Interesting fact that I didn’t know…..‘Coober Pedy’ is an English adaptation of the local Aboriginal (Dieri) words ‘kupa piti’, meaning whiteman’s holes. Coober Pedy, for those that haven’t been there, is a town like no other.
Often described as the The Opal Capital of the World, it is home to an estimated 2,500 residents of which about 60% are of south or eastern European descent, having migrated here after WWII in search of a better (and richer) life.
As most of you know, many businesses and dwellings are underground due to the searing heat the area experiences in summer and the local businesses rely on the tourist’s interest in this unique aspect of Coober Pedy.
We were no different and booked to go with ‘George’ on the Town and Mine Tour in the morning and the Sunset Breakaways Tour in the afternoon. For the limited time that we had in town we both agreed that this was probably the best way to see what was on offer.
We boarded George’s mini bus at 0830 and over the next four hours visited many local ‘attractions’ including the Catholic and Anglican churches (both underground) and the golf course before finishing at the Desert Cave. At the Desert Cave we watched a documentary, were shown around the underground mine by a very spritely 87 year old opal miner and then treated to ‘free tea and coffee’ whilst we perused the opals on sale 😍
Catholic church 
Golf course 
Anglican church
It was interesting and informative and we decided it had been a worthwhile way to allocate our time. After lunch and a bit of washing it was time to board the bus again for the sunset tour. This proved to be even better.
First stop, the Moon Plain, is a lunar like landscape not seen anywhere else in Australia which has featured in films like Mad Max, Priscilla and The Red Planet due to its uniqueness. The gibber plain stretches over 1500 km2 , was once home to a massive forest and is now littered with pieces of gypsum that catch the sun spectacularly.
We stopped again at the Dingo Fence, an ordinary looking fence with an extraordinary function. It stretches more than 5,600 kms making it one of the longest structures in the world .
It was erected in the late 1800s in an effort to keep dingoes out of the (relatively) more fertile south-eastern part of the continent (where they had largely been exterminated) and protect the sheep flocks.
The post I’m standing next to is 70 + years old!
A guy in Coober Pedy has the job of maintaining 600 kms of it which he inspects monthly. One of the latest innovations at the nearby grid across the road to Oodnadatta is a movement activated alarm intended to deter approaching animals. George said it won’t last long because it has solar panels to power it and he implied there was a high chance they may be repurposed by members of the local community 😁
After photos at the Dingo fence we continued toward the Breakaways with its coloured hills and flat topped mesas, best seen as the sun is setting, hence the timing of our tour. We stopped at various vantage points before ultimately reaching the escarpment lookout where we indulged in tea and muffins whilst we watched the stunning colours as the sun set.
Having had a brief taste of Coober Pedy, the next day we continued on to Lake Hart, a comfortable 3.5 hour drive that would break up the trip to Port Augusta the next day. Lake Hart is an easily accessible salt lake where overnight camping is permitted although there are no facilities. We arrived in time to have a stroll on the blinding white surface in strong sunlight but then also capture some shots as the sun set and painted a completely different landscape. Unfortunately no opportunity to launch the drone here as we are within restricted Woomera airspace.
The lake was once the site of a salt mine with a stockpile as well as wooden infrastructure visible from the small rail line that was built to run the salt harvesting machinery.
The train line that The Ghan traverses runs between the overnight stay area and the lake and we did see a couple of freight trains going through in our short time there.
The next day though it was on to Port Augusta. It seemed somewhat surreal to be suddenly seeing ‘civilisation’ on both sides of the road after many days of travelling the outback and we found my sister’s home without too much difficulty and set up for the next couple of nights with her.
Russell cooked duck for dinner and the four of us had a lovely night catching up on the gossip and sampling what was to become our new favourite gin 😉
The next day Debbie took us on a cook’s tour of Port Augusta encompassing the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens where we had lunch, Redbanks (basically the top of the Gulf) and the foreshore which has seen considerable improvements since the last time we had visited…. nearly 18 years ago!
Another night of laughter, swapping stories and just confirming the gin WAS our favourite finished off a lovely day and we said our goodbyes to Deb in readiness for the final run home.
We stopped for tea and a toilet break in Snowtown, to visit Lochiel and the pink lake with its own version of Nessie and finally arrived home at around 3 pm to met by the welcoming committee who had been on watch for some time 😁
We have been on the road for just short of five months in a space just under 18 square metres. We have travelled just over 10,500 kms in the Moho with an additional 5,000 km in the Jimny. We have had some challenges but we have learned a lot and had a wonderful time. I have healed both physically and mentally.
We are still talking and still happily married 😍
For those of you that have ‘travelled’ with us, its been lovely to have you along for the ride whether its been a brief one or the longer haul. I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing. The sole purpose of my blog initially was for ME – to be able to go back and reference things in future years and hopefully plan further trips using this experience. If you have discovered a part of our beautiful country previously unknown to you then that is an added bonus ❤
Until next time, if you’re still with me, thanks for reading.
