Coober Pedy, South Australia
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Coober Pedy () is a town in northern
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, north of
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
on the
Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; it has a distance of . Its northern and souther ...
. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious
opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...
s that are mined there. A blower truck is raised above the town sign, representing the importance of opal mining to the town's history. Coober Pedy is also renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called " dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. The name "Coober Pedy" is thought to derive from the Kokatha- Barngarla term ''kupa-piti'', which translates to "whitefellas' hole", but in 1975 the local Aboriginal people of the town adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the mulga tree.


History

Aboriginal people have a longstanding connection with the area, which is considered by the people of the Western Desert to be the traditional lands of the
Arabana people The Arabana, also known as the Ngarabana, are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia. Name The older tribal autonym was Ngarabana, which may have been misheard by white settlers as Arabana, the term now is generally accepted by ne ...
, although Kokatha and
Yankunytjatjara The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. Language Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati lan ...
people are also closely attached to some ceremonial sites in the area. The name of the town (decided in 1920) is thought to derive from the words in the
Kokatha language The Kokatha language, also written Kukatha, Kokata, Gugada, and other variants, and also referred to as Madutara, Maduwonga, Nganitjidi, Wanggamadu, and Yallingarra and variant spellings of these, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Wes ...
, ''kupa piti'', usually translated as " whitefella" and "hole in the ground", or ''guba bidi'', "white man's holes", relating to white people's mining activities. Further investigation into the words by linguists shows that ''kupa'' may have originated from the Parnkalla language and that ''piti'' may be the Kokatha word specifically created for "quarry" (a white man's activity).PDF
/ref> In 1858, Scottish-born
John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...
was the first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy. On 1 February 1915, Wille Hutchison discovered the first opal in the area, after which the town was established. Opal miners started moving in around 1916. In 1920, five years later, a meeting settled on the name of Coober Pedy, when a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
was established. In July 1975, the local Aboriginal people of Coober Pedy adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the ''
Acacia aneura ''Acacia aneura'', commonly known as mulga, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland Australia. It is a variable shrub or small tree with flat, narrowly linear to elliptic phyllodes, cylindrical spike ...
'', or mulga tree, which is plentiful in the area. The name has since been used for various establishments in the town (Umoona Opal Mine and Museum, Umoona Community Art Centre, Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation).


Location and governance

Coober Pedy is about halfway between
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
and
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
, in the Far North region of South Australia. It falls within the
electoral district of Giles Giles is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after explorer Ernest Giles, it is the largest electorate in the state by area, covering of South Australian outback. Its main population centre is ...
for the
state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
elections, and in the federal government
Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...
.


Geography

Coober Pedy is situated on the edge of the erosional scarp of the Stuart Ranges, on beds of
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
and
siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...
deep and topped with a stony, treeless desert. Very little plant life exists in town due to the region's low rainfall, the high cost of water, and lack of topsoil. The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides (known as " dugouts"). A standard three-bedroom cave home with lounge, kitchen, and bathroom can be excavated out of the rock in the hillside for a similar price to building a house on the surface. However, dugouts remain at a constant temperature, while surface buildings need
air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed . The
relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is , but it can get quite cool in the winter. The town's water supply, managed by the District Council which operates a bore and associated treatment plant, comes from the Great Artesian Basin. Problems with ageing pipes, high water losses, and lack of subsidies contribute to consumer water charges being the highest in South Australia.


Climate

Coober Pedy has a
hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
( Köppen: BWh), with very hot summers and mild winters. There is great
seasonal variation In time series data, seasonality refers to the trends that occur at specific regular intervals less than a year, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Seasonality may be caused by various factors, such as weather, vacation, and holidays and consi ...
due to the town's inland location. Average maxima vary between in January and in June; average minima range between in January and in July. The mean annual
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
is among the lowest in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
: . It is well-distributed, spread across 38.8 precipitation days. The town is very sunny, experiencing 173.8 clear days and only 63.7 cloudy days per year. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 20 December 2019 to on 30 July 1976.Extremes were combined from the closed Coober Pedy station and the current weather station at the
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
.
Coober Pedy was flooded when – more than three-quarters of the mean annual rainfall – was recorded in 24 hours on 10 April 2014.


