Coober Pedy

Aboriginal peoples have a long-standing connection with the area.[8] Coober Pedy is considered by the senior Western Desert people to be the traditional land of the Arabana people country, but Kokatha and Yankunytjatjara people are also closely attached to some ceremonial sites in the area. The origin of the name of the town (decided in 1920[9]) is thought to derive from the words in the Kokatha language, kupa piti, usually translated as "whitefella – hole in the ground", or guba bidi, "white man’s holes", relating to white people's mining activities[10] (also reported as meaning "boys' waterhole" in some sources[11]). Further investigation into the words by linguists shows that kupa may have originated from the Parnkalla language and that piti may be the Kokatha word specifically created for "quarry" (a white man's activity).[10]

The first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was Scottish-born John McDouall Stuart in 1858. The town was not established until after 1915, when the first opal was discovered by Wille Hutchison on 1 February of that year.[8] Opal miners started moving in around 1916.[12] The name of Coober Pedy was decided upon at a meeting in 1920, when a post office was established.[9]

In July 1975, the local Aboriginal people of Coober Pedy adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the Acacia aneura, or mulga tree, which is plentiful in the area.[9] The name has since been used for various establishments in the town.

Coober Pedy is a small town about halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs. It is situated on the edge of the erosional scarp of the Stuart Ranges, on beds of sandstone and siltstone 30 metres (98 ft) deep and topped with a stony, treeless desert. Very little plant life exists in town due to the region's low rainfall, high cost of water, and lack of topsoil.

Coober Pedy – sunset on the breakways

The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides ("dugouts"). A standard three-bedroom cave home with lounge, kitchen, and bathroom can be excavated out of the rock in the hillside for a similar price to building a house on the surface. However, dugouts remain at a constant temperature, while surface buildings need air conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F). The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is 30–32 °C (86–90 °F), but it can get quite cool in the winter.

The town's water supply, managed by the District Council which operates a bore and associated treatment plant, comes from the Great Artesian Basin. Problems with ageing pipes, high water losses, and lack of subsidies contribute to consumer water charges being the highest in South Australia.[13]

An underground jewellery shop in Coober Pedy

The town has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since 1987, when the sealing of the Stuart Highway was completed.

Entrance to an underground motel, Coober Pedy, 2007

Coober Pedy underground motel room.

Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Visitors' attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard and the underground churches (the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church).[24] There are several motels offering underground accommodation, ranging from a few rooms to the entire motel being a dug-out.[25] The hybrid Coober Pedy Solar Power Station supplies power to the off-grid area.[26]

The Umoona Opal Mine and Museum is a popular attraction.[27]

The annual Coober Pedy Opal Festival takes place in June, with the 34th edition occurring in 2023.[28]

Heritage sites

Coober Pedy has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 13 Hutchison Street: Three-Roomed Dugout[29]
• 9 Hutchison Street: Coober Pedy Catholic Church and Presbytery[30]

The underground Church of St Elijah - a Serbian Orthodox Church

The Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (UTHSAC) was established in 2005 to provide health services for local Aboriginal people.[31]

Coober Pedy is home to the Coober Pedy Regional Times, a free community publication released fortnightly since 15 March 2001.[32] Under a previous name, it had begun as a newsletter called the Coober Pedy Times, which was first issued in August 1982,[33] itself continuing from a publication known as "Opal Chips".[34] After some financial difficulties, the Times was bought by its editor, Margaret McKay,[35] in 2006 and now includes online versions.[34]

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 <http://www.flowfm.com.au/>. Community radio is provided by indigenous broadcaster CAAMA Radio 102.9FM.

Five broadcast television services operate in Coober Pedy: commercial stations Imparja Television, Southern Cross Central (formally known as Seven Central) and 10 Central. Also including the Government-owned ABC and SBS.

