It had long been my wish to travel and experience the heart of Central Australia up close.
From Melbourne to Darwin, the journey had always seemed to me like a vast desert — long, straight roads disappearing into the horizon, mountain ranges rising in the distance, low scrub concealing a wealth of wildlife, and nature’s handiwork on full display: towering rock formations, flowing waterways, and immense freshwater and saltwater lakes.
I joined a multi-day coach tour with Master Coaches, run by Savvas Salpingidis. In the space of a single day, gazing from my window seat, I witnessed the sun’s first light, basked under its midday brilliance, and etched its magical setting into my memory.
From an ancient sea to a desert heart
Millions of years ago, Australia was covered by a vast sea, perhaps even an ocean, hence the name Oceania. Over time, climate shifts, geological upheavals, and earthquakes pushed massive rock formations to the surface. Today’s desert sands are a reminder of those ancient seabeds.
Travelling along the Stuart Highway, which links Melbourne to Darwin, we passed isolated fuel stops, roadside cafés, and caravan parks, gateways to hiking trails, cave systems, and thermal springs. Everything was clean, welcoming, and well-kept.
A town born of the opal rush
The highlight of my journey was visiting Coober Pedy, once home to nomadic Indigenous peoples who hunted for survival. In their language, “Coober Pedy” means “white man in a hole”.
I have always admired the Greek opal miners who braved the intense heat and the long odds, arriving in the 1950s to 1970s to chase the opal dream. Through hard work, they transformed a rugged outpost into a thriving modern township. The work was and still is demanding, but when luck strikes, it can be extremely rewarding.
In the early days, miners laboured with pick and shovel, inch by inch under the blazing sun, where summer temperatures can soar to 50°C.
The surrounding earth, a mix of sand, salt, and fossilised shells, fish bones, and molluscs, made the work backbreaking. But the discovery of an opal slab, shimmering with a rainbow of colours, erased the fatigue in an instant.
Today, the land around Coober Pedy is pitted with mine shafts, a testament to its underground riches.
Underground living and mining
We visited the Underground Museum, where our guide, Zoe Pollard, well-acquainted with the local Greek community, led us through former mine tunnels, showing us how mining evolved from manual labour to modern drilling machinery. She explained how opal is extracted, sorted, and transformed into jewellery by skilled craftsmen.
Opal mining here began in 1915–1916. Early settlers discovered that dugouts, homes carved into hillsides, offered stable, comfortable temperatures. Even today, many residences, shops, and motels are underground.
With a $100 council permit, anyone can lease a plot, drill a shaft 28–30 metres deep and one metre wide, and begin searching for opal. The raw material is sifted, washed, and assessed by specialists before being cut and polished. No fragment is wasted, modern techniques even turn discarded shards into inlays for jewellery.
Mining requires stamina, local knowledge, and a hopeful, creative spirit. And when someone does strike opal, the find is often kept a closely guarded secret.
A multicultural outpost in the desert
Over the years, migrants from 47 nationalities have passed through Coober Pedy. Today’s population of about 1,700 includes Serbs, Germans, Italians, Croatians, Greeks, Australians, and Indigenous residents, a true multicultural blend.
We visited the partly underground Serbian Orthodox Church of Prophet Elijah, the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (now closed), as well as Polish and Italian community halls. The first cemetery, we learned, was established by Greeks on the grounds of St Nicholas.
Facilities are basic, there is no permanent doctor, though a volunteer team responds to emergencies. The local school has around 100 pupils, but the last baby born in town was in 1988.
Despite the arid climate, there is life all around: unique reptiles, rare bird species, and even pelicans in nearby lakes.
Water is scarce, but the dry heat is part of the town’s appeal. Visitors can browse opal shops, several run by Greek Australians, where the gems are valued like diamonds, based on colour, brilliance, clarity, and size. Black opal remains the rarest and most expensive.
Natural beauty and lasting impressions
In the afternoon heat, we travelled 35 kilometres north to the Breakaways Reserve, a breathtaking landscape of multicoloured, ancient volcanic hills, shaped by millions of years.
Coober Pedy is like a miniature city strung with nature’s own fairy lights — reds, greens, blues, and whites gleaming in the desert sun. An artist could easily lose themselves here, painting scenes of rare beauty from the heart of Australia.
It’s no wonder Coober Pedy welcomes around 80,000 visitors each year.
