One of the most boring cities in the world. It shuts down at 6pm and turns into a ghost town every night. I stayed for 3 days and that was too long.

From: Jeff Nyveen To: my friends and family Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 21:27:00 -0400 Subject: The Home Stretch I took a tour of Coober Pedy my last day there, learning a few interesting things about the town. We stopped in the nearby minefield to do some noodling/fossicking/opal-searching. I was the only one to actually find a tiny piece of opal. It's greenish and glittery but cracked and worthless. Later that afternoon, I walked into a few opal shops (the town is full of them) and couldn't believe how expensive they were. A piece the size of a quarter was going for almost $8000. Tons of movies were made in the surrounding area, including Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. And they're supposed to begin shooting the new Star Wars movie there pretty soon. I was hoping to have more people on the next bus out of Coober Pedy, but there are only five. Two Americans, an English girl, and a Dutch guy. The driver, nicknamed "Duck," seems pretty charismatic and fun. He's a lot better than Marc was, that's for sure. Our first overnight stop was a small town named Quorn (pronounced CORN). We stayed in a renovated hospital which had very comfortable beds. I had one of the best night's sleep I've had in a while. The next night, we stayed in Parachilna, a town (hardly) with an official population of five. It hasn't rained there in three years, so, naturally, it got bloody cold and started to rain as our bus pulled up. For dinner, we had a kangaroo stir fry. It was pretty good. Kangaroo, for the record, is very lean and tastes like lamb. They had us sleep in old railway cars that were fitted with bunk beds, and once again they were extremely comfortable. I have finally figured out what makes a comfortable sleep: a very fluffy pillow, soft sheets, a thick but light comforter, a soft mattress, and a cool room. Yesterday evening, we drove into Barossa Valley, the wine capital of Australia. We picked up a few bottles of wine and stopped at a renovated school house for the night. I checked a map and discovered that we actually backtracked a bit from Adelaide to get here. This place seems like a waste of time. We made our own dinner, and tonight's entertainment involves dressing up in tiny school uniforms and indulging in prepubescent, transgender fantasies. At the moment, "Duck," the two girls who work here, and the rest of the kids on my bus are sitting outside smoking pot. It's all very high-schoolish. Since smoking pot is something I rarely do (once in my life), I find that I only enjoy it with people whose company I truly enjoy. Does that make me a snob? While making dinner, I got into a short conversation with one of the girls who works here, and it took 3 seconds for me to figure out she's lesbian. She's really into theatre and has her own drama group, which is a strong indicator, but it was her defensive stance on transgender humor that clinched for me. After suggesting that sober, grown men dressing in schoolgirl's clothes for kicks was perhaps a bit unhealthy, she got very defensive and stand-offish, almost as if she was trying to hide and perhaps was ashamed of her own guilty pleasures. I've never met a lesbian who can leave me and my heterosexual opinions alone. This morning, we rolled into Adelaide. At last, a real city. Haven't been in a real city for over a month. How refreshing it was to see Pizza Hut and a car dealership. Seems like a nice place so far. Right now I find myself on Hindley Street, the King's Cross of Adelaide. Lots of adult shops, electronics stores, and dodgy restaurants. I'm hungry. Almost time for lunch. While I'm in Adelaide, I might spend a day or two over at Kangaroo Island, a wildlife sanctuary just off the coast. While bussing across Australia, I've seen a zillion kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and crocs, but I have yet to see a koala or a wombat in the wild. From here, I begin the home stretch of my Australian tour, turning east and heading to Melbourne, then veering north and heading back to Sydney for the finale. Once again, I am considering a visit to Perth. I have met too many travelers who consider Perth their favorite Australian destination. No Regrets. Jeff

Here's King William St., the throbbing center of this dazzling metropolis.
(photo by Stu)



This is the city tram that's been in use since the 1920's, according to the signs. It goes to and from Glenelg (glen-ELG), Adelaide's beach district, several times a day.
(photo by Stu)



The trolley stops in Glenelg.
(photo by Alies)



A cool building in Glenelg.
(photo by Alies)


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