Winter 2019 - OZ 18 Coober Pedy Arrival

2019 - OZ  18   Coober Pedy Arrival 

In 535 KM, Turn Right

It was a long drive today, 539 km to get to Coober Pedy.

Coober Pedy is an opal mining town, towards the middle of the Australian Continent. It’s a day’s drive South of Alice Springs (near Uluru) if you know Australia. Coober Pedy is an odd name for a town; according to a translation I read it means ‘Man in a Hole’.

I don’t know if the Aborigines meant that this is the area where the men work in a hole in the ground to find opals or if they meant
this is the place where men ‘live’ in a hole.

Dirt Piles Indicate Someone Digging For Opals

You see, it is hot here. Hot and dry! When we were in Coober Pedy, in the beginning of the Southern Autumn season, the day time temperatures were 39C (102F). There are no trees. No bush grows here. Even today, more than 50% of the population lives below ground. Yes, the housing is underground. The shops are underground; churches are underground; people live underground during their daily activities. Most places have a long shaft driven into the hillside and then the people enlarged these dugouts into living quarters.

Pretty Warm But It Gets Much Hotter

Living takes place deep inside the hill, way below ground. The reason for this is that the temperatures below ground change little. Underground temperatures are in the 74 F range in Coober Pedy depending a bit on the outside temps. But it’s a far cry better than the IN THE SHADE temperatures of 120 F plus, as it can be here in the summer.

Coober Pedy Art

Dust storms are frequent around Coober Pedy, we just witnessed one and it was something the locals did not even react to, it was, I guess too mild. For us, though, it was a reason to seek out shelter because I could not see my hand in front of my face. I was powder coated in no time, but we were near a shop, so we waited out this upwelling of dust in comfort. I could see, through the windows that the locals did not even flinch with this dusting.

Dust Storm

The Loneliness of the Desert

I can hardly imagine how a real windy, stormy day would alter living in Coober Pedy. It also gets cold in this town. Night time temperatures can drop, mostly in June to below freezing.

Be Careful!

The whole of the town is very different, very strange.

Gasoline prices are about $1.80 per liter, everything, including the water, needs to be shipped in. Nature made sure there is nothing here but rocks, sand and ore. The whole of it looks dug up, piles and piles of dirt, signs warn you to watch where you walk, there are old uncharted mine holes all around the town. 

It is really possible to fall into one of those mine shafts and die a miserable death. Nobody would hear you if you have the fortune to survive the fall.

Road Trains

Truck trains deliver everything using the Stuart Highway. Those trucks pull 3 or even 4 long trailers behind them. We met them on the roads coming in.

Its True About the Flies

Not far from the town is a rail road depot, where once or twice a week the Ghan Train stops and resupplies the town.  The Ghan is a train that the British built. Afghanistan’s camels and their drivers were used to haul the supplies through the interior before cars were invented. The Train tracks were laid down by convicts, cheap labor. Ah the history in Australia is extensive.

Protection From the 2,000,000 Flies

The elevation, this far inland, is only 150 meters above sea level. A sign in the town of Glendambo read: Population 30, Sheep 22,500, and Flies 2,000,000.   (Glendambo was one of the stops where we could get gas).

Carol and I had to wear our head nets whenever we exited the car for some time, the flies were terrible. The locals however did not seem to mind the flies. 

Stunning Opal

Opal, a rare jewelry ‘stone’, is actually a fossilized mineral.  

It was found here in Coober Pedy around 1915 and attracted, like a gold fever, mostly men from around the world, who set up their claims and started digging. One of those fellows, walked with his wheelbarrow loaded with supplies 150 miles over sandy, stoney desert to Coober Pedy. He did this solo. I cannot even imagine that. 

Those early pioneers who came to Australia were hardy souls.

An Underground Window With a Painted Scene Behind It

When we arrived, in our air-conditioned car, we just had to find the place we booked for the night. We felt no hardship. No, our place for the night was not air-conditioned but it was an underground apartment where the thermostat showed the temp to be 74. Well, kind of. We had a large space, with a large bed, a bathroom and even had an artificial fireplace in one annex. We had a large kitchen with running water and a few ‘windows’ (artificial, for effect only) but we were underground. We lived in a cave that night. Air was let in through a system of ducts, we had a fan that distributed the air and we 

Cosy Living Room - Rough Hewn Walls and Ceiling

were comfortable. Lights were all installed like in a regular apartment, with light bulbs, switches, etc. Furniture was just like in a ‘normal’ house, only the walls were ‘raw’ not finished. I thought of the walls as rustic wallpaper.

It was kind of comfy, but my mind worked on overtime. Because I felt like I slept in a grave. It was just in my head, mind you, but I still felt weird, sleeping underground like that. There were no support beams; it was just the raw, hewn walls and ceilings all around us with a whole mountain above us. You lay on the bed, look up and a whole mountain of stone is above you, literally it was like being in a burial vault.  It took me some time to fall asleep, never mind that I just drove 539 KM to get here and was tired.

Entrance to Our B&B But the Living Area is Deep In the Hill. Air Vents Allow For Air Circulation

Let’s see what tomorrow will bring, we already decided to stay for 2 nights, but we have to talk to the owner of this B&B in the morning.