion.

Day two with the small people and a visit to the Museum Speelklok which is a personal favourite. Noisy and full of grandparents and grandchildren. We were in there for hours watching and listening to the huge circus organs and making our own musical books to play. Of course there was coffee and apple pie

A ‘straatorgel’

After dad had gone off to the dance music festival in Amsterdam we carried on to the library. I love this building. It was once the Post Office. I’ve been trying to get inside again for ten years, and now it is gloriously open. Go to the library.

Utrecht library

It’s like something out of Dune. I just feel like lying on the floor snd staring at the ceiling. Now there’s a lift so you can get above it to see the preservation work they’ve done. Seriously, go to the library. They also have a play post office which took a chunk of time and an excellent cafe.

Day three saw very tired youngsters peek up at the sight of a playground and a petting zoo in Grift Park. Word of caution here. If you’re an Uber fan don’t expect to find them much outside of Amsterdam because the Dutch use cycles so much so why get a cab?

Day four. Amsterdam. A stroll from Centraal Station to Rokin for a trip on my favourite boat (Reiderij Kooi). By now, the young ones were flagging as evidenced by the question (from the 4 year old) “When are you going to stop showing us things?” To be fair we’d made each of them an age appropriate scrap book to use whilst we were there and these had been used enthusiastically throughout the trip. Daddy was spotted on the bridge awaiting our return. Lunch and off to the airport for us. Naturally, it is more bitterbollen at the Hoppe.

Showing them things

Twi weeks later and our chums from the Netherlands arrived on the doorstep.

Holland days!

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Saucy? Well, whilst the Netherlands can provide a very ‘adult’ holiday destination in my case, I’m off to see an old friend. We met in the North of Ireland about 40 years ago, and there’s pretty much nothing we don’t know about each other. We haven’t seen each other since pre pandemic and even a chunk of time before that, but you know what, after all this time he’s still my friend. This is the guy who flew in for 24 hours to be the witness at our wedding. He’s pretty special.

The town of Brummen is nowhere. Tiny. Rural and not on the map for most tourists. They’re missing out. It’s on the edge of the Veluwe, near Arnhem and encircled by forest and fields. Beautiful. Not only that but classic car fans would flock to The Gallery to browse, buy or hire a Delorian or a Porche just like James Dean’s. There’s a cute little ferry across the river and a walk taking you to Bronkhorst which styles itself as ‘Dickensian’ and has no cars allowed in the villages where artisan craftspeople ply their wares.

Day two a zoo adventure. Its a 20 minute drive to Burger Zoo, an amazing place. It’s designed in habitats so the people are kept more co fined and the animals (except large or dangerous ones) mingle in the biomes. There’s desert, rainforest… you get the picture. Wow! Their conservation work is impressive and they started the idea of habitat based zoos way way back. I’m.not sure we saw everything but we came close. A relaxed evening meal with a little wine and conversation that went too late as our host had do leave stupid early for a work trip giving us the keys to the house and time to ourselves. We rested from our journey (How many stag do’s (Bachelors parties) can you fit on a plane?) and took a gentle walk to the local thrift store as you’ve seen in a previous post before shooting off to the next village over for an evening meal with some other chums. I noticed in the free newspaper that Hall (where we were for the evening) was expecting a Lancaster Bomber fly past for VE day.

A not so early start the next day took us by train (and the trains from Brummen are excellent) took us via Zwolle to Deventer. It’s not a place I’d ever been and I have to say its a stunning medieval city. I think we found the pinkest cafe there for lunch which was excellent and a book store which took up a chunk of our time before hopping back to Zwolle to meet someone I’ve known since they were six for a coffee and ice cream in one of the local game cafes. We left as a serious game of Magic the Gathering began in earnest. Zwolle is also an amazing medieval city with the walls still visible and a ‘moat’ around the town centre.

What I didn’t mention earlier was that this was the week on Kings Day. The Dutch, like the UK, have a monarchy but unlike the UK make the monarch’s official birthday an excuse for a huge party and a public holiday. Brummen kept it low key with a small market and flea market (swap meet) and, of course a lot of orange clothing. My favourite part of the day was ‘King William’ ice cream, the joke is King Billy ice cream as Erik and I had met in Northern Ireland. We didn’t stay long and aerik took us into the Veluwe to one of the many national park properties to spot wild deer in the forest. What a magical evening. Please venture out of Amsterdam next time you’re in Holland.

