Housing

The houses above ground in Coober Pedy, which means “white men in holes,” looked like mobile homes or one-story ranches. They appeared small in size and were made from metals, wood, and plastic. The below ground homes, known as dugouts, had stone walls with little wall lights and chandeliers to illuminate the rooms. Although they had modern kitchen appliances, there didn’t seem to be much evidence of televisions in the home.

Contributed by Ms. Hegeman’s Class, Bala Cynwyd Middle School

Water

In Coober Pedy, underground pipes carry water 24 km from an underground lake and fill underground tanks that hold water reserves for the community. Personal water use was, at one time, limited to 24 gallons per week. Nearby natural water sources include Bubbling Springs, Lake Woorong , Lake Phillipson , Lake Adibarrawirricanna , and seasonal rivers that occasionally carry water, such as Wattiwarriganna River , and Enginina River.

Contributed by Ms. Hegeman’s Class, Bala Cynwyd Middle School

Economy

We found out that Coober Pedy's economy mainly consists of small businesses, opal mining, and tourism.  It appears to have a low to middle level economy.  The businesses are similar to ours as far as shops, hotels, restaurants, and public facilities.  They depend a lot on tourists.

Contributed by Ms. Scott's Class, Rural Hall School

Opal Mining

Opal mining in Australia started about 1849 at a cattle station called Tarrawilla, but Australian opals did not appear on the world market until the 1890’s. Opal miners drill a vertical hole looking for opal veins, and then create horizontal tunnels and large mine shafts following the layer of opal. Sometimes miners will cut open old shafts to look for any opals left over that were not found in the past. A beautiful variety of different color opals --- such as black, fire, crystal, boulder, white, and matrix --- are found in different parts of Australia .

Contributed by Ms. Tilley’s Class, Comanche Elementary School

Transportation

In Coober Pedy, transportation is somewhat difficult. The terrain consists of salt brush plains, dense Mulga, and lunar like moon plains. Since there is such a variety of terrain, 4wheel drive vehicles are the most used vehicle. Most of the roads are smooth, sandy, and unpaved dirt roads. They can change during seasonable conditions. Coober Pedy has one major highway which connects the south portion of the city to the north.

Contributed by Ms. Williams-Smiths Class, Stroudsburg Elementary School

History of Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is the opal capital of the world. About 80 percent of the world’s opals come from this area. The name means “white man’s hole.” The miners dug holes in the soft stone and lived in the resulting caves which provided nice cool shelter from the burning sun. It is interesting to note that there is no “opal industry” but thousands of individual mines run by a few person’s each. Coober Pedy is a dry desert environment in Australia . It was discovered in 1915 by a 14 year old boy. It was originally names the “Stuart Range Opal mines,” after the explorer John McDouall Stuart, who narrowly missed the area in 1858 when he circled the present site of Coober Pedy and named the range after himself.

Willie Hutchison, the youngest member of an Adelaide gold prospecting syndicate, discovered opals while searching for water on February 1 st, 1915 . The first claim was first pegged eight days later on February 9 th. Had it not been for the worst drought in the State’s history, forcing members of the party to search for water in all directions, the opals may not have been discovered for many years later.

Willie had been left in camp to look after their supplies, but disobeyed orders and wandered off to search for water around the foothills of a nearby range. The men were nervous when he did not return by dark. Finally, he strolled into camp with a big smile on his face and half a sugar bag filled with opals slung over his shoulder. Not only had he found opals but plenty of water too.

Word of the find spread quickly. The harsh environment for the workers was not easy. Lack of water was always a problem. Water had to be used over and over before it was discarded. The situation became so serious that in 1924 the government built a 2,000,000 litres circular tank to catch run off water, which went some way to solving the problem. The government then allowed 100 litres of water per person a week.

Contributed by Bradford School