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Post by biteybird on Jul 14, 2015 4:57:08 GMT -5
Here are a few shots from Coober Pedy:
1. The main street from a small lookout hill
Coming into Coober Pedy via the Oodnadatta track: there are many mounds left by opal mining. There are over 10 working opal mines, so the leftovers are nearly everywhere.
2. "The Big Winch" - a to-scale replica of a big mining winch destroyed by a cyclone many years back. An original part of the winch is on the ground at the front.
I couldn't resist including this sign for admission to "The Big Winch"...
3. Faye's underground house. Faye Nailer moved into Coober Pedy in the 50's (? will have to check) and dug out her house by hand. It took her 10 years to get the first few rooms done whilst working a full-time job and being limited to digging during any spare daylight hours after work.
The Living Room:
Faye's bedroom: Faye had two dogs, but they were so scared of the dark that she built an alcove in the wall opposite her bed and put a double mattress in there for them to sleep on. That way they could always be close to her and reassured.
The air shaft above Faye's bed - she used a newly-invented (for the time) machine to dig it out. Most other parts of her house were hand-dug.
4. "The Breakaways" near Coober Pedy:
5. The Dog Fence, near Coober Pedy - "the longest fence in the world" (5300km). Bonnie wanted to get a look from the other side of the fence, but the dingoes weren't keen!
6. Moon Plain, west end of the Breakaways, near Coober Pedy. This is supposedly the landscape that looks the closest to the surface of Mars anywhere on Earth (except I photographed it in winter, so there are bits of green - try to imagine it without the green bits! .
OK, that's it...again, lots of photos.
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Post by easttex on Jul 14, 2015 10:43:50 GMT -5
Coober Pedy looks about as flat as West Texas, and that fence looks like a scene I recall from the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence. You seem to be trying hard to stay out of your photos, or is that my imagination?
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Post by aaron on Jul 14, 2015 10:49:37 GMT -5
Wow, that underground house is pretty cool! Can't imagine digging something like that by hand...
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 14, 2015 17:04:59 GMT -5
You just had to post those photos didnt you? I really hate Coober Pedy and you just had to go and remind me of how much I hate it. Thanks for spoiling my day. Only kidding - about spoiling my day that is. Those underground houses freak me out. Cant stand living in something without windows. Did you experience the dust that gets into everything? Where are you going on your next trip? How about a nice little Queensland island? Dunk was pretty spectacular. Did that problem with Bonnie and your husband resolve?
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Post by biteybird on Jul 15, 2015 3:43:55 GMT -5
Sorry Jan...actually I did it on purpose. (Only joking The dust wasn't that obvious, maybe because it's winter, but I remember saying to Bonnie "You smell dusty. Go have a bath!", but of course she didn't. We haven't decided where we're going next, but it will be somewhere we can take the camper trailer. I forgot to say that we took it on this Central Australia trip and it worked a treat. The Bonnie vs. Husband situation is much improved. While we were away I let her out for about 45 mins per day, in the assembled camper trailer annexe (plenty of room). Then hubby would come in for just a couple of minutes and give her a scratch and a treat, then go out again so the visit was ending on a positive note each time. When we got home I changed the location of Bonnie's house cage so it's in front of the main loungeroom window (more natural light). In combination with her sleeping in the end room away from light and noise, it *seems* to be working so far. She still has a funny fascination with hubby's fingers and hands and he has started tucking them under his legs when sitting - especially when she lands on him, looks at his hands and bobs her head (a dead giveaway for an impending attack). Dunk Island would be kind of nice to see!
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Post by biteybird on Jul 15, 2015 3:54:01 GMT -5
Wow, that underground house is pretty cool! Can't imagine digging something like that by hand... You can if it's 45 degrees Celsius on the surface in summer...
Actually, it was really interesting. When we were there the underground rooms were warmer than on the surface (of course it's winter ATM in Oz), which means that the underground houses don't need heating. This woman Faye also built one room above ground level, which had a small swimming pool - she was VERY progressive for her time! - and I swear when we walked up the stairs to it, the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees.
Edit: I forgot to mention that Faye's underground house just won a Tourism Award - it's no. 5 in the top 10 things to see/do in Australia. It beat the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We didn't know that when we stumbled across it, just saw the certificate & newspaper article when we got there.
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Post by biteybird on Jul 15, 2015 6:07:16 GMT -5
Coober Pedy looks about as flat as West Texas, and that fence looks like a scene I recall from the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence. You seem to be trying hard to stay out of your photos, or is that my imagination? I never saw the Rabbit-Proof Fence movie (I'm a bit complacent when it comes to Aussie films)...
Re staying out of the photos - well, you are ex-Service and I don't know if you U.S. guys did this, but we are doing the 'rubber chicken' thing. When I was in the Army, we used to take a rubber chicken on every job and dress it up in a costume, then take a photo. The only difference is that, now, we have a Blue rubber chicken who doesn't get dressed up!
But, yes, you're right. I don't like the way I look in photos, so I avoid being in them whenever possible!
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Post by easttex on Jul 15, 2015 7:49:16 GMT -5
I've liked a number of Australian films, though I suppose we get the more popular ones and maybe there is a lot of dreck that I never see. The traveling stuffed teddy or garden gnome or whatever was a popular thing. It was a little different - usually some person's property that would travel around solo, getting photographed along the way. I really noticed it in Antarctica. It was a real coup to get something photographed down there.
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Post by aaron on Jul 15, 2015 8:46:40 GMT -5
Good grief 45C is hot! I'm not sure I'd have any energy for digging!
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Post by msdani1981 on Jul 16, 2015 3:02:06 GMT -5
Just because I adore gemstones, and my whole body lit up when I saw the thread title....here is what Coober Pedy is known for. Gorgeous! I have a rough opal, but am not sure if it's from Coober Pedy or Lightning Ridge. I don't have a picture of it at the moment. Coober Pedy Opals:
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Post by biteybird on Jul 16, 2015 3:21:07 GMT -5
Nice photo, Dani. I feel a bit remiss, as I didn't take any photos of opals! But I've always liked gemstones too & my mum adores opals. I bought her a 'Class A' (solid) opal, only a smallish one, but with nice colours/highlights, on a gold necklace chain. I thought about getting one for myself, but I have a horrible history of not wearing (or losing) jewellry. Also, I liked everything I saw...just too hard! There are so many shops selling opals - some of them quite suspect, I thought - it's mind boggling! The one I got came with a card saying it was mined in Emu Field (a local Coober Pedy opal).
We went in the 'Oldtimer's Mine' - a tourist non-working mine that shows how the conditions used to be. Opal mining was, quite literally, back-breaking work, so I didn't mind spending a bit of dosh on a good opal.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 16, 2015 4:08:51 GMT -5
Don't the black opals come from Coober Pedy?
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Post by biteybird on Jul 16, 2015 4:55:17 GMT -5
Don't the black opals come from Coober Pedy? I don't know...when we were there I didn't really see, hear or read anything about these. It's possible you are right and that I simply didn't pay enough attention.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 16, 2015 5:43:27 GMT -5
Had to google it - they are mostly found at Lightning Ridge so you may have to come to NSW for your next holiday. Lightning Ridge isn't a bad place - you don't have to buy water there
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Post by msdani1981 on Jul 18, 2015 0:19:45 GMT -5
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