Couper Pedy City in Australia: underground capital of opal. Underground city of Coober Pedy City underground in Australia

10.04.2021

The older generation people probably remember the Soviet film "Kin-Dza-Dza". There was an episode where the main characters are brought to the city. But there are no cities as such. There are only small pipes sticking in the middle of a deserted landscape. People in this film (at least some part of them) lived under the ground, and the pipes served for ventilation. Whole settlements lived literally in the ground, only occasionally chosen on the surface.

So the cinent town has a completely real prototype. This is the Minor City of Couper Pedy, located approximately in the center of South Australia. He lies on the Mountain Range of Stuart, 300 kilometers from Lake Air National Park. The neighborhood of the city is a desert and deserted landscape. A hundred kilometers around a lumpy area. Until Adelaide (the largest city and fifth city in Australia) you need to get 850 kilometers south on the highway Stewart.

Couper pedi on the map

Geographic coordinates -29.010474, 134.757343
Distance from the capital of Australia Canberra about 1550 km
Distance to the nearest airport Sedune about 360 km

All distances are "in a straight line"

And people really live there underground, in specially dug apartments. The decision to live under the layer of land is dictated by local natural conditions. In the afternoon, the air warms up to 40 o C, and by night the temperature can be lowered to 7 o C. The sharp drops of temperatures make life on the surface is not entirely comfortable. And the periodic sandy storms exacerbate the situation.

Here we could not not retreat from the topic. It seemed to us that these "terribly severe", rightly unbearable conditions are not so terrible. Read about the Cold Pole in the Russian Oymyakne. So there the conditions are really unrealistic. There, even tires on cars can crumble like chocolate, and the temperature in minus 40-50 is quite familiar.

What was in principle forced to leave people underground in the Cover-Pedy? After all, Australia is a wonderful mainland, here there are many places much more suitable for life. Take at least Highams Beach - a beach with perfect white sand. Spit in the sand and look at the ocean. Or Fraser Island, where for a hundred years of sand leads a fight with a rainforest. But no, people pull into the wilderness, and even under the ground. The answer is really simple. Here are huge reserves of precious mineral. Opal - That's why people still live here. It is mined here since 1915.

This is how opal looks

In general, for the first time a simple opal was found in these places in 1849 in the midst of the gold fever. And the full-scale development of deposits began in 1915, when there was already noble opal here. According to scientists, it is about 30% of all world stocks of this valuable mineral. Therefore, the Couper Pedi is also called the world capital Opal. Opal is widely used in jewelry.

Miners adapted to live in dugouts. There was a temperature almost always about 22 ° C. Frequently, the miners went straight from the house, for this there were tunnels directly into the mine. The workers went on whole houses underground, and perfectly lived in them. In addition to housing, there is a bar, a museum, church, a gallery of artistic arts and even a hotel for tourists who want to feel about it, to live underground.

The development of technology and technologies allowed the greater half of the inhabitants to move to the surface, but there are citizens who still live under the ground. And they live very well. In their house there is everything you need for a comfortable stay - kitchen, living room, bedrooms and even bathrooms. Naturally there is electricity, water supply and sewage. They have such apartments called "dugout" and are performed in two versions. Natural and modern. In the first version of the walls of housing only strengthen with special impregnation or emulsion for ordinary PVA glue. This prevents their sleeping and eliminates dust. In addition, such design creates the illusion of primitive. You can take pigments and rushing on the walls of mammoths, or in our case Konguru. Modern design involves the creation of familiar rooms, but only under the ground. Paul, walls and ceiling in this case are aligned, plastering and poured. As a result, it turns out quite modern dwelling. Its subterraffic is only the lack of windows. At the beginning of the tradition, two windows were made near the entrance door, but then the temperature balance was disturbed in the room. True now this problem is solved by installing the air conditioner. Everything else, as in any modern house. Sometimes both styles are combined and you can get from the trendy and modern living room in the primitive bedroom.

