Coober Pedy

Arrived at Coober Pedy early afternoon,after fighting head winds again, the last 20kms of the journey to Coober Pedy the landscape was dotted with mounds of dirt where miners have staked their claims to dig for Opals and make their fortune. The population is about 3000 but there is only about 100 houses above ground the rest are underground.

We visited the Old Timers Mine, This mine was first mined in 1916, where you can see good quality Opal seams, Opalised sea shells in the roof, they really did it tough in those days with hand digging,  not like today where machinery is lowered into the mine to cut through the sandstone base.
Monday still in Coober Pedy, we did a 3 hour guided bus tour of town, Serbian Church, another mine,

Serbian Church

View from lookout

Roof in Church

Golf Course

Underground picture theatre and open air drive inn. Went passed the golf course where a sign was strategically placed advising everyone to keep of the grass although there was no grass to be seen, putting surface was sand and sump oil, coloured balls are used as you would loose sight of them on the white rocky fairways. Visited an underground house looks similar to most houses except there is no windows, the temperature under ground is a consistently even temperature all year not withstanding the outside temperature can vary from Zero to 55 degrees depending on the time of year.