What is Coober Pedy known for?
Coober Pedy is an outback town in South Australia known as the opal capital of the world. Many residents live in underground homes called dugouts to escape the extreme heat.
Opal was discovered in 1915 by a teenager, Willie Hutchison, who was searching for water with his father's gold prospecting party. Since then, miners from many countries have come to search for precious opal.
The town's name is often linked to the Aboriginal words kupa piti, usually translated as white man in a hole. Summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius, while dugouts stay cool all year.
Life underground
Coober Pedy has underground churches, shops, hotels and museums. Visitors can stay in underground motels and tour old mines.
The surrounding landscape, dotted with mine mounds, has appeared in films such as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Pitch Black. The Breakaways, a nearby reserve, has colourful mesas.
The town is about 850 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway.
Did You Know?
Coober Pedy's golf course has almost no grass, and players carry a small piece of turf to tee off.