Page 11 - PGA Community News - July '20

July 2020 July 2020 PGA C.A.N.!, Page 11

South Australia … A Beautiful Blend from page 10

Desert, you can relate to my comments. It gets to 120 The Ghan made its
degrees in the summer at daytime and close to freezing first departure north on
in the winter nights. To protect themselves from the August 4, 1929. The
elements, the locals live underground in homes drilled into line was narrow gauge
the earth. Not only homes, but churches and other types traversed by steam
of occupancies protect themselves in this manor. Why, engines. Today, the
you may ask? Because, it’s the Opal Capital of the World, line has had all of the
where the precious stones are mined and processed. old ties removed and
The extraction and capturing of the raw opals is done in replaced with ones made
two ways. First an auger drills a four-foot diameter hole in of concrete, termite-
the ground, brings up the sand, rock and (hopefully) some resistant members. Until
opals. The hole can be 30- to 40-feet deep. If they hit a vein, 2006 the line ran only
they drop a man into the hole to the level of the vein where north to the center of
he chips out the opal. This is how the area got the name Australia, where land
Coober Pedy. When the aborigines saw the operation they trains then carried the
proclaimed, “Coober Pedy,” which means, “white man in freight north to Darwin
a hole.” and other destinations in
The second and less glamorous way to get opals is by the Northern Territory.
noodling. The material that is brought up from the hole Since the land north
contains opal. That’s how they knew to stop drilling. This of Alice Springs is flat
loose material from the hole is hauled to a central location, and the road is straight,
where it is fed by conveyor into a small (air-conditioned) land trains made up of
shed that is completely dark, except for black light. Opals king-size rigs that towed
will glisten in black light, so when the stones roll by they are three to four full length
picked off the conveyor. trailers, transported the
Everyone in Coober Pedy has a story of how they made goods and merchandise
it and lost it. Much the same as I would imagine the kind of to the north. In 2006
stories came out of our California Gold rush. The people who this last portion of the
live there are hearty. They have to be to exist! They deal in railroad was completed,
opals and cash with their own particular blend of life. and the 3,000-kilometer
Embellishing the blend of the great outback wouldn’t be run between Darwin an
complete without the mention of the camels. Yes, camels Adelaide is made twice
were left over from the building of The Ghan. When a week.
the world famous railroad line from Adelaide to Stuart South Australia’s Admirals Arch in Flinders National Park
(today’s Alice Springs) was constructed, there were no diverse lifestyles, wine,
roads to transport the wooden sleepers (or ties as they are culinary offerings, wildlife and festivals are set within a at Mirasol Town Square, 11360 North Jog Road, Building
often called) to the middle of the desert. So, with typical colorful and easy going atmosphere, which truly make it A, Suite 102-6, Palm Beach Gardens. The agency has been
Aussie ingenuity camels were imported from Afghanistan “A beautiful blend.” serving the travel needs of the South Florida area for over
to become the ships of the sand to move the freight. After Don Kiselewski writes from his personal experiences, a quarter of a century. Contact him at (561) 694-9696 or
the initial construction, many were turned loose and still having traveled in 122 countries and cruised the oceans, Aussie@PBGTravel.com.
roam freely throughout the outback. The Ghan got its name seas and rivers of the world. Palm Beach Gardens Travel
South Australia … A Beautiful Blend on page 11 from the shortened version of Afghan. Leaders, his family owned and operated agency, is located Photos by Don Kiselewski

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PARTICPATION
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