I picked up the motorcycle in Adelaide, and had decided to spend some time going South to Mount Gambier before heading North. I had on a previous visit to OZ briefly seen the Naracoorte Caves, The Blue Lake and the sinkholes down that way, and wanted to see them again. But first the road took me to Barossa Valley where I managed to arrange a private tour at both the Peter Lehman and Jacob's Creek wineries. Among all the great wines I tried, I have to say the Stonewell Shiraz from Peter Lehman was out for this world!   

Jarrod Shields at the Peter Lehman Winery
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After Barossa I headed South towards Naracoorte. The weather was not very nice, but so far I had just had to deal with wind and low temperatures; now it started raining, as well. By the time I reached Naracoorte I was freezing, and could barely get off the bike. I got a slight nerve damage in my thumb as a result of that drive. Everybody kept telling me that the weather further South was even worse with a lot of rain, so after a thorough visit at the Naracoorte Caves I decided to turn North again.

It was only after I reached Port Augusta I could finally start enjoying better temperatures, but it was still very windy.  I spent a lot of time at the Wadlata Outback Centre. And before going towards Coober Pedy, I took a detour up to Wilpena Pound Resort. 

Wilpena Pound
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With reaching Coober Pedy I really felt I was in the true outback. It was probably the highlight of the journey, visiting this unique mining-town where about half of the population lives underground. Coober Pedy is situated ab. 850 km North of Adelaide, and is the world centre for white opal. The first finds of opal took place in the middle of First World War by a young boy of 14 who was accompanying his father prospecting for gold in the area. 
A combination of this and other facts makes this little town a very interesting place to visit. 

The Opal Bug at Coober Pedy
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