translated from the language of the local tribe, the Coober Pedy means "Nora of a White Man" or "Underground White Man"
an extraterrestrial desert landscapes became natural scenery to some famous films. In particular, the scenes from blockbusters "Mad Max. Under the thunder dome, "and" black hole "were filmed here. Nearby even preserved a whole strip from the film "Black Hole"

a number of festivals are held in the city: races in the Couper Pedy, the queen of the desert and the festival of opal. And still all the inhabitants are going annually to celebrate the end of summer with noisy celebrations.
according to 2011 in the town of the town lived a little less than 1,700 people
in 1956, the largest opal was found in the Kouber-Pedy district. Its dimensions of 28 x 12 x 11.5 cm. Weight 17,000 carat or 3,45 kilogram usual. Appreciated the find of 2.5 million Australian dollars. Named this nugget Olympic Australian opal (in the original The Olympic Australis Opal) in honor of the Olympic Games in Melbourne
there is an underground cemetery in the city
there is no water in the Cover-Pedy. Multiple people tried to bury wells, but it did not work out to get to the water. The region cannot boast and abundant precipitation - they are usually falling no more than 150 mm per year. Water enters the water supply in a length of 24 km from a small settlement nearby (on the map this settlement could not be found if you have data on this issue - please let us know)

Couper pedi photo

In one of the most arid corners of Australia, where sandy storms are coming instead of rains, and there are no water even under the ground, the Australians have equipped an underground city with all attributes of public life.

In the state of South Australia, the Eastern Border of the Big Desert Victoria is the city of Coober Pedi. He received its name from Aboriginal, who ordered the settlement of new Australians in their original lands of the "White Man". And the city itself arose as a village of miners. In 1915, a noble opal was discovered in the Stuart Ridge, and later it turned out that the layers of precious stone were locked here, the volume of 30% of world stocks.

From the heat underground

The climatic conditions of Coober Pedy are very severe. The weighting heat is replaced by a sharp drop in the temperature at night. The temperature difference reaches 20 degrees. On the surface of a person fill the clouds of flies. Sand storms often occur in the additives. To hide from the heat and all-pervading sand, the first settlers of the Miner's settlement began to equip their homes in the spent mines. Features of the development of the opal deposits required shallow horizontal mines in the form of tunnels with branches. In such sleeves and began to settle miners with families.

Underground equipped real apartments from several rooms. To save the coolness, one or two windows near the entrance door usually cut out, so the air temperature was naturally maintained about 22-24 degrees.

Under the ground, churches, shops, workshops, cemetery were built.

Nowadays, the few residents of the city live in underground dwellings and ground, with installed air conditioners to create a comfortable atmosphere. Dropped houses are fully equipped with modern means of comfort - sewage, electricity, plumbing. There is even a choice in the finishing of the premises - natural when the walls cut into the stone of the premises are simply covered with a special composition for purity, and modern - stone walls are trimmed with plasterboard, and such a house is indistinguishable from other houses in Australia.

The main treasure

As mentioned, the city arose at the Opalov deposit. There is a museum, shops, hotels, a small local airport. Film films often remove the fantastic surrounding landscapes. In the city and the surroundings about this remind the preserved residues of scenery, different mechanisms and aircraft.

But the main treasure in these desert lands is water. The nearest artesian well awards are 25 km from Couper Pedy. Closer how much I was looking for - there is no water. In former times, the water was given here with a view of the caravans and it was appreciated by the weight of gold. Modern inhabitants of the city receive water from the laid water supply, but its price is much higher than in other regions of the country.

Rail trees grow in the city - the decoration of familiar forms
The most common form of vegetation - cacti
Dugout dugout dugout
Churches are open for free visits, the main thing, going out Do not forget to turn off the light, as requested signs at the entrance
The general population of the city consists of 45 nationalities
Blower - Vacuum cleaner machine for suction of rocks from mine on the surface

How to get

Couper Pedy is located next to the steart motorway, between Adelaide and Alice Springs. To the nearest city, Port Augusta, 500 kilometers.

