Geoffs Life After Work !

The Opal Capital of the world !! Coober Pedy

some introduction first Coober Pedy, Aboriginal words “kupa piti”, commonly assumed to mean “white man in a hole”. Films such as Mad Max 3,Pitch Black (Van Diesel)Stark,Priscilla Queen of the Desert,Red Planet and lots of others made here The surrounding area is full of mining holes & people have been killed by falling down them !! We were taken into the mounds & did a bit of fossicking (noodling) Annie found some opal remnants and allowed to keep them.60% of the locals live in houses that have been hacked out of the stone Churches,hotels ( complete with swimming pool !!) are built under ground (average temp even when in the high 40s is 26 C) Dogs roam the streets and nobody seems to care! Water for our bus comes from a tank on the edge of town and is NOT free.We were given a Demo of a machine that “sucks” rocks etc. from the created holes and they are VERY powerful (Annie wouldnt put her arm into the tube to test its ferocity !!) We did a tour of an area that was created by a man simply known as Crocodile Harry who was infatuated with ladies boobs (he died in 2006 aged 85) his magnificnt cave work/art is testimony to that .The ceilings are covered with ladies knickers (apparently conquests over the years) and nude statues abound within the caves.Outside the cave it is strewn with old rusting machinery & cars (used in Mad Max 3) I was absolutely intrigued by this place and didn’t want to leave !! we were driven to a place high up and the landscape before us was breath taking ( pix will be put on my blog BUT don’t do justice to the actual depth of the beauty) Then we moved onto the DINGO fence ( around 5000kms) to stop dogs crossing from cattle country (North) into sheep country (South) The one & only pub is very friendly (inc pokies,TAB,Keno) & the meals are HUGE & inexpensive We intended ONE night only here but stayed 3 We met up with avery nice couple,had a meal & few drinks with them and discovered they live 2 kms from us in Bassendean !!! Definately a must see & tour place

October 3, 2010 - Posted by Luxxys Lovely Lived Life | Uncategorized