Blogs from Coober Pedy, South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 10

What an amazing place. Much of Coober Pedy is underground, so of course we had to stay in a motel where our room was carved out of solid rock . . . I never dreamed I’d have claustrophobia after the summers during university I taught caving, but with only a 150 mm (6”) vertical pipe venting the room to the outside 20 metres (60 feet) above, it has been a real struggle convincing myself I can still breath okay. Really interesting displays on opal mining. Learned the difference between a doublet and a triplet (both are just thin slices of opal glued to a backing, the latter with a clear crystal outer layer) ... read more

Hi All, Since it was a while since we updated (and it'll take a few more days to arrive to a place where we could spend more time with a computer) we're posting this short one . Everything is great, we're driving like Road Train drivers . We're currently at Cobber pedy (Which is basicaly a huge opal mine with a few stores) . We think that we'll add the detailed story at Monday so stay tuned ! Chen & Elad .... read more

Coober Pedy Australasia » Australia » South Australia » Coober Pedy By RosalindCorbyApril 20th 2007Went to see the Opal mines in Coober Pedy. They live underground here where the temperature is constant.... read more

I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with R. Roadkill. As I mentioned it before it litters Australian highways to an absolutely astonishing extent. As we drove back along the Lassiter Highway from Yulara towards Marla, we kept a tally - to count as a fully-fledged item of roadkill, the body had to be entirely or partially on the road asphalt and had to be vaguely recognisable. Even with these stringent criteria, we counted more roadkill between Yulara and the Stuart Highway - several hundred kilometres of road - than we did cars. It's a wonder that there are any animals left around here...then again, kangaroos are considered pests in these parts and make up over 90% of the roadkill. Major highways running through the middle of the desert being rather thin on the ground, ... read more

Scott writes: Come out, come out where ever you are From Kings Canyon we travelled 500km to reach South Australia (our 4th Australian state) and visit Cooper Pedy. Coober Pedy, is a small Opal Mining town of about 4000 people of 45 different nationalities, situated in the middle of the desert. 80% of the folks live under the ground in caves due to the extreme heat (50 degrees and up) in the summer time and the freeze at night! There is even a church and a few shops underground as well. The Aboriginal translation of 'Coober' is white man and 'Pedy' is rock hole. So Coober Pedy is literally a description of what the local Aborigines regarded as peculiar activities (both mining and living underground) resulting in the town's name 'white men down holes'! It was ... read more