In Couper-Pedy, it is convenient to call on a tour of the road to the Red Center from Adelaide. If you wish in an underground city, you can stay at night in the local underground hotel. If you are traveling in Australia, you will certainly use the stewart motorway, which crosses the mainland from the south to the north, passing through the states of South Australia and the northern territories, to drive past the Couper-Pedy is simply impossible.

In the central part of Australia there is a small mining town of Coober Pedy, one of whose main attractions are his underground houses. The city is known as the world capital of the opal, because it is here that about 30% of the global reserves of these stones are concentrated, more than anywhere on the planet. I suggest you make a small photo progress in the world capital of opal.

Most likely and the name of the city of Couper Pedy is connected with his unusual houses underground. In the language of Aboriginal Kupa-Piti, from which the name of the Cubeber-Pedy is the "hole of a white man". About 1700 people will live in the city, who are mainly engaged in the extraction of opals, and their homes are nothing more than underground holes, made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters.

It is located in South Australia, on the edge of the big desert Victoria, in one of the most deserted and incomplete places of the continent. At the beginning of the 20th century, the prey of noble opals began, 30% of the global reserves of which focused on the territory of the Cuber Pedy. Due to the constant heat, droughts and frequent sandy storms, the prospectors and their families initially began to settle in the dwellings, cut down in the mountainside - it was often possible to get into the mine directly from the house. The temperature in such a "apartment" did not exceed 22 ° C all year round, and the level of comfort is not much inferior to the traditional "ground" homes - there were bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms. But the windows did no more than two - otherwise the summer became too hot.

Due to the lack of underground sewage in the Coober Pedy, a restroom and a kitchen in homes are immediately at the entrance, i.e. At the ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors root are usually deeper. The ceilings in large rooms support columns, the diameter of which reaches up to 1 meter.

The construction of the house in the Couper Pedy can even make his owner rich, because there is the largest deposit of precious opals. At the deposit in Australia, mainly in the Couper Pedy, accounts for 97 percent of the global production of this mineral. A few years ago, during the drilling of the underground hotel, stones were found worth about 360 thousand dollars.

Roofs Coober Pedy. The usual sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are the ventilation holes sticking out of the ground.

The opal deposit in Couper Pedy was discovered in 1915. A year later, the first miners began to come there. It is believed that about 60 percent of the inhabitants of the Couper Pedy - these were people from South and Eastern Europe, which came there after the Second World War to work in mines. For almost a hundred years, this city is the world's largest manufacturer of high quality opals.

Since the 1980s, when an underground hotel was built in Couper Pedy, thousands of tourists are visited annually. One of the most visited places in the city of Opaalov became the house of the newly deceased of his famous resident in the nicknamer Crocodile Harry - Eccentric, an alcohol lover and an adventure seeker who became famous for his numerous love stakes.

In the photo: Underground Church in the Couper Pedy.

Both the city and its suburbs, for various reasons, very photogenic, so attract the cinematographers there. Coober Pedy became a place of filming in 2006 by the Australian Drama "Opal Dream". Also in the underground houses of the city, the scenes were removed for the film "Mad Max. Under the thunder dome. "

The regenerative amount of precipitation in the Cover-Pedy is only 175 mm (in the middle lane in Europe, for example, about 600 mm). This is one of the most arid regions of Australia. It almost does not happen to rain here, therefore the vegetation is very scarce. In the city, not to find high trees, only rare shrubs and cacti are growing.

Residents, however, do not complain about the lack of entertainment outdoors. They spend their free time on the game of golf, though due to heat they have to play at night.

Two churches, shops with souvenirs, jewelry workshop, museum and bar are also located in Couper Pedy underground.

