I had been up this way around 30 years ago and back then it had a larger population and appeared to be more bustling than it is now. The population was around 4500 but now it has decreased to around 2000 and it shows. Of these residents, it is reported most are quite old and do little mining.
Apparently, the price is not in opal, like it was in the past. To me the town looks much sadder than it was back then, many shops closed and vacant, many homes for sale, or derelict. It is a sad time but if and when the price turns and Opal becomes fashionable again, then the town will surely rebound and that will be a very interesting time to revisit.
Today was a great opportunity to learn more about the place and we started with a tour of Fayes House. This lady was a pioneer of the region from the 60's to the 80s and she made her mark and money here. She dug out her own underground home with pick and shovel and then went on to make enough to leave this place. It was a very insightful story and well worth the $15 entry fee.
Also included was a visit to her mine where she found her fortune.
Next stop was the Serbian Orthodox Church an impressive dig that was completed in 1993. The photos speak for the venue.
It is truly amazing how the destructive mining machines can create these spectacular carvings in the rock.
Next was the towns Catacomb Church, a little different to the catacombs in Rome, Italy but still very impressive. Here we come across a local lady with a wombat sized Blue Heeler, she was lovely and so was the dog. We had a chat about the creation of the church and how it had been dug into the hill.
Following this, we headed to the Big Winch. This is nothing more than its name states and was once a location for a tourist attraction. With the reduction in tourists, the venue, toilets and cafe have all been locked up awaiting patiently more fruitful times.
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| Shannon and a Blower. |
From here we headed out to a very strange place, Crocodile Harrys. This dugout home was conceived by a very strange and eccentric man who has since passed. It would appear he had a very diverse life and friends that inspired his taste in design.
Amazingly, Coober Pedy has a golf course. Not being a player of the sport, I still needed to go and have a look. There is no way this town could ever produce enough water for tees, fairways and greens so as with just about everything else they improvised. The photos explain the place itself. We did expect to be able to go into the clubrooms for a drink but with the downturn of the town, it appears it has been placed into a hibernation status.
After the lack of drinking opportunities at the golf course, we went to Josephine's Gallery and Kangaroo Sanctuary. The gallery contains many works from local indigenous people and some were very spectacular. For Katie, the real treat was getting the chance to feed some of the rescued Kangaroos and also pat a joey.
The sanctuary collects many different types of native animals, basically all apart from snakes and crocodiles. The collection area they cover is the same size as Germany. Ohh and they don't rescue snakes, as they don't like them and crocodiles eat people. pretty good reasons in our book!
It was a great little place and feedings are available for the public to attend at 12:30 and 5:30 each and every day. Well worth the visit.
Finally, on advice from the baker in the town's bakery we went to the Italian Miners Club, here we had a beer and wine (or two) watched the sunset, enjoyed some real genuine hospitality and had a great meal. Another great recommendation and well worth the visit, open Wednesday till Monday 5pm till 11 (or later).
Below is an image from last night taken from the roof of our Motel. Click and drag to scroll around to see the 360 panorama. (When I say the roof of the motel I really mean the top of the hill)
We have met a lot of locals so far on this tour and they have been really friendly and all have a story or two to tell.
https://goo.gl/maps/JLwy3yPj5HF2
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