Coober Pedy
There is a lot to see if you look
2022
Eight hundred kms north of Adelaide, in South Australia, a small town stands in the Outback:Coober Pedy.
Its name comes from the Aboriginal term kupa-piti, meaning “white man’s hole”.The town is arid, flat and the heat can reach 45° in the shade during summer. It is home to 1500people and the majority of them live in underground homes called dugouts.
These excavated hollows in the sandstone offer residents a respite from the extreme conditions.The reason they exist is the same reason the town exists: opal mining.
Opal is one of the most valuable gemstones in the world. Its price can reach into the millions,depending on type, color, and weight.Black opal is the most prized opal, it can reach over AUD $15,000 a carat.
The gemstone was first found in Coober Pedy in 1915, leading to a mining boom as people came in search of their fortune. The most expensive recorded Australian Opal is the “Olympic Australis,” weighing an astonishing 17,250 carats.
This massive opal specimen comes from Coober Pedy and was valued at $1.7 million USD., making it the most expensive opal in Australian history.
It’s estimated that 95% of the world’s Opal comes from Australia and in particular 70% from Coober Pedy.
Each piece of Opal is “One Of A Kind” and can never be replicated or reproduced. The truly phenomenal thing about Opal is that it can display all of the colours of the spectrum. The “play of colour” found in Opal is the result of interference and diffraction of light passing through tiny silica spheres in the microstructure of Opal. This means the bright rainbow colours of Opal, as they appear to the human eye, will move and change dramatically depending on the angle at which the stone is viewed as light refracts the silica spheres.
.
Coober Pedy
There is a lot to see if you look
2022
Eight hundred kms north of Adelaide, in South Australia, a small town stands in the Outback:Coober Pedy.
Its name comes from the Aboriginal term kupa-piti, meaning “white man’s hole”.The town is arid, flat and the heat can reach 45° in the shade during summer. It is home to 1500people and the majority of them live in underground homes called dugouts.
These excavated hollows in the sandstone offer residents a respite from the extreme conditions.The reason they exist is the same reason the town exists: opal mining.
Opal is one of the most valuable gemstones in the world. Its price can reach into the millions,depending on type, color, and weight.Black opal is the most prized opal, it can reach over AUD $15,000 a carat.
The gemstone was first found in Coober Pedy in 1915, leading to a mining boom as people came in search of their fortune. The most expensive recorded Australian Opal is the “Olympic Australis,” weighing an astonishing 17,250 carats.
This massive opal specimen comes from Coober Pedy and was valued at $1.7 million USD., making it the most expensive opal in Australian history.
It’s estimated that 95% of the world’s Opal comes from Australia and in particular 70% from Coober Pedy.
Each piece of Opal is “One Of A Kind” and can never be replicated or reproduced. The truly phenomenal thing about Opal is that it can display all of the colours of the spectrum. The “play of colour” found in Opal is the result of interference and diffraction of light passing through tiny silica spheres in the microstructure of Opal. This means the bright rainbow colours of Opal, as they appear to the human eye, will move and change dramatically depending on the angle at which the stone is viewed as light refracts the silica spheres.
.
It’s 6.30am and I could not be more thrilled to be in this place that I have heard so many stories and seen so many pictures of. I have arrived here after a long drive through the South Australian desert and spent the first night in a caravan park where I slept in the car I hired in Adelaide. The sun is rising and the light is magical. The red earth of the desert glows with the early rays.
The town is still sleeping except for the two men sitting at a cafè under the sign “Waffles and Gems”. I stop and ask for a coffee, Jimmy (he is Scottish and owns the shop) asks me what brought me here. After two years of lockdown and the pandemic, they have not seen many people around. He is cold and distant but at the same time curious of my presence. After introducing myself, I grab the cup of coffee he has made for me and sit down with them. It is me, Jimmy and Dino. Shortly after, I will find out that Dino will be the encounter that made this story possible and so special for me. We start talking about the long drive that everyone has to do to get to Coober Pedy. I drove 650km in one go the day before. The desert gets drier and drier as you make your way up from Adelaide. It is a flat desert and most of the people I spoke to before embarking into this journey, warned me that I would have gotten bored driving. I have found it special. I was amazed by the feeling of driving for so long in a desert by yourself with nothing around. Jimmy agrees and points out, with his strong Scottish accent, that this is the reason why they love Coober Pedy. Being that isolated makes it special. “ I have driven on that road so many times, and what they told is wrong. There is a lot to see if you look”.
