Coober Pedy

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We arrived in the Opal Capital of the World, Coober Pedy, at 7.20pm. Population of 3,500 including 45 different nationalities. It was dark and really windy - much cooler than Alice - so we were grateful to be picked up by the staff from the Lookout Cave Underground Motel. It's quite strange to think that the majority of people in this town live underground or in homes carved into the side of rock. The reason being the temperature in summer rises to the high 40s during the day and in winter can drop to freezing! More about that later! We were shown to our room and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Amazingly it also had excellent wifi! The owner recommended a take away restaurant which delivered what turned out to be possibly the worst pizza I've eaten!

On Fri 22 we met our tour guide, Wayne of Arid Areas Tours, who we were going to spend several days with. In the morning we went on a tour of Coober Pedy Starting with the Catacomb Church of Coober Pedy - Anglican Church. We then drove past the original jailhouse and police station where the Opal miners went if there was any trouble! our next stop was The Old Timers Mine- Opal Mine and underground museum. You can walk through tunnels and see how mining was done in the nineteenth century. We watched a Blower demonstration where rocks and dirt were fed into a hopper and separated. We visited the Underground Serbian Orthodox Church which is another example of tunneling, followed by Faye's House. A Melbourne woman who used to work in the Opal mining industry decided to buy a one room dugout belonging to the mail truck driver and build her own underground house. Starting with only a few picks and a shovel and the help of two friends she carved an underground residence out of the rock. Nearby is the Saint Elijah Cemetery. One intriguing monument is an empty beer keg which acts as a headstone for a miner who left his fortune to his mates for them to have a drink on him. Unfortunately his debts exceeded his assets. However, his mates saw him off as he wanted and the keg serves as a reminder of the wake and the man. The 'Welcome' signs to Coober Pedy were designed by some of Wayne's children who also campaigned and fundraised to build a skate park in the town. Believe it or not there is also a golf course! It is completely free of grass and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. The next quirky stop was Harry's Crocodile Nest - a bohemian German and local celebrity who opened his house up to backpackers. The decor is somewhat 'adult' and I don't think he ever threw anything away! we then drove out of the town to the Breakaways where we had morning tea. Around 100 million years ago, the area was covered by a huge inland sea called the Eromanga Sea. Plesiosaurs, Kronosaurus, turtles and Itchyosaurs roamed this inland sea. You can see examples of these marine reptiles as opalised fossils in Coober Pedy. Shellfish Fossils can still be found in the Breakaways.

When the polar caps formed and the world’s oceans fell, the inland sea disappeared leaving areas like the Breakaways in Central Australia exposed to the elements. Millions of years of erosion has helped form the current shape of the Breakaways. More recently, the Breakaways were a main source of red ochre as well as other ochre colors for the Antakirinja and Muntunjurra people who lived in the area. The aboriginal people have lived in this area for thousands of years and it was called Umoona before white people settled in the area.Once white people arrived in search of opal, the area was referred to as Kupaku Piti by the local aboriginals. Kupaku means white man in Muntunjurra language and Piti means hole in the Antakirinja language.

A short distance from here we came across the dog fence. The dog fence is a 2m high wire fence that stretches over 5000km between 3 states. Built in the 1880’s, the fence is the longest man made structure in the world. The original idea was to keep the dingos from entering the sheep stations of south east Australia. From here we drove back to Coober Pedy for lunch. We were advised to but some wine if we wanted to as there would not be the opportunity later. To address the problem of public drunkenness, especially amongst indigenous people, there is a strict one bottle per person rule and you have to provide id. which is copied. Tom and Wayne went to the local bottle shop before we set off on a 150 km drive into the Painted Desert to see the sunset. We drove through the moon plains, where Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome was shot and got out to look at the rocks which make up this barren expanse of land. There are pieces of Quartz, ironstone, gypsum and jasper and every so often you can see petrified tree trunks. We stopped at Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, the longest placename in Australia meaning 'reflection of stars on the water', for a short break. The plan was to spend the night on the Arkaringa cattle ranch which offers farmstays. We were shown to our accommodation for the night which was not much more than a metal box with a double bed. Toilet and shower blocks were a short walk. We dropped off our bags and drove to the desert to watch the sunset which was fairly spectacular! On returning to the farm Wayne summoned up a barbecue dinner of steak sausage cheese and salad with fruit pancakes and cream for dessert. Normally this would have been an idyllic end to the day except for the fact that when the sun went down the temperature plummeted. There was a beautiful clear sky which was perfect for star gazing but I had to raid my suitcase and put on about 3 layers of clothing and wear a pashmina as a scarf and socks on my hands! I only recently found out that that was the coldest night of the year so far in Coober Pedy - 3.3 degrees!! Needless to say I didn't undress for bed or even consider showering! We had an early start the next morning to go back to the painted desert to see the sun rise. It was so nice to feel the heat of the sun as it came up over the horizon. Created over 80 million years, the Painted Desert, also known as the Arkaringa Hills is spectacular. The effects of erosion on the residue from an ancient inland sea and the leaching of minerals in the soil, create the breathtaking palette of colours in the hills. Mission accomplished we headed back to Coober Pedy. Wayne dropped us in town and we had lunch at the local bakery and then he picked us up from the Lookout Cave Underground Motel. We set off into the opal minefields to visit Wayne's current mine to do some mining or noodling! Don't think we're going to strike it lucky anytime soon! Back in town did some shopping and washing and had some FaceTime with home! Treated myself to English Recipe Beans on Toast for tea! Luxury!

On Sun 24 May Morning Wayne picked us up at 8.30 and we set off for Lake Eyre, a journey of nearly 300 kms. We had morning tea just past Lake Cadibarrawirracanna. Saw a couple of dingoes but mainly cows and Bulls as we drove through cattle stations on the way to William Creek Hotel for lunch. We had Flathead and Chips, which was delicious! Anna Creek is the worlds largest Cattle Station covering an area of 23,777sq km - the size of Wales! It would take a week to ride across it on horseback. The Overland Telegraph line posts remain which connected London and Darwin and the link was completed in 1872. It was the first telecom link outside Australia. We eventually arrived at Lake Eyre 'Kati Thanda' in Halligan Bay which is the largest Dry Salt Lake which is the size of Belgium and is the lowest Point in Australia -15 m below sea level. It was caused by a vast fault and its catchment covers 1/6 of Australia! 1.3 million sq Kilometres. It wasdiscovered by Edward John Eyre in 1840s. The first recorded filling of the basin was in 1949. On the way home we saw 2 emus and another dingo. Afternoon tea Lake Cadi. Arrived in Coober Pedy at 6pm, said goodbye to Wayne and had a G&T in the pub before boarding the Greyhound at 7.30pm for Adelaide.

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Photos

Lookout Cave Underground Motel
Bedroom - had great wifi !!

Cadibarrawirracanna Lake
Longest place name in Australia!