Opal underground city cuber pedi. Opal fever
Coober Pedy - small town in the central part of the Australian state South Australia. The estimated population in 2008 was approximately 2 thousand people.
The city is known as the Opal Capital of the World because it has one of the richest opal deposits, containing about 30% of the world's reserves. The name Coober Pedy is translated from the Australian Aboriginal language as “white man’s hole” or “white man underground.”
Due to the harsh temperature regime and the prevailing mining industry, people constantly live in underground caves, in mine shafts remaining after mining. Standard home cave bedrooms with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom are located in caves drilled inside the mountain, similar to houses on the surface. This maintains a constant optimal temperature, while on the surface it reaches 40 °C (maximum 55 °C), at which temperature many household appliances become unusable. But relative humidity rarely reaches 20% on hot days.
Much of Coober Pedy's attraction lies within the mines, such as the cemetery and underground churches. The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron. The city has local golf courses with movable grass and golfers lay out small pieces of "turf" around for tee shots.
Coober Pedy is included in many tourist routes in Australia. Coober Pedy was the backdrop for films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Black Hole. Around 2012, they are planning to conduct an experimental exercise for an expedition to Mars.
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The surrounding area of Coober Pedy is monotonous: red sand hills stretching to the horizon. According to the impressions of Chilean photographer Tamara Merino, once here, you might think that this is a ghost town. However, in fact, life is in full swing here, just not on the surface, but underground. There are underground bars and restaurants. Local residents attend churches and raise children.
There is nothing special about the inhabitants of this modern dungeon: they are the most ordinary people who simply live differently. Tamara Merino spent several weeks there. Thanks to her familiarity with their way of life, T. Merino felt a close connection with the land. These photographs are a continuation of her author’s series “Dungeon”.
Since 1915, people from all over the world have flocked to Coober Pedy to get rich or start new life, mining opals. These gems were believed to have magical powers. Many people are truly lucky. Rumors about the possibility of such enrichment quickly spread throughout the world. Many seekers of wonderful gems began to bring their families here. Children began to be born in the underground city. Today people of more than 45 nationalities live here.
Jurgen Feldheim and Gabriel Guellen prepare the table for dinner in their underground home in Coober Pedy.
In Guellen's home, where the photographer is staying, the kitchen and dining room have rough sandstone walls. The home has wooden furniture and a stainless steel toaster.
The temperature on the surface of the earth here often reaches 40 ° C, and drops to negative levels. But the real scourge of the area is dust storms. For generations local residents learned to protect ourselves from discomfort weather conditions, building their houses tens of meters underground. And even the house of worship, decorated with sparkling stained glass windows and biblical scenes carved on the walls, is located in the “dungeon”.
Parishioners attend a Sunday service in an underground church built by the Serbian community.
Local miners work in narrow, dark mines, carrying only flashlights. Sometimes when they drill into the walls, dim rays illuminate the darkness, reminding them of the outside world. However, not everyone succeeds in finding expensive stones. Sometimes your whole life is spent in vain searches. There are also those who, having become millionaires, squandered their wealth by making the wrong investments or simply indulging in a life of idle luxury.
Currently, the tradition of opal mining is gradually dying, and with it the city is falling into decline. Teens and young adults want more stable and secure jobs. However, many still continue to live underground, hoping to find the coveted rainbow-colored gem 30 meters underground.
Mounds of soil left by opal drilling machines.
Door to the dugout.
German miner Feldheim in his underground house.
Children in search of opal. Some already have huge collections.
One of the residents of Coober Pedy dreams of carving a luxurious home in this underground space.
Goran Dakovic, a miner from the former Yugoslavia, looks for traces of opal in a wall.
The weather in Coober Pedy can be extremely unfavorable.
Fine opal is highly prized. Its cost can reach millions of dollars, depending on the type, color and weight.
Peter Brodber looks for pieces of opal with a flashlight.
Feldheim is preparing to descend into the mine's vertical opal shaft, which is about 20 meters deep.
Aerial view of the Coober Pedy mine fields.
Joe Rossetto runs an underground museum that houses his private collection of rocks, fossils, opals and antiques found in the desert near Coober Pedy.
Guellen waits in the kitchen for her husband to return from the mine.
In the underground house there is an oil painting depicting mounds of soil from a drilling machine.
We invite you to look underground and visit the extraordinary underground city of Coober Pedy, where about 2 thousand people currently live.
At first, when you find yourself on these sun-baked red plains of Australia and see an absolutely “clean” landscape that is not particularly rich in buildings, it seems that the place is completely lifeless. But in fact, here is a stunning, mysterious town called Coober Pedy.
And what makes it special is the fact that this city is located underground.
