[Reaganesque]

Sunset in Coober Pedy.

The cinema had to ban dynamite. Sounds like a fun town!

I was surfing the Internet and came across this article and had to share it. I have GOT to visit this place sometime! LOL!

[Eye of Unk]

Sounds like an appealing lifestyle in an unusually hostile environment.

Just as long as they don’t turn into Morloks.

[bgill]

men with big arms and funny hats cook kangaroo and crocodile... the last exit on the road to nowhere

Be still my heart!

[envisio]

“”””men with big arms and funny hats cook kangaroo and crocodile”””””

The operative word here is “men”

No spritzer sipping Volvo drivers here.

[Bernard Marx]

Coober Pedy is an Aboriginal name that translates roughly as "White man in a hole." It's been the world's most prolific producer of so-called "light" (as opposed to dark or black) opal.

I considered going there to mine in the "boom" days of the early 1950s. I chickened-out when I learned daytime temps often neared 130F., the only water available then had to be trucked in, medical service had to be flown in from Adelaide -- if your radio worked! And the flies, swarms of flies, that caused some of those "funny hats" -- the kind with many corks dangling on strings from the brim whose movement helped shoo the flies away from the wearer's eyes.

It was a very dangerous place too. When a miner was "on opal," as they say, he told no one and kept his treasure as much to himself as possible. Theft of opal stashes was common and often resulted in murder. "Ratters" sneaked into mines in the dead of night to illegally dig opal in mines known to be producing. And the numerous abandoned holes in the ground were fine places to dispose of troublesome dead bodies.

Some of those practices continue in various opal mining areas around Australia. But in the 1950s and 60s opal towns like Coober Pedy and Andamooka were wild and virtually lawless.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

My wife and I spent a few days there on our honeymoon.The opals are beautiful and the people friendly.Alice springs is another good place as well.Hell,all of OZ is neat so if you can swing it you wont be disappointed.Ayers rock is another awesome place.Just get a boonie hat with cork bobbs dangling on it and you will be all set.

[Tax-chick]

I saw this on TV at least once. I love opals!