Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy-the town in the desert, famous for underground living, which is like nowhere else on earth , and the opal.
The original name of the area was Stuart Range Opal fields, it was later renamed Coober Pedy, supposedly from the Aboriginal words "kupa piti" which is assumed to mean white man in a hole.
The appearance of the area is like an eerie moonscape type look- pitted with piles of prospecting sites, discarded from the search of the opal- seemly desolate and abandoned, which we both found depressing.
Underground living had the advantage of escaping the extreme summer heat whilst combating the winter cool desert nights. The underground room temperatures remain a constant 23 to 25 degrees Celsius. We took a tour through an underground home which belonged to a women named Faye. She built her underground home in the 1960's by hand using a pick, shovel and wheelbarrow, initially by herself and later with the assistance of two women. There were three bedrooms, kitchen, lounge, bathroom, cellar , recreation area and seven air shafts. When she died in 2015 she wanted her home to be viewed by the general public and also to be lived in, both her wishes have been honoured. The cellar remains untouched since the day she left her unique home.
We were told of her generosity to the township people of Coober Pedy-and to the Royal Flying Doctor service.Read more