There are no trees here, and the sun bakes with merciless force, but underground there are many kilometers of tunnels and rooms furnished as in ordinary residential buildings.
However, there is also accommodation for tourists who come here. From this corridor the doors lead directly to the guest rooms.
The locals settled here quite comfortably. Some houses are only half underground, which only adds to their uniqueness. It is worth noting that in terms of comfort they are in no way inferior to ordinary modern houses.
The history of the original city began in 1915, when a father and son found themselves here while traveling in search of gold.
They didn’t find gold here, but they did find beautiful opals, which quickly gained no less popularity.
The miners who came here could not withstand the high temperatures of the local climate and therefore built their houses not above the ground, but right between the mines.
They began digging long tunnels, so over time, about 1,500 dugout houses appeared in Coober Pedy.
In the modern world, Coober Pedy has long become the main supplier of opals. However, people come here no longer to look at precious stones, but to see the strange dugouts, the homes of the people living here.
The city's name means "white man's hole", an expression that appeared here in the 1920s.
Besides the mines, hotels and houses, there is also a beautiful church underground in Coober Pedy.
And also an underground bookstore.
And an underground jewelry store offering charming opal mined in the mines nearby.
Of course, you should also visit the underground bar for a drink with friends.
And then go upstairs and play golf on a platform specially equipped for this.
Finally I got to the photos of the city of Coober Pedy. We passed it earlier when we were still traveling around the state of South Australia.
To virtually walk around the city, click on the green “View Larger Map” in the lower left corner. When the map opens, drag the little yellow man onto the city streets.
This is an amazing city. We have very pleasant memories of him.
Coober Pedy is called " opal capital peace”, and in the Aboriginal language means “white man in a hole”.
Up to 90% of the world's precious opal production comes from Australia, and about three-quarters of this comes from the state of South Australia.
At first glance, Coober Pedy is not much different from other mining towns. Dirt roads cross the entire territory and waste rock dumps are visible. But there are no towers or lifts over the mines and there are no buildings.
Strange round mounds with a hole in the middle give the impression of a volcanic area dotted with small ash cones.
Each of these small hills is connected by a shaft to an entire underground world.
The soft, sandstone rocks of the desert are not at all difficult to dig with a pick and shovel, although explosives are also used. Most opals are found at depths of up to 24 m, but many workings are much shallower. Each miner is allocated a small area in which he works. The technique is mostly traditional. A prospector digs up his plot of land, hoping to find large vein, which will bring him a fortune.
In addition to this beautiful mineral, the houses of local residents, dugouts - underground dwellings in which natural temperature control is carried out - are also extremely popular.
Even the first prospectors realized that they could settle relatively comfortably underground, in dwellings that cost almost nothing. As for their successors, their families live in modern underground comfort. Many of their houses are very large and simply luxurious, and some even have underground swimming pools.
These areas are for underground dwellings. Such areas are located on the outskirts of the city. You can buy and dig your own house or motel. During the season, all motels and hotels here are occupied. As everywhere else, you need to book a room in advance.
It should be noted that there is absolutely no water in Coober Pedy - no matter how much they drilled, they have not yet reached the water. When you consider that this is one of the rainiest regions of Australia, it becomes clear that water was initially very expensive because it was transported many kilometers by pack animals, mainly camels. Currently, there is running water, but water is still relatively expensive ($5 per 1000 liters).
Coober Pedy is one of the hottest places on the planet. And in an underground house the temperature stays at 22-26 degrees all year round. We were invited to visit one of these houses. 60% of the city's population live underground.
The owner of the house is named George Russell. He is the owner of Oasis Tourist Park
A good person, very sociable. Gave him a decent discount when we stayed at his motel the first night.
The next morning, George showed his house.
This is the living room.
Indeed, a very pleasant coolness after the scorching sun.
This is a guest house. On the right along the stairs, there is a kitchen and 2 rooms of the owner of the house.
To the left of the stairs are 3 guest bedrooms, a toilet and a bathroom.
All underground rooms are spacious, with high ceilings and well ventilated.
Very cozy and comfortable.
I wanted to have a house like this here. Sometimes we come to live in absolute silence, without radio and electromagnetic waves that surround us everywhere.
The town has not only underground houses, but also numerous underground hotels, restaurants, shops and even churches.
In 1988, the world's first underground hotel was inaugurated. This hotel became so popular that many locals began opening large and small motels, as well as 3 and 4 bedroom guest houses throughout the city.
One of the first underground motels that we saw was “Radeka down under motel”, it is located on the main street of the city.
This is a mid-range motel.
It’s 11 am, and it’s already +36.
We were met by the owner of the Martin Motel.
