Travelog Australia 2015: Coober Pedy - Opal Inn Motel & Caravan Park; Old Timers Opal Mine

Date: June 28th-29th, 2015

It's a bright sunny day with a perfect weather. It was a long drive since the cruising speed of the Van was only 110kmph. We rotated and finally reached Opal Inn around 6pm. Nothing much was done that night other than settling in and cooked dinner. Opal Inn itself is located right in the middle of Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy itself as a very small mining town. Well, the town is small surrounded by the vast area of opal mines.

 The next morning, we went to the Old Timers Mine.

"The Old Timers Mine and Museum opens a window on the fascinating history of opal mining in Coober Pedy, revealing not only the hard physical grind and the occasional bonanza that was mining in the early days, but also an intriguing mystery at the heart of the mine.The original mine dates back to 1916, but the old miners, whoever they were, concealed its existence by back-filling the shafts. The mystery is why they never returned to dig out the opal that remained. Perhaps they went to the First World War and never came home again.  It was not until 1968 that the hidden mine was discovered by Ron Gough when he was digging an extension to his underground home and broke through, exposing three large seams of good quality opal, as well as opalised seashells. These have been retained and can be seen by visitors today."-http://www.oldtimersmine.com/

It was a self tour but it started with a briefing by the staff outside next to a mining truck (it looks like the truck at the town signage above). I forget what the name of this machine but basically, this machine sucks up the excavated dirt from the mine and then dumps it in a heap at the edge of the hole. Few of us had the opportunity to try on the suction capacity and it was strong. It could easily sucked a fist size dirt and stone easily from our hands and the guide said there're numerous count of sunglasses as well LOL (from those hang on the shirt collars).

Inside the mine, we saw how the raw opal was processed into the well shaped stones in the workshop. The uncle working there was really kind to show us with all the machines in there. The rest of the time, we explore and climb our way around hehe.

For those who doesnt know what  Opal is. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia. Australia supplies 85-97% of Opal around the world and 80% of them originates from South Australia and Coober Pedy is the main mine source.  The largest and most valuable opal found to date, The Olympic Australis Opal, valued at AU$2,500,000 was found in Coober Pedy.

Ya, I know. You must have expected it to be luxurious and sparkling, right? But due to the uniqeness and purity of the opal (99% gem), it was decided that the opal will remain exactly as found.

Anyway, we spent couple of hours here before continuing our journey to Alice Spring.