Stunning at sunrise, sunset or during the day, the desert in Australia’s outback has a magical touch to it. At first sight, it looks like a dead, sunburned land with no life as far as the eye can see. At sunset, the deep red, brown, orange, yellow and white colors blend together to create true beauty. For thousands of years Aboriginal nomads traveled through this area and lived off the land gathered and hunted what they could, and moved along as to not to damage the earth. Those times have long gone by.
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| Welcome to Coober Pedy |
Did you ever watch Star Wars and wondered what it would be like growing up within Luke Skywalkers’ family? Living in a desert on a planet far, far away from civilization, where you have to live underground?
I imagine it would feel a little like living in Coober Pedy. Here, many of the locals live in homes carved deep underground to escape the scorching heat of the desert summers. These below-ground residences are called “dugouts” and can be seen all over the town. Around half the city is still underground even though more and more people choose to build ‘normal’ houses. Dugouts have managed to use the earth to for cooling during the hot days and for insolation during the cold desert nights. We spent one night underground in Coober Pedy, and I didn’t dislike it as much as I would have thought… I actually found it quite exciting. Getting in my bed looking into the massive walls created from the earth itself and just dug out by humans, and knowing that thousands of kilos of sand and earth were above me, giving me shelter for the night. Exploring the alien landscape was so spectacular and different to me, and I found its rugged, hard beauty mesmerizing. I spent hours sitting on the top of one of these dirt-hills and just staring into the vast never-ending desert, feeling small, but also feeling like part of something bigger. And at night… man those stars shine bright and beautiful like they want to show off for the desert folk. After all, the Greeks did believe that Gaea (earth) and Ouranos (sky) were lovers who were held apart by the titan Atlas.
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| View of Coober Pedy |
Along with these subterranean houses, Coober Pedy is known worldwide for the mining of Opals. 75% of the world's opals come from here. Opal was first found in Coober Pedy in 1915 and many men with ‘opal-fever’ have since come here to hunt for treasure. While you are here you have the option of visiting some of the old opal mines that are open to tourists. This will give you a trip down history to see how mining has developed since 1915 and a rough view of the lives of the people who chose to come here to see
k their fortune. While visiting Coober Pedy you have the option of visiting some of these mines open for tourism, seek for opals yourself in the old fields and stop by one of these underground homes excavated using picks and shovels and a great deal of blood, sweats, and tears. Don't forget to visit the
Josephine's Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage. It is down the main street. Here you can learn a lot about baby, jollies and adult Kangaroos and meet the rescued orphaned baby kangaroos.These adorable and heart-melting creatures are given a home here to grow up, they are fed and protected. Most of the Kangaroos end up here because their mothers are killed encountering cars on the highway. Well protected in the pouch the baby may survive, but die of starvation if not rescued. The Orphanage's mission is to release them back into the wild when they are ready.
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| Kangaroo orphanage |
Coober Pedy is located in the northern South Australia. If you just follow the Stuart Highway you can’t miss it. And I really mean you can’t miss it. It is located in the middle of the desert and they get little to no rain ever here (175 mm per year). But do not fool yourself and think that that means there is no life. Life exists here in many different forms and shapes. While you are here you can visit the Dingo Fence. This is the longest continual construction in the world. Stretching for more than 5000km, and originally built to protect the sheep country in the south from the evil Dingos. The Dingo Fence begins east of Surfer's Paradise in Queensland and ends up north of Ceduna in the Great Australian Bite.
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| The Dingo Fence |
Another stop you must make is at the Breakaways. Looking out over its arid scenery it is hard to believe that over 70 million years ago, a vast inland sea covered the area. It truly shows us that life can successfully adapt when challenged. Here, in one of the world’s harshest environments, life endures.
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| Lake Eyre |
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| Checking out the Dingo Fence |
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| Teenage Kangaroos at the orphanage |
* All photos are private and taken by me.
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