DAY 6 : COOBER PEDY

3 April 2010. A lazy morning, then a quick look around town before the parade begins. Took a look at the Coober Pedy Golf Course....

And its first class facilities.....
Underground Catholic church....

Underground opal business....

Is this really Bev Rock underground accommodation????

The Opal Festival started at 1pm with a street parade. Loads of lollies and chocolate eggs were thrown into the crowd. The water was fun on such a hot day.... It was great to see the white and aboriginal population have such a good time together.



The parade ended at the Recreation Oval where all the town gathered for lunch and more entertainment. There was a fantastic aerobatic display by Chris Sperou who did all sorts of stunts in his red tiger moth . He flew up very high then dived towards the earth stalling the engine, then kicked it into life again and flew upside down across the oval. He did all sorts of loops and twirls.

There were all kinds of competitions, some unique to Coober Pedy, such as an endurance test to see who could hold a sack of opal the longest! Lots of young men lined up. They held a sack by their hands on outstretched arms in front of them. They all went well for a few minutes and then the arms rapidly sagged and they were eliminated. A sinewy middle aged man won the competition.

Another competition was Toss the Sausage. The "sausage" is an explosive used by opal miners - it consists of a stick of dynamite, detonator, etc. wrapped together and looks like a sausage. The person who could throw it the longest distance won the competition.

The Opal Festival finished with a fireworks display.