Coober Pedy Experience, Australia.

 Coober Pedy. What a strange and interesting place. While traveling to the red center we needed a place to stop along the way and Coober Pedy seemed interesting enough to be the chosen spot.

About 850 kilometers north of Adelaide South Australia on the Stuart Highway the town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. As you approach the town the landscape becomes more like a moonscape with piles of white dirt and rock all over.
The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means 'white man's hole'. Fairly appropriate given the dwellings of those that started this place.

Probably just as famous for the way most people live as for the opals,

the harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides ("dugouts"). These dugouts remain at a constant temperature, while surface buildings need a lot of air-conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free.

 

BFF  Trev showing off for the girls.

There are some very interesting attractions and one of those is the Old Timers Mine. We took a tour of the old mine and found it to be informative and fascinating and we were glad we don’t have to live under the conditions that the early miners did. Not sure we could handle the current conditions either!

We received a great demonstration of the boring machine and the vacuum truck from our new bff Trev (he loves the Californian, OK any girls). The Old Timer's Mine is a window through time to the days of old and is an original opal mine dating back to 1916.

Past relatives of Koala must have been here!

We stayed right next door at the Comfort Inn which proved to be fully underground and very comfortable as well as affordable. The rooms were completely underground and even with no air conditioning were cool and quiet. Walking around underground was not at all claustrophobic and the colors in the rock walls were quite beautiful.

While not on a list of must do places, it is half way between Adelaide and Alice Springs or Uluru and as such makes for the perfect 24-48 hour stop over point. Let’s put it this way. If you’re traveling by, you must stop and check it out, as it is a unique and fascinating place.
If you are in the area this a MUST DO!

 

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Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout.net

Kiwi & Koala

 Driving up to Coober Pedy.