They live underground, grow cacti in their gardens, and play golf at night - this is how life is like for the inhabitants of a small town in the Australian desert. We are talking about the world capital of opals - the mining town of Coober Pedy. Residents of a town in the southern Australian desert that sometimes sees temperatures in the shade in the summer reach 40°C have found an easy way to beat the heat. In their houses, even in the most terrible heat, it is always cool, but not at all because they use air conditioners, moreover, they do not need to wash windows or hang blinds on them to avoid the prying eyes of their neighbors, but all because the residents of Kuber- The peds build their houses... underground. Look with us into the opal underground city Coober Pedy.

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1. Most likely, the name of the city is associated with its unusual houses underground. In the Aboriginal language, koopa piti, from which the name Coober Pedy is derived, means ‘white man’s hole’. About 1,700 people live in the city, who are mainly engaged in the extraction of opals, and their houses are nothing more than underground “holes” made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography).
2. Due to the lack of underground sewerage, the toilet and kitchen in the houses are located immediately at the entrance, i.e. at ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors are usually dug deeper. The ceilings in the large rooms support columns up to 1 meter in diameter. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography).
3. Building a house in Coober Pedy can even make its owner rich, because there is the largest deposit of precious opals. Deposits in Australia, mainly in Coober Pedy, account for 97 percent of the world's production of this mineral. Several years ago, during the drilling of an underground hotel, stones worth about 360 thousand dollars were found. Their detection was made possible by modern surveying equipment - enough to know which one. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography).
4. Roofs of Coober Pedy. A familiar sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are the ventilation holes sticking out of the ground. (Photo: Robyn Brody/flickr.com).
5. The opal deposit in Coober Pedy was discovered in 1915. A year later, the first miners began to arrive there. It is believed that about 60 percent of Coober Pedy residents were from southern and eastern Europe who came there after World War II to work in the mines. For almost a hundred years, this city has been the world's largest producer of High Quality opals. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography).
6. Underground church in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Jacqui Barker/flickr.com).

Since the 80s, when an underground hotel was built in Coober Pedy, it has been visited by thousands of tourists every year. One of the most visited places in the city of opals was the house of its recently deceased famous resident nicknamed Crocodile Harry - an eccentric, alcohol lover and adventurer who became famous for his many love affairs.

7. Both the city and its suburbs, for various reasons, are very photogenic, which is why filmmakers are attracted there. Coober Pedy became the filming location for the 2006 Australian drama Opal Dream. Also in the underground houses of the city, scenes for the film “Mad Max. Under the dome of thunder. (Photo: donmcl/flickr.com).
8. Average annual rainfall in Coober Pedy is only 175 mm (in middle lane in Europe, for example, about 600 mm). This is one of the driest areas in Australia. There is almost no rain here, and therefore the vegetation is very sparse. There are no tall trees in the city, only rare shrubs and cacti grow. (Photo: Rich2012)
9. Residents, however, do not complain about the lack of outdoor entertainment. Own free time they spend on playing golf, but because of the heat they have to play at night. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography).
10. In Coober Pedy, there are also two churches underground, souvenir shops, a jewelry workshop, a museum and a bar. (Photo: Nicholas Jones/Flickr.com).
11. Coober Pedy is 846 kilometers north of Adelaide, the state capital. South Australia. (Photo: George Sharp/Flickr.com).
12. Coober Pedy has a desert climate. In summer, from December to February, average temperature is 30 ° C, and sometimes reaches up to 40 ° C. At night, the temperature drops sharply, to about 20 ° C. Sandstorms are also possible here. (Photo: doctor_k_karen/Flickr.com).

Coober Pedy - small town in the central part of the Australian state of South Australia.

The population was estimated in 2008 to be approximately 2,000 people.

Uber Pedy is about 800 km away. from Adelaide, not far Railway from Adelaide to Alice Springs. The nearest big cities- Port Augusta (500 km to the south) and Alice Springs (600 km to the north).

The city is famous for its opals, it is the capital of the opal-stone, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.

The mining of opals is a little less than 100 years old, their deposits were accidentally discovered while searching for water in 1915.

Noble opal is distinguished by its iridescent play of colors, which is caused by the diffraction of light on a spatial lattice and its value is determined not by its size, but by its unique play of color.

The more rays, the more expensive the opal. One of the legends of the natives says that "a long time ago, spirits stole all the colors from the rainbow and put them in a stone - opal", according to another - that

The Creator descended from heaven to earth and where his foot stepped, stones appeared, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.

