Coober Pedy Visitor Information Centre

As we all know, Coober Pedy is the Opal capital of Australia (and they say the world), located on the Stuart Highway in South Australia about 540 kilometres north of Port Augusta and 395 kilometres south of the Northern Territory border.

This is a unique town and you can easily see evidence of mining as you travel along the highway with mounds of dirt everywhere. Coober Pedy is a very hot part of Australian and you are advised to carry water - most caravan parks do not have water taps at sites and you will need to have your tanks full. Water is available at the Visitor Information Centre - the cost during our visit was 20c for 30 litres. The water filling stations look like petrol bowsers and are conveniently open 24 hours a day.

Cooper Pedy Visitor Information Centre is housed in the administration complex of the District Council with a large range of maps and information on this unique area of outback Australia. These offices are open 7 days a week and can organise local tours as well as book accommodation. Quite a few houses, museums, etc are built underground or burrowed into hillsides in order to escape the heat outside - there are tours available to see some of these buildings carved out of the rock.