Saturday, July 30, 2005
Day 14 - 30/07/05 Coober Pedy.
Last night as we were preparing dinner a cyclist rode into the caravan park, with a small bicycle trailer in tow. He was bearded and dusty, and came looking for a tent-site. We looked at him, wondering where he had cycled from. We'd heard at William Creek that a cyclist had been on the Oodnadatta track just a few days ahead of us. Could this be the man?He set up his tent, unhitched his trailer and set of into town on his bike. He returned later with a Pizza box and sat eating it in the dining area.
“I've heard there are opals around. Have you seen any?” he asked, his eyes looking bright and eager.
I initially thought he was asking about 'apples', and wondered what was going on! We asked him where he'd come from. He told us that he'd come on the bus from Alice, with his bicycle, in search of opals. He was a fossicker and asked us if we knew where the public fossicking spot was. This is a patch where people can look for opals in the dirt that has been discarded from mines. No tools like spades or shovels are allowed. People can search with their hands or a little stick to help them. This is called noodling. Someone had told him that even if he didn't find any opals himself, he could buy them cheap in Coober Pedy and sell them for almost 5 times the price in Alice Springs. He'd even got information about which was the cheapest place to buy them in. Later as we were going to bed he said he just couldn't wait to go and start searching, that he wouldn't be able to sleep, and he might end up going and searching by torch light! He was so full of enthusiasm and hope. He was up and off by 7.00 am this morning.
We had breakfast and then went to try and get the car sorted out. There were 2 work shops. One could only take a look tomorrow. So we went to the other one. The old chap there had a look and explained the problem to us (which was that the vehicle had been quick-fixed earlier and had only one muffler in place of two). He tightened some bolts and we decided we'd push on and get it fixed in Alice.
We walked into town and stopped at Dreamtime Gems, Outside was box of stones in which one could noodle for opals. The owner of the shop came and showed us how to look for them. Later we went in and a lady showed us around and explained about opals and the various qualities. She also demonstrated how they were cut and polished. There were many newspaper aritcles on the walls about Coober Pedy, and opal miners, which made fascinating reading.
There were also some live native snakes and lizards on display. We spent some time in the store and got chatting with the lady. We asked her if there were any Indian families in Coober Pedy. She said that the two doctors at the local hospital were a couple from India. She encouraged us to call the hospital and get in touch with them. We did and found ourselves invited to dinner.
We also took a tour of the Umoona mine. This was a guided tour of an opal mine and also of a dugout house. Temperatures in Coober Pedy reach the 50s Centigrade in summer and so many houses are built into the hill sides, so that most of the house is actually underground.
The temperature in these houses is a constant 24-26 C throughout the year and required no heating or cooling ever. It was fascinating to go through the house, which even had different levels. Most rooms have a vent which is a pipe which sticks out from the side of the hill, and provides ventilation. The rooms felt quite fresh and cool, and were cosy and pleasant. Of course, they had to have an electric light on whenever they were in use. After the tour we spent some time browsing in the underground bookshop. Most of things in Coober Pedy are underground – hotel, motel, shops, cafes, churches etc.
After dinner with the only Indian family in town, we returned to our caravan park. Our fossicker was back, still in good spirits, and said he had found plenty of stones!
Last night as we were preparing dinner a cyclist rode into the caravan park, with a small bicycle trailer in tow. He was bearded and dusty, and came looking for a tent-site. We looked at him, wondering where he had cycled from. We'd heard at William Creek that a cyclist had been on the Oodnadatta track just a few days ahead of us. Could this be the man?He set up his tent, unhitched his trailer and set of into town on his bike. He returned later with a Pizza box and sat eating it in the dining area.
“I've heard there are opals around. Have you seen any?” he asked, his eyes looking bright and eager.
I initially thought he was asking about 'apples', and wondered what was going on! We asked him where he'd come from. He told us that he'd come on the bus from Alice, with his bicycle, in search of opals. He was a fossicker and asked us if we knew where the public fossicking spot was. This is a patch where people can look for opals in the dirt that has been discarded from mines. No tools like spades or shovels are allowed. People can search with their hands or a little stick to help them. This is called noodling. Someone had told him that even if he didn't find any opals himself, he could buy them cheap in Coober Pedy and sell them for almost 5 times the price in Alice Springs. He'd even got information about which was the cheapest place to buy them in. Later as we were going to bed he said he just couldn't wait to go and start searching, that he wouldn't be able to sleep, and he might end up going and searching by torch light! He was so full of enthusiasm and hope. He was up and off by 7.00 am this morning.
We had breakfast and then went to try and get the car sorted out. There were 2 work shops. One could only take a look tomorrow. So we went to the other one. The old chap there had a look and explained the problem to us (which was that the vehicle had been quick-fixed earlier and had only one muffler in place of two). He tightened some bolts and we decided we'd push on and get it fixed in Alice.
We walked into town and stopped at Dreamtime Gems, Outside was box of stones in which one could noodle for opals. The owner of the shop came and showed us how to look for them. Later we went in and a lady showed us around and explained about opals and the various qualities. She also demonstrated how they were cut and polished. There were many newspaper aritcles on the walls about Coober Pedy, and opal miners, which made fascinating reading.
There were also some live native snakes and lizards on display. We spent some time in the store and got chatting with the lady. We asked her if there were any Indian families in Coober Pedy. She said that the two doctors at the local hospital were a couple from India. She encouraged us to call the hospital and get in touch with them. We did and found ourselves invited to dinner.We also took a tour of the Umoona mine. This was a guided tour of an opal mine and also of a dugout house. Temperatures in Coober Pedy reach the 50s Centigrade in summer and so many houses are built into the hill sides, so that most of the house is actually underground.
The temperature in these houses is a constant 24-26 C throughout the year and required no heating or cooling ever. It was fascinating to go through the house, which even had different levels. Most rooms have a vent which is a pipe which sticks out from the side of the hill, and provides ventilation. The rooms felt quite fresh and cool, and were cosy and pleasant. Of course, they had to have an electric light on whenever they were in use. After the tour we spent some time browsing in the underground bookshop. Most of things in Coober Pedy are underground – hotel, motel, shops, cafes, churches etc.After dinner with the only Indian family in town, we returned to our caravan park. Our fossicker was back, still in good spirits, and said he had found plenty of stones!
