Coober Pedy, South Australia
Encyclopedia
Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia
, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide
on the Stuart Highway
. According to the 2006 census, its population was 1,916 (1,084 males, 832 females, including 268 indigenous Australians
). The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opal
s that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences, called "dugouts", which are built due to the scorching daytime heat. The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal
term kupa-piti, which means 'white man's hole'.
people have a long-standing connection with the area. The first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was Scottish born John McDouall Stuart
in 1858, but the town was not established until after 1915, when opal was discovered by Willie Hutchison. Miners first moved in around about 1916. By 1999, there were more than 250,000 mine shaft
entrances in the area and a law discouraged large-scale mining by allowing each prospector a 165 square feet (15.3 m²) claim.
The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides ("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 a house on the surface. It remains at a constant temperature, whereas surface living needs air-conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is 30-32 degrees Celsius, but it can get quite cool in the winter.
Coober Pedy is a very small town, roughly halfway between Adelaide
and Alice Springs, that has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since the completion of the sealing of the Stuart Highway in 1987.
Interesting attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard, and the underground churches. The first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town.
.
The town also has an Australian rules football
club, the Coober Pedy Saints, who were created in 2004 and compete in the Woomera & Districts Football League
. Due to the town's extreme isolation, to play matches the Saints must make round trips of over 900km to Roxby Downs, where the rest of the league's teams are located.
(Köppen climate classification
BWh).
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
.
Commercial radio stations are Dusty Radio 104.5FM and Flow FM 99.7
is provided by indigenous
broadcaster Caama Radio 102.9FM
.
Four broadcast television services operate in Coober Pedy: commercial stations Imparja Television
and Southern Cross Central (formerly known as Seven Central) and the Government-owned ABC
and SBS
.
Digital Television transmissions are expected to commence sometime between 2010 - 2013. Additional channels that are available in most other areas of Australia are expected to commence transmission in the Coober Pedy area around this time. Analogue television transmissions will be switched off by 31 December 2013.
The local newspaper is the Coober Pedy News which is published weekly, updated and made available (online only) most Wednesdays at http://www.cooberpedynews.com.au/
Coober Pedy is a gateway to the outback communities of 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
.
.
, for different reasons, are very photogenic and have therefore attracted film makers. The town itself was the setting for the 2006 film Opal Dream
. The town is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders
' 1991 film Until the End of the World
.
The hinterland, notably the Breakaways and Moon Plain, have featured as backdrops in films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
, Red Planet
, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Salute of the Jugger which made considerable use of locals as extras.
Coober Pedy was featured in the second season of the TV series, The Amazing Race
.
The book Wildfire by Chris Ryan
includes Coober Pedy but states that there are only 3 buildings on the surface and the rest of the town is underground. Much of the 1996 novel Oyster
by Janette Turner Hospital
, which revolves around opal mining and tells the story of a reclusive self-appointed "messiah", is set in the fictional Outer Maroo, located near Coober Pedy.
The music video for INXS's "Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)
" was shot at Moon Plains.
The town was featured on an episode of Sesame Street.
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
on the Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway
The Stuart Highway is one of Australia's major highways. It is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 extending from Darwin, Northern Territory, in the north, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta, South Australia, in the south—a distance of...
. According to the 2006 census, its population was 1,916 (1,084 males, 832 females, including 268 indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
). The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opal
Opal
Opal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...
s that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences, called "dugouts", which are built due to the scorching daytime heat. The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
term kupa-piti, which means 'white man's hole'.
Overview
AboriginalAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
people have a long-standing connection with the area. The first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was Scottish born John McDouall Stuart
John McDouall Stuart
John McDouall Stuart was one of the most accomplished and famous of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to traverse the Australian mainland from south to north and return, and the first to do so from a starting point in South Australia, achieving this...
in 1858, but the town was not established until after 1915, when opal was discovered by Willie Hutchison. Miners first moved in around about 1916. By 1999, there were more than 250,000 mine shaft
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
entrances in the area and a law discouraged large-scale mining by allowing each prospector a 165 square feet (15.3 m²) claim.
The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides ("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 a house on the surface. It remains at a constant temperature, whereas surface living needs air-conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is 30-32 degrees Celsius, but it can get quite cool in the winter.
Coober Pedy is a very small town, roughly halfway between Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Alice Springs, that has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since the completion of the sealing of the Stuart Highway in 1987.
Interesting attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard, and the underground churches. The first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town.
Sport and recreation
The local golf course - mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime temperatures - 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 AndrewsThe Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest and most prestigious golf clubs in the world . It is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is regarded as the worldwide "Home of Golf"...
.
The town also has an Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club, the Coober Pedy Saints, who were created in 2004 and compete in the Woomera & Districts Football League
Woomera & Districts Football League
The Far North Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the far northern regions of South Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League....
. Due to the town's extreme isolation, to play matches the Saints must make round trips of over 900km to Roxby Downs, where the rest of the league's teams are located.
Climate
Coober Pedy has a desert climateDesert climate
A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
BWh).