Friday we took our leave and headed to my favourite city, Utrecht. It’s a university city equivalent to Oxford or Cambridge in its size and tone. No rivers but the Oude and Niewe Gracht (canals). We had an air b’n’b in what has become the Moslem area of town …. oh yes great food! Usually we visit the Straat Orgel Museum but we planned something different this time. One of my favourite buildings in the world (alongside Battersea power station which is on the list since it has been refurbished as a shopping centre). 10 years ago I tried to take Em there only to find it closed!!!! Noooooo. There were various rumours as to what it would become … thankfully my worst fears were not realised. Welcome to Utrecht Library, formerly the Post Office. The joy of the refit was that we could work our way up to the rafters to see the stunning glass roof from both inside and out. Honestly people go in to lie on the floor and look up. I’d borrow a lot of books if this were my local library. There’s a really cool coffee shop too.

The next day we spent wandering the town. Being a University city there’s a lot of places to eat and drink fairly cheaply and lots of board game shops (we found 4). We had to buy licorice, salty licorice, for my dad and visit the excellent handmade chocolate shop we found lst time we were here. sad to say some places had suffered and gone through the pandemic. We found the most chill bar of the trip close to the cathedral (the Dom) and partook of some Belgian beer before a visit to another of my favourite little men, a tiny statue of a monk in the cloister. It was a sunny day and the place I’ve so often had to myself, was packed. Excellent busker in there too. I said a quick hello to the little fella and we headed out to the air b’n’b to feed the cats. Yes, this one came with critters and a small yard/garden.

Homeward bound we stopped in Amsterdam en route for the airport. There was a book I wanted and the American Book Centre had it in stock which is lucky since its around the corner from one of my favourite bars on Spui. Now the Hoppe is famous and old and usually rammed with tourists but its sister bar (the one with the toilets … if you know you know) is used more by locals. Finally we set our teeth on bitterballen. They’re hard to explain. Kinda like a thick soupy but not liquid middle of meat and potato (ish) in a breadcrumb coating. usually eaten with mustard. As ever I had the house speciality, Jenever, a sort of Dutch precursor to gin. next we hopped on the subway to avoid the crowds (Yes, read that again the subway is the least crowded mode of transport) and headed to NSDM one of the newer, trendier areas of Amsterdam. It’s in a former dockyard and holds a lot of arts workshops, cafes and the Street art museum (which we didn’t have time to visit). On a hot sunny day we were grateful to grab the ferry back to Amsterdam Centraal to head out to Schipol.

It’s been too long and I miss my friends. Not too much time will pass before I’m on Dutch soil again.

Eurovision (or Liverpool knows how to throw a party)

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The big day is on Saturday 13th May 2023. Liverpool us hosting the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine on account of Russia having invaded and Kyiv not being safe. The city is buzzing as they say here abouts. Everyone is having a boss time. Liverpool is always a friendly city and this event shows it off to perfection. So many local groups and artistes involved in really putting on a show. There’s the usual big screen and a stage with free live shows. There are special buskers stations for local and Ukranian artists. Everywhere you can see blue and yellow flags and the tee shirts bear the slogan “You’ll never sing alone” styles after the local football anthem (borrowed from the musical Carousel) You’ll never walk alone.

Food. Writers workshops. LGBTQ+ safe spaces. Soap making. Sing alongs. Children’s events. Special exhibits at all the museums. Vloggers for miles. TV crews. Sunshine (OK and showers). Vogue dancing. Parades. A yellow and blue submarine. You really can feel the love. This is not about Liverpool, though. It’s on honour of a country torn apart by war. Those attending are decked out in both their own and Ukrainian flags. Sunflowers and the pink bucket hats we have come to associate with last years winners. It’s exciting.

Whoever wins this contest (and as I write several countries have already been eliminated) and whatever you think of Eurovision (people tend to love it or hate it) I can honestly say that it’s been one helluva party.

It had to be done!

Adelaide in the rain

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Apologies for the delay on this as my hand is in a splint … don’t ask .. so this will take me a while to type!

Rolling overnight from Coober Pedy we woke up to an emu vs kangaroo race alongside the tracks and to a countryside that looked a little more like the southern end of the UK. Wheat fields and greenery. Staff made themselves available for selfies and goodbyes. We arrived around early afternoon and were taken by private car to our air b’n’b in the historic district just off Adelaide’s Chinatown and a five minute walk from the famous food market. Guess what our first stop was?