Only private entrepreneurs are engaged in the extraction of opals. Nevertheless, this industry brings the Australian economy about 30 million dollars annually.

The city is known as the Opal Capital of the World because it has one of the richest deposits of opals, with about 30% of the world's reserves concentrated here.

The name Coober Pedy is translated from the language of the Australian Aborigines as "white man's hole" or "white man underground."

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Due to the harsh temperature regime and the prevailing mining industry, people constantly live in underground caves, in shafts of mines left after mining.

Even the first settlers realized that in view of the unfavorable weather conditions when the earth is hot in the sun during the day and the heat reaches 40 degrees Celsius on the surface, and at night the temperature drops sharply to 20 degrees (and sand storms are also possible) - you can live underground in mine shafts after mining opals.

The constant temperature of underground houses is around +22-24 degrees at any time of the year. Today, more than 45 nationalities live in the city, but the majority are Greeks. The population of the city is 1,695 people.

The water comes from a drilled 25 km. away from the city artesian well and relatively expensive. There is no common power grid in Coober Pedy.

Electricity is generated by diesel generators and heating is provided by solar water heaters.

At night, when the heat subsides, residents play golf with balls glowing in the dark.

Previously, the development of opals was carried out manually - with picks, shovels, and the rock was pulled out with buckets until an opal vein was found, along which they then crawled in a plastunsky manner.

Almost all mines are shallow and the main passages in them are laid by boring machines that break through horizontal tunnels as high as a man and from him - branches in different directions. These are practically self-made devices - the engine and gearbox from a small truck.

Then the so-called “blower” is used - a machine with a powerful compressor installed on it, which, through a pipe lowered into the mine,

like a vacuum cleaner, it sucks rocks and boulders to the surface, and when the compressor is turned off, the barrel opens and a new mini-mound is obtained - a waste heap.

At the entrance to the city there is a huge sign with a blower car.

One of the sights of the city is an iron tree - the children of the first settlers asked dad for a tree, so he made a tree out of iron.

Even the first prospectors realized that it was possible to settle down relatively comfortably underground, in dwellings that cost almost nothing.

As for their successors, they and their families live in modern underground comfort.

Many of their houses are very large and simply luxurious ...

Some even have underground pools, while not far away, on the surface, the sun mercilessly scorches the earth.

However, life in the opal mines is still hard, and many miners return in time with their families to an easier life elsewhere.

By the way, an article about the city underground and the people living in it, which appeared in Great Britain in 1927, prompted J. R. R. Tolkien to create in 1937, the second most popular literary work after the Bible, The Hobbit, and then, and Lord of the Rings…

Coober Pedy is included in many tourist routes across Australia. People come here to see the underground churches and the cemetery.

The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron. The city has local movable grass golf courses and golfers line small patches of "turf" around the tee hole.

The landscape of Coober Pedy is very conducive to outdoor shooting extraterrestrial civilizations… Movies such as Mad Max 3: Under Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black were filmed here.

Coober Pedy hosts The Amazing Race for the second season.

In the area of ​​Coober Pedy, approximately in 2012, they are going to conduct an experiment-exercise of an expedition to Mars ...

Local historians distinguish the world's largest livestock farm and the world's longest "Australian" fence from local attractions.

The standard bedrooms in a home cave with a hall, kitchen and bathroom are located in caves drilled inside the mountain, similar to the houses on the surface.
Thus, a constant optimum temperature is maintained, while on the surface it reaches 40 ° C (maximum 55 ° C), at this temperature many household appliances become unusable. But relative humidity rarely reaches 20% on hot days.

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Much of Coober Pedy's attraction is inside the mines, the cemetery and the underground churches. The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron.

The city has local golf courses with moving grass and golfers line small pieces of "turf" around for the first hit.

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Coober Pedy is included in many tourist routes in Australia. Movies such as Mad Max 3: Under Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Pitch Black were filmed against the backdrop of Coober Pedy. Approximately in 2012, they are going to conduct an experiment-exercise of an expedition to Mars.

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What do these celebrities have in common?

— Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)

— Ricky Martin (Ricky Martin)

— Alanis Morissette (Alanis Morissette)

— Janet Jackson (Janet Jackson)

— Billy Joel (Billy Joel)

— Neil Diamond (Neil Diamond)

— Fleetwood Mack (Fleetwood Mac)

— Matchbox Twenty (Matchbox Twenty)

— Acey Disi (AC/DC)

Well, it is clear that they are all world-class musicians, fame, recognition, money, fans ... but we are not interested in this now.

