Andamooka with Lisa McAskill: In the Outback region of South Australia
Andamooka is a knockabout place with an interesting approach to town planning and urban design. More and more Australians and international visitors are being drawn to this outback curiosity.
It's about thirty kilometres northeast of Olympic Dam, which is one of the biggest mines in Australia. But Andamooka is really about independent operators rather than mining conglomerates.
On a Friday night in the Andamooka Opal Hotel Motel the locals swap yarns about who may or may not have struck it big that week.
Old timers like Ron Burge, who lived here for more than 40 years have been immortalised on the legend's wall which records key moments in the ongoing battle to find opal.
The first miners came to Andamooka Station more than 70 years ago. In 1927, two rouseabouts looking for a runaway sheep took shelter on a stormy day. When the sun came out, they saw shimmering stones - it was opal. They told the boss of Andamooka Station and he told them to keep the site a secret.
But three years later one of the men with a pocket full of cash and a belly full of beer and a big mouth let the cat out of the bag and the rush was one.
A little settlement grew to even have its own Post Office. Andamooka is different to Coober Pedy because here the miners have always lived above ground. They've also used the open cut method to extract opal from beneath the vast gibber plains.
Local miner, Peter Taubers offered to show me around. Armed with a pick he took me to a mine where we chipped away for opal in a line of sediment from what's known as the Crutaceous Period.
"About 80 to 100 million years old - that's where you find it in the Andamooka area." said Peter.
All of this was once underwater and home to some amazing prehistoric creatures like the plesiosaur. It was a giant killing machine the opalised bones of which are now on display at the Origin Energy Fossil Gallery in the South Australian museum. The Addyman family uncovered its remains while mining in the Andamooka area in the 1980s.
While the fossilised remains of a one hundred million-year-old creature are certainly a bonus most miners are just after what they call good old-fashioned "colour".
"Opal is there in your face straight away. It's beautiful," smiled Peter. "It sounds like broken glass (when you strike it with your pick) You get a crunch sound just like a bottle breaking."
Opal mining can be a risky business but for a minimal outlay it can be very worthwhile - if you have success.
"It costs $16 to register a claim for three months," explained Peter. "Plus your $50 permit so you are looking at $70,"
We wandered back to Peter's