Australia by Bicycle - page 18

Coober Pedy. As many houses, my motel was underground

The more I travelled south on the Stuart Highway, the landscape became more and more desert-like. The town of Coober Pedy appeared to be set in the middle of a very dry and hot moonlike terrain. South of Coober Pedy the vegetation gradually transformed from hostile reds and yellows into more friendly greens. A few hundred kilometres more south, the desert ended. Coober Pedy is a famous opal mining town that actually is in the middle of the desert. The alien appearance of the land made me wonder how people could survive in such a desolate place. The answer: they live underground. The people had used their mine digging machines to create holes in the ground. More than half of the population of 2000 lives underground, comfortably cool in the summer and comfortably warm in the early mornings of winter. Coober Pedy’s name is derived from aboriginal language, "white people living in holes". Many public services like the library, churches, a camping site, and even my motel, were underground.

the interior of my motel room

I found Coober Pedy a funny and remarkable town. I stayed an extra day there. This provided the opportunity to explore the town and visit the museum and opal mines. On a guided tour, I learned and saw all aspects of opal mining. I even found a tiny opal myself. Opal mining is the only industry in the region and the biggest of its kind in the world, but no big mining companies operate in the area, only hundreds of small companies. Many of these are family-owned, consisting of a few workers. The state government purposely chose to issue only small concessions. All these small, family enterprises make Coober Pedy lively with pick-up trucks with mining gear, kicking up the dust, producing an energetic atmosphere. During another organised tour in the town, I saw the aspects of living underground. A few homes had their "doors" open for tourists. I was surprised to find modern interiors with all electrical appliances you would find in any modern bungalow above the ground. I found it all very interesting. Coober Pedy was a pleasant stop on this tour.

Interesting links referring to the region:

There is also a complete daily log of this tour, but only in Dutch.