A very colorful guy.
There are rooms that are located in the rock, and rooms that are 6.5 meters underground.
We chose a room, of course, underground. It's much more interesting to sleep there.
It was an active opal mine until the 1960s.
And in the mid-80s, the mine was transformed into an underground complex - a motel.
The cost of living in a motel starts from $32.
This is our number. We rented it for $70 (they gave us a $10 discount).
Everything is very simple. Everything you need is here. The very fact that you sleep underground already sounds unusual. And most importantly, it’s cooler here than at the top. And this was one of the reasons why we went underground.
Overall, I slept well in this room. The only inconvenience is strong audibility. You can hear all the neighbors. Therefore, those with nerves of iron and good sleep should settle here. Gabriel, for example, slept well. And I listened half the night to my neighbor’s snoring and the crying of a small child. So, if anyone needs to sleep, live up in the rock.
These rooms are mainly used by students who do not have money for a room, or lonely tired travelers who quickly fall asleep and hear nothing.
And you can move into this room with a large group and remember the pioneer camp. It would be fun. 
To be continued…
To view photos in large size, click on them 1-2 times.
They live underground, grow cacti in their gardens, and play golf at night - this is what the life of the inhabitants looks like small town in the Australian desert. We are talking about the opal capital of the world - the mining town of Coober Pedy. Residents of a town located in the southern Australian desert, where summer temperatures sometimes exceed 40°C in the shade, have found a simple way to cope with the heat. In their houses, even in the most terrible heat, it is always cool, but not at all because they use air conditioners; moreover, they do not need to wash the windows or hang blinds on them to avoid the prying glances of their neighbors, but all because the residents of Kuber- Pedis build their homes... underground.
Let's take a look into the opal underground city Coober Pedy.
1. Most likely, the name of the city is associated with its unusual houses underground. In the Aboriginal language, Koopa Piti, from which Coober Pedy gets its name, means "white man's hole." The city is home to about 1,700 people who are mainly engaged in opal mining, and their houses are nothing more than underground “holes” made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
It is located in South Australia, on the edge Big Desert Victoria, in one of the most desolate and sparsely populated places on the continent. At the beginning of the 20th century, mining of precious opals began here, 30% of the world's reserves are concentrated in Coober Pedy. Due to constant heat, drought and frequent sandstorms, miners and their families initially began to settle in dwellings carved into the mountainside - often it was possible to get into the mine directly from home. The temperature in such an “apartment” did not exceed 22 °C all year round, and the level of comfort was not much inferior to traditional “ground” houses - there were bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. But there were no more than two windows - otherwise it would get too hot in the summer.
2. Due to the lack of underground sewerage, the restroom and kitchen in the houses are located immediately at the entrance, i.e. at ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors are usually dug deeper. The ceilings in large rooms are supported by columns, the diameter of which reaches up to 1 meter. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
3. Building a house in Coober Pedy could even make its owner rich, as it is located largest deposit precious opals. Deposits in Australia, mainly in Coober Pedy, account for 97 percent of the world's production of this mineral. Several years ago, while drilling for an underground hotel, stones worth about 360 thousand dollars were found. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
4. Rooftops of Coober Pedy. A common sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are ventilation holes protruding from the ground. (Photo: Robyn Brody/flickr.com).
5. The opal deposit at Coober Pedy was discovered in 1915. A year later, the first miners began to arrive there. It is believed that about 60 percent of Coober Pedy's residents were from southern and of Eastern Europe who came there after World War II to work in the mines. For almost a hundred years, this city has been the world's largest producer High Quality opals (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
6. Since the 80s, when an underground hotel was built in Coober Pedy, thousands of tourists visit it every year. One of the most visited places in the city of opals was the home of its recently deceased famous resident, nicknamed Crocodile Harry - an eccentric, alcohol lover and adventurer who became famous for his many love affairs.
Photo: underground church in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Jacqui Barker/flickr.com).
7. Both the city and its suburbs, for various reasons, are very photogenic, which is why they attract filmmakers there. Coober Pedy was the filming location for the 2006 Australian drama Opal Dream. Scenes for the film “Mad Max” were also filmed in the underground houses of the city. Under the Dome of Thunder." (Photo: donmcl/flickr.com).
8. The average annual rainfall in Coober Pedy is only 175 mm (at middle lane in Europe, for example, about 600 mm). This is one of the driest areas in Australia. There is almost no rain here, so the vegetation is very sparse. There are no tall trees in the city; only rare shrubs and cacti grow. (Photo: Rich2012
9. Residents, however, are not complaining about the lack of outdoor entertainment. They spend their free time playing golf, although due to the heat they have to play at night. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
10. Coober Pedy also houses two underground churches, souvenir shops, a jewelry workshop, a museum and a bar. (Photo: Nicholas Jones/Flickr.com).
