{"id":25261,"date":"2018-07-24T10:09:29","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T00:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/?p=25261"},"modified":"2022-11-07T13:35:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T03:05:57","slug":"coober-pedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/coober-pedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Coober Pedy’s Travel Secrets – More than just Opals & Mines"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you say \u2018Coober Pedy\u2019, three things usually come to mind. Firstly, opals. It\u2019s the opal capital of the world. Secondly, hot and remote. And finally, it makes a convenient stop on your way to Uluru or somewhere else you actually want to go. And all of those things are true.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s also true is Coober Pedy actually makes a pretty good base to do some serious exploring in the region. A one trick pony it ain\u2019t – it\u2019s a genuine destination in itself if you\u2019re prepared to look a little further afield and don\u2019t mind getting dusty.<\/p>\n

I recently drove up for the Kanku-Breakaways Marathon and that\u2019s where my adventure started.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The view of the Kanku-Breakaways.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you need a 4WD for this trip?<\/h2>\n

The Kanku-Breakaways is about 30km north of Coober Pedy. The road in is unsealed, but fine with a 2WD. It\u2019s worth mentioning, any unsealed road can have issues in wet weather though, so an SUV would be preferable, but a 4WD is the best and safest option. In good conditions though, a 2WD will get you where you need to go. Eventually.<\/p>\n

\"Viewing<\/p>\n

You can take a 2WD, but a 4WD would be preferable.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Gear to take<\/h2>\n

When I\u2019m on the go like this and lightweight gear isn\u2019t required, I go for extreme comfort and sleep in the back of my SUV with an Exped Megamat<\/a> and the Coleman Pilbara C-5<\/a> sleeping bag. It may be warm during the day, but at night it can get down to around zero, so you\u2019ll want something that keeps you warm.<\/p>\n

Are there opportunities for hikes or walks?<\/h2>\n

There aren\u2019t really any hikes or opportunities to explore on foot at the Kanku-Breakaways,<\/a>\u00a0it\u2019s very much a case of driving in and stopping at a few lookouts to take in the views. Which are awesome. There are two main lookouts and a few places to stop throughout the park, including the dingo fence and the Moon Plains – an unbelievably barren landscape that, as the name suggests, looks not unlike the moon. This spot has been used in a number of films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome<\/em> and The Red Planet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You can do a round trip, entering off the highway and coming back to town via the unsealed Kempe Road. It’ll take half-a-day tops and only a few hours if you\u2019re on a mission.<\/p>\n

\"Enjoying<\/p>\n

If you want to head off on foot, you can explore the Moon Plains.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Exploring the town<\/h2>\n

My next stop was to do some exploring around town. I\u2019m not big on tourist attractions as such but I figured I\u2019d take in some of the sights. In half a day I visited Tom\u2019s Opal Mine<\/a> and did a self-guided tour.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d probably get more information on a hosted group tour, but a quick self-tour is also fun and more my speed. They even lend you a blue light to spot opal in the mine walls which is very cool.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper<\/p>\n

The grass-less golf course is one of the things to see in Coober Pedy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Crocodile Harry’s<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not one for golf, but driving past the local golf course with not a blade of grass in sight is a good reminder of the Aussie sense of humour.<\/p>\n

And, a visit to Crocodile Harry\u2019s Underground Nest<\/a> is a good reminder that heat can fry your brain. Crocodile Harry was an actual crocodile hunter in the Northern Territory before moving to Coober Pedy where there\u2019s a distant lack of crocodiles, so he started hunting gemstones instead. He ended up building one of the whackiest houses you\u2019re every likely to see. And trust me, I\u2019ve seen a few.<\/p>\n

Like a lot of miner\u2019s homes in the area, his is underground. What\u2019s not like other miner\u2019s homes, is his home decoration skills which are off the charts. Well worth a look and a laugh. Both are only a few minutes out of town.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Crocodile Harry’s is a unique tourist destination in the town of Coober Pedy.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sightseeing in Coober Pedy<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re up for more sightseeing around town, there\u2019s Faye’s Underground Home, the underground Catacomb Church, the underground Serbian Orthodox Church, the underground bookshop and if you\u2019re hungry, John\u2019s Pizza<\/a> which weirdly enough, isn\u2019t underground.<\/p>\n

Equally weird, they claim to have once been included in a list of the top ten pizza places in Australia, but I\u2019m yet to work out if that\u2019s for real, or another quirk of the Aussie sense of humour. Much like their \u2018Coat of Arms\u2019 pizza which has emu and kangaroo from the Australian coat of arms. I kid you not.<\/p>\n

Galleries to visit when in the town<\/h2>\n

Back in town, you could visit any number of galleries offering various indigenous art, but Josephine’s is the one to go to because it\u2019s also a kangaroo orphanage and\u2026baby kangaroos are awesome! They close the gallery and feed the roos twice a day, so get there on time, or get locked out.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Josephine’s – the gallery and kangaroo orphanage is the best one to visit in town.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Accommodation in the area<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s plenty of accommodation options in town including numerous underground hotels. I was on a budget, so I opted for a cabin at the caravan park, opposite the drive-in. Yes, there\u2019s a drive-in that usually operates on weekends.<\/p>\n

