Coober Pedy is the biggest supplier of Opals in the world. Our
first impressions as we came into Coober Pedy were not good – thousands of
untidy large piles of dirt (called mullock heaps) surround and invade the town.
The houses we could see were lacking a little “tender love and care” and there
was not a bit of greenery to be seen anywhere. So after booking into the
Caravan Park we went up to the local look-out before dinner.
The “big winch”
tourist centre is at the top of the local look-out and the facilities have been
let run down (sign saying the business was sale and all doors and windows
shuttered up explained why). The local caravan park operators suggested we try
“Tom and Marys Greek Taverna” for dinner and it turned out to be a great place
to dine. Good food, good wine and friendly staff made it an oasis in the
desert. Surprisingly it won first prize for its Prawn recipe in a international
cooking competition (seafood 1000k’s from the sea – not bad). Not so good was the Underground Café we went
to that charged us $7.50 each for a mug of coffee – we must have sucker stamped
on our forehead!
So with mixed feelings about the place we booked a 5 hour tour
with the operators of the Caravan Park. It was a brilliant tour. Some of the
highlights were:
 |
| Looking down from the 1st Tee |
A visit to the Coober Pedy Golf Course - 18 holes – all
desert gravel and oiled sand greens. The Tees have a patch of artificial grass
to tee off and you are allowed to carry a small piece of artificial grass to
hit off when you’re on the fairway. The first hole is a doozy – you tee off
from the top of a hill and it’s a good 5 iron to the green 50 meters below and
180 metres away.
 |
| Wow |
The Breakaways are isolated hills and valleys just outside
of town.
 |
| They call these contrasting hills "salt and pepper" |
Extremely picturesque and
luckily for future visitors the area has been given back to the traditional
owners which means you will never see a mullock heap on this pristine area!
A tour through a disused mine and a underground house. This part of the tour was sponsored by an
Opal Shop and included a 15 minute movie about the history of opal and Coober
Pedy. It is amazing how much dirt they move to find opal when they mine. The
underground house was large, really comfortable and with 3 metre thick walls it
is a shift workers dream – no noise and pitch black when the lights go out. There’s
a lot of luck in opal mining and it’s no wonder that large mining companies
have never seen this type of mining as a good investment.
 |
| Retail Therapy |
On the way out Linda
found a small opal ring she liked and we stocked up on opal earrings for our
grand-daughters.
The Serbian Underground Church was built over 2 years by
volunteer Serbian miners on their days off.
It’s open to all visitors 24/7 as today the Serbian population in Coober
Pedy has decreased to an extent that services are no longer conducted on a
regular basis at the church.
 |
| More Mullock Heaps! |
After the tour we picked up our Pizza’s from the Caravan
Park Pizza Shop (apparently Yani the owner used to own a Pizza shop in
Melbourne before he went mining in Coober Pedy and brought the caravan park)
and had a glass of fine red. We left Coober Pedy next morning with a far better
understanding of what makes the place tick.
Coober Pedy is the biggest supplier of Opals in the world. Our
first impressions as we came into Coober Pedy were not good – thousands of
untidy large piles of dirt (called mullock heaps) surround and invade the town.
The houses we could see were lacking a little “tender love and care” and there
was not a bit of greenery to be seen anywhere. So after booking into the
Caravan Park we went up to the local look-out before dinner. 
The “big winch”
tourist centre is at the top of the local look-out and the facilities have been
let run down (sign saying the business was sale and all doors and windows
shuttered up explained why). The local caravan park operators suggested we try
“Tom and Marys Greek Taverna” for dinner and it turned out to be a great place
to dine. Good food, good wine and friendly staff made it an oasis in the
desert. Surprisingly it won first prize for its Prawn recipe in a international
cooking competition (seafood 1000k’s from the sea – not bad). Not so good was the Underground Café we went
to that charged us $7.50 each for a mug of coffee – we must have sucker stamped
on our forehead! 
A tour through a disused mine and a underground house. This part of the tour was sponsored by an
Opal Shop and included a 15 minute movie about the history of opal and Coober
Pedy. It is amazing how much dirt they move to find opal when they mine. The
underground house was large, really comfortable and with 3 metre thick walls it
is a shift workers dream – no noise and pitch black when the lights go out. There’s
a lot of luck in opal mining and it’s no wonder that large mining companies
have never seen this type of mining as a good investment. 
The Serbian Underground Church was built over 2 years by
volunteer Serbian miners on their days off.
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