Day 24 - Coober Pedy

This morning we headed to the Old Timers Mine for a self guided tour of a 1916 opal mine and the old dugouts where the miners lived underground.  The museum also featured some artefacts from the region including an old movie projector from the drive-in which last showed Crocodile Dundee.
After the tour we fossicked for opals in the "noodling" area out front.  In the afternoon we visited Umoona Opal Mine and Museum for a documentary and guided tour, covering both historic and modern mining techniques and showing the inside of a modern dugout home, which are common in the area and can be bought for around $70 000.  The temperature underground is a constant approx 24 degrees and adding an extra room can be build in approximately 2 hours with a tunneling machine.  The walls and ceilings are lacquered to prevent dust and the floor substrate is leveled with concrete. Afterwards we took in some of the sights of Coober Pedy including the Big Winch, at which there are panoramic views of Coober Pedy.

We have also stocked up on fresh meat and groceries as tomorrow we are heading further north into the Territory.  Coober Pedy is a great place to visit and has a frontier town feel to it that leaves you feeling that there are still fortunes to be made in the desert surrounding the town.