It was close to closing time but we managed to find a couple of talkative former Brits who were happy to direct us to the best bread stall and some great local produce. We were at the market daily. There are a range of excellent cafes and loads of high quality food alongside a bookstall and weirdly a camera shop. One thing I did find odd was that apart from the market there was nothing we might call an ‘Off Licence’. Supermarkets don’t sell alcohol. We wandered into a pub that seemed to indicate it sold drinks for home consumption. Yep, there they were locked up away from the bar. A bottle shop. Sad to say we had come across a number of people with varying mental health and alcohol issues on our journey and many of these were First Nation individuals. I can see the logic in making alcohol difficult to get to but when we think about Australia in the UK the pub features heavily so it was an eye opener to see the strict controls. It’s been sad to hear about the current issues in Alice Springs since we came home too

The little row house we were staying in had one window in the front and one in the back with non at all the kitchen which was served by a skylight. It was cosy but we both felt like we were still moving for a while there. The weather forecast was very British but we’d brought our rain gear so not problem. Day one and we located the museum quarter and the superb collection in the South Australian Museum. This includes an opalised fossil dinosaur and I love a fossil of any kind. Just across the yard is the Art Gallery of South Australia where we spent a good few hours enjoying the modern art and the excellent selection of Namatjura paintings.

It took us a while the next day to work out how to get hold of a bus pass having been refused entry to a buss for Handorf as they don’t accept cash. (HINT: get it at the railway station and talk to a human being to make sure you’re getting the best deal). Armed with the appropriate piece of plastic we got onto a local bus and wound our way to the former ‘German Town’ through places with familiar names and an unfamiliar location. The tours to Barossa are wildly expensive but the Handorf winery is beautiful and a normal commuter bus is a more interesting experience than a tour. honestly we saved about 350 dollars!

If you’ve never tasted good wine with good chocolate I’d suggest that you try this wine pairing when you are in town. The historic high street of Handorf had a range of cafes and niche/boutique shops. Yes, its a bit touristy but very pretty. The original Melbourne Cup was on display in the Wolf Blass bar/tasting centre and it was Melbourne cup day. With the time differences I can honestly say Adelaide was very quiet when we got back! It still blow my mind how many different time zones cover Australia.

Now I had my birthday while we were in Adelaide. Asked what I’d like to do I opted for the zoo. Out with the trusty bus pass, but no, there is a free city circular which dropped us not far from the Adelaide Oval and a short walk from the zoo. I had thought to book to walk over the roof of the oval but we decided it was a touch pricey since I’m the only one with any interest in cricket! We ran into some cricketers in the Rundle Mall …. some team, pale blue kit … may have been Australia!

The zoo was a lovely day out. We got to feed the giraffes and I could have cuddled them (you’re asked specifically not to try). You have no notion of how big a giraffe is until its eating from your hand. I love the fact that there were school kids at the zoo and that there’s a huge emphasis on conservation. People found it so funny that we through the ibis were exotic when the locals called them ‘bin chicken’. I’d not seen one so close as when it was trying to steal my lunch! They really do look like Egyptian mummies.

Finally a day to wander around and do a touch of shopping. Obviously we found an antique book store, I found an R.M. Williams belt and we found the Mall’s Balls. Then there was chocolate at Beehive Corner.

Leaving for the airport we sailed past the Journey Beyond passenger terminal. The flight to Perth for our connection to the UK proved lively with a passenger collapsing in economy and staff trying hard to maintain composure when we had seen the defibrillator coming out. We gave them some of our chocolate figuring they needed it more than we. That passenger walked off the plane into the care of waiting paramedics!

Whilst we’d grown used to business class treatment it was still wonderful to be spoiled rotten all the way home. Pajamas, food at all hours (thankfully, as I fell asleep before dinner finished being on Adelaide time), fully flat beds and a smooth flight back to Heathrow. We arrived on a strike day (underground staff) making our journey across London a quieter than expected. I hated that we had no choice but to break the strike and I’m sorry folks.

Would I recommend the whole Australian experience? Well, we’re planning the next one already. I reckon the train experience was well worth every penny. I know the flights were an indulgence but folks if this is a once in a lifetime for you, treat yourself. I’ve done that journey in economy and business is worth it if only to get some sleep. Someone said to me this very afternoon that they’d love to do the Ghan but. There are no buts. It’s well worth the experience. Make it the focus of your big birthday (like I did), get vouchers, start a travel account that you can’t access easily, ask for your Christmas and birthday money. Travel is always worth the trouble. Our next trip is somewhat shorter but already planned and Australia… we will see you asap.

