It's
mid-morning and Roger and Gwen (Wok's sister and brother-in-law) have
just pulled into the Quorn Caravan Park for the night. We will be
joining them for the trip north through the Northern Territory. We
take a walk into town for a look around and Wok and Roger latch onto
a special group tour going to the Railway Workshops. They come back
to the campground with big smiles and lots of stories to tell. The
next morning we pack up and drive to Port Augusta Caravan Park where
we check in for a few nights and meet up with Barry and Fay (friends
of Roger and Gwen). There are now three caravans heading up the
middle – along with the multitude of other caravans we have seen
going north. We take the opportunity to shop at the supermarket and
stock up as towns and reasonably priced grocery items will be few and
far between until we hit Alice Springs. There are not many touristy
things to see in Port Augusta but the Wadlata Outback Centre attached
to the Information Office was well worth a visit. By Saturday it was
time to hit the road and soon we were travelling through scrubby
desert with glimpses of mountain ridges in the distance across the
salt lakes.
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| Salt Lake beside Stuart Highway - South Australia |
Morning
tea proved eventful with a cold south easterly wind blowing buckets
full of red dust all over the place.
 |
| Our Caravan of Three - Wok on the left, Roger in the middle, Barry on the right |
By
lunchtime we were at Woomera where we took a walk around the Missile
Park.
 |
| Wok would like to fire off one of these rockets ... |
Lots of
rocket related stuff here and the information centre had a good
display on the building of the Woomera Rocket Range and the town.
The base is still operational but sending rockets skyward seems to be
a thing of the past. An American base is located to the south west
of Woomera and is only just visible for a split second as you drive
north up the highway. We stop overnight at a roadhouse before
rolling into Coober Pedy. You know when you are getting close to
Coober Pedy. Rocky barren ground becomes a moonscape of pyramids –
the spoils (or mullock heaps) of thousands of exploratory shafts sunk into the ground.
We are in Opal country …
 |
| Mullock Heaps on the outskirts of Coober Pedy |
Opal was
found in Coober Pedy one hundred years ago when a small group of men
who were searching for gold set up camp and after leaving one of the
prospectors fourteen year old sons in charge of the camp went in
search of water. They returned to camp after finding no water only
to find the boy missing. A short time later the boy wandered back
into camp – the father furious at his son having left the camp
unattended. However when the boy showed the men the pieces of
surface opal he had picked up off the ground their anger turned to
joy. Eight days later the first opal claim was pegged. There are
numerous signs along the highway pointing out the dangers of
wandering into the opal fields. The obvious one would be of falling
into a shaft – the other danger would be to meet up with an irate
opal miner as you wandered onto his claim. Not sure which would be
the better option! On the outskirts of Coober Pedy is the town sign
– very appropriate.
 |
| This is a great sign ! |
After
checking into the caravan park we took a walk down the main street
for a bit of window shopping. It is not a big town and apart from a
couple of service stations and grocery shops the rest of the shops
are everything opal. There are plenty of shops selling opal
jewellery, rough and cut opal and of course buying opal as well.
Anyone wishing to purchase a piece of opal jewellery would do well
here as prices are about half of that in Melbourne and Sydney. Of
course, one of the other claims to fame that Coober Pedy has, is the
many underground dwellings in and around the town. We decide to do
an organised tour of Coober Pedy and the Opal Fields and the
following day are picked up at the caravan park by Gunther (our
friendly tour guide for the afternoon). Our first stop is at the
Desert Cave Hotel which is built above and below ground. We step
into the Opal Shop where Gunther gives us the 'Opal 101 basic
lecture'. Armed with that information we are now better equipped to
spot good opal when we see it. We can certainly see it in the
display cases in the jewellery shop. The most common type of opal
found at Coober Pedy is the white opal but black opal can also be
found. The more flashes of colour found in the opal the better with
red flashes most desired, followed by green and then blue. Harlequin
opal, where the colour occurs in defined patches, is more sought
after than pin-fire opal where the colour appears in small specks.
