The next morning, we had the option to take a flight out of William’s Creek to see Lake Eyre (the biggest Salt Lake in the world) from the sky. Because it was flooded with water, which is a very rare occurrence, most of us went just to see what many people will never see in their lifetime. To say the plane was small is an understatement (to reverse/back-up, the pilot has to push the plane from the outside), which causes problems for those of us who get claustrophobic fairly easily and those who hate turbulence in the safest looking of planes (all I kept thinking of was the time I went in a water plane and thought I was going to die, especially when landing – worse than a roller coaster ride!). After a sleepless night worrying about boarding this plane (we had to decide the night before if we were going), I had convinced myself that I was going to back out – but with a little self talk and Ativan/Valium in my pocket ready to pop at any time, I climbed aboard the plane (I asked the pilot to sit in the least claustrophobic seat, so I got the co-pilot seat) and crossed my fingers hoping for the best.
Before the pilot took off, he asked me where I was from – I told him Canada, and told him I’d like to make it home…I think he got the point that I’d be watching him closely to make sure he got me back to land! It was a cool flight – we were only 500 feet above the ground, so while we got a different view than from the bus windows, we were still close enough to everything to enjoy the scenery. From afar, the salt looks a bit like snow - the closest I will likely get to winter this year! The water in the lake takes 30 days to reach the lake from the point it falls, and it runs off into this area because it is the lowest point in Australia (15 meters below sea level). Lake Eyre rarely has water in it, but when it does flood (about every 8 years), it is the 8th biggest lake in the world. When there is water in it, it is 10.5 times more salty than Ocean water, and fish can only survive for a maximum of four months in the salty water. Lake Eyre is located on the largest cattle farm in the world (Anna Creek Station) – it is roughly 6,000,000 acres (as big as all of Belgium) with about 10, 000 cattle. The owners are currently in the process of selling the land to China – I don’t blame them…it probably gets tiring trying to keep track of all your cows on that huge of land!
After surviving my plane ride, we boarded the bus and headed straight for Coober Pedy, known as the Opal Mining Capital of the World. Before I even booked this tour, I was a little worried about going to this town for the same reason I was hesitant to board the plane in the morning – claustrophobia! Because the temperatures can reach up to 55 degrees Celsius in the summer, and can get as cold as -2 in the winter months, people have built their homes underground to help with regulating temperatures without the use of air conditioners or heaters (the temperature underground remains fairly constant at around 22 degrees Celsius regardless of the outside temperature). I would be lying if I said the thought of sleeping underground didn’t have me more than just a little freaked out…no windows, dark and cave-like, and the idea of the ground above me collapsing at any moment – yikes!
We started off in Coober Pedy above ground with a visit to a Kangaroo rehabilitation center where they take in kangaroos that have been found injured in the wild. They then nurse them back to good health and will release them into sanctuaries or zoos where they can be taken care of (it is illegal to rescue a kangaroo and then release it back in the wild once it has been given human care). My favourite kangaroo was one that had been hit by a car – he is now healthy, but has part of his nose missing and had a broken eye socket at the time. I almost stole the baby kangaroo, Nina, that we got to meet – it was the cutest little thing and looked like Bambi on ice when it tried to hop around. Had they let me take it, I would have happily fought with the Canadian government to let me introduce kangaroos into the country. I think I still get just as excited seeing kangaroos now as I did when I saw my first one.
Having been introduced to the above-ground side of Coober Pedy, it was then time to go underground. We eased into it by going on a tour of an old Opal Mine and house. The idea of life underground was so far more freaky than the actual thing – the hallways were big, there was lots of light, and it was more of a cozy feel than a feeling of being trapped. We learned about how opals are mined, cut, and set into jewelry, and all about the history of how opal in Australia was originally discovered. Cooper Pedy (meaning ‘White Man’s Hole’ in Aboriginal language) has banned large companies from coming in to mine opals, so it is all done by individuals hoping to strike it rich. It would be a tough life, and definitely not one I would be interested in giving a try. Although we were told that we should approach Coober Pedy with the idea that you ‘can’t judge a book by its cover’ (apparently there are a lot of people here who have become rich but drive run-down cars and look as though they’ve had a rough life just because they don’t want the repercussions of people knowing they have money), it seemed like a very rough town (I witnessed a fight in front of the supermarket where a man punched a woman in the face after they yelled at each other drunkenly for a few minutes). I think it is fair to say there are more people that haven’t been so lucky than there are that have, and based on the cost of the machines you need to mine these days, more are likely further in the hole (no pun intended) than those who have struck it rich. It has a population of about 1,600 people, although it felt like much less – I guess that’s what happens when your town is underground!
After our tour, we spent some time in our hostel just hanging out and trying to stay cool. It felt like we were a colony of ants burrowing through our tunnels underground, and although it was still hot in our little colony, it was much better than the 40 degrees outside. To pass the afternoon, I went with our guide to purchase groceries for our next four days of camping, caught up on my blog writing, played some cards, and smiled at the fact that I survived my day of claustrophobic activities without needing any Ativan! Being in Cooper Pedy felt a bit surreal and more like you were on a movie set (it felt a bit like the Flinstone’s house, minus the windows) than real life, and although it was cool to experience, I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to get back there anytime soon.
We were lucky to have a cool sunset to go to sleep to and a beautiful sunrise to come out of our cave to in the morning.