All of them visited Melbourne. It's already warmer.

What you and I really need to know is that all of these stars (and many more) while on tour in Australia have chosen and bought the famous Australian gemstone opals from the same absolutely fantastic person and a good friend of mine (of which I am immensely proud) — Nicholas Le Suef.

Nick Le Suef in front of himself at the age of 25. The picture was taken in Coober Pedy - the underground city of prospectors and the capital of Australian opals

Believe me - THESE people could afford to buy opals in ANY other store in Melbourne or Sydney, but they all chose Nick.

Rolling Stones - Ricky Martin - Alanis Morissette - Janet Jackson - Billy Joel - Neil Diamond - Fleetwood Mac) - Matchbox Twenty - Acey DC (AC / DC) and other famous buyers of Nick.

At the age of 25, Nick already knew perfectly well how to look for precious opals.

But the years take their toll, and when it became physically difficult for Nick to mine opals, he opened a store and began to sell them.

It's still 20 years old :)

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underground gallery Arts is dedicated to Aboriginal art. It houses exhibitions that tell about the process of mining opal. Visitors are given the opportunity to dig their own gemstone.

coober pedy- a small underground city in Australia, which is located in central region countries. It received the title of the world capital of opals thanks to the huge deposits of these minerals, which are cast in iridescent colors. There are approximately 30% of all opal deposits on the planet. No place on Earth can compare with him in this indicator.

This mining town is also known for its unusual underground houses. It is believed that its name has something to do with them. It came from the language of the indigenous people of the country. The combination "kupa-piti" is translated from it as "white man's hole".
More than 1,600 people live in the underground "holes" of the town of Coober Pedy, dug at an average depth of 4-5 meters. The main business of the locals is the extraction of precious opals.

The city is located in the Great Victoria Desert, in the south of the country. This is one of the driest and sparsely populated areas of the continent. With the onset of the twentieth century, precious opals began to be actively mined there. Since this place was always hot, drought and sandstorms periodically raged, the miners, along with their relatives, began to settle in houses cut down in the mountains. Many of them had a direct entrance to the mine. The conditions in these "apartments" were quite comfortable, no worse than in traditional dwellings. At any time of the year, the temperature in them did not rise above 22-24°C. There were the same, familiar to us rooms. The only thing missing was windows, because due to the extremely high summer temperatures, a maximum of two windows could be made.

When building a dwelling in a town with the largest deposit of noble opals, you can get rich, because approximately 96% of these stones are mined here. Some time ago, a hotel was drilled in Coober Pedy and copies were found worth about $ 360,000.
A valuable deposit was unexpectedly discovered a hundred years ago, in 1915, when they were looking for water sources in the area. The very next year, prospectors began to gather there. It is estimated that approximately 60% of Coober Pedy's population was from European countries. They moved there when the Second ended. World War to work in the mines. So the city became the largest producer of high quality opals in the world and still is.
The distinctive properties of noble opals include iridescent tints. This is due to the diffraction of light on its spatial grating. The high cost of a stone is determined not by its size, but by how unique this play of color is. The value of an opal depends on the number of rays.

There is a legend among the natives that in very ancient times, spirits took away its colors from the rainbow and hid it in opals. The second legend says that the Creator descended to the earth and on the places where his foot stepped, iridescent stones arose.
Now the extraction of stone is carried out only by private entrepreneurs, but this activity still brings the country about 30 million dollars a year.
Previously, opals were mined by hand, using shovels and picks. The rock was extracted with buckets, and along the discovered precious vein it was necessary to crawl in a plastun way.

Most of the mines are located at shallow depths. Their main passages were laid with the help of special boring machines, breaking through tunnels about two meters high. Branches depart from the tunnels. These devices consisted of an engine and gearbox from a small truck. After that, they began to use a machine called "blower". A high power compressor was built into it, which sucks the rock through a pipe placed in the depths. If you turn it off, the barrel opens. So there is a new small hill, or waste heap. At the entrance to the capital of opals, you can see a large sign depicting this car.

In the 80s, the city decided to build an underground hotel. Since that time, every year there has been an influx of tourists. Here you can even visit two underground churches (one of which is Orthodox!).

Among the most visited sights of the capital of opals is the house recently dead person, who was nicknamed Crocodile Harry. He gained popularity due to his countless love affairs and eccentric lifestyle.
Coober Pedy is considered the driest place in Australia. During the year, only 175 millimeters of precipitation falls there. This is more than three times less than in European countries. It almost never rains there, which means that Coober Pedy is not rich in vegetation. There are no big trees and beautiful flowers. You can find only a few shrubs and plants that retain moisture in their tissues (for example, cacti).
However, such conditions do not prevent local residents from finding entertainment in nature. They love to play golf, but they can only do it at night when the heat subsides. For this, there are specially equipped fields with mobile grass and spherical lanterns that allow you to see in the dark.
In the city, you can go to underground shops, souvenir shops, museums, bars, a jeweler's workshop, and also see cemeteries.

Coober Pedy has a desert climate. Summer time lasts from December to February, and the average temperature reaches 30-40°C. With the onset of night, it drops sharply (up to 20°C). It is very difficult to get used to such changes. Sometimes sandstorms rage here. To escape the heat locals dig underground apartments for themselves. Many descendants of the first miners decorate the interior of their homes in the “a la naturel” style, which involves covering the walls with a solution of PVA glue. So you can eliminate dust and, moreover, preserve the natural color and texture of the stone. In these unusual apartments, the toilet and kitchen room are located right at the entrance, because there is no underground sewerage in Coober Pedy. All other rooms are usually dug deeper. To support the ceilings in large rooms, columns are built. Their diameter can reach one meter.

Lovers of modern interiors put plaster on the walls and ceilings. Thanks to this design solution, the underground “apartment” looks just like an ordinary one. Residents of the city also prefer to install such a luxury item as an underground pool - a real salvation for those who live in one of the hottest regions on the planet.

The capital of opals has become one of the main points of most of the routes in Australia for tourists. Of particular interest to visitors is the fact that Coober Pedy itself and its surroundings are considered very photogenic, so filmmakers often come here. For example, in 2006, the Australian film Opal Dream was filmed there. In addition, it became the setting for the movie "Pitch Black", and scenes from the movie "Mad Max: Under Thunderdome" were filmed in underground houses.
On the edge of the town is the largest livestock farm on the planet, as well as the famous "Dingo Fence", stretching for 8500 kilometers.

Every mound that can be seen on the surface is connected to the dungeon with a shaft. This is the only way to survive in such an unfavorable climate.
Currently, over 45 nationalities can be found among the inhabitants of Coober Pedy, most of which are Greeks. Drinking water passes through an artesian well, which was drilled 25 kilometers from the city.
There is no common power grid in the opal capital of the world. Diesel generators are used to generate electricity, and the premises are heated with solar water heaters.
This unusual city underground in Australia from a bird's eye view may surprise you not with buildings familiar to our eyes, but with rock heaps, dotted with thousands of dimples dug in the red desert. This is an incredible sight that allows you to feel like you are on another planet.

We invite you to look underground and visit the extraordinary underground city of Coober Pedy, where about 2 thousand people currently live.

At first, when you find yourself on these sun-hot red plains of Australia and you see a not very rich in buildings, an absolutely “clean” landscape, it seems that the place is completely lifeless. But in fact, there is a stunning mysterious town called Coober Pedy.

And what makes it special is the fact that this city is underground.

There are no trees here, and the sun bakes with merciless force, but many kilometers of tunnels are laid underground and furnished, as if in ordinary residential buildings, rooms.

However, there is also accommodation for tourists coming here. From this corridor, the doors just lead to the guest rooms.

The locals settled here quite comfortably. Some houses are only half underground, which only adds to their uniqueness. It is worth noting that in terms of comfort they are in no way inferior to ordinary modern houses.

The history of the origin of the original city began in 1915, when a father and son ended up here, traveling in search of gold.

They did not find gold here, but they found beautiful opals, which quickly gained no less popularity.

The miners who arrived here could not withstand the high temperatures of the local climate and therefore built their houses not above the ground, but right between the mines.

They began to dig long tunnels, so that over time, about 1,500 dugout houses appeared in Coober Pedy.

In the modern world, Coober Pedy has long been the main supplier of opals. However, people come here no longer to look at precious stones, but to see strange dugouts, the dwellings of people living here.

The name of the city means "white man's hole", this expression appeared here in the 1920s.

In addition to mines, hotels and houses, there is also a beautiful church underground in Coober Pedy.

As well as an underground bookstore.

And an underground jewelry store offering a charming opal from the mines next door.

Undoubtedly, you should also visit the underground bar to have a drink with friends.

And then go upstairs and play golf on a specially equipped site.

Finally, I got to the photos of the city of Coober Pedy (Coober Pedy). We passed it earlier when we were still traveling through the state of South Australia.

To virtually walk around the city, click on the green "View Larger Map" in the lower left corner. When the map opens, drag the little yellow man to the streets of the city.

This is amazing city. We have very fond memories of him.

Coober Pedy is called the "opal capital of the world", and in the language of the aborigines means "white man in the pit."

Up to 90% of the world's precious opal production comes from Australia, and about three quarters of this amount comes from the state of South Australia.

At first glance, Coober Pedy is not much different from other mining towns. Dirt roads cross the entire territory and waste rock dumps are visible. But there are no towers, no lifts over the mines, and no buildings.

Strange round mounds with a hole in the middle give the impression of a volcanic area dotted with small ash cones.

Each of these small mounds is connected by a shaft to the whole underground world.

The soft, sandstone rocks of the desert are not difficult to dig with a pick and shovel, although explosives are also used here. Most opals are found at depths of up to 24 m, but many workings are much shallower. Each prospector is allocated a small area on which he works. The technique is mostly traditional. A prospector is digging up his piece of land, hoping to find a large vein that will bring him a fortune.

In addition to this, the most beautiful mineral, the houses of local residents, dugouts, underground dwellings in which natural temperature control is carried out, are also very popular.

Even the first prospectors realized that it was possible to settle down relatively comfortably underground, in dwellings that cost almost nothing. As for their successors, they live as families in modern underground comfort. Many of their houses are very large and simply luxurious, and some even have underground pools.

These sites are underground dwellings. Such sites are located on the outskirts of the city. You can buy and dig your house or motel. During the season, here all the motels and hotels are busy. As elsewhere, you need to book a room in advance.

It should be noted that there is absolutely no water in Coober Pedy - no matter how much they drilled, they have not yet reached the water. If we take into account that this is one of the least rainy regions of Australia, it becomes clear that initially water was very expensive, since it was delivered for many kilometers by pack animals, mainly camels. Currently, there is running water, but water is still relatively expensive ($5 per 1000 liters).

Coober Pedy is one of the hottest places on the planet. And in the underground house, the temperature stays at the level of 22-26 degrees all year round. We were invited to visit one of these houses. 60% of the city's population live underground.

The owner of the house is George Russell (George). He is the owner of the Oasis tourist park.

Good person, very sociable. Gave a decent discount when we stayed at his motel the first night.

The next morning, George showed his house.

This is the living room.

Indeed, a very pleasant coolness after the scorching sun.

This is a guest house. To the right along the stairs, there is a kitchen and 2 rooms of the owner of the house.

To the left of the stairs are 3 guest bedrooms, a toilet and a bathroom.

All underground rooms are spacious, with high ceilings and well ventilated.

Very cozy and comfortable.

I would like to have a house like this. Sometimes come to live in absolute silence, without the radio and electromagnetic waves that surround us everywhere.

The town has not only underground houses, but also numerous underground hotels, restaurants, shops and even churches.

In 1988, the world's first underground hotel was inaugurated. This hotel became so popular that many locals began to open large and small motels throughout the city, as well as guest houses with 3 and 4 bedrooms.

One of the first underground motels that we saw was “Radeka down under motel”, it is located on main street cities.

This is a middle class motel.

At 11 am, and already +36.

We were met by the owner of the motel Martin (Martin).

Very colorful uncle.

There are rooms that are in the rock, and rooms that are underground at 6.5 meters.

We chose a room, of course, underground. It is much more interesting to sleep there.

It was an active opal mine until the 1960s.

And in the mid-80s, the mine was transformed into underground complex- motel.

The cost of living in a motel is from $32.

This is our number. They rented it for $70 (we got a discount for $10).

Everything is very simple. Everything you need is here. The fact that you're sleeping underground already sounds unusual. And most importantly, it's cooler here than upstairs. And that was one of the reasons why we went underground.

Overall, we slept well in this room. The only inconvenience is a strong audibility. You can hear all the neighbors. Therefore, here you need to settle for those who have iron nerves and good sleep. Gabriel, for example, slept well. And I, for half the night, listened to the snoring of a neighbor and the crying of a small child. So, if anyone needs to sleep, settle up in the rock.

In these rooms, students who do not have money for a room, or lonely tired travelers who quickly fall asleep and do not hear anything, stop.

And in this room, you can move in with a large company, and remember the pioneer camp. It would be fun.

To be continued…

To view the photos in a larger size, click on them 1-2 times.