Day 4: Coober Pedy

No towing! Today we took a break from our run up the centre to explore Coober Pedy. After a quick drive around town to get our bearings, our first stop was “Faye’s Underground House”.

After ringing the bell we were informed that the next tour would be in 5 minutes. Then for 20 bucks “Grant” showed us through the 6 room underground home. This home was dug out in the 60’s by Faye and her two female friends. Faye was originally from Queensland, but after coming to Coober Pedy she worked at the pub as a cook. After refusing to cook unsafe meat the publican fired her. The miners were unhappy about this and built her a café. Unfortunately, the café was destroyed by a tornado some time later. At this point Faye decided to try her hand at Opal Mining. She sunk down a shaft and in no time found a seam of Opal that set her up for life. She then set about building her home. After digging out the kitchen and dining room by hand, by herself, she enlisted two friends, Edna and Sue, to help.  Over the course of the next 10 years they dug out the rest of the house, which included a bar and open fireplace as well as an entertaining room above ground, complete with indoor pool and billiard table. The entertaining room was used by many in the town for various events and parties. The fireplace was used once – it rendered the house uninhabitable for some time due to the heat. The house has been kept original, including all the 1970s furnishings.

After the underground house we visited the “Big Winch”. This is the highest point within the township, and afforded views for many kilometres around Coober Pedy. The current winch is a replica, as the original was also destroyed by tornado.

We had a quick trip back to the caravan park to rescue our washing from the line as the winds had picked up. We also found that our power lead had been unplugged due to electrical works – which is less than ideal when your freezer contains several premade meals. Before heading back out, we ensured power had been restored and that our precious food was safe.

Our next stop was the Old Timer’s Mine, for a walk through a mine as it would have been “back-in-the-day”. We donned our hardhats and headed into the mine. The kids thought it was fantastic exploring all the corners and seeing the dummies posed as miners in different situations.

We made a quick stop to the Catacomb church (Anglican), one of the many underground churches in Coober Pedy. The church door is left unlocked, with a welcoming message, and instructions to make sure you turn off the lights and shut the door when you leave – “And may God bless you on your travels”. Being underground the church is cool, and peaceful, with room for about 40 congregants.

Coober Pedy has a fully stocked supermarket (IGA) and we felt the prices were reasonable given the location. We stocked up on some items, and ate some ice-creams, before heading to the Opal shops to spend some money the kids were given by Grandma. Eventually an opal and a decorative frilled neck lizard had been chosen, after much deliberation!

After spending the day in Coober Pedy, I remarked to Kate that I felt like we weren’t even in Australia anymore. It felt very alien.

We finished the day with a trip out to The Breakaways, about 20 kms north of Coober Pedy. This trip included 11 kms of unsealed road. It was a bit rougher than expected, or perhaps I was driving too slow, as in places the corrugations threatened to shake the car apart. Although Kate would suggest I’m being a bit melodramatic. Despite this, the drive was well worth it, with breathtaking views the reward. The earth drops away to an enormous plain, almost as if it were the sea, with mesas rising from the plain like islands, appearing that they have “broken away” from the mainland. It was truly a beautiful location.

Dusk was setting as we returned, taking our time in case kangaroos ventured onto the road. To date we have not even seen a live kangaroo on our journey.

Here is Isaac's vlog for today. Sorry about the audio quality, trying to work on (it is noise coming from the active gimbal):

https://photos.smugmug.com/MudieFamily/Red-Centre2018/i-FBPgJmd/0/d22557ad/1280/Isaac_day4-1280.mp4