OCTOBER 21, 2025
I have wanted to go to Coober Pedy every since I saw a program on this Opal Capital of the World.
The town is in the middle of the Australian Outback. The road is long with a whole lot of nothing to see – unless you are paying attention!
We saw lots of flood plains where the vegetation was completely stripped down to the red soil.
There are lots of road kill kangaroos, sheep, goats, emu and even cows. There are no fences and the animals run wild. Driving at night is not recommended.
As we approached the town we began to see lots of evidence of the mining. Australia produces 90% of the world’s opals with Coober Pedy producing 70% of the world’s total. This part of Australia was once a sea bottom. As the water dried the sandy soil was compressed into sandstone with a gypsum mixed in, which makes the tunnels very sturdy. The opals formed over millions of years when silica-rich water, created by rainwater seeping through the ground, slowly hardened in rock cavities. As the water evaporated, it left behind deposits of tiny silica spheres. The iridescence of an opal is kind of like the shimmering of a soap bubble, but from the inside. The size of the silica spheres is what determines the colours, smaller ones are blue and violet, while the larger, rarer ones flash red. The very rare black opal has carbon and iron oxide, which really shows off the other colours. I bought a ring with some blue flecks in a nearly transparent stone.
The people live in underground caves, or dugouts, due to the scorching heat, which can reach 40C (104F). The dugouts are actually left over tunnels from the opal mining. There are over 250,000 known mine shafts which are largely unmarked, abandoned or otherwise dangerous. Watch where you walk, as the shaft can be just below the pile of dirt you think is solid!
We stayed in an underground motel. It was very dark! The air shaft vent in the ceiling let in a round spot of daylight.
We went on an opal mine tour where the guide pointed out opals still embedded into the walls of the beautiful and spacious home that was down there.
The remaining tunnels seemingly went in all directions, with the miners chasing gently sloping downward seams in the sandstone, hoping to find that elusive deposit.
The opal miners invented a blower truck, which is actually a huge vacuum mounted on a truck. It looks like a big barrel attached to a crane on the back of the truck. It sucks up opal dirt and waste from the tunnel, as well as stale air. It has become an iconic symbol of Coober Pedy.
A fellow at the museum told us where there is a safe noodling area on the edge of town. Noodling is the practice of sifting through discarded mine tailings in search of missed treasure. Apparently, there have been some valuable finds in that particular area. We went out and had a look about, but it was nearly impossible to find anything without a black light to make the opal sparkle and reveal itself. I would have loved to stay a few days, buy a black light, a shovel, a bucket and get dirty.
That night there was one hell of a desert storm. We were in our underground room when I could see flashes of light coming down the air shaft, immediately followed by a huge thunder clap. The noise from the raindrops hitting the metal cap on the vent sounded like it was a full blown hail storm. I went out to find a lot of people standing in the entrance doorway videoing the action. The lightening was flashing, the thunder was booming and the rain was coming sideways. What a site!!
The next morning we headed back toward Adelaide, with an over night stop in Port Augusta. The dusty landscape seemed to come alive with the rain. The greens were greener and the soil more red.
An Old Lady with a Backpack 