Couper Pedy is located 846 kilometers north of Adelaide - the capital of South Australia.

In the coober pedi desert climate. In the summer, from December to February, the average temperature is 30 ° C, and sometimes it reaches up to 40 ° C. At night, the temperature is greatly reduced, about 20 ° C. Sand storms are also possible here.

Underground souvenir shop in Coober Pedy.

From the heat, the townspeople are saved, swarm at home underground.

Underground bar in Couper Pedy.

Such beautiful precious minerals are mined in the Cover-Pedy - the city, which is called the "world capital of opal".

Some descendants of the prospectors prefer to issue their underground houses "A la Naturel" - they cover the walls and ceiling with a solution of PVA to get rid of dust, while maintaining the natural color and texture of natural stone. Proponents of modern solutions in the interior cover the walls and ceiling by plaster, after which the underground housing becomes almost indistinguishable from the usual one. And those and others do not refuse such a pleasant little things as the underground pool - in one of the hottest places on the planet, this is especially pleasant "luxury".

In addition to the dwelling in Cubeber-Pedy there are underground shops and museums, galleries and workshops, restaurants and a hotel, a cemetery and church (including Orthodox!). But there are little trees and flowers here - a hot dry climate of these places can only carry cactuses and other succulents. In spite of this. The city has golf courses with mobile grass.

Couper Pedy is the invariable item of many tourist routes in Australia. Interest in the underground city is heated by the fact that in Cubeber-Pedy filmed such films as "Mad Max 3: Under the Thunder Dome", "Adventures of Priscillas, Queen of the Desert" and "Black Hole". And on the edge of the world capital Opalov is the largest livestock farm in the world and the well-known "Dingo fence" with a length of 8,500 kilometers.

The city is famous for his opala, it is the capital of Opal-Stone, casting with all the colors of the rainbow. Deal developments a little less than 100 years old, their deposits were accidentally open when looking for water in 1915. The noble opal is distinguished by iris game, the cause of which is the diffraction of light on the spatial grid and its value is determined not by its size, but a unique color game. The more rays, the more expensive opal. One of the legends of the Aborigines says that "the spirits have long been kidnapped by all colors from the rainbow and put them in a stone - opal", on the other - that the creator came down from heaven to Earth and where his leg came down, stones that iridescent of all colors appeared Rainbow. Only private entrepreneurs are engaged in the extraction of opal. Nevertheless, this industry brings the Australian economy about $ 30 million annually.

The Kuber-Pedy Area is the most out of the most arid, deserted and unclosed in Australia. On average, for the year falls only about 150 mm. Precipitation, and very large difference in day and night temperatures.

If you bring to fly over the coober pedies, then you will not see the usual building of the building, but only dumps of rocks with thousands of pits and hilly on the background of rocky red desert, which creates an unearthly landscape, a stunning imagination. Each hilly-cone with a hole in the middle, visible on the surface, is connected by a mine with an underground world.

More than the first settlers understood that in view of adverse weather conditions, when the earth is raised in the sun in the sun and on the surface of the heat reaches 40 degrees Celsius, and at night the temperature drops sharply up to 20 degrees (and sandy storms are possible) - you can live under the ground in the shaft trunks Mining opal. The constant temperature of underground houses is kept in the area + 22-24 degrees at any time of the year. Today, more than 45 nationalities live in the city, but most part are the Greeks. The population of the city is 1,695 people.

Water comes from a bored 25 km. From the city of Artesian well and relatively expensive. There is no common power system in Couper-Pedi. Electricity is made by diesel generators, and heating is carried out by solar water heating batteries. At night, when the heat falls, the inhabitants are playing golf with balls glowing in the dark.

