Coober Pedy

There is not a whole lot going on in the way of things to see and do when travelling from King's Canyon to Coober Pedy. In fact I would have to rate it the most boring bit of road I have travelled on this entire trip. Once I got back out to the Stuart Highway I left the Northern Territory and entered re entered South Australia. The first thing you notice is the road improves but the speed limit drops. The first town inside of South Australia is Marla and it's 156 kilometres from the border. I would rather listen to a speech by Julia Gillard than do that drive again. 

Two noticeable things came to my attention though. It was the first time I had sighted clouds in any shape or form for a long time. Secondly there were a lot of abandoned vehicles along the side of the road. Some had been there for decades but others were clearly not that old. I can only assume they are stolen or that the cost of recovery in such a remote location is so great that the insurance companies just write them off.

About 20 k's north of Coober Peedy is a series of rock formations known as "The Breakaways" so named because they seem to have broken away from the rest of the Stuart Ranges. It was my last chance to take the Vectra four wheel driving, touch wood but she has almost got me home. I got to The Breakaways about an hour before sunset and watched the dramatic colours change in the fading light. The Breakaways are located conveniently located near an easily accessible portion of the Dog Fence. This is the second longest man made structure on the planet. It stretches 5,300 kilometres from Queensland, through NSW and into South Australia. It's sole purpose is to keep dingoes out of the sheep stations. 

Now Coober Pedy is an interesting town. I wouldn't want to live there but it sure was worth a visit. I don't think I have seen so many stray dogs in one place in my entire life. Lots of people live underground because it gets so hot in summer. In fact the temperature regularly reaches over 40 degrees from October through to April. There are three motels in town that are underground as well. It's big claim to fame is it's opal mines. Plus they seem to have an inordinate number of churches. If you are a local you will no doubt do one of three things, find opals, find God or find the bottom of an empty beer glass. 

What they can't seem to find is staff for their hotels, motels and restaurants. The way they solve the problem is with overseas labour. Most of the town's hospitality workers hail from Pakistan. If you work in a remote place for three years you get your citizenship expedited. That's exactly what they are doing. They get paid $48,000.00 a year, they get accommodation and I think meals and after three years they are free to go anywhere in Australia that takes their fancy. 

I stayed in one of the underground motels and I must say it was fascinating. It had an underground chapel attached to it as well. Not something you often see at a motel.

The motel was still being excavated (that's it under the pile of rubble in the last of the five photos above). The temperature remains a roughly constant 16 degrees year round and for someone like me who thrives on silence and darkness when sleeping it was nirvana. In fact it is so quiet they have table top fans in each of the rooms that they recommend you switch to low if the sound deprivation is getting to you. 

The underground churches were fascinating as well. I only visited the most recent addition to the town, the Serbian Orthodox Church. Not a denomination I am overly familiar with. It's open 24 hours a day (I suppose you don't need a lot of sun light when you are underground). Not only had it been carved out of a hillside like the motel but they had also carved the religious icons out of the same stone. The main chamber itself is 25 metres from it's highest to lowest point. 

I depart Coober Pedy for Peterborough tomorrow. Its just 670 kilometres away, enough for one day. I don't think there's a lot there but I will be going past Woomera, home to Australia's rocket range and now site of a notorious detention centre so I will have to check it out.