Coober Pedy
| Coober Pedy South Australia | |
|---|---|
 The town of Coober Pedy | |
  Coober Pedy | |
| Coordinates | 29°0′40″S 134°45′20″E / 29.01111°S 134.75556°ECoordinates: 29°0′40″S 134°45′20″E / 29.01111°S 134.75556°E |
| Population | 1,695 (2011)[1] |
| Established | 1915 |
| Postcode(s) | 5723 |
| Location | 846 km (526 mi) from Adelaide |
| LGA(s) | District Council of Coober Pedy |
| Federal Division(s) | Grey |
Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km (526 mi) north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. According to the 2011 census, its population was 1,695 (953 males, 742 females, including 275 indigenous Australians).[1] The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences, called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. The name "Coober Pedy" comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means "boys’ waterhole".[2]
Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality opal. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Coober Pedy has over seventy opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the world.
Overview
Aboriginal people have a long-standing connection with the area. The first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was Scottish-born John McDouall Stuart in 1858, but the town was not established until after 1915, when opal was discovered by Wille Hutchison.[3] Miners first moved in about 1916. By 1999, there were more than 250,000 mine shaft entrances in the area and a law discouraged large-scale mining by allowing each prospector a 165-square-foot (15.3 m2) claim.[4]
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.
Coober Pedy is a very small town, about halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs. It has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since 1987, when the sealing of the Stuart Highway was completed.
Visitors attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard and the underground churches (the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church).[5] The first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town.
Heritage sites
Coober Pedy has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- 13 Hutchison Street: Three-Roomed Dugout [6]
- 9 Hutchison Street: Coober Pedy Catholic Church and Presbytery [7]
Population
The District Council of Coober Pedy estimates the population to be around 3,500. Approximately 60% of the people are European, migrating from southern and eastern Europe after the Second World War. In all, there are more than 45 nationalities represented.
Sport and recreation
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. 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.[8]
The town also has an Australian rules football club, the Coober Pedy Saints, who were created in 2004 and compete in the Far North Football League (formerly the Woomera & Districts Football League). Due to the town's extreme 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.
Climate
Coober Pedy has a desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). Between April and October, the weather is very mild. Typical of a semi-desert climate, the days are warm, but the desert nights are cool. From December to February, the weather warms up and summer temperatures range from 35 °C (95 °F) in the shade, with occasional dust storms. The annual rainfall in this area is minimal, at around 175 millimetres (6.9 in) per annum.[9][10]
| Climate data for Coober Pedy Airport | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 47.1 (116.8) |
47.0 (116.6) |
43.9 (111) |
41.5 (106.7) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.1 (89.8) |
30.1 (86.2) |
33.6 (92.5) |
39.4 (102.9) |
44.8 (112.6) |
45.4 (113.7) |
45.1 (113.2) |
47.1 (116.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 36.7 (98.1) |
35.3 (95.5) |
31.5 (88.7) |
27.2 (81) |
22.0 (71.6) |
18.4 (65.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
20.9 (69.6) |
25.5 (77.9) |
28.3 (82.9) |
31.9 (89.4) |
34.1 (93.4) |
27.5 (81.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 22.2 (72) |
21.6 (70.9) |
18.2 (64.8) |
14.2 (57.6) |
10.0 (50) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.4 (43.5) |
7.6 (45.7) |
11.2 (52.2) |
14.0 (57.2) |
17.7 (63.9) |
19.8 (67.6) |
14.1 (57.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 12.0 (53.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
9.2 (48.6) |
1.5 (34.7) |
2.0 (35.6) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
0.9 (33.6) |
2.9 (37.2) |
5.5 (41.9) |
7.1 (44.8) |
10.1 (50.2) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 13.1 (0.516) |
14.9 (0.587) |
9.4 (0.37) |
6.3 (0.248) |
8.7 (0.343) |
12.9 (0.508) |
5.2 (0.205) |
6.5 (0.256) |
7.5 (0.295) |
12.2 (0.48) |
12.8 (0.504) |
19.4 (0.764) |
129.5 (5.098) |
| Average precipitation days | 1.9 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 38.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 18 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 33 | 41 | 37 | 29 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 26 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology[11] | |||||||||||||
Terrain
Coober Pedy is situated upon the edge of the erosional scarp of the Stuart Ranges, on beds of sand 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, the sandstone and lack of topsoil.