Previously, the development of opals was carried out by hand - kirk, shovels, and the breed was pulled out with buckets until they found the opal core, on which he was crawled in Plastanski. Almost all the shafts are shallow and the main passages in them are laid by drill cars, which break through horizontal tunnels height into human growth and from it - branches in different directions. These are almost homemade devices - the engine and gearbox from a small truck. Then the so-called "fleeor" is used - the car with a powerful compressor installed on it, which is lowered into the pipe, as a vacuum cleaner, sucks the rock and boulders to the surface, and when the compressor is turned off, the barrel opens, it turns out a new mini-holmik.

At the entrance to the city there was a huge sign with a fleeuer machine.

Finally, I got to photographs of COOBER PEDY (Cuber-Pedy). We drove it earlier when they were still traveling on the staff of South Australia.

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

This is an amazing city. We had very pleasant memories about it.

COOBER PEDY is called the "opal capital of the world", and in the language of the Aboriginal means "white man in the pit."

Up to 90% of the global production of noble opal, accounted for Australia, and about three quarters of this number comes from South Australia.

At first glance, COOBER PEDY, much different from other mining towns. The ground roads crosses the entire territory and the dumps of the spent breed are visible. But there are neither tips nor lifts over mines and there are no buildings.

Strange round chilms with a hole in the middle, create the impression of a volcanic area, destroyed by small ashist cones.

Each of these small holmikov is connected by a mine with a whole underground world.

Soft, sandstone breeds of the desert, it is completely difficult to dig with the help of kirk and shovels, although they are used here and explosives. Most opals are found at a depth of up to 24 m, but many developments are much smaller. Each diligence allocates a small area on which it works. Technique, mostly, traditional. The prospecter goes his land plot, hoping to find a large custody that will bring him a condition.

In addition, the houses of local residents, Dugout (Dugout) are greatly popular, are tremendous, dugout - underground dwellings in which natural temperature control is carried out.

Another first prospectors have realized that it is relatively conveniently convenient to get underground, in housing, which are almost nothing. As for their successors, they live in contemporary underground comfort. Many of their homes are very high and just luxurious, and some have even underground pools.

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

It should be noted that in the Cover-Pedy there is absolutely no water - how much they drowned, they have not reached the water. If we take into account that this is one of the most lowborn regions of Australia, it will be clear that initially the water was very expensive, because it was delivered for many kilometers with a binding animals, mainly camels. Currently, the water pipe is carried out, but the water is still relative to the road ($ 5 per 1000 liters).

Coober Pedy is one of the hottest places on the planet. And in the underground house, the temperature is held all year round at 22-26 degrees. In one of these houses we were prey to visit. 60% of the city's population live under Earth.

Host home is the name of George Russell (George). He is the owner of the Oasis tourist park

A good man, very sociable. Made a decent discount when we stayed in his motel on the first night.

Nutro, George showed his home.

This is a living room.

Indeed, very pleasant coolness, after the burning sun.

This is a guest house. On the right of the forester, there is a kitchen and 2 rooms of the host house.

Left from stairs 3 guest bedrooms, toilet and bathroom.

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

Very cozy and comfortable.

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

There are not only underground houses in the town, but also numerous underground hotels, restaurants, shops and even churches.

In 1988, the world's first underground hotel was solemnly opened. This hotel has become so popular that many local residents 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, which we saw the Radeka Down Under Motel, is located on the main street of the city.

This is a middle class motel.

On the clock 11 in the morning, and already +36.

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

Very colorful uncle.

There are rooms in Rock, and rooms with 6.5 meters near Earth.

We chose a number, of course, under the ground. There is much more interesting to sleep.

It was a valid mining mine in the 1960s.

And in the mid-80s, the mine was converted to the underground complex - the motel.

The cost of living in a motel from $ 32.

This is our room. They took it for $ 70 (by $ 10 made a discount).

Everything is very simple. There is everything you need here. The very fact that you sleep underground, already sounds unusual. And most importantly, what is cooler here than at the top. And it was one of the reasons, because of which we descended underground.

