Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a very small town with a big reputation for being the most eccentric place in Australia, if not the world. There is very little about Coober Pedy that can be described as normal, and it the town's uniqueness, and not just the quality of the opals mined around the town, that has made it a magnet for outback travellers.

Where is it?: Outback South Australia. halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs, Coober Pedy is situated in northern South Australia, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway.




This opal mining town has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since the completion of the sealing of the Stuart Highway in 1987.

While many visitors come for the opals, the majority come to experience the eccenticity. For starters, the first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town.

The local golf course - mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime temperatures - is completely free of grass and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off.


In Coober Pedy, just about everybody lives below ground, mostly in old mines refurbished. Even the local church is underground. Below the surface remains at a constant temperature, whereas surface living needs air-conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).


Coober Pedy: If you are a golfer, next time you are in Coober Pedy, we recommend you grab a set of golf clubs and try your hand at a round on the Coober Pedy Opal Fields golf course. It's devoid of a single blade of grass, so you'll also need to hire a square of artificial green to carry around with you to tee off on. The golf club's main claim to fame (apart from its rather unusual playing surface) is that it is the only club in the world that is affiliated to the prestigious St Andrew's in Scotland. An exchange of tongue-in-cheek letters between the clubs, and the rights to an opal mine being used as a bribe, resulted in Coober Pedy's members being allowed to play on one of St Andrews' minor greens during the month of January only.

The Breakaways

Painted Desert and The Breakaways: The Arckaringa Hills, north of Coober Pedy, are part of South Australia's arid landscape described as Breakaway Country. These hills, in the region known as the Painted Desert, is an ancient, rugged landscape. Laid down by a vast inland sea, they are an area of striking scenic value, with a range of red, brown and yellow bands in the cliff formations.

Moon Plain

Movie country: The hinterland around Coober Pedy, notably the Breakaways and Moon Plain, looks more like the surface of the moon than mother earth. For this reason, it has featured as backdrops in films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Red Planet, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Salute of the Jugger which made considerable use of locals as extras.

A scene from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, shot on Moon Plain

Coober Pedy also featured in the second season of the TV series, The Amazing Race. The music video for INXS's Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) was shot at Moon Plains. The town is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders' 1999 film Until the End of the World.

A spaceship created for the Vin Diesel Sci Fi movie, Pitch Black, is parked by the gents toilets

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

How to get there: The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide. The Ghan serves the town through the Manguri Siding, 42km from Coober Pedy, which is served by trains twice 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.

Origin of name: The name comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means 'boys' waterhole'.

Brief history: Aboriginal people have a long-standing connection with the area. The first European to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was John McDouall Stuart in 1858, but the town was not established until after 1915, when opal was discovered by Willie Hutchinson. Miners first moved in around about 1916.

Content © 2016 Australia For Everyone | Email us