Coober Pedy: Looking for Opals

Exploring Coober Pedy started with a tour of the 'Old Timers Mine', a look through an old mine which included a fascinating view of an underground home. We went 'noodling', which is the description for fossicking by hand for opals in piles of rocks. We found plenty of the worthless stuff - but apparantly the odd person does have a worthwhile find. We had been invited the night before to visit the home of a local, unfortunately directions to his authentic underground home were quite vague and we couldn't find it. Coober Pedy is very hot, dry and dusty, but is very interesting with all the underground shops and houses, and residents who remain hopeful to find their fortune.