Transport
The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide. The Ghan serves the town through the Manguri Siding, 42 kilometres (26 mi) 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.[12]
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.[13]
Regional Express also has direct flights to Adelaide, from Coober Pedy Airport.
| Preceding station | Great Southern Railway | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
towards Darwin | The Ghan | towards Adelaide |
||
Minerals
In May 2009 South Australian Premier Mike Rann opened the $1.15 billion Prominent Hill Mine, 130 kilometres (81 mi) South East of Coober Pedy. The copper-gold mine is operated by OZ Minerals.[14] In August 2010 Premier Rann opened the Cairn Hill iron ore/copper/gold mine operated by IMX Resources near Coober Pedy. It was the first new iron ore mining area opened in South Australia since the 19th Century.[15] Due to low iron ore prices, the Cairn Hill mine was closed in June 2014.[16]
Oil reserves
In 2013 it was reported that a potentially very significant tight oil (oil trapped in oil-bearing shales) resource has been found near Coober Pedy in the Arckaringa Basin.[17] This resource is estimated to hold between 3.5 and 223 billion barrels (560×106 and 35,450×106 m3) of oil, which provides the potential for Australia to become a net oil exporter.[18][19]
In popular culture
Both the town and its hinterland, for different reasons, are very photogenic and have therefore attracted film makers. The town itself was the setting for the 2006 film Opal Dream and is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders' 1991 film Until the End of the World.[20][21]
Its environment also attracted movie producers, with parts of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black having been filmed in the area.
- An episode of Dirty Jobs: Down Under with Mike Rowe visited Coober Pedy.
- The town was featured in an episode of House Hunters Off the Grid called "Cave Me, Maybe in Coober Pedy, Australia" on HGTV.
- Coober Pedy was also featured in Top Gear Australia, where Steve and Warren put two city cars on the mail run from Coober Pedy to William Creek via the Oodnadatta Track.[22]
In philately
A rare exhibition cachet, signed by Coober Pedy Postmaster Alfred P. North, was discovered in Memphis, Tennessee on February 3, 2016.
To date, it is the only known example of this cachet in the world. [23] [24]
See also
References
- 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Coober Pedy (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ↑ Place Names of South Australia
- ↑ Henderson Henderson. "District Council of Coober Pedy - Welcome to the Opal Capital of the World".
- ↑ Smith, R. Australia: Journey Through a Timeless Land. National Geographic Society, 1999. p 118.
- ↑ "Coober Pedy Attractions" (PDF). Coober Pedy Visitors Information Center. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ "Three-roomed dugout, including the ground within two metres of the dugout space". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ↑ "Coober Pedy Catholic Church & Presbytery". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ↑ Lane, James M. (2008). Moon Living Abroad in Australia. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-59880-139-2.
- ↑ Coober Pedy Visitor Information Centre > Climate Accessed 13 July 2014.
- ↑ CooberPedy.com.au > Coober Pedy weather Accessed 15 July 2014.
- ↑ "Coober Pedy Airport". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ↑ Great Southern Railway, "Q&A". Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ↑ "The Mail Run Tour".
- ↑ Christopher Russell (May 25, 2009). "Prominent Hill open for business". The Advertiser. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ↑ "IMX Celebrates Opening of SA's First Iron Ore Mining District Since 19th Century" (PDF) (Press release). IMX Resources. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ↑ Cairn Hill iron ore miner IMX Resources to close South Australian office, focus on Tanzanian exploration The Advertiser, 3 September 2014. Accessed 4 September 2014.
- ↑ "Major oil discovery in outback SA". Yahoo7 Finance Australia. 24 January 2013.
- ↑ England, Cameron (24 January 2013). "$20 trillion shale oil find surrounding Coober Pedy 'can fuel Australia'". Herald Sun. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
- ↑ "$20 trillion shale oil find surrounding Coober Pedy 'can fuel Australia'". NewsComAu.
- ↑ Gluckman, Ron. "Home Under the Range". Ron Gluckman in Cyberspace. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ↑ "Coober Pedy". RockWalk Park. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ↑ ""Top Gear Australia" Episode #2.7 (TV Episode 2009)". IMDb.
- ↑ "Jennifer Davison - The Royal Coober Pedy Historical Society". Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ↑ Owens, David. "Connecting Wynne to the World". Wynne Progress. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coober Pedy. |
-
Coober Pedy travel guide from Wikivoyage - Coober Pedy Information
- Official website from The District Council of Coober Pedy & the Coober Pedy Retail Business & Tourism Association
- Photographs of Coober Pedy in 1994, National Library of Australia