Mining


Opals

Oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
suggests that Aboriginal people knew where opals were in the Coober Pedy area, but did not value them because food was more important. In 1915, the first opals near Coober Pedy were found by a gold prospector. Earlier opal mining in Australia was mainly concentrated in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
in towns such as Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs, and nearby Andamooka in South Australia. Following
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, returning soldiers sought employment in the opal mines, which were expanding rapidly, and following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
many refugees, veterans, and immigrants from Southern and
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
found employment in the mines as well. At some points in the post-war period, up to 60 per cent of miners at Coober Pedy had Southern or Eastern European ancestry. Aboriginal people were also employed in the industry from the 1940s. A 2016 thesis by M. Harding suggests "the small-scale and informal nature of the opal industry attracted Aboriginal people because of the level of workplace autonomy it provided", and it also accommodated their cultural practices. While opal mining around the town had slumped in the early 1940s, it picked up after a local Aboriginal woman, Tottie Bryant, discovered a large deposit in 1945.PDF
/ref> In August 1956 at the Eight Mile opal field, the Olympic Australis opal was found approximately 30 feet below the ground. It is the largest and one of the most valuable opals mined to date, consisting of 99 per cent gem opal (the other 1 per cent being soil). The Olympic Australis measures and weighs . It was valued at AU$2,500,000 (roughly US$1,708,000) in both 1997 and 2005, and is currently held in the offices of Altmann & Cherny Ltd, one of Australia's most prominent vendors and authorities on opals. Starting around the 1970s, mechanized opal mining became more common, allowing for faster and comparatively less dangerous shaft digging, tunnelling, and
tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...
removal. By 1999, there were more than 250,000 mine shaft entrances in the area. Fossicking and mining laws discouraged large-scale mining by allowing each prospector a claim.Smith, R. ''Australia: Journey Through a Timeless Land''. National Geographic Society, 1999. p 118. These laws were also enacted in response to the hazards of walking around the town, with many mine shafts unmarked, abandoned, or merely dangerous to navigate. Coober Pedy supplies most of the world's gem-quality opal; it has over 70
opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...
fields. An opalized fossil skeleton of an Umoonasaurus, nicknamed "Eric", was discovered in the Zorba Extension Opal Field near to Coober Pedy. The fossil is now in the Westpac Long Gallery of the
Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...
. Around 95 per cent of the opals mined today are gray, white potch, or common opals, which are less valuable as they do not have
opalescence Opalescence or play of color is an optical phenomenon associated with the mineraloid gemstone opal,opalescent. 2019. In Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Retrieved January 7, 2019, from https://1828.mshaffer.com/ ...
. Black opals and other precious opals are rarer, but much more valuable for their opalescence and other desirable optical properties.


Other minerals

In May 2009, South Australian Premier
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
opened the $1.15 billion Prominent Hill Mine, southeast of Coober Pedy. The copper-gold mine is operated by OZ Minerals. In August 2010, Rann opened the Cairn Hill iron ore/copper/gold mine operated by IMX Resources near Coober Pedy. It was the first new iron ore mining area opened in South Australia since the 19th century. Due to low iron ore prices, the Cairn Hill mine was closed in June 2014. It was sold to Cu-River Mining who reopened the mine in 2016.


Oil reserves

In 2013, a potentially significant
tight oil Tight oil (also known as shale oil, shale-hosted oil or light tight oil, abbreviated LTO) is light crude oil contained in Unconventional (oil & gas) reservoir, unconventional petroleum-bearing formations of low Permeability (earth sciences), perme ...
(oil trapped in oil-bearing shales) resource was found near the outskirts of Coober Pedy in the Arckaringa Basin. This resource was estimated to hold between of oil, providing the potential for Australia to become a net oil exporter.


Tourism

Coober Pedy is famous for its underground accommodation. The town has become a popular stopover point and
tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...
, especially since 1987, when the sealing of the
Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; it has a distance of . Its northern and souther ...
was completed. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Visitor attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard and the underground churches (the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
and the Catholic Church). There are several motels offering underground accommodation, ranging from a few rooms to the entire motel being a dug-out. The hybrid Coober Pedy Solar Power Station supplies power to the off-grid area. The dugout of crocodile hunter and WWII Latvian National Armed Forces soldier Arvid Blumenthal (or "Crocodile Harry") is a famous tourist spot, known as "Crocodile Harry's Underground Nest". It is known for its bone collection, art and graffiti, and messages written by tourists. The dugout is featured as a set in movies, including ''Pitch Black'' and '' Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. The Umoona Opal Mine and Museum is a popular attraction. The annual Coober Pedy Opal Festival takes place in June, with the 35th festival occurring in 2024.


