Who didn’t feel safe in Coober Pedy?! Not us. After organising a load of washing, Colleen, Sarah, Matilda and I set out for a walk into town, we very quickly warmed up in what was a lovely mild day, shedding jackets and enjoying the glorious weather.
We visited the Umoona Opal Museum and enquired about a tour (the next one was scheduled for 2pm and we were there shortly before midday, so we decided to return at 2), before heading off to restock on a few supplies (including more clothes pegs) we took in the free exhibit areas of the museum, very interesting and Colleen is now considering that dinosaurs just may have been real after having seen the fossilised amo’s, pleysy’s and iccy’s (sorry, my Latin for the full names of the prehistoric sea life just doesn’t stretch that far). Having decided on our girls only dinner and restocked (IGA much cheaper than yesterday’s shopping but tomatoes at $17.90/k OR $10.90/k are temporarily off the menu) we walked back to the caravan park.
We returned to Umoona for the 2pm tour which was very informative, Coober Pedy’s opals were first discovered by a 14 yo delinquent son who had been left to mind the camp while his father went to find water. Dad returned without water to find camp deserted, son returned with half a sugar bag of opals AND water! During the first world war mining in the area was almost non existent but after the war there was a boom. Diggers who had been used to digging and living in trenches and dugouts found their niche in Coober Pedy. To be an opal miner seems to be somewhat like gambling, the outlay is great and there are no guarantees of a return; the 50m square lease only costs $25.10 for 3 months and must be mined at least 20 hours a week or the lease is invalid, that’s the cheap end, the equipment and “sausages” (explosives) are exorbitantly priced. It is said that there is a lot of money to be made from opals, yet, particularly because the more fortunate live underground in dugouts, Coober Pedy does not show any signs of affluence.
We await the return of our menfolk from their tour with the Australia Post Mail Run (12 hour tour); in their absence we have planned ahead, booking accom at Erldunda and Alice Springs and listed the attractions we wish to see in Alice (we anticipate departing Alice on the day of Henley on Todd Regatta and heading to Mataranka thermal springs).
Here they are! Better log off!