We have driven over 2000 kilometers since leaving Darwin. Then suddenly we are stopped by the fire brigade and told that the only highway down south is closed due to a staged bushfire. We are told to wait until the afternoon, so we drive back about 50 kilometers to Coober Pedy.
Coober Pedy is a town with 1700 inhabitants in the north of the state of South Australia. Coober Pedy was founded in 1915 by a white man who found opal here. Like a gold rush town, Coober Pedy also grew bigger and bigger. Many people came and looked for opal on their own. Only now do we realize what we saw out in the desert: many small mounds, created by holes dug into the ground. There are signs everywhere to protect us from the countless shafts. Be careful not to fall into any mines.
The second peculiarity of Coober Pedy is that people have started living underground to escape the heat in the desert. Most of the houses in the town are carved underground in the rock, only the chimneys and ventilation shafts on the mounds reveal what is hidden inside.
We decide to stay here for one night to experience the underground houses. We rent a small apartment underground. It is nicely furnished and wonderfully cool. In the afternoon, we visit the old opal mine and learn a lot about the first opal seekers of Coober Pedy. It's crazy to see how people used to live and work.
