Reismee English. Coober Pedy.

From all those places, towns and cities we passed through this trip on our road to the Red Centre, is this one who sticks out like a sore thumb.

This little town is founded at the end of the 1800 and beginning 1900, when someone found Opal, at that time digging wasn’t necessary because it was just there to pick up at the surface in the dessert. Because the stones and rocks were exposed for centuries the opal was brittle and did not have all the colors you see now days.

The discovery draw miners and buyers and traders and a lot of other people who wanted to make a buck. Today, it is the Opal Capital of the world.

The area is a hilly country side which used to be an inland ocean about 300 till 400 years ago. The planet was a lot warmer and we had no ice caps. (Read also the story “Great Ocean Road”).

After the earth cooled down and icecaps formed the water level became a lot lower leaving all the minerals at the bottom of a dry ocean. Time and rain did the rest to form Opal deep underground beneath the clay in cavity’s in the rocky bottom. The silica with the colors formed by the sun became a thin layer of colored rock by the pressure of the layers above.

If you know that this fast area only exist out of hard and soft rock you one can understand that almost nothing grow here. Very tree and big bush what grows here now is being planted by mankind. Even the trees have a problem growing in this area, at the campsite Oasis the owner told me that two trees are dying after 50 years and have to be replaced. He says no wonder, hard rock, salty ground, no nourishment in the soil and not a day of shadow and only two till three centimeters of rain a year. Daily temps in the 40 degrees.

Okay, a town with miners in the hot rocky dessert, what is so special?

The only reason, because it is hot and dry and the Opals are found between 4 and 28 meters deep in the rocky ground where it is always 23 till 24 degrees below, the miners started to live underground.

Now hundreds of people live in caves and houses dug out under ground in the hills or at the entrance of their mine. Churches have been build underground, even hotels and they all have bathrooms and toilets all in the name of the Opals.

This town still has a drive in theater where Els and I went to, for Els a first.

For $ 50,00 you can buy a piece of dessert to do your digging, there are holes everywhere and you see car and trucks wrecks left everywhere even a train.

How many times do you get a change to sleep underground in an ex mineshaft, so Els and I moved into a underground motel build in a mountain the night we went to the drive inn. This was a special experience, the silence, the quietness and the nice even temperature inside while it was hot outside. This experience was even uplifted, by the owner Mike Murphy who is a real host and tells you all about the town and surroundings and the stories about the mines and miners.

If you ever get to Coober Pedy, stay in his underground motel for a lifetime experience; Michael Murphy, Catacomb Road Coober Pedy, contact@theundergroundmotel.com.au 0886725324, he even arranges pick up from the local airport for you.

If you get here with your van; go to Oasis Caravan Park, George will take good care of you and the park has one of the best amenity’s we have seen for a long time. Together with Rudy he runs tours with a small bus to show you the town, the mines, where you can finds some Opal yourselves and take you to special places.

In the old days people went underground by digging a hole with a pick and shovel till they reached the Opal core line, this why you will see little and big mounts of rubble next to a hole. Now there are two ways to get to the Opal layer which is at 4 till 28 meters beneath.

A special drill makes a hole of a meter wide and 30 meters deep. The miners lower themselves down and start digging in every direction to find the stones.

Or, with a bulldozer they run of the upper layers till they see the Opal layer appear at the top. The result is the same, everywhere man made hills and holes or pits. In the town you are allowed to dig into the rubble and find your own Opal bits, out of the town it is forbidden.

Yep, we got some stones to take home.

Coober Pedy and his surroundings (the Breakaways & Oodnadatta track) has been a tremendous experience which will always be on our mind.

Cheers from the “undergrounds” Downunders.