The local golf course – mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime heat – is completely free of grass, and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs, the Coober Pedy golf club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[36]

The town also has an Australian rules football club, the Coober Pedy Saints, established in 2004, which competes in the Far North Football League (formerly the Woomera & Districts Football League). Due to the town's isolation, to play matches the Saints must make round trips of over 900 kilometres (560 mi) to Roxby Downs, where the rest of the league's teams are located.

The town has a drive-in theatre. It opened in 1965, but became less popular after 1980 with the arrival of television to the town, and ceased regular operation in 1984. It was re-opened in 1996,[37][38] and with the closure of the Mainline Drive-in at Gepps Cross in February 2022,[39] became the last drive-in in the state.[40][41]

A board for the Umoona Community Art Centre was established in 2021, but needs government funding to establish a permanent location in the town. A group of highly talented artists has joined the APY Art Centre Collective, which helps to create employment opportunities for Indigenous artists in the region. An exhibition in the Adelaide gallery of the collective in September 2021 featured the work of 24 of these artists.[42]

A rare exhibition cachet, signed by Coober Pedy postmaster Alfred P. North, was discovered in Memphis, Tennessee by philatelist David Saks on 3 February 2016. To date, it is the only known example of this cachet in the world.[43][44]

Both the town and its hinterland, for different reasons, are photogenic and have attracted film makers.[45] The town itself is the setting for several films, and its environment has also attracted movie producers. These include:

• Fire in the Stone (1984)[46]
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)[46][47]
• Ground Zero (1987)[46]
• The Blood of Heroes (1989)[47]
• Until the End of the World (1991)[46][47]
• Stark (1993), a TV miniseries[46][47]
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
• Siam Sunset (1999)[46][47]
• Pitch Black (2000)[46]
• Red Planet (2000)[47]
• Kangaroo Jack (2003)[47]
• Opal Dream (2006)[47]
• The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One (2016)
• Instant Hotel Season 2 (2018)[48]
• Mortal Kombat (2021)
• Stars on Mars (2023)[49][50]
• Limbo (2023)[51]

The town is also featured in the 2016 racing game Forza Horizon 3.[52][53]

Coober Pedy in March 2005

Coober Pedy experiences a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh, Trewartha: BWhl), with very hot, dry summers; mild to hot, dry springs and autumns; and mild, dry winters. Typical of a desert climate, diurnal ranges are wider than in most places, with an annual average high of 27.8 °C (82.0 °F) and an annual average low of just 14.2 °C (57.6 °F). Summer temperatures range from 35 °C (95 °F) in the shade, with occasional dust storms. The annual rainfall in the area is low and amongst the lowest in Australia, at around 141 millimetres (5.6 in).[54][55] Precipitation is well-distributed through the year, although the lowest amounts are recorded in the winter months.

Extremes of annual rainfall since 1921 range from 30.6 millimetres (1.20 in) in 1929 to 427.2 millimetres (16.82 in) in 1973.[56]

Coober Pedy was flooded when 115 millimetres (4.5 in) of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours (which is over three-quarters of the mean annual rainfall) on 10 April 2014.[57]

The mail truck to Oodnadatta, 2007

The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide by Greyhound Australia. The Ghan train serves the town through the Manguri Siding, 42 kilometres (26 mi) from Coober Pedy, which is served by trains once weekly in each direction. Passengers on The Ghan are not usually allowed to disembark at Manguri unless they have prearranged transport, due to the siding's isolation and the extremely cold temperatures at night.[59]

Coober Pedy is a gateway to the outback communities of Oodnadatta and William Creek, which are both located on the Oodnadatta Track. There is a twice-a-week mail run from Coober Pedy to these communities and other outback homesteads. It carries the mail, general freight and passengers.[60]

Regional Express also has direct flights to Adelaide, from Coober Pedy Airport.

• Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coober Pedy.

• Coober Pedy travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website
• "Coober Pedy" (Video (3 minutes)), National Geographic, 27 November 2007
• Miller, Bob. (1994), "Five photographs", Coober Pedy, South Australia, 1994, National Library of Australia – via Trove