Coober Pedy: the strange Australian city where everyone lives underground and which inspired Mel Gibson and Tina Turner

In Australia there is a city called Coober Pedy which looks like it was taken from a movie and which, in 1985, served as a location for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdomewith Mel Gibson, Tina Turner and a team of directors installed in the mining town.

This place, reminiscent of other planets, studded with heaps of reddish stone, the result of years of opal extraction, it was the ideal Australian territory for George Miller’s post-apocalyptic film.

That same scenario, not to mention the allure of finding an expensive opal, has attracted people for years. It also forced the townspeople to go underground and have a very special life.

Coober Pedy: the Australian city where you can only live underground

“People come here to see things differently,” Robert Coro, general manager of the Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, on the property’s website which has several rooms located underground, like many other buildings in the city. “It’s that kind of adventurous mindset that draws people here in the first place,” explains Coro.

Nothing in Coober Pedy is for the time fanatics. For starters, it’s very hot. In summer, temperatures can reach 50 degrees in the shade, as long as there is a tree large enough to fit under..

Before the city approved a tree planting initiative to encourage residents to plant seeds around the city, the tallest tree was a sculpture constructed from bits of metal and scrap metal.

Grass is also considered a commodity in Coober Pedy, where the local golf course, with a course entirely in dry earth, only runs at night and has turf to allow players to make the first moves.

Since its founding in 1915, after a teenager discovered opal gemstones there, the city has been the reference point for the extraction of this mineral ambit.

In fact, it is estimated that 70% of world opal production is related to Coober Pedywhich earned it the title of Opal Capital of the World, and most of its 3,500 inhabitants work in the opal industry.

One of the latest finds was a set of opal beads dating back more than 65 million years, but the city also offers other types of buried treasure.

Instead of moving to a cooler place, the city’s first inhabitants learned to adapt to the hellish environment. To survive, they found inspiration in the very ground they walked on.

The hardy miners did what they did best and dug holes in the hillsides to build shelters.

Today about half of the population lives in shelters where the temperature remains constant and is much friendlier than outside.

Life in the underground dwellings of Coober Pedy

Seeking relief from the heat – and cold winter desert nights – the inhabitants continued to build underground.

The result is an underground community that includes underground museums such as the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum, an ancient structure located off the main street of the city.

There are also churches such as the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose sandstone walls are decorated with carvings of saints.

“The great thing about living underground is that it is very calm and peaceful,” Christine Antoau told local media. “There are no air movements or gusts and since there are no windows or natural light you get a very peaceful night’s sleep“.

Over the years, the Coober Pedyers have become experts in building their own underground homes, creating custom underground homes that go beyond one or two rooms and become sprawling labyrinths that spread like cobwebs.

“People cut their own shelves out of sandstone walls,” Michelle Provatidis, Mayor of Coober Pedy and owner of Michelle’s Opals Australia jewelry, told Australian TV. “I even know someone who has an underground swimming pool in their house.”

However, It’s not just what goes on beneath the surface that makes Coober Pedy so unique. On the surface, there are hints of the city’s strong mining roots and eccentricities around every corner.

For instance, at the Coober Pedy drive-in, management asks customers to leave explosives at home, while signs around town warn people to watch out for unmarked holes, remnants of previous opal digs.

Even the thin veil of red dust that settles on streets, cars and buildings is a constant reminder of Coober Pedy’s strange charm. Of something there is no doubt, there is no other place like this on Earth, nor below it.

Coober Pedy appeared in “Mad Max” and in the musical “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert”

Given the special features, it’s no wonder that Coober Pedy’s post-apocalyptic desert landscape has also attracted directors and theater folks – visitors can see famous locations where so much was filmed. crazy, since 1985, such as Priscilla: the queen of the desertwhich debuted in 1994.

The latter is the moving adventure of three friends drag queen boarding a battered old bus headed for the Outback to put on the show of a lifetime. Two worlds collide in this fabulous journey of self-discovery and friendship, and Along the way, the protagonists discover the true power of the master and acceptance.

In Mad Max, Beyond the Thunder Dome, Mel Gibson must fight with a group of children against a tyrannical queen, played by Tina Turner. All, of course, underground.