.
Early days of the Coober Pedy Italian Club. 1964.
We keep chatting for a while and it comes out that Dino’s mining partner, Raf, has Italian origins. I had to meet him. Dino gives him a quick call asking if he would be keen to meet me. Ten minutes later I am in Dino’s ute on our way to Raf’s dugout.
.
.
.
.
Mick, miner.
.
.
Phil in his container where he cuts and polishes his stones
Coober Pedy shooting club
.
.
Tristan was born in Coober Pedy, his Dad was a miner. He lived in Coober Pedy until he was 13 and moved to Adelaide to go to high school. He spent 20 years in Adelaide and he then dicided to move back to Coober Pedy. This is the new extension of his place. He’s planning on renovating and make it livable to welcome his wife to the new home.
Edi
.
.
.
.
.
.
Coober Pedy
There is a lot to see if you look
2022
Eight hundred kms north of Adelaide, in South Australia, a small town stands in the Outback:Coober Pedy.
Its name comes from the Aboriginal term kupa-piti, meaning “white man’s hole”.The town is arid, flat and the heat can reach 45° in the shade during summer. It is home to 1500people and the majority of them live in underground homes called dugouts.
These excavated hollows in the sandstone offer residents a respite from the extreme conditions.The reason they exist is the same reason the town exists: opal mining.
Opal is one of the most valuable gemstones in the world. Its price can reach into the millions,depending on type, color, and weight.Black opal is the most prized opal, it can reach over AUD $15,000 a carat.
The gemstone was first found in Coober Pedy in 1915, leading to a mining boom as people came in search of their fortune. The most expensive recorded Australian Opal is the “Olympic Australis,” weighing an astonishing 17,250 carats.
This massive opal specimen comes from Coober Pedy and was valued at $1.7 million USD., making it the most expensive opal in Australian history.
It’s estimated that 95% of the world’s Opal comes from Australia and in particular 70% from Coober Pedy.
Each piece of Opal is “One Of A Kind” and can never be replicated or reproduced. The truly phenomenal thing about Opal is that it can display all of the colours of the spectrum. The “play of colour” found in Opal is the result of interference and diffraction of light passing through tiny silica spheres in the microstructure of Opal. This means the bright rainbow colours of Opal, as they appear to the human eye, will move and change dramatically depending on the angle at which the stone is viewed as light refracts the silica spheres.
.
Coober Pedy
There is a lot to see if you look
2022
Eight hundred kms north of Adelaide, in South Australia, a small town stands in the Outback:Coober Pedy.
Its name comes from the Aboriginal term kupa-piti, meaning “white man’s hole”.The town is arid, flat and the heat can reach 45° in the shade during summer. It is home to 1500people and the majority of them live in underground homes called dugouts.
These excavated hollows in the sandstone offer residents a respite from the extreme conditions.The reason they exist is the same reason the town exists: opal mining.
Opal is one of the most valuable gemstones in the world. Its price can reach into the millions,depending on type, color, and weight.Black opal is the most prized opal, it can reach over AUD $15,000 a carat.
The gemstone was first found in Coober Pedy in 1915, leading to a mining boom as people came in search of their fortune. The most expensive recorded Australian Opal is the “Olympic Australis,” weighing an astonishing 17,250 carats.
This massive opal specimen comes from Coober Pedy and was valued at $1.7 million USD., making it the most expensive opal in Australian history.
It’s estimated that 95% of the world’s Opal comes from Australia and in particular 70% from Coober Pedy.
Each piece of Opal is “One Of A Kind” and can never be replicated or reproduced. The truly phenomenal thing about Opal is that it can display all of the colours of the spectrum. The “play of colour” found in Opal is the result of interference and diffraction of light passing through tiny silica spheres in the microstructure of Opal. This means the bright rainbow colours of Opal, as they appear to the human eye, will move and change dramatically depending on the angle at which the stone is viewed as light refracts the silica spheres.
.
