Our Trip South Australia 57-Coober Pedy
| 57-Coober Pedy |
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8th April 2009. Coober Pedy:Coober Pedy turned out to one of the most interesting and different towns we'd seen on the trip so far. Known as the Opal Capital of the World, it's a bust little cosmopolitan opal mining town full of surprises. Lots of people live in underground houses known as dugouts to escape the searing heat of summer (up to 50 degrees) and the cold nights of winter. The temperature is a constant 24 degrees in the dugouts. There's underground hotels, shops, bars and even a campgound. First thing next morning we're off on a guided tour, Our tour guide was an ex opal miner and he still does a bit of noodling (looking through the dumps for missed opals) and was quite a character who kept us well entertained. The underground church is amazing and was dugout and shaped in 3 weeks. Obviously all the electrics, fittings and outside windows took longer, but WOW, 3 weeks for all the basic construction and a fraction of the cost of an above ground building. Next, we headed to the outskirts of town to see all the mining claims. Everywhere you look. there's mounds of earth from all the Opal mines. Biggest problem and extremely dangerous is all the open mine shafts that are left uncovered and you have to be extremely careful of all the mine shafts. They are never filled in or protected so that other prospectors know the area has been mined out. Next stop was The Umoona Mine. Like everything else underground, the colours in the walls/earth are stunning. It's all sealed with a clear lacquer to stop the dust and actually enhances the colours and effect. Even went through the mine caretakers underground house. Then further underground to the mine proper. In the old days, all the mine shafts and tunnels were dug by hand using picks and shovels, but nowadays, they use a mobile mechanised drill which is 10 times quicker. Our luck was in coz the annual Opal Festival was on while we were there. The Street Parade kicked off the celebrations and suddenly the quiet town was buzzing with activity. From the Street Parade, every body moved up to the local Oval where there was actually some green grass. Amazing seeing a patch of grass in the middle of such an arid and desolate landscape. Lots of contests and games including Tug of War, Holding Stacks and Toss the Sausage kept everyone occupied for ages. Definitely the highlight of the festival was the air show by Chris Sperou. Unbelievable and gotta be the best stunt flier we've ever seen, awesome.gallery}blog/9sa/7-cooperpedy/5-show{/gallery} Painted Desert:We had by passed The Painted Desert on the way to Coober Pedy from Oodnadatta coz we had the caravan in tow and had been for-warned that it wasn't suitable for caravans. Wow, what an amazing spectacle and definitely not to be missed.. Gotta see it to appreciate it. The Breakaways:Only 15kms north of Coober Pedy, Moon Plain and The breakaways are absolutely stunning. and most definitely not to be missed. We've seen many awesome gorges and landscapes on our travels, but The Breakaways are in a class of their own. Featuring in numerous blockbusters such as "Mad Max" with Mel Gibson and "Priscilla Queen of the Desert", the landscapes here are breathtaking and have a WOW factor of 10 out of 10. Gotta see it in the flesh to appreciate it. Life on the Road:The north and central outback of South Australia was definitely a very pleasant surprise. From the sea scapes of Adelaide up through the Flinders and Arkaroola and beyond, outback SA with all it's desert tracks was awesome and really took us by surprise. Travelling Oz homepage |
