It's Desert- and there are pyramids- It must be Egypt!

But no- it's Coober Pedy- the back of beyond and the home of the world's Opal mining- or 95% of it anyway. The spoil heaps are everywhere as we near the town- the whole area is mined, and there are warning signs everywhere.

Arriving here lunchtime we had to find accomodation as it was so hot, last night in the roof tent we roasted and did not sleep easy, and as it's even hotter today we need Aircon tonight.

The whole reason for this town is Opals, until the 50s the nearest water was 20 miles away, and everywhere you look there are opal shops, or opal mines open to visitors. We decided to take a tour through one, which was  interesting indeed.

They are roughly 20 mtrs deep, and reached down a shaft with no ladders- just hand and foot holes. The miners worked in very cramped conditions, digging runs sometimes only 18 inches high, and 2ft wide, following the opal seam.Until the 50s they worked with pick and shovel, and rarely used explosives, and when they found opal had to scrape the stones out with penknives.

They also lived underground, the most comfortable place to be when the temporatures above often reached 50 degrees Centigrade ( 130f), and the flies were intolerable.

In fact many still do so, including a hotel that is built into a hill and most of the rooms including the bar are underground, and visited a church which is also underground .