Footnote: just had dinner with Karen & Smiley… in the UK. They are still wonderful. Go on their tours!

White Man in a Hole

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That is what Kupa Piti means. Coober Pedy, white man in a hole. Of course Coober Pedy has no station so we drew in at Manguri a siding about 40 km out of town. We rolled in and were met by Ghan branded coaches and staff ready to take us on the tour of the town. There were options for half day tours taking in just the Breakaways or just the mine but naturally most people want the full trip. We were sent to our numbered vehicle and the whole beautifully choreographed operation swung into action. Each coach took the tour in a different direction so as not to swamp the destinations.

Manguri Station

Today was a very different experience. Beautiful scenery and great photo ops but also restricted by the care the Australians are taking of their country. (Now in Pricilla Queen of the Desert the bus breaks down and our heroes find themselves in need of rescue…. that’s the Breakaways). Our driver for the day 26 years old with a bucket full of dad jokes. It felt odd to be on a 50 seater especially on dirt roads. Breathtaking is the only way to describe the view from our hill (several were being used). Champagne, well, of course. Stories of the various landmarks and their names. Honestly, I could have stayed there all day. WOW!

Breakaways

This is a fragile area. Many different colours of soil and rock. I swear you can see the curve of the earth from up here and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to see so far. We were carefully kept in the designated viewing areas so as not to erode any more of this place. The road is now about 18 inches below the desert surface and there’s not stopping outside the carefully placed stops. We literally had a couple of metres square to stand in at some places. Its sad to know that the very thing which people come to see is being destroyed by them being here in modern machines. (Bit like the Barrier reef when we saw that a few years back). We stopped to see the two dogs (aka salt and pepper) but were asked not to publish photos out of respect for the true owners. On then to the Moon Plain, which looks like … the surface of the moon and is much coveted by NASA and film crews alike for its lunar similarities. Whilst Australia works closely with the USA on space monitoring it is not about to give up this area for destruction. on the edge of all this we stopped to see the Dingo Proof Fence. 1.8m high and with 1.8m below ground in places it is almost constantly under repair it runs for 5614km although it does not entirely stop dingoes nor did it stop rabbits when it was known as the rabbit proof fence.

Coober Pedy sits on the border between Kokotha and Arabana land. The town is small and mining may only take place within a 20 x 50 km area though not, anymore, within the town limits as the dust is bad for your health. Coober Pedy means opals. I have loved opals for as long as I can remember and this grubby, messy mining town was, for me, the thing I had wanted most to see. We were due down a mine … for lunch!

After lunch we did get to look around the museum (for this was an underground museum and historic mine as well as out restaurant). There were examples of historic and modern dugout living. Most people here live underground where it is a comfortable 25C year round. As I say mining id not allowed in town but any opal found whilst extending your home is saleable. Some single fellas have 16 bedroom homes with a bunch of en suite bathrooms! LOL. Opal glows in black light and I’d come prepared with a UV feature on my torch.

Our final visit of the visit of the day was to church. The Serbian Orthodox church. Coober Pedy had more churches per capita than anywhere in Australia reflecting the huge range of nationalities drawn to the mines. This one is spectacular with its nave sitting 15m below the ground. Noodling around outside I found, not opal, but a small meteor chunk of iron. No one in Coober Pedy looks away from the ground for long.

We were first back to the train and were driven to the wrong side of the tracks to get the classic Ghan photo before a little more champagne by with our Red Centre chums as the light faded and the bonfires were lit. This was to be our last night aboard and we arranged to head for the tail (Snowpiercer reference) for drinks after dinner.

Ghan at manguri

Our view as we sat for our meal was sunset over the red desert of South Australia. Drinks later were fun and a little bittersweet. We would be moving ever closer to Adelaide overnight and to the end of this outback adventure.

For anyone who thinks this journey is expensive we worked it out. 10 nights accommodation plus all the food and drink you could want (we paid for two meals in Alice) plus your guides and transport and all the entry fees and coaches to venues etc. it came to around £250 per night, Platinum. (2021 prices) Frankly you would struggle to get just the luxury hotel in London for that. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Next stop Adelaide and the rain.