Opal | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

April 14, 2017 by David Herd

Incredible landscape

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

Coober Pedy Opal Mine, nowhere else in the world have I seen colours similar to outback Australia. Red earth, blackened trees and a beautiful blue sky.

I took three Japanese students, Yukako, Megumi & Noriko & travelled from the Gold Coast in Queensland, through Broken Hill NSW to Cooper Pedy on the first leg of our journey on the way to Uluru aka Ayers Rock.

Excitement

The girls started clapping wildly when they saw the kangaroo sign so you can imagine how excited they were when they saw a live one.

Here we are in Coober Pedy

You know when you are near the town when you see all the mounds of dirt & gravel.

OK, what are we waiting for?

Let’s go & check out this underground village.

My trusty Holden Commodore was our transport on our marathon journey all through the Australian Outback we traveled 7,300 kilometers which was around 82 hours behind the wheel.

Mini mountains everywhere

Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km north of Adelaide. The 2011 census showed its population was 1,695 (953 males, 742 females, including 275 indigenous Australians). The town is sometimes referred to as the “opal capital of the world” due to the quantity of precious opals that are mined there.

Men at work

This was our first indication of work happening around the mines.

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

As you can clearly see not all the people live underground.

Opal capital of the World

There are quite a few opal shops, restaurants and a variety of accommodation ranging from four star to backpackers and caravan/camping areas.

Desert Cave Hotel

The hotel has rooms above ground and in underground caves, this relaxed hotel is a 14-minute walk from the Big Winch Lookout. For an excellent discount just book through THIS LINK.