It’s a Gem of a place – Coober Pedy

After the spectacular beauty of Wilpena Pound, the stunning scenery of Sky Trek and the Flinders Ranges in general, I thought the trip from Woomera to Coober Pedy would be a little boring. However, we have been very fortunate that there has been significant rain here in the Coober Pedy  area and whilst the landscape is relatively flat, there is green everywhere.  The lakes are full and the water very blue-a truly unusual sight for this part of Australia at this time of the year. The shopkeepers in Coober Pedy  tell us that they had 5 inches of rain in one day and some of the mines had 2 metres of water in them. No wonder the Oodnadatta track was closed, and many of the dirt roads around here still are.

Coober Pedy Moonscape

Woomera was a bit of a non-event. Apart from a few pieces of memorabilia in the main street from the past Rocket Range activities of the 1950’s , there was little else to see. Roxby Downs was interesting – a young mining town, planned and well  laid out. It was a little disappointing that we were unable to take a tour of the mine (booked out) as it seems to be very different from other mines and its size would have been something to see. Security is tight in Roxby so you are not even able to drive close enough to get a bird’s eye view.

Pete at The Breakaways

Coober Pedy, on the other hand, is a real gem. So many different facets to the town. There’s the moonscape on the way in to the town where the land is littered with stockpiles of  dirt from small individual opal diggings to the larger mines where machinery reigns. Then there’s the myriad of shops all selling opal jewelry, each offering much the same stock. Op shops are situated throughout the town along with a few “greasy Joe” type eateries.  All this is set in a backdrop of sculptured hills underneath which you will find the underground homes, motels, restaurants, opal retailers and churches.

Front door to an underground home

It took us about  an hour to walk up and down the main street, stopping  to look in a couple of the opal shops, some a cut above the rest and of course those are the ones where I have spied some pieces that I might like to purchase.

Underground Church - Serbian

Tomorrow, we have booked a five hour tour of the town and its surrounds which includes some amazing landscapes such as The Breakaways, a visit to an underground house and church , a mine and of course, the mandatory retailers. Poor me, I’ll just have to suffer the shopping bit.

Pete is looking forward to the break from driving having driven 4000km already. I am looking forward to some fabulous photo opportunities and of course some retail therapy.

Retail Therapy at the same place I bought the opals in 1973
- you will have to guess what I bought!

I last visited Coober Pedy on a College bus tour in 1973. I had only just met Pete and he gave me $25 to spend on the trip. I chose to purchase three opals at an underground shop in the centre of Coober Pedy .  I had originally intended to have the  two blue stones set into earrings and the solid white opal into a ring. However, I changed my mind, and for my 21^st, Pete had the stones set into a ring for me.  Still one of my favourites – the ring that is.  And Pete, well he’s a gem too.