THE Wombles are not the only underground-dwelling community to enjoy fossicking for treasures.
Far from Wimbledon in London (home to the Womble characters made famous on the 1970s British TV show of the same name) is Coober Pedy, in South Australia’s Far North.
Famous for their underground lifestyle, about half the town’s residents live in homes cut from solid rock, or dugouts, as they are known. Coober Pedy also has underground hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.
In fact, about 80 per cent of the commercial accommodation is in dugouts.
And just like the furry Wombles, who scoured Wimbledon Common for “treasures” they could turn into useful things, residents and visitors regularly hunt for gems buried in the red soil.
The town sits in the middle of the world’s largest opal deposit. In fact, the deposit is so large it accounts for about 80 per cent of the world’s gem-quality opal.
To put that in context, the field in Coober Pedy produces four times as much opal as the rest of the planet put together.
Visitors will first be struck by the sudden change to the landscape as they approach the town.
About 50km out, you can start to see evidence of the opal mining that has been the reason for the town’s existence for the past 100 years or so.
Huge dumps of dirt, known as mullock heaps, dot the moon-like landscape. Because the opal mining is ongoing and that the ore-body is not depleted, miners do not rebury their dirt.
Due to the town’s history and lifestyle, visitors are often surprised to find there is a lot to see and do.
There are opal mine tours, two museums, several underground display homes, underground churches, a below-ground bar, an underground bookshop, restaurants and coffee shops, a well-supplied supermarket and a selection of tour operators.
Coober Pedy has an airport, a hospital and medical centre, and one of Australia’s 13 remaining drive-in theatres left in operation, with new-release feature films shown every Saturday night.
Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park is a scenic location where films have been shot including Mad Max 3, Red Planet, Pitch Black and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
And, of course, Coober Pedy probably has more opal shops per square kilometre than any other place on Earth.
Many people stay in the town as a “halfway” point between Adelaide and Alice Springs.
With a desert climate, it’s dry and hot in summer and cool and dry in the winter. The best time to visit is April-October, when the weather is mild.
