Coober Pedy is located is located 836 kilometres (510 miles) north of
Adelaide and about 300 kilometres south of Uluru.
It is a desolate landscape devoid of vegetation and water. It is an extremely
hot place too. The entire landscape is pockmarked by the telltale tailing
of countless opal mines.
In 1915 a young boy named Willie Hutchison, who was out with his father
prospecting for gold, discovered the first opal there. Since then the town
has grown to about 2500 people.
Coober Pedy produces about 90% of the world's opals. |