One can still fossick in mullock heaps (spoils discarded by the
miners) in certain areas but Gunther tells us that the days of
someone finding anything worthwhile has long gone as the spoils have
now been worked over up to three times by machinery. Our next stop
is at Umoona Opal Mine
 |
| Umoona Opal Mine |
which
also contains the original underground house
 |
| Entry to underground house |
with
kitchen
and
bedroom
and very
large lounge/dining area. We take our seats in the underground
theatrette for an informative video on the discovery of opal and
development of Coober Pedy. There are tunnels leading from the
living areas to the opal showroom and shop
and
other tunnels leading further down into the mining levels.
Gunther
explains the method of sinking shafts and how the miners work down to
the depth where the veins of opal can be found.
In the
early years all digging was by hand but as modern technology
developed machinery started to be used. When an opal vein is found
all mechanisation ceases and it is back to hand tools to try and free
the opal from the surrounding rock.
There is
no need for roof supports and the walls, ceilings and floors in the
homes and shops are coated with bondcrete making them dust free.
Temperatures underground range from 23 to 25 degrees centigrade while
outside the temperature can drop to zero overnight and be over 45
degrees centigrade in summer. Over 50% of the population lives
underground. The following photo is not two photos stitched
together. It is at the junction of one tunnel leading down to a
tunnel following the vein of opal. The lighting in each tunnel is
different giving it a surreal look.
 |
| Wok and Gwen with Gunther who is showing them the opal vein in the wall in the lower tunnel and the tunnel on the right goes up to ground level. |
After
our exploration of the tunnels we hop in the minibus and Gunther
takes us on a tour out of town – passing by the grassless golf
course on the way.
 |
| They have a wicked sense of humour out here as well as a wicked golf course |
We take
a drive through the 12 Mile Opal Field. It is too dangerous to allow
10 crazy tourists out of the minibus in such a dangerous place but
Gunther does a wonderful job driving in and around the mullock heaps
and between the shafts to give us a birds eye view.
 |
| Driving through the opal field - shafts everywhere |
 |
| Opal 'vacuum' machinery |
The
minibus heads further north to The Breakways Reserve. It consists
of colourful low hills which have broken away from the Stuart Range,
hence their name 'The Breakways'.
It's the
perfect chance for a photo of the 'gang', |
| Wok, Robyn, Fay, Barry, Roger, Gwen |
and a
great spot for catching all the colours in the hills.
 |
| The Breakaways |
The sun
is starting to get low on the horizon bringing out the orange hues.
 |
| Brilliant colours of The Breakaways |
It is
easy to see why many movies have been made at 'The Breakaways' –
'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome' and 'Ground Zero' being just two of
them. With the sun setting we head back towards Coober Pedy
following the 'dog fence'.
 |
| The Dog Fence disappearing into the distance |
This 2
metre high wire barrier stretches for over 5,300 kilometres across
three states, to protect the sheep country in the south from the
native dog, the Dingo. We have run across the 'dog fence' a few
times in our travels and have always doubted whether it actually does
the job it was designed for. Gunther is of the same thought as well
– he tells us of the time he watched a mother dingo pick up each of
her six pups in turn and walk across a cattle grid in the fence to
deposit them on the other side of the fence and then continue on her
way with pups in tow. Yep – just as we thought! The fence works -
but if you are going to put grids in the fence to allow cars through
and not put a proper gate on then those clever dingos will work out a
way to get across. We work our way back into town and wind our way
through the back streets checking out the dugout homes along the way
until we arrive at the underground Serbian Orthodox Church. This
beautiful church was built with the help of its congregation who
supplied the machinery and labour. The opal that was won from the
ground helped to pay for the floor tiles and decorations while the
bas reliefs were sculpted by a parishioner. Apart from the large bas
relief over the altar there are other sculptures in the entrance
tunnel, main hall and on the mezzanine. Sadly the sculptor was
diagnosed with cancer and passed away only eight weeks after
finishing the bas relief on the mezzanine.
 |
| Underground in the Serbian Orthodox Church |
We head
back to the Desert Cave Hotel for some liquid refreshment and Gunther
then drops us back at the caravan park. Our afternoon tour had sort
of extended into early evening. In the morning we will be back on
the road again so we thought that this blog should finish with a
photo that represents what Coober Pedy is all about – OPAL
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