Coober Pedy (more of the outback adventures)
If ever there was a place that I would say intrigued me, Coober Pedy would be it. As we approached it on the highway, from over 100 km out there were all these piles of rock and mining equipment. When we finally made it into town and found our hotel we felt like we had landed on Tatooine, one of the bizarre planets from Star Wars.
Why would anyone live here? Miles from nowhere in the middle of the desert?
The answer is simple, Opals. Just the chance that you might stike it rich has drawn people to difficult environments for centuries. Coober Pedy was no different.
Due to the hot dry climate and lack of materials, the early miners started making homes underground.
We stayed in the Comfort Inn which was an old opal mine converted into a hotel. The room we stayed in for the night was 20 metres below ground so there was no windows and no fantastic view from the balcony. The kids had a blast running around and exploring some of the old tunnels and finding the plastic skeleton and the "bottle shop" that was part of the hotel. After checking in we went next door to the Old Timers Mine and museum. We put on some hard hats and headed underground for a history lesson and some more exploring.
When we were done at the mine Cliff paid for a round of golf and we headed out to the green???
One of the things he was given when he paid for golf,(besides the clubs) was a piece of artificial turf. We soon discovered the golf course did not have a single blade of real grass on it. So every time he was about to hit the ball he placed it on the artificial turf.
Just before sunset we climbed a scenic lookout and watched the sun disappear behind the mounds of rock, sand and mining trucks.
This is Coober Pedy's famous tree at sunset. It is made from the recycled parts of a 1950 chevy truck.
We saw these signs everywhere. I guess it can be expected being a mining town with half of it being underground. Let me tell you we kept close reigns on the kids.
All in all a very unique experience to add to the outback adventure.
4 comments:
Another neat experience! Looking at the pic of the kids and Cliff in the tunnel and how low it is makes my skin crawl ... eeks ... small spaces underground!!
Thanks for the picture tour ....
It sounds like you are having adventure after adventure. What an awesome experience for all of you!!!!!!
We should have golf courses like that around here for beginners...no greens to tear up as you learn!
What great pictures...I am SO glad you are blogging your adventures!!:o)
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