{"id":8964,"date":"2019-12-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/?p=8964"},"modified":"2020-04-30T01:47:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T15:47:59","slug":"reasons-you-need-to-visit-coober-pedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/es\/reasons-you-need-to-visit-coober-pedy\/","title":{"rendered":"14 razones por las que debes visitar Coober Pedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coober Pedy. What a place. There are so many fantastic reasons you need to visit Coober Pedy! First though, a little background. Coober Pedy is located on the Stuart Highway (A87) almost right in the centre of South Australia<\/a> and is the last town before you reach the Northern Territory (besides some tiny little places like Maria). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coober Pedy gets its name from the Aboriginal “Kupa Piti” meaning “boys waterhole”, and after the 6ish hour drive here from Port Augusta in the south, into the heart of the South Australian Outback, you can see (and feel) why a waterhole might be pretty important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red earth here is hot and dry. The sun is relentless, and the road seems to stretch on without end. However, you do eventually arrive at the outskirts of Coober Pedy. Then it gets cold overnight. especially in the early morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coober Pedy is perhaps best known for opal mining and underground buildings. However, like other remote outback opal mining towns in Australia<\/a> (eg Lightning Ridge and to a lesser extent, White Cliffs), Coober Pedy has a reputation for the eclectic, eccentric, or maybe somewhat crazy, and is rumoured to be where people go to ‘disappear’. That’s just rumour though. To be fair, it isn’t just remote opal mining towns that get a little bit…interesting…there are plenty of others without opals, like Hutt River<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coober<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With a reputation like that though, you almost have to visit, and, it’s on the most direct sealed<\/em> driving route to Uluru from Sydney<\/a>, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane, so, you will probably go through it if you are headed to Uluru from anywhere besides Darwin. And let’s be honest, in spite of all the reasons you need to visit Coober Pedy, you probably don’t need to spend more than 1-3 nights here to see it all, so it’s perfect to see on the way to and\/or from Uluru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, onto it, here are 11 reasons you need to visit Coober Pedy. Many of them, we’ve done, and some are still on our list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Unusual vehicles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Blower trucks are a unique contraption used in opal mining, and Coober Pedy is credited with their invention. These unusual-looking vehicles vacuum up mining debris into a big drum that spits it out in a pile somewhere near the mine shaft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coober<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You’ll see one of these trucks on the Coober Pedy sign as you arrive at the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Explore the area for long enough and you’ll see many more of these trucks around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blower trucks create large mounds and contribute to giving Coober Pedy an other-worldly landscape, which contributes to my next reason to visit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Martian landscape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As if the area isn’t already martian enough with red desert, scrubby bush and undulating red hills and valleys, the mines around (and in) the town make you feel like you’re on a completely different planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coober<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The mounds stretch for kilometres out of town, seemingly in every direction and are easily spotted from in Google Maps Satellite View.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coober<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Explore movie scenes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Coober Pedy’s unique landscape has made it the setting for scenes in a number of movies over the years. Perhaps the most well-known (and easiest to find) is the spaceship from the Vin Diesel movie, “Pitch Black<\/a>“. This spaceship now sits on Hutchison St in the carpark of the Opal Cave Shop. With a shed and signs between the ship and the road, you can easily miss it driving past, but if you are a movie buff, it’s worth stopping for a squiz and a selfie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coober<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And the view from the road, you do have to pull into the carpark to really see it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n