Postcard from Coober Pedy - Opal capital of the World

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Dear Fellow Travellers



Finally we’ve set off and our adventure is under way, first stop Coober Pedy.

This tiny town oozes charm and personality and if I didn’t know any better I would have thought it was a ghost town with the only visible signs of life along the main street but that is why Coober Pedy is special. Even though it is only a 9 hour drive up the highway being here feels like I’m on a completely different planet (coincidently Coober Pedy has been used in a couple of si-fi movies as another planet). Literally dirt, like no grass anywhere and over 1 million opal mines/holes dug in the area, Coober Pedy is definitely as unique as they come.

We spilt our only day between visiting dugouts, wandering the main street and opal shopping.

Crocodile Harry’s vs. Faye’s Underground Home

Sadly I can’t pick a clear winner when it comes to Coober Pedy’s best dugout but both Crocodile Harry’s and Faye’s Underground Home are well worth the visit. After a short drive to literally a huge dirt hill we were at Crocodile Harry’s. Not really knowing what to expect and the with mum’s description “It’s full of artwork and weird collectables with drawing s all over the walls” I was surprised to see mum was actually right.

Harry’s huge dugout is covered with drawings, writing and carvings all done by Harry himself. Wandering around his home was really interesting and educational about Harry’s life but also life out here. I presume he was somewhat of a ladies man or that’s what the collection of female backpacker underwear (complete with name and home country of said underwear owner) would suggest.

Faye’s equally amazing home has a much more traditional feel. Complete with 3 bedrooms, a wine cellar, lounge room, bar, pool and fire place (which works but can’t be used as it turns the dugout into an oven), Faye’s is literally a home underground. What makes Faye’s special is that Faye and her two friends dug this home themselves. They didn’t use any fancy machines or labourers, they used the traditional tools of a hammer, chizzle, blood, sweat and tears.

Like I mentioned Coober Pedy is the opal capital of the world so it would be wrong not to shop for opals, right? Not wanting to go against the stereotypical tourist experience my mother and I had a lovely time browsing at these lovely gems, so lovely in fact we both broke our budget on day one to purchase one of these rare stones. I bought lovely opal ring, which I have not been able to stop looking at!

Excluding the amazing opals and opal shopping the Breakaways are probably the main tourist destination for the area. Unfortunately we were unable to visit them due to recent rain and a bad road but from previous experience and the photos displayed around town the stunning region is like no other. Sadly our only way to see this amazing region was to buy the Red Planet movie, one of the si-fi movies filmed in the area and hey the movie wasn’t all bad.



Next stop Uluru.

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