It’s 6.30am and I could not be more thrilled to be in this place that I have heard so many stories and seen so many pictures of. I have arrived here after a long drive through the South Australian desert and spent the first night in a caravan park where I slept in the car I hired in Adelaide. The sun is rising and the light is magical. The red earth of the desert glows with the early rays.
It’s 6.30am and I could not be more thrilled to be in this place that I have heard so many stories and seen so many pictures of. I have arrived here after a long drive through the South Australian desert and spent the first night in a caravan park where I slept in the car I hired in Adelaide. The sun is rising and the light is magical. The red earth of the desert glows with the early rays.
The town is still sleeping except for the two men sitting at a cafè under the sign “Waffles and Gems”. I stop and ask for a coffee, Jimmy (he is Scottish and owns the shop) asks me what brought me here. After two years of lockdown and the pandemic, they have not seen many people around. He is cold and distant but at the same time curious of my presence. After introducing myself, I grab the cup of coffee he has made for me and sit down with them. It is me, Jimmy and Dino. Shortly after, I will find out that Dino will be the encounter that made this story possible and so special for me. We start talking about the long drive that everyone has to do to get to Coober Pedy. I drove 650km in one go the day before. The desert gets drier and drier as you make your way up from Adelaide. It is a flat desert and most of the people I spoke to before embarking into this journey, warned me that I would have gotten bored driving. I have found it special. I was amazed by the feeling of driving for so long in a desert by yourself with nothing around. Jimmy agrees and points out, with his strong Scottish accent, that this is the reason why they love Coober Pedy. Being that isolated makes it special. “ I have driven on that road so many times, and what they told is wrong. There is a lot to see if you look”.
.
The town is still sleeping except for the two men sitting at a cafè under the sign “Waffles and Gems”. I stop and ask for a coffee, Jimmy (he is Scottish and owns the shop) asks me what brought me here. After two years of lockdown and the pandemic, they have not seen many people around. He is cold and distant but at the same time curious of my presence. After introducing myself, I grab the cup of coffee he has made for me and sit down with them. It is me, Jimmy and Dino. Shortly after, I will find out that Dino will be the encounter that made this story possible and so special for me. We start talking about the long drive that everyone has to do to get to Coober Pedy. I drove 650km in one go the day before. The desert gets drier and drier as you make your way up from Adelaide. It is a flat desert and most of the people I spoke to before embarking into this journey, warned me that I would have gotten bored driving. I have found it special. I was amazed by the feeling of driving for so long in a desert by yourself with nothing around. Jimmy agrees and points out, with his strong Scottish accent, that this is the reason why they love Coober Pedy. Being that isolated makes it special. “ I have driven on that road so many times, and what they told is wrong. There is a lot to see if you look”.
.
Early days of the Coober Pedy Italian Club. 1964.
Early days of the Coober Pedy Italian Club. 1964.
We keep chatting for a while and it comes out that Dino’s mining partner, Raf, has Italian origins. I had to meet him. Dino gives him a quick call asking if he would be keen to meet me. Ten minutes later I am in Dino’s ute on our way to Raf’s dugout.
We keep chatting for a while and it comes out that Dino’s mining partner, Raf, has Italian origins. I had to meet him. Dino gives him a quick call asking if he would be keen to meet me. Ten minutes later I am in Dino’s ute on our way to Raf’s dugout.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mick, miner.
.
Mick, miner.
.
.
.
Phil in his container where he cuts and polishes his stones
Phil in his container where he cuts and polishes his stones
Coober Pedy shooting club
.
Coober Pedy shooting club
.
.
.
Tristan was born in Coober Pedy, his Dad was a miner. He lived in Coober Pedy until he was 13 and moved to Adelaide to go to high school. He spent 20 years in Adelaide and he then dicided to move back to Coober Pedy. This is the new extension of his place. He’s planning on renovating and make it livable to welcome his wife to the new home.
Tristan was born in Coober Pedy, his Dad was a miner. He lived in Coober Pedy until he was 13 and moved to Adelaide to go to high school. He spent 20 years in Adelaide and he then dicided to move back to Coober Pedy. This is the new extension of his place. He’s planning on renovating and make it livable to welcome his wife to the new home.
Edi
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Edi
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© 2024
© 2024
© 2024