In general, in this room we slept well. The only inconvenience is a strong hearing. I heard all the neighbors. Therefore, here you need to settle the one who has iron nerves and good sleep. Gabriel, for example, slept good. And I, midnight listened to the snoring of a neighbor and crying a little baby. So, if anyone needs to sleep, set up at the top in the rock.

In these rooms, mostly students are stopped who have no money to the room, or single tired travelers who quickly fall asleep, and do not hear anything.

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

To be continued…

To see photos in a large size, click on them 1-2 times.

They live under the ground, in their gardens they grow cacti, and they play golf at night - the life of the inhabitants of a small town in the Australian desert looks like. We are talking about the world capital of opals - the mining town of Coober Pedy (COOBER PEDY). Residents of the town located in the southern part of the Australian desert, temperatures in which in the summer sometimes exceed 40 ° C in the shade, found a simple way to cope with heat. In their homes, even in the most terrible heat is always cool, but not at all because they use air conditioners, moreover, they do not need to wash windows or hang on them blindness to avoid curious views of the neighbors, and all because residents of Couper Pedi build their homes ... underground.

Let's look at the opal underground city of Couper Pedy.

Most likely the name of the city is connected with his unusual houses underground. In the language of Aboriginal Kupa-Piti, from which the name of the Cubeber-Pedy is the "hole of a white man". About 1700 people will live in the city, who are mainly engaged in the extraction of opals, and their homes are nothing more than underground holes, made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters. (Photo: Les Pullen / South Cape Photography).

Due to the lack of underground sewage, restroom and kitchen in homes are immediately at the entrance, i.e. At the ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors root are usually deeper. The ceilings in large rooms support columns, the diameter of which reaches up to 1 meter. (Photo: Les Pullen / South Cape Photography).

The construction of the house in the Couper Pedy can even make his owner rich, because there is the largest deposit of precious opals. At the Deposit in Australia, mainly in the Coober Pedy, accounts for 97 percent of the global mining of this mineral. A few years ago, during the drilling of the underground hotel, stones were found worth about 360 thousand dollars. (Photo: Les Pullen / South Cape Photography).

Roofs Coober Pedy. The usual sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are the ventilation holes sticking out of the ground. (Photo: Robyn Brody / Flickr.com).

Residents, however, do not complain about the lack of entertainment outdoors. They spend their free time on the game of golf, though due to heat they have to play at night. (Photo: Les Pullen / South Cape Photography).

Two churches, shops with souvenirs, jewelry workshop, museum and bar are also located in Couper Pedy underground. (Photo: Nicholas Jones / Flickr.com).

Couper Pedy is located 846 kilometers north of Adelaide - the capital of South Australia. (Photo: Georgie Sharp / Flickr.com).

Underground souvenir shop in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Lodo27 / Wikimedia).

From the heat, the townspeople are saved, swarm at home underground. (Photo: LODO27 / Wikimedia).

Underground bar in Couper Pedy. (Photo: Les Pullen / South Cape Photography).

Such beautiful precious minerals are mined in the Cover-Pedy - the city, which is called the "world capital of opal". (Photo: James St. John / Flickr.com).

The Kubeber Pedy Area is one of the most arid, deserted and unclosed in Australia. On average, for the year falls only about 150 mm. Precipitation, and very large difference in day and night temperatures.

Previously, the development of opals was carried out by hand - kirk, shovels, and the breed was pulled out with buckets until they found the opal core, on which he was crawled in Plastanski. Almost all the shafts are shallow and the main passages in them are laid by drill cars, which break through horizontal tunnels height into human growth and from it - branches in different directions. These are almost homemade devices - the engine and gearbox from a small truck. Then the so-called "blouer" is used - the car with a powerful compressor installed on it, which is lowered into the pipe with a vacuum cleaner, sucks the breed and boulders to the surface, and when the compressor is turned off, the barrel opens: a new mini-holmik is obtained.

At the entrance to the city there was a huge sign with a fleeuer machine.