Heritage sites

Coober Pedy has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 13 Hutchison Street: Three-Roomed Dugout * 9 Hutchison Street: Coober Pedy Catholic Church and Presbytery


Amenities and services

The Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation was established in 2005 to provide health services for local Aboriginal people.


Local media

Coober Pedy is home to the ''Coober Pedy Regional Times'', a free community publication released fortnightly since 15 March 2001. Under a previous name, it had begun as a newsletter called the ''Coober Pedy Times'', which was first issued in August 1982, itself continuing from a publication known as ''Opal Chips''. After some financial difficulties, the ''Times'' was bought by its editor, Margaret McKay, in 2006 and now includes online versions. Coober Pedy is served by both local and national radio and television services. The government-owned
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
provides three broadcast radio stations — local radio ABC North & West SA 106.1FM and the national networks ABC Radio National 107.7FM and Triple J 101.3FM.
Community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...
is provided by indigenous broadcaster CAAMA Radio 102.9FM and Coober Pedy's own Dusty Radio 104.5FM. Commercial radio is provided by Flow FM 99.7. Five broadcast television services operate in Coober Pedy: commercial stations
Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. It is based in Alice Spri ...
, Southern Cross Central (now branded as Seven Central) and 10 Central, and the government-owned ABC and SBS.


Sport and recreation

The local golf course – mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime heat – is completely free of grass, and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs, the Coober Pedy Golf Club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...
. The town also has an
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
club, the Coober Pedy Saints, established in 2004, which competes in the Far North Football League (formerly the Woomera & Districts Football League). Due to the town's isolation, to play matches the Saints must make round trips of over to Roxby Downs, where the rest of the league's teams are located. The town has a
drive-in theatre A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, c ...
. It opened in 1965, but became less popular after 1980 with the arrival of television to the town, and ceased regular operation in 1984. It was re-opened in 1996, and with the closure of the Mainline Drive-in at Gepps Cross in February 2022, became the last drive-in in the state.


Art centre

A board for the Umoona Community Art Centre was established in 2021, but needs government funding to establish a permanent location in the town. A group of artists has joined the APY Art Centre Collective, which helps to create employment opportunities for Indigenous artists in the region. An exhibition in the Adelaide gallery of the collective in September 2021 featured the work of 24 of these artists.


In philately

A rare exhibition
cachet In philately, a cachet () is a printed or stamped design or inscription, other than a Cancellation (mail), cancellation or pre-printed postage, on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event. There are both ...
, signed by Coober Pedy
postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
Alfred P. North, was discovered in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, by philatelist David Saks on 3 February 2016. To date, it is the only known example of this cachet in the world.


In popular culture

Both the town and its
hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...
, for different reasons, are photogenic and have attracted filmmakers. The town itself is the setting for several films, and its environment has also attracted movie producers. These include:


Films

* '' Fire in the Stone'' (1984) * '' Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' (1985) * ''
Ground Zero A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...
'' (1987) * '' The Blood of Heroes'' (1989) * '' Until the End of the World'' (1991) * '' Stark'' (1993), a TV miniseries * ''
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens (played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a transgender woman (Terence S ...
'' (1994) * '' Siam Sunset'' (1999) * '' Pitch Black'' (2000) * '' Red Planet'' (2000) * '' Kangaroo Jack'' (2003) * '' Opal Dream'' (2006) * '' The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One'' (2016) * '' Instant Hotel'' Season 2 (2018) * ''
Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...
'' (2021) * '' Stars on Mars'' (2023) * ''
Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...
'' (2023)


Video game

* '' Forza Horizon 3''


Transport

The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide by Greyhound Australia. ''
The Ghan ''The Ghan'' () is an experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor ...
'' train serves the town through the Manguri Siding, from Coober Pedy, which is served by trains once weekly in each direction. Passengers on ''The Ghan'' are not usually allowed to disembark at Manguri unless they have prearranged transport, due to the siding's isolation and the extremely low temperatures at night. Coober Pedy is a gateway to the outback communities of
Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta ...
and William Creek, which are both located on the Oodnadatta Track. There is a twice-a-week mail run from Coober Pedy to these communities and other outback homesteads. It carries the mail, general freight and passengers. Regional Express also has direct flights to Adelaide, from Coober Pedy Airport.


See also

* Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta


Notes


References


External links

* * * * {{Man-made and man-related Subterranea Far North (South Australia) Mining towns in South Australia Underground cities