Outback Australia Coober Pedy

I come from the Land Down Below and there is much to be seen in this wide expanse of Land Down under. The name Terra Australis was first used by Matthew Flinders when he wrote a book by this title containing maps he had made on his many voyages.

The Flinders Ranges were sighted in 1802 by Matthew Flinders and certainly this was how these very old, rugged, rocky and spectacular ranges got their name. There is so much to see and experience in The Flinders Ranges. It truly is the Gate Way to the Australian Outback. This ancient land is the home of amazing wildlife, startling colour, and  amazing Aboriginal Dream-time Stories.

It is also the beginning of my story, the story of the opal town called Coober Pedy. This is the place where precious opal gems lie hidden in a moonscape of red rock, and where the Australian Outback Adventure often begins. 

My adventure came about quite by accident. I was invited to the town to do some demonstrations for my work, and as it is a good days drive north of here, I thought  it might be best to have a small sojourn so the speak and experience a bit more intimately the interesting features of this town and its surroundings. So the accommodation was booked  for four days and for the first time in my life the underground motel room became my home away from home.

Now just to clarify here a bit, I was not totally convinced that I could entertain the thought of many tons of red dirt and rock covering over my head and encasing my little room like a big silent cave, but I soon found out that it was the done thing in this town and a majority of the homes were built underground with the term dugouts used, for these underground buildings.

The temperature can get mighty hot in these outback towns exceeding 50degrees celsius in summer and when you understand that to build underground, ensures a steady and even temperature in the low 20s celsius all year round you can understand why the dugout homes are so popular. Even the little creatures enjoy it underground.

Well our cave away from home turned out to be very comfortable indeed and to be honest I did not take long to settle into the darkness and quietness this room conveyed. Of course it did have all modern cons and there was a shaft above that let air circulate through into the cave room and unlike the dormitory rooms and the expansive dugout rooms that went deep into the earth around and below us. This little room was just a foyer away from the wide verandas and the fresh air and open spaces and only a short walk to the main street of the town.

There are many mines around the town all out of limits of course however there is even a place within the town proximity where you can go noodling as they call it for your own bits of potch stone or maybe that nice little piece of opal that just keeps you looking through all that red rock and dirt.

The days were part work , and even this was interesting as I got to go into some very interesting parts of the town. At one time I was advised to follow another ladies car to the home, I was to visit and after following her along rough gravelly tracks with not a house to be seen, only high mounds of this moonscape piled all around, I understood fully why she had become my guide as I would surely have been lost and confused by what was ahead of me.

You see after turning into a clearing and parking my car we walked towards more small heaps of rock and there in front of me was a transportable home hiding behind more heaped up rocks and dirt.

It was interesting to step inside because only the front of the house was built on the top of the ground. As you wandered through you went down steps and proceeded further down into the earth below. Making your way through rooms that have been all blown out of the earth to make livable cavities. I had to see it to believe it. All the rooms have a shaft from above cut out to give air circulation.

The town is very interesting with as many different cultures and creeds as there are on this earth all dwelling together in the hope of that big stream of opal becoming their very own personal rainbow. I saw some of that rainbow in the walls of a mine and it truly was amazing to see it wedged into rock in a thin stream of colour and I was even more amazed at the price it actually goes for when cut and polished and made into some exceptionally beautiful jewellery or even as cut and polished stones.

 Actually I love opals and the more fire the better, but of course my lovely little opal pieces are more of the milky kind. Not so great but still very beautiful as nature intended them to be.

There really is so much to see. I had no idea that I would be out on a night safari rugged up, as we were there in the winter time, and holding a torch in my hands in the the darkness of the night sky along with 7 other people. All of us taking an astronomy lesson extraordinaire from a local man who does these tours, when the night sky is full and clear.

 This was a little deviation that turned out to be so amazing and so informative that had us all enthralled and wanting more. One thing about the Outback the skies are enormous and so much is visible on a clear night it looks like a sea of jewels in the sky. The sunrises and sunsets are like a great big fire glow or even a big pink fairy floss at times. I have some photos to share on my photos and the main photo above is a sunrise shot.

There is more to tell of this amazing adventure in Coober Pedy, so I will come back again with installment number two and share some more of my Outback Adventure with you all.

Milli.