It was fantastic to be able to wake up this morning, peer through the blinds knowing that it’s going to be a beautiful day. And what a day it was, the sun beating down on our shade cloth carport, a light breeze playfully tickling the scant vegetation scattered about the grounds. It was enough to keep the heat at bay, although the flies were mostly unperturbed.

Bec had only managed a broken sleep, getting up a couple of times to uncharacteristically take Bethany out. It seems as if her, Bethany that is, tummy is giving her a few issues again, but I blissfully slept through all the hullaballoo and flashing of lights turning on and off at random. So while Bec slept in a little longer I jumped up and spent the morning dividing my attention between a generous bowl of cereal and a good book.

Once we were both up and about, we eased ourselves into the day, of most import, making sure that Bethany was okay, before we ventured out, leaving the two dogs in the van. We had caught up with the park manager and confirmed that this arrangement would be satisfactory. Luckily, he too is a dog lover and was quite happy for us to leave the babies in the comfort of our van while we went into town for a look around.

In town, untethered by the dogs, we were free to explore to our hearts content without the worry that they might be overheating in the back of ‘The Beast’. Therefore, we parked the truck before setting out on foot to wander aimlessly up and down the main street. It was hot, thirsty, dusty work, during which time we managed to acquaint ourselves with numerous opal dealers.

Since Bec has her heart set on taking back a decent chunk of Coober Pedy earth in the form of a souvenir piece of opal, we frequented as many of the opal shops as we could manage. There were a few that proclaimed their openness via flashing neon signs and placards on doors, however wrist wrenching action on the door handles failed to achieve a positive result. Peering through the grimy windows was no guarantee either of confirming whether a shop was indeed open or not, as we found on several occasions that a darkened interior was as much likely due to the store being closed as it was that the proprietor was attempting to save money on power. We walked into a couple of shops, to be met with a flurry of activity as light switches were thrown to provide a mediocre amount of dim light by which to examine the stock.

One old bloke in particular seemed to be happy for the company, quickly abandoning his game of Solitaire to shadow us about his store, proclaiming to have the best specials in the “city”. Though his thick accent was difficult to understand, he managed to convey that he’d been at it for 47 years and enough was enough, so when it was all gone, then it was time to shut up shop. He was going to call it quits after 46 years, but here he was, twelve months later, still with a shop full of stock. Even if he did manage to give up he said, he would still stay in Coober Pedy. All his mates are here, so where else would he go?

In another shop, the business must have been brisker, because the lights were on and stayed on. The matriarch met us at the counter, handing us a small polished pebble each, for luck she said, and a pouch of raw rock mixed with a couple of shards of valueless but nevertheless alluringly coloured opal. She too has been here a long time. She didn’t like it at the start, which turns out describes the first 14 years. She got used to it after that though, and now loves the place, where she runs the sales side of the business while her husband toils out in the fields mining the opal. The adult children are employed, the son as a jeweler and the daughter a photographer in the midst of setting up a website.

It was almost comical, as this lovely old dear chased us around from cabinet to cabinet, withdrawing trays of rings and pendants and earrings for Bec to take a closer look at, all the while holding pieces up to Becs face while grasping her by the chin to get a better look or jamming rings onto her fingers until she had one on nearly every finger. “No, no, no” she would say. “That one is too small.” “That one is too big.” “That is not the colour for you.” As well as narrowing down the choice from literally thousands of pieces, to a mere 2 that suited Bec perfectly, she was a great source of information about the process involved in getting the stones from the ground to the showcase. We left without making a purchase, although I have a feeling that we might be returning before our time in Coober Pedy comes to a conclusion.

As well as the umpteen number of opal stores we visited, we took a walk through the underground caverns of one of the hotels. Dug out and set up as a tourist attraction, the walls of the carved out hollows in the sandstone are hung with information boards depicting the history of the region. The history lesson is accompanied by information about opal mining and processing, before the final corridor leads you through a pricey boutique and gift shop. Having done it all before, it was still of merit, as well as providing us with a much welcome respite from the above ground heat. The temperature in these ‘dugouts’ is naturally maintained at a bit over 20^oC year round.

One final stop awaited us before our heat stressed and dehydrated return to the van. As well as underground homes, Coober Pedy sports a number of subterranean places of worship. We had planned to do the rounds of a few tomorrow, but finding that one was directly adjacent where we had left ‘The Beast’ we wandered over for a gander. This particular church is the St Peter & Pauls Catholic Church and holds the honor of being the very first underground church in Coober Pedy, if not the world. The exterior features a bell tower and a stone façade that is hard up against the hillside. Upon opening the door, we were greeted by a small narthex, before we strolled down the nave. Dug out of the earth, the small, traditionally shaped interior of the church was dimly lit, with icons adorning the sandstone walls.

The exterior…

…of the church.

The interior…

…of the church.

Back at the van, I had plans to upload more pictures to our Flickr feed, but soon found myself spread eagled across the bed, fast asleep. I woke an hour or so later, feeling little better thanks to my impromptu nap. There was work to be done however, as I prepared dinner out on our barbeque to relieve us the need of artificially heating the inside of the van.

The dusty, barren landscape…

…surrounding the caravan park.

It was only a few minutes before 7:00PM that we wandered over to the caravan park office, the bright orange twilight at our backs as the temperature reduced at an almost relative rate to the pace of the sinking sun. Thankfully, the underground mine tour was rather less patronised this evening than last. For the next hour and a half, we were guided about the cavernous holes that had been blasted and bored from the earth when this area was an active mine site. Our guide patiently explained the entire process, from the initial pegging out of a claim and boring test holes, to the end result, the jubilation of finding ‘colour’, to us.

Looking for a gem.

We were all even given an opportunity to grab hold of a couple of divining rods. While these might seem like folklore when looking for water, miners around here use them to point to the hidden gems. They actually do give an indication as to where the opal is likely to be located. Bec managed to get them to work, although in my hands they failed to perform as advertised, waving about rather erratically. Although that might have been caused by the energy that I myself was emitting, as each time the guide walked past me with the rods, I damn near caught one in the eye as they swung forcefully in my direction. So there you have it, I’m a gem!

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.