World's strangest ... the Coober Pedy Golf Course.Credit: Getty Images
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Katrina Lobley finds the charm sparkles below ground and above on a visit to the outback's quirkier towns.
Coober Pedy doesn't look like much from the air. As our plane descends towards the outback opal-mining town, all that can be seen on the outskirts are the odd rusty car wreck and holes crowned with piles of red dirt.
The excavations are a reminder that this place is all about what lies below the surface, in this case the 70-plus opal fields that have earned Coober Pedy the title of "Opal Capital of the World". Since the first sparkly opal was uncovered here in 1915, the precious gemstone has been the talk of the town.
Still, it's one thing to know opals are big here, quite another to wander through the underground tunnel devoted to the industry at the Desert Cave Hotel. The free display includes maps, diagrams and photographs that show just how deep opal fever runs in these parts. For first-time visitors, it's a great way to get a grasp on the place.
You can hear more about opals by walking down Hutchison Street, the town's main drag. Tourism is the other big business here and Coober Pedy's shopkeepers are always up for a chat. I stop for a yarn with opal store owner Nathan Aretas, who's got a chunk of milky opal dangling from his neck, time to kill and a story to tell. He presses me to take a fridge magnet, which reads: "I fell down an 87-foot shaft and survived." Aretas reels off the injuries he survived in 1987, shows me the newspaper story about his fall and offers to make me a coffee.
I pass, only because I'm heading to the underground Catacomb Church on the edge of town. As I approach, heavenly voices seep from the earth. Inside, a trio is rehearsing hymns for the Sunday service. Between numbers, the musos ask where I'm from, show me the air vents drilled into the roof, the cross and pulpit made of mulga wood and even crack a sly joke about why the bishop's chair is so wide. As if this isn't surreal enough, a hymn sheet is thrust into my hands and I'm urged to raise my voice in song. I haven't been to church since Sunday school and can't carry a tune to save my life but there's nothing for it but to join in. God help me.
Also on the town fringes is one of the world's strangest golf courses. Coober Pedy Golf Course's unique set of rules includes a "rock relief" rule - if a ball lands beside one of the rocks that litter the grassless fairways, the golfer can take a free drop.
Golfers also carry a square of artificial turf with them around the 18-hole course to tee up the ball and help protect their clubs. Finally, the greens (which are called "scrapes") are black - the topping is a mix of quarry dust and sump oil that won't blow away with the desert winds.
Inside the clubhouse there's an amusing letter pinned to the wall from Coober Pedy's "sister" club, the posh St Andrews in Scotland. In response to news that the desert golf club was "giving" it an opal mine, St Andrews responded with similar humour, granting Coober Pedy's members access to one of its courses during Scotland's bitingly cold Januarys.
For a taste of real outback life, there's nothing like dropping in on William Creek, 166 kilometres north-east of Coober Pedy. With a population of three (two publicans and a pilot), William Creek is officially South Australia's smallest town. It's located within the boundaries of Anna Creek Station, which at 23,700 square kilometres is considered Australia's largest cattle station.
Last year, however, it went nuts at William Creek. Visitors flocked to fly over the rare sight of Lake Eyre filled with water that had travelled down from Queensland's channel country. Pilot Trevor Wright's modest house spilled over with fellow pilots he'd called in to help him out. At the height of it there were 11 aircraft taking off and landing daily at the tiny William Creek airstrip.
Things have now settled to just two pilots and three planes, which take visitors over the vast salt pan and the bit of water left in Belt Bay on the lake's south-west side. Last month, Wright reported there was still some water flowing through the Warburton Groove from Neales Creek.
Joy flights aren't the only thing to do around here - there's also an outdoor museum of space junk courtesy of the nearby Woomera rocket range. You can also crack a coldie while checking the paraphernalia that lines seemingly every surface inside the William Creek Hotel. You name it and someone has left it as a souvenir - there's even an X-ray from the English backpacker who crashed a van down the road, broke her shoulder and wanted to let everyone know she was OK.
Soon there will even be a pool in William Creek. Wright says the town "should have had it years ago, considering the temperature is 40-plus in the summer. We're digging a hole, putting in bore water and then [putting it] through a salt chlorinator - really moving upmarket, total paradise."
We're exhausted by the time we return to Coober Pedy. After a wonderfully garlicky meal at Tom and Mary's Greek Taverna, we return to our digs at the Desert Cave Hotel. Its square underground rooms aren't the most atmospheric (for something more quirky, try the Underground Motel near the Catacomb Church) but they are dead quiet. I wake feeling as if I've just had the best sleep ever. Coober Pedy has charm all right - it's just a matter of knowing where to find it.
Katrina Lobley travelled courtesy of the South Australian Tourism Commission.
Coober Pedy is 846 kilometres — about a 10-hour drive — from Adelaide along the Stuart Highway. Regional Express flies from Adelaide to Coober Pedy for about $240 one way, including tax. See rex.com.au. Phone the Coober Pedy Visitors Centre on 1800 637 076 or see opalcapitaloftheworld.com.au.
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