Transcript Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy Here’s a little about Coober Pedy Living underground What do we now know about Coober Pedy’s climate. • It can get very hot. Up to 60 degrees • When it rains it can flood because the ground is dry. • Big dust storm • Big lightening storms • Sunsets • They live underground because it is so hot. Questions we have along the way • • • • Where do they get their food from? Where do they get their water/drinks from? Where do they get their grass? Where do they get their power? Transport In the Old days Today Horses camel Walk steam Bike Early cars Donkey Old motorbikes Horse and cart Draft horse Plane Train Car Ambulance Bus 4WD Helicopters Open hyperlink to see the old Coober Pedy 1939 Activity : Making a egg carton camel to represent past and a car to represent today. The Weather and climate The Breakaways Click to learn more Moon plain Click to find out more Mining Four Major Opal Producing Locations in Australia Although Coober Pedy produces 95 percent of the worlds finest opals it is but one of four Australian opal producing locations, these being: 1. Coober Pedy. The largest milky or white opal producer of them all located in outback South Australia 2. Andamooka. Another outback South Australian opal mining town that produces the white opal 3. Lightening Ridge. The New South Wales home of the black opal 4. White Cliffs. The Queensland boulder opal producer. All towns found around the ridge of the ancient inland sea that once existed in central Australia. Each opal town is unruly and wild, easily identified with a large number of mullock humps and a moonscape appearance. The people living there have to live with an unforgiving climate but for those who persist there is often a reward coming their way sooner or later. The Opal Capital of the World Coober Pedy can rightly claim to be the opal capital of the world and although there are other opal mining town is Australia, Coober Pedy is by far the biggest in both size and annual production results. It is ironic that as you approach Coober Pedy from either the north or the south along the Stuart Highway, the area becomes harsher and more barren, yet underneath your very feet can be found some of the most beautiful gems that are held in high acclaim around the world. (From mininglink website) Click hyperlink How Opals Are Formed The NSW and South Australian opals are formed similarly due to their basin locations. Opals form within host rocks, which are sedimentary rocks in horizontal layers that were formed by streams and rivers many millions of years ago. The opal itself is made from a mixture of water and silicon dioxide. Water moves down through the earth, collecting silica from sandstone as it goes. The water and silica then fills the cracks in the rocks that were caused by fossils or earth movement. As this happens over and over, the opal is slowly created. The Australian Opal Landscape South Australia produces 50% of the world’s opals, mostly due to its place near the ancient Great Inland Sea, now known as the Great Artesian Basin or Great Australian Basin. The characteristics of this basin are vital to opal production, as it contains a vast amount of water, covering 1.7 million square kilometres of ground beneath Australian soil. The conditions it creates allows opals to form. (from mining link website) Every opal is different and unique because each was formed in a slightly different environment, such as one with less water, slower moving water, or different rock layers. The Boulder opals from Queensland are formed somewhat differently to other opals, as they grow inside ironstone, filling between layers or in cracks. Because Boulder opal is attached to the ironstone, the opals are usually cut with the stone still connected, though if the opal is thick enough it may be cut from the ironstone. These Boulder opals can then be crafted into different shapes, however their freeform shapes are often kept to show the uniqueness of each. Opal Click hyperlink to see opal Restaurants • Chinese • Greek Tavern Clubs in Coober Pedy • Italian • Croatian • Greek • Serbian • RSL Churches Catacomb Church – anglican Serbian Orthodox Catholic church Community church Revival fellowship Art in Coober Pedy Movies made around Coober Pedy Click pic The Dog Fence Stations around Coober Pedy Stations around Coober Pedy Cattle past the dog fence Press for info on Arkaringa station Sheep before the dog fence What do they do it Coober Pedy for fun? Hospital Facilities in Coober Pedy Child care centre Coober Pedy’s services Water Service Coober Pedy produces and reticulates its own water. The water is bought in from a bore 25km North East of Coober Pedy on the Oodnadatta road via a pipeline. The water is then processed through a Desalination/Reverse Osmosis Plant. The water quality is of an outstanding level. This means that the water can be consumed without more consumer intervention. Electricity Supply Power for Coober Pedy Coober Pedy does not get its power from "The Grid", as most people in Australia do. Coober Pedy creates it own power through the use of both Diesel Generators and a Wind Turbine. The generation of power is now performed by Energy Developments Ltd (based in Perth, WA). The distribution and retailing of power is performed by Council.