Day trip to the Painted Desert<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re up for some more serious exploring, The Painted Desert<\/a> is a full day trip. You could do it on your way to somewhere else, but I did it as a loop ending up back in Coober Pedy. I went there via Kempe Road, an unsealed road directly out of town then turned off to Arckaringa station, and came back via Painted Desert Road.<\/p>\n

\"Painted<\/p>\n

You’ll need a full day to check out the Painted Desert.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s definitely do-able in an SUV but I\u2019m not gonna lie, a few pieces broke off my car as it was so rocky and rough in places. If you go slow or have a real 4WD maybe it won\u2019t be an issue, but this area is remote and the roads can be pretty rough in places.<\/p>\n

You could do this trip on the way to Oodnadatta, or pop out on the highway about 150km north of town and be on your way up to the NT.<\/p>\n

\"Birds<\/p>\n

Due to the rough roads, it would pay to be in a 4WD.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Painted Hills<\/h2>\n

Breaking your trip up and staying the night at Arckaringa<\/a> probably isn\u2019t such a bad idea either. I\u2019m usually travelling with time restrictions and so I squeezed this trip into half a day, driving back down the highway after dark – which is not something I\u2019d really recommend with sheep, cattle, wild brumby and roos on the road.<\/p>\n

The Painted Desert itself is quite spread out. There\u2019s a lookout area, and a few kilometres away, a short walk you can do which is pretty cool.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

It’s worth checking out Wright’s Air for a tour of the Painted Hills.<\/em><\/p>\n

As good as the Painted Desert is, I can\u2019t help but feel it\u2019s the poor cousin to the similarly named Painted Hills, south-east of Coober Pedy. I\u2019m almost certain you can\u2019t actually drive there regardless of the vehicle you have unless that vehicle happens to be a light aircraft. If you don\u2019t have one of those, hit Wrights Air<\/a> up for a tour.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve just worked out a few of their light aircraft can land nearby, and have started doing tours in the area. Although all I did was fly over, this looks like total bucket list stuff to land, and go in for a wander. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s only matter of time before you can access it by road, but for now, it\u2019s by air only.<\/p>\n

\"Bird's<\/p>\n

Visiting Lake Eyre<\/h2>\n

And, if you\u2019re going to jump in a light aircraft, you may as well check out some of the other local sights including Lake Eyre<\/a> which, right now is one of the rare times it\u2019s filling up with water courtesy of the Queensland floods a few months back.<\/p>\n

As great as it was to see Lake Eyre filling up with water, the true highlight for me was simply the landscapes from above. They were absolutely mesmerising. The shapes. The colours. The textures. The patterns. I literally could not take my eyes off of any of it. It was incredible.<\/p>\n

I know a tour in a light aircraft won\u2019t be in everyone\u2019s budget, but I cannot recommend highly enough that you find a way to do it at least once.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

The view flying over Lake Eyre was incredible.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stopping over in Woomera<\/h2>\n

Finally, there\u2019s the trip between Adelaide and Coober Pedy. I went up via the highway, stopping in Woomera for the night. It\u2019s where the rocket base was back in the 60s. Unfortunately, there\u2019s really not many accommodation choices there or anything else for that matter, although, there\u2019s an outdoor space museum which is well worth a half-hour look.<\/p>\n

\"Mt-Ive-Sheep-Station\"<\/p>\n

I stayed at Mt Ive Sheep Station on the way home.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Mt Ive Station<\/h2>\n

On the way back, I headed inland into Kingoonya and down the west side of Lake Gairdner, staying the night at Mt Ive (sheep) Station. Even a few weeks later, my teeth are still rattling from the drive as some of the unsealed roads are super corrugated, but the landscape was amazing, and there was plenty of wildlife along the way including emus, kangaroos and wombats.<\/p>\n

I went there because Mt Ive has direct access to nearby Lake Gairdner, the salt lake where the Dry Lake Racers have Speedweek in March every year. Mt Ive Station<\/a> has camping, basic \u2018Shearer\u2019s Quarters\u2019 accommodation, and if you\u2019re lucky and it\u2019s available, \u2019the princess suite\u2019 – a restored, stand-alone cottage with air conditioning – which is where Miranda Kerr stayed when doing a photoshoot in the area.<\/p>\n

\"Jumping<\/p>\n

All in all, my trip to Coober Pedy and the\u00a0Kanku-Breakaways Park was a good one.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Coober Pedy\u00a0is a dry and remote location, but it’s still a seriously cool place to explore if you don’t mind the dust and you’re ready for an open road adventure.<\/p>\n

Are you thinking of heading off on a spontaneous road trip to the arid and scenic Coober Pedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n