Coober Pedy

20th - 23rd April 2016

Only 160 klm of dirt road to Coober Pedy. The first 20-30 klm or so was the usual shake, rattle and roll but the rest pretty good! We passed the truck going to William Creek to fill up the diesel bowser. A few were waiting for him!

Considering 75% of the world's opal comes from Coober Pedy we were hard pressed to see where the money ends up. Certainly not a lot here. It is quite sad to see how derelict the town is. So many shops closed. Buildings vandalised, burnt or just left to fall apart. Even the roads are just strips of bitumen with ragged edges. No curb and guttering. It has the feel of a town struggling to survive.

However, we did find it very interesting. Who wouldn't! The underground homes, or dug outs, as they are called, that are still around are amazing. The older ones were dug out by hand with picks! Imagine that. They were actually the particular miner's own mine and they lived there to protect their property.

The main reason dug outs were used for housing was due to the lack of building materials available. No trees out there! Also, the temperature remains around 24 degrees year round. And it is VERY QUIET! No barking dogs to be heard! Dezzi wants one!

The modern day dug out is carved out of the rock by machine and is quite cheap to build.

The landscape as you approach looks like a lunar vista. For miles and miles there is nothing but mullock heaps!

And again the outlying landscape is spectacular.

So we had four nights at a cheap and dodgy camp. Packed in like sardines, but the people we met were great! $5 a night. You get what you pay for!

These trucks are all over the place. Called the Coober Pedy Blower. They are like a giant vacuum cleaner. They have huge lengths of pipe that sucks the dirt up from the tunnels and dumps it on the ground above. Gone the old days of hauling it out in buckets by hand.

Some of the bigger mullock heaps.

First glimpses of mines.

Just a doorway into the side of the hill.

Dezzi loving the bitumen!

Fill the car with diesel and across the road you can fill with clean water. 20 cents for 30 litres. It's the little things that get you excited. No artesian bore water for a few days!

Mullock heaps.

We spent one morning just out of town - sadly for Dez on another dirt road - at an area called The Breakaways. The landscape was ruggedly beautiful!

Tourists.

This particular structure is called The Castles. The yellow one is newer than the white one. The white one has been eroded more.

Another mine. They all look like shanties.

We had lunch in the one posh hotel complex. It is all underground.

So...to the opals. Obviously we did a mine tour. Very interesting. I will let the photos tell the story.

You can just see the bloke down the bottom. Gives some perspective to how big this is.

I thought this shot was funny. I didn't realise I got Dezziz head dead centre in the reflection until I loaded the photo on the iPad!

Original hand dug tunnel.

This is how they dug the shaft in the olden days!

And dig, and dig and dig to find a slim seam of opal. Bloody hard work!

An original dug out.

This is a modern dug out home. They are huge!

When the lights go out it is absolutely pitch black.

All around the town there are relics from Mad Max!

We went out to an old dug out recommended by the bloke at the camping area. What a tacky waste of time! Old mate Crocodile Harry used to live here. He has sadly passed on now. But the whole place has signatures and crap all over it. Apparently it was used in the Mad Max filming?

He fancied himself as a bit of an artist?

This house was across the road from our "compound". Not an unusual sight.

The view from the lookout in the middle of town.

This sculpture of a tree at the lookout says it was the first tree in Coober Pedy.

Our "gated community".

An interesting place....wouldn't want to live there!

Next major stop Uluru and Kata Tjata. We had a couple of days 300klm north at a brilliant free camp. Agnes Creek. On the banks of a dry creek. Sooooooo peaceful. And no one close by!

Sundowner drinks. This is the life!

Then a fire, or as Dezzi always says...the bush T.V.

Morning view.

Spacious camp.

A few of these around. We surmise funnel web spiders. Didn't see any thank goodness!

These lovely little shells were everywhere. Evidence of the long ago inland sea I guess.

Some back packers last stand. Dezzi thought he might get some parts...but...nope!

On the road again and into the Northern Territory.

The obligatory tourist shot.

Not far from here just driving, driving, driving and spotted three eagles on the side of the road. We did a quick u-eee to take a closer look. They were feasting on a fresh kill. I got out of the car and managed to get really close. It was awesome. They are so big, and majestic. Just a bit excited with the photos.