The town is known for it's opals plus underground living.
We stayed at Coober Pedy for a couple of nights therefore giving us enough time to tour the town.
The Breakaways are situated some distance from the town and it's there in that area that Mad Max 3 was made. More on the Breakaways and Coober Pedy when I get home.
Water is scarce in many areas of Australia and at Coober Pedy the caravan parks have no water, only drinking water, so it's good to be self sufficient and carry your own.
On leaving the town we filled up with water as one does with petrol or diesel. The cost is 20c for 30 litres of water.
There are 4 hoses connected to two pumps. The photo below is a photo of them.
Margaret Australia is an unusual country and so huge I ca't imagine it... maybe one day I will experience it. In Europe there aren't any problems with water but Euurope is so crowded. I would like to live at your place from my point of view is a paradise despite some drawbakkcs eg. climate
ReplyDeleteI think you would have to visit to see Australia for yourself, that way you would know how large it is, how dry, & what the cities were like....it's winter here as you know but 31 degC where I am at the moment...
DeleteSo very interesting about the water.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting regarding water, & to travel as we do it makes one appreciate the water. It's more valuable than 'Gold'
DeleteWe have to buy the water that is piped into our homes so I guess it's not so unusual to have to buy it by the liter when you travel. I imagine it makes people conserve, which I'm sure is very necessary because of the scarcity. Interesting to see how it's dispensed like gasoline.
ReplyDeleteMost people in Australia have to pay for water as you do,....piped into our homes. We pay so much a litre also for the pipes to the home - maintenance etc. some places, especially in the country areas have water tanks. In outback Australia, Bore water is used, spring water if there is any. If not one doesn't live there. Australia is a huge Arid Country.
DeleteLast time we visited Coober Pedy there were a few water tanks, it doesn't rain very often.
Coober Pedy is the only place that I know of where Caravans can fill up their water tanks.
I have never traveled in convoy , here, camping there Is supply water to the caravans
ReplyDeleteKisses
We are not travelling in convoy.
DeleteAustralia is an Arid Country...some places supply water if they have it to share, others don't have electricity, but that's because we are in the outback.
I wonder if you checked out the opals there?
ReplyDeleteYes we did look the opals up. Lots of them. A Chinese man had a mine and he showed us his collection for sale :) No, didn't but any..
DeleteAs the photo shows from the water filing station, it sure is barren.
ReplyDeleteWith an annual rainfall of just 175 millimetres or 6.9 inches, it is no
wonder that water is as precious as the famous opals from the region.
I believe in some years not a drop falls!!! So hard for the inhabitants of
that area.
Poor old shank's pony could die of thirst!
I thought artesian water may be available but obviously Coober Pedy
is not in that water basin.
Watch out for camels from now on.
Cheers
Colin
PS: Nice looking day slowly coming to life - cloudless but last night
I think the southern change arrived - cold!
Shank's Pony would never had made it Colin.
DeleteBarren it is, extremely so...
Haven't seen a Camel, kangaroo, goat. Did see an Emu and several Eagles, plus Galahs and other parrots.
Twenty cents for thirty litres seems cheap to me. If it encourages people to think about how precious it is, it has to be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteMuch as I like opals I don't think I could cope with the heat - or living underground.
Thanks for taking us there with you.
It's cool underground, but there isn't much of a view. Heh.
DeleteDefinitely no view underground, but amazing how the rooms are dug out with a pick before drills.
DeletePrice is ok from that pump.
The heat in the underground houses stays about the same all the year a round..
I will post photos of a few when I get home in late September.
Way to be prepared!
ReplyDeleteAlways be prepared in the outback :)
DeleteLooks like you guys are well prepared. I've heard horror stories about people thinking they'll "just drive" across Australia.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, so have we, people have no idea, well some don't.
DeleteI didn't know there was only drinking water at Coober Pedy. How do the locals wash their clothes and themselves? Wait, I just re-read your text. Caravan Parks only have drinking water. Good to know. Did you visit any of the opal mines?
ReplyDeleteGlad you re read my post :).
DeleteNo, didn't visit any mines. There is one that can be visited but we didn't, nor did we when we came to Coober Pedy before.
Water is precious out there.
ReplyDeleteYes Diane, more precious than Gold :)
DeleteYeah, there just had to be a town by the name Coober Pedy somewhere in Australia (or maybe New Zealand). (LOL?) By the way, people in lower-lying areas are getting flooded out around here.
ReplyDeleteWell that is sad, floods. Winter here and not a drop of rain in the Northern Territory (NT)
DeleteThere are areas like that in the US, with no water, all must be carried in. We pay for water here. Never free, except in the parks when you camp it is, but the cost of camping is high, to account for that. There used to be mostly unimproved campsites, for tents but now all have electrical and water, to accommodate the RV's and trailers, as those campers are the norm now. That area sounds so unique I'll google it now to learn more. Living underground, wow, to keep cooler I assume.
ReplyDeleteMost of us pay for water to our houses...plus other costs associated with water. Lots of our parks have water but it may not be drinkable...yes to have an even temperature all year round in Cooper Pedy.
DeleteI didn't know about the water pumps, my parents have been to Coober Pedy but they never mentioned about the water
ReplyDeleteThe pumps are new since we visited Cobber Pedy years ago.l
DeleteWhat an adventure! And the scarcity of water would certainly make it moreso!
ReplyDeleteIt sure has so far, but more to come later.
DeleteIt's good that the water is available to buy like that. No such issues here. I wonder if we could buy sunshine like that? :)
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be neat if you could...the Highway we are travelling on is the Stuart Highway...a Scotsman I believe...
Delete