Central outback Australia: Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy, South Australia

The route:

Still on the Stuart Highway our travel takes us from Woomera to Coober Pedy which is an easy 374 Kilometres drive.

We pass through a few small locations on the route, including Pima Glendambo, passing Mount Soward and Mount Sandy on my left, across Brumby creek, Mount Pennine on my right, then leaving the highway and turning right onto Hutchinson street into Coober Pedy. We’ll rejoin the Stuart Highway when we continue our journey towards Uluru.

Once again, we booked ahead for this caravan park.

The caravan park:

Opal Inn Caravan Park

Address Hutchinson St

Coober Pedy, SA, 5723, Australia

Main 08 8672 5054

Fax 08 8672 5501

I chose this park because I liked the name! it also allows dogs while on a leash. It’s also on the main road that I turned into from the highway, so I shouldn’t miss it!.

Other Features/Facilities mentioned by the caravan park include:

Note there is no water at each caravan location. Rather, one has to fill up the caravan water tanks from a high pressure water outlet opposite the reception Office (20 cents per 40 litres). We took on 120 litres which we think will last us the three nights we are here. If not, it’s a simple matter of moving the caravan to the water outlet again. If we still have water left over, I will dump it rather than haul the extra load.

Using water from the caravan tanks means the electric water pump is getting a good work out as we also elected to use the caravan shower as anything that uses water has to be paid for.

Central location

Van sites, all with double power & sullage

Drive through sites

Showers (coin operated), handicapped toilets

Guest coin operated laundry

Modern conveniences & ablution block

Introductory discount vouchers

Shaded BBQ area

The Adjoining Opal Inn Hotel/Motel offers a Restaurant, Bistro (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Bars, Bottle Shop, Poker Machines, SKY, X-Lotto, Keno & TAB

Pool Tables

Conference & Meeting Facilities

Tours & Airport transfers

Opal & Souvenir Sales

Internet Facilities

All Major Credit Cards accepted

DOGS permitted on leash/under control

Coober Pedy Caravan Park

Coober Pedy Information Centre

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy Underground Hotel

Coober Pedy Opal mine shaft to Opal seams

Coober Pedy from the lookout

Mobile and TV reception:

Coober Pedy is served by both local and national radio and television services. The government-owned ABC 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. Community radio is provided by indigenous broadcaster Caama Radio 102.9FM.

Mobile coverage - I got maximum strength signal from my Optus server

TV reception includes:

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.

Rates:

$30 per night

Surrounding area:

Wikipedia describes Coober Pedy as follows:

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.

Both the town and its hinterland, 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.

Today (Sunday) we wondered around several dugouts including a hotel, a church and a mine.

We are currently 1 day ahead of our schedule (having given Woomera 1 night stay-over a miss), so I have phoned Uluru and requested an extra day there which they have accepted.

Tomorrow I hope to visit the ‘Breakaways’ which are about 30 kilometres North East of Coober Pedy. We will need a license to visit this area which we can purchase from the Information centre ($2.20 per person)

Monday

We spent much of the day in the 'Breakaways' (Mountain area). It was quite windy and very cold bit well worth the visit.

In the afternoon we returned to the caravan for lunch then we headed back to Coober Pedy for our last look-around and topped-up the fuel tanks for the journey tomorrow.

The Breakaways: