Coober Pedy is located in South Australia. The town was originally named after European explorer John McDouall Stuart, who first set foot on the land in 1858. In 1920, the town was renamed Coober Pedy, which means “white man’s hole” in the Aboriginal language.
Located in one of Australia’s harshest climates, Coober Pedy endures relentless heat. The landscape resembles the moon, with deep craters. Coober Pedy is subject to seasonal dust storms and water scarcity.
Because of such harsh climate conditions, migrants to the town over 100 years ago dug tunnels and lived in underground houses, carved into the rocky mountainsides to avoid the heat.
According to the 2021 Australian Census, there are 1,566 people living in Coober Pedy and 80% of the town's population lives in underground housing.
No matter how high the outside temperature rises, the temperature underground always remains around 24 degrees Celsius.
Here, electric lights are always on. Each house has its own electrical system and ventilation system. The town's water supply comes from a 24km underground source.
Living underground has not limited the limitless imagination of the people of Coober Pedy. They have carved countless beautiful, strange but extremely delicate images everywhere in the “cave”. The rooms are furnished with amenities, no different from those above ground, with clean beds, wardrobes, televisions, and cooking stoves.
Not only that, Coober Pedy also has churches, restaurants, hotels, bars, art galleries, entertainment areas... all located more than 10m underground.
Above ground, only a few vents and chimneys can be seen. Fuel stations and a few public stores are the only structures left above ground to serve tourists and passersby.
Coober Pedy also has an underground art museum called “Old Time Mine” which used to be an ancient cave, inside there are many layers of opal preserved, reflecting a period of the town's history.
Coober Pedy is now one of Australia's most unique tourist destinations.
In the 1980s, Umberto Colo, a resident of Coober Pedy, saw the tourism potential here. Since then, many modern hostels, hotels, restaurants and serviced apartments have been built to serve tourists.
Temperatures in Coober Pedy often top 50 degrees in the summer and sometimes even higher, but the rest of the year is relatively pleasant. April to October is the ideal time to visit the town, although desert nights can be cold in winter.
Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/thi-tran-bi-an-giua-sa-mac-hon-1-000-nguoi-song-trong-long-dat-386760.html
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