I know nothing about it other than it’s known for its opals, some people live underground, and temperatures are similar to where I lived in my teens and early-20s.
But for some reason, I’ve always wanted to go there.
I had never heard of it, so I looked it up. Heck, who wouldn’t want to go there. Any place that lists The Big Wench as a main attraction has to be cool.
After seeing it on one of the early seasons of The Amazing Race, I’ve decided that it’s one of those places it’s probably better to admire via video rather than in person. It’s incredibly hot and desolate. And isolated. And it’s definitely in the middle of nowhere. And have I mentioned that it’s incredibly hot and desolate?
But they do have a Tourism Council and an Opal Festival.
I think that spelling error in my earlier post was a Freudian slip.
Didn’t see it on The Amazing Race or anywhere else. I should pay more attention if they’re showing it.
I looked it up on Wiki and it says it gets over 104ºF. That’s not so bad. When I lived in the AV (mid-'70s to mid-'80s) there were a lot fewer people there than there are now. It was pretty desolate. And 103º-110º temperatures were common. Keep hydrated, and wear a hat. (And swamp coolers kept the house cool enough, except in the ‘monsoon season’.)
I’ll have to look at the tourism site. I’ve been wanting to go there for a quarter of a century. I should think about using some airline miles in the next year or two.
Getting back to weather: It’s snowing here now.
It’s a funny little town. The only reason it exists is the opals. If they ever run out, the town will close. The bedrock is close to the surface of the soil (dust, really, but we’ll give it the courtesy title of soil), so the houses don’t usually have basements. Lots of pre-fabs buildings. Dry, dry, dry. My skin was dry and dusty the entire time I was there - as if I’d been working with gyprock sheets. Water is very scarce - comes from deep wells, but they think it’s antique water, not being replenished. Showers in the campground were coin-op, because water was so precious. We had an eighth of an inch of rain the day I was there - the locals said that was the most they’d had in months.
The mines were interesting, but I was glad to leave.
It’s hot, dusty and there’s a million holes in the ground for miles. The people are “interesting” for want of a better word, although it’s become more touristy in the last few years. It’s the closest you get to a frontier town these days.
It’s also amazing how remote it is and how long it takes to get there. Lovely opals though.
I’ve always wanted to go there after it made a brief appearance in Until the End of the World (the movie, not the U2 written for the film and later showing on up on the Achtung, Baby! album).
Besides the opals, pretty much all I know about it is, “There. Now you’re fucked.”
Had to look that up. Didn’t see the film.
It’s a good flick (it has naked boobies in it), but a bit dated. It was shot in 1991 (or so) and takes place at the end of 1999, so some of the technology is a bit off.
They’ve made quite a few movies and TV shows there, because its desolate barren nature is suitably post-apocalyptic or alien to represent science fiction.
Wiki is understating it somewhat. 104 Fahrenheit is only, what, 40 decrees celsius, which is not uncommon in summer in most parts of Australia, and certainly not hot enough to drive the population underground. At Coober Pedy though temperatures can (but do not usually) exceed 50 degrees celsius which is 122 Fahrenheit.
The antipodal Vasquez Rocks? 
That’s a little toasty. The hottest I’ve been in was 118ºF (in full leathers with an 80-100 mph breeze).
No, not that one.
That was the first thing I thought of too.