Opal Capital Of The World.

Tuesday 6th May.

Opal Capital Of The World - Coober Pedy, is in fact a very interesting location with a lot to interest those passing through this very isolated community.

Coober Pedy is situated in the Outback of South Australia, 846 km north of Adelaide and 685 km south of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway.

Access by vehicle prior to 1987 was a long horrendous trip along the old dirt road. Today, the highway is one of the best in Australia (as previously commented upon) and the journey north and south of the town has become both comfortable and interesting. When venturing off the highway, roads are unsealed and often impassable after rain. The annual rainfall however in this area is minimal, at around 175mm (5 inches) per annum. For travellers, a coin operated water dispenser is available in the centre of town, at a cost of 20 cents for each 30 litres.

Since 1985, a modern water desalination plant using a reverse osmosis process has been operated by the local council. Raw water is pumped from 60 metres deep artesian bores located some 23 km into town where it is processed.

Very little plant life exists in town due to the region's low rainfall, high cost of water, the sandstone and lack of topsoil.

Millions of years ago the ocean covered the Coober Pedy region. After the sea water receded, there were climatic changes that caused the lowering of the underground water tables. Silica solutions were carried down to deposit in cavities, faults and fractures in the ground and now millions of years later, these silica solutions have formed into opal.

The town is surrounded by a moon like landscape dotted with shafts and mullock heaps from opal mining activities, with opal workings extending for nearly 40 km around the town.

Today's population is around 3,500. Coober Pedy is recognised as the largest producer of opal in the world. Together with Andamooka (20km from Roxby Downs) , 85% in quantity of the world's opal is produced.

The early miners introduced the idea of living underground in dugouts to escape the heat of the summer and winter's cool desert nights. No matter how harsh the climate, the underground rooms maintain a comfortable, even temperature ranging from 23 to 25 degrees C day and night throughout the year. Today there are many facilities for travellers underground such as a Hotel/Motel, a Church, Art Gallery and some shops such as a book shop and opal dealers etc. 50% of the population live underground now.

Most dugout homes are excavated into hillsides rather than dug from shafts. Some mansion style homes spread up to 450 square metres underground.

On previous visits to Coober Pedy, Gail and I have visited a number of these fascinating homes, shops and the Revival Fellowship Underground Church.

Moving on from Coober Pedy the landscape varies from sparse ground cover to small saltbush plateaus. We stopped for a lunch break at the very small locality of Marla, then pushed on to a nice rest area back from the highway known as Marryat River (no sign of any water in the river though), which is some 40 km south of the Northern Territory / South Australian border.

Today we covered an easy 354 km's.