11. Coober Pedy is located 846 kilometers north of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. (Photo: Georgie Sharp/Flickr.com).
12. Coober Pedy has a desert climate. In summer, from December to February, average temperature is 30 ° C, and sometimes reaches up to 40 ° C. At night the temperature drops significantly, to about 20 ° C. Sandstorms are also possible here. (Photo: doctor_k_karen/Flickr.com).
13. Underground gift shop in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Lodo27/wikimedia).
14. The townspeople escape the heat by digging their own houses underground. (Photo: Lodo27/wikimedia).
15. Underground bar in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography)
16. These beautiful precious minerals are mined in Coober Pedy, a city called the “opal capital of the world.” (Photo: James St. John/Flickr.com).
Photo 1. 
Some descendants of miners prefer to decorate their underground houses “a la naturel” - they cover the walls and ceiling with PVA solution to get rid of dust, while maintaining the natural color and texture of natural stone. Proponents of modern interior solutions cover the walls and ceiling with plaster, after which the underground dwelling becomes almost indistinguishable from an ordinary one. Both of them do not refuse such a pleasant little thing as an underground swimming pool - in one of the hottest places on the planet this is a particularly pleasant “luxury”.
In addition to housing, Coober Pedy has underground shops and museums, galleries and workshops, restaurants and a hotel, a cemetery and churches (including an Orthodox one!). But there are few trees and flowers here - only cacti and other succulents can withstand the hot, arid climate of these places. Despite this. The city has golf courses with rolling greens.
Photo 2. 
Coober Pedy is a permanent destination for many tourist routes across Australia. Interest in the underground city is fueled by the fact that films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Black Hole were filmed in Coober Pedy. And on the edge of the Opal Capital of the World is the world's largest cattle farm and the well-known 8,500-kilometre Dingo Fence.
Photo 3. 
The city is famous for its opals; it is the capital of the opal stone, cast in all the colors of the rainbow. Opal mining is just under 100 years old, and its deposits were accidentally discovered while searching for water in 1915. Noble opal is distinguished by a rainbow play of colors, the reason for which is the diffraction of light on a spatial lattice and its value is determined not by its size, but unique game colors. The more rays, the more expensive the opal. One of the Aboriginal legends says that “long ago, spirits stole all the colors from the rainbow and put them in a stone - opal,” according to another, that the Creator came down from heaven to earth and where his foot stepped, stones appeared, shimmering with all colors rainbows. Opal mining is carried out only by private entrepreneurs. However, this industry brings about $30 million annually to the Australian economy.
Photo 4. 
The Coober Pedy region is one of the driest, most deserted and sparsely populated in Australia. On average, only about 150 mm falls per year. precipitation, and very large differences between day and night temperatures.
If you happen to fly over Coober Pedy, you will not see the buildings we are accustomed to, but only rock dumps with a thousand holes and mounds against the backdrop of the rocky red desert, which creates an unearthly landscape that will stun the imagination. Each cone-mound with a hole in the middle, visible on the surface, is connected by a shaft to the underground world.
Photo 5. 
Even the first settlers realized that due to unfavorable weather conditions, when the earth heats up in the sun during the day and the heat on the surface reaches 40 degrees Celsius, and at night the temperature drops sharply to 20 degrees (and sandstorms are also possible), it is possible to live underground in mine shafts after opal mining. The constant temperature of underground houses is around +22-24 degrees at any time of the year. Today the city is home to more than 45 nationalities, but most are made up of Greeks. The population of the city is 1,695 people.
Water comes from a drilled site 25 km away. artesian well from the city and relatively expensive. There is no public power grid in Coober Pedy. Electricity is produced by diesel generators, and heating is provided by solar water heating panels. At night, when the heat subsides, residents play golf with glow-in-the-dark balls.
Photo 7. 
Previously, opal mining was carried out manually - with picks, shovels, and the rock was pulled out in buckets until an opal vein was found, along which they then crawled on their bellies. Almost all the mines are shallow and the main passages in them are made by drilling machines that break through horizontal tunnels the height of a man and from there - branches in different directions. These are practically homemade devices - the engine and gearbox from a small truck. Then the so-called “blower” is used - a machine with a powerful compressor installed on it, which, through a pipe lowered into the mine, like a vacuum cleaner, sucks out rock and boulders to the surface, and when the compressor is turned off, the barrel opens - a new mini-mound is obtained - a waste heap.
At the entrance to the city there is a huge sign with a blower machine.
Photo 8. 
Photo 9. 