Media
Coober Pedy is served by both local and national radio and television services. The government-owned ABCAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
provides three broadcast radio stations — local radio ABC North & West SA 106.1FM
ABC North and West SA
ABC North and West SA is a local radio station based in Port Pirie, South Australia, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Its callsign is 5CK and is transmitted on AM.-History:...
& and the national networks ABC Radio National 107.7FM
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
and Triple J 101.3FM
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
.
Commercial radio stations are Dusty Radio 104.5FM and Flow FM 99.7
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
is provided by indigenous
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
broadcaster Caama Radio 102.9FM
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association
The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association is an organisation founded in 1980 by Freda Glynn, Phillip Batty and John Macumba in order to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia from its Alice Springs media centre through the film-making industry, commencing broadcast...
.
Four broadcast television services operate in Coober Pedy: commercial stations Imparja Television
Imparja Television
Imparja Television is an Australian television network servicing remote eastern and central Australia, that began broadcasting on 2 January 1988. It is based in Alice Springs, where it has a studio and satellite uplink facility. Notably, it is controlled by Australian Aborigines through ownership...
and Southern Cross Central (formerly known as Seven Central) and the Government-owned ABC
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
and SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
.
Digital Television transmissions are expected to commence sometime between 2010 - 2013. Additional channels that are available in most other areas of Australia are expected to commence transmission in the Coober Pedy area around this time. Analogue television transmissions will be switched off by 31 December 2013.
The local newspaper is the Coober Pedy News which is published weekly, updated and made available (online only) most Wednesdays at http://www.cooberpedynews.com.au/
Transport
The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide. The Ghan serves the town through the Manguri Siding, 42 km from Coober Pedy, which is served by trains twice 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 cold temperatures at night.Coober Pedy is a gateway to the outback communities of Oodnadatta and William Creek, which are both located on the Oodnadatta Track
Oodnadatta Track
The Oodnadatta Track , Australia is an unsealed 620 kilometre track between Marree and Marla via Oodnadatta in South Australia. It passes the southern lake of the Lake Eyre National Park....
. There is a twice-a-week mail run
Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run
The Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run is a 4WD mail service in the outback of South Australia.Twice a week, the OKA bus travels from Coober Pedy to William Creek to Oodnadatta and then back to Coober Pedy, all on unsealed roads. The road between William Creek and Oodnadatta is the famous...
from Coober Pedy to these communities and other outback homesteads. It carries the mail, general freight and passengers.
Regional Express
Regional Express Airlines
Regional Express Pty Ltd is an airline based in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. It operates scheduled regional services. It is Australia's largest regional airline outside the Qantas group of companies and serves New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, North Queensland and Tasmania...
also has direct flights to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, from Coober Pedy Airport
Coober Pedy Airport
Waterhole Airport is an airport in Coober Pedy, South Australia.It has 1 boarding gate, which is Gate 1.-Airlines and destinations:...
.
.
In popular culture
Both the town and its hinterlandHinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
, for different reasons, are very photogenic and have therefore attracted film makers. The town itself was the setting for the 2006 film Opal Dream
Opal Dream
Opal Dream is a 2006 Australian drama film, based on the Ben Rice novella Pobby and Dingan, directed by Peter Cattaneo and starring an ensemble cast including Vince Colosimo, Jacqueline McKenzie, Christian Byers and Sapphire Boyce. It was filmed on location around South Australia, in Adelaide,...
. The town is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
' 1991 film Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...
.
The hinterland, notably the Breakaways and Moon Plain, have featured as backdrops in films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, written by Miller, Doug Mitchell and Terry Hayes, and starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It is the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise...
, Red Planet
Red Planet (film)
Red Planet is a 2000 Technicolor science fiction film directed by Antony Hoffman, starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was released on November 10, 2000.-Plot:...
, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Salute of the Jugger which made considerable use of locals as extras.
Coober Pedy was featured in the second season of the TV series, The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
.
The book Wildfire by Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan
Sergeant ‘Chris Ryan’ MM is the pseudonym of a former British Special Forces operative and soldier turned novelist...
includes Coober Pedy but states that there are only 3 buildings on the surface and the rest of the town is underground. Much of the 1996 novel Oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
by Janette Turner Hospital
Janette Turner Hospital
Janette Turner Hospital is a novelist and short story writer who has lived for most of her adult life in Canada or the U.S., principally Boston , Kingston and Columbia...
, which revolves around opal mining and tells the story of a reclusive self-appointed "messiah", is set in the fictional Outer Maroo, located near Coober Pedy.
The music video for INXS's "Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)
Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)
"Kiss the Dirt " is a song by the Australian alternative rock band INXS. It was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence and included as the third track on the 1985 album Listen Like Thieves....
" was shot at Moon Plains.
The town was featured on an episode of Sesame Street.
External links
- Official website from The District Council of Coober Pedy & the Coober Pedy Retail Business & Tourism Association
- Photographs of Coober Pedy in 1994, National Library of Australia
- Coober Pedy
- Travel Channel Video On Coober Pedy
- Coober Pedy photos
- The Mail Run Tour
- Gigapixel Image of The Breakaways, Coober Pedy
- Megapixel Image of Coober Pedy from Stuart Highway