30th March – Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

We were up early in the morning and on our way to Coober Pedy to maximise the time there.  The drive went smoothly and we didn’t encounter any issues on the way.  Coober Pedy is an interesting place to see, but I wouldn’t want to stay there more than one night.  It is worth a stop to see the underground houses and opal mining.  You feel like you have landed on another planet.

Coober Pedy, South Australia
Coober Pedy, South Australia

We pre-booked all our accommodation on this trip.  It is worth noting the cancellation policies in case you run into any issues on the way and get delayed.  But we felt more comfortable having it booked ahead of time and knowing where we were going to stay each night.  We picked a very cute little AirBnB house in Coober Pedy and we were really happy with this decision.  It was an underground house with a viewing deck above it to sit and watch the sunrise or sunset.  Even though it was cute, it is still a little freaky to sleep underground I must admit.

Underground home Coober Pedy AirBnB

Our underground AirBnB house in Coober Pedy SA
Our underground AirBnB house in Coober Pedy SA

Houses are built underground as temperatures can get up to around 50 degrees celsius in summer.  Building the houses underground assists with the insulation and mainting a comfortable temperature in the houses all year round.  There are also some churches and pubs underground too that you can visit.

After we unpacked and checked out our own little underground accommodation, we went for a drive to see ‘Faye’s underground home’.  This home was dugout by hand by three women over 10 years and was worth seeing.  An impressive achievement as well as an interesting history lesson!  There is a small opal mine on the property as well but this is not always open.  We did get to go through it and learn a little bit about opal mining.  Otherwise the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum was also recommended to us to look through.  You can also do ‘noodling’ which is fossicking through the discarded rock, known as mullock, from the miners to find opal.

From the viewing deck of our AirBnB undergraound house in Coober Pedy SA
From the viewing deck of our AirBnB undergraound house in Coober Pedy SA

We stopped in at the ‘Desert Cave Hotel’ to have a drink in the underground pub.  Some of the photos I have seen of the underground churches look pretty impressive too but we didn’t go to check these out.  We decided to drive to the ‘Breakaways Conservation Park’ to watch the sunset on the Breakaways, and it was beautiful.  We drove back along part of the dog fence that runs through the park on our way home.  We finished the night with dinner at ‘John’s Pizza Bar & Restaurant’.  All in all it was an interesting experience but I don’t plan to move to Coober Pedy any time soon.

The Breakaways, Breakaways Conservation Park, Coober Pedy
The Breakaways, Breakaways Conservation Park, Coober Pedy

4 thoughts on “30th March – Port Augusta to Coober Pedy”

    1. It really was beautiful. There is another AirBnb in Coober Pedy that looked equally as good if not better. Definitely worth checking out AirBnB as there are some surprising finds on your way around.

    1. Yes a strange place indeed. I find it fasciniting that for some people they love it and decide to stay and call it home. Interesting how we are all different. x

Leave a Reply to Kristen Leonard Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *