Landscapes and underground interiors

These Opal mines in Cooberpedy are everywhere. Mounds of earth scattered everywhere, which give the landscape a real pyramid Egypt feel. It is very easy to get a claim to start digging for Opal which costs around $70 which is why there is so many. While, travelling around and talking to the people it was not hard to get captivated by the thought of striking it rich just from digging through a bit of dirt. We went to a fantastic Old Timers Mine Tour and heard stories where people found a $100,000 piece of opal on the side of the road, in the carpark and from their first dig. Lots of people come out here as a tourist and get opal fever and stay. Tantalizing! However I would not last it is way to hot out here. Their is a great story to read if you click on the Old Timers Mine tour link above.

Everything looks salvaged and DIY in Cooberpedy. This kind of residential landscape is very common.

This is Faye's House. A underground dug out house. Alot of residential houses are built underground because of the extreme heat in summer. I find them absolutely genius really. Faye's is a open house and you can wander around and check out how it is all constructed, which is usually made out of old mines that are re-constructed to be lived in. Faye's house has 7 underground rooms. The caretaker said their is a house in Cooberpedy that has 22 rooms. Wouldn't you just love to see that!

Kitchen looking into the lounge room

Bedroom 1 with a lower level Bedroom 2

From the bedroom you go down a hall way past the cellar

into the lounge/living room. Don't you  just love the retro interior

then from the lounge room their is a pool room. This room is my favourite. Way too cool. I just love the decor. It could have come straight out of a 70's Magazine.

the other end of the pool room

This landscape is called the Breakaway's about a 30km's from Cooberpedy. Definitely worth the drive. The landscape is just stunning! Click on the image to get the whole view.

all photography by Candice Herne