HomeAmazingThe Underground Coober Pedy is the Only “The Opal Capital of World”
The Underground Coober Pedy is the Only “The Opal Capital of World”
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Well, these days the underground town is purely a unique idea. The Coober Pedy is a small mining town with a small population of just under 2,000. Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 kilometers north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway.
But it’s also recognized “opal capital of the world” and has been constantly supplying most of the world’s gem-quality opal since it was first founded in 1915. In this waterless environment, not too much doing goes on above ground, and instead, the community exists in a network of tunnels underneath the desert earth, inside some 1,500 homes and dwellings they call their “dug-outs”.
Coober Pedy began attracting curious tourists in the 1980s when the first hotel was built underground, of course. Moreover, besides the interest in subterranean sleeping though, the town boasts a network of underground shops, bars, museums, and several other attractions to visit.
Therefore, an average cave home at approximately 8 to 22 feet below ground level with modern amenities, numerous bedrooms, a living area, a kitchen, and a bathroom can be excavated out of the rock for pretty much the same price as building a house above the surface (excluding the air conditioning bills).
These modern design homes have support pillars about 40 inches thick and natural air shafts for ventilation. Though, there’s no sewage in underground Coober Pedy so kitchens and bathrooms are always preferred to construct above ground, basically the front rooms of the house, where the dug-out entrance lies.
During the nighttime, you can head above ground for a game of nocturnal golf on Coober Pedy’s infrequent grass-free desert golf course. After dark, players are relaxing to use glowing balls and carrying a small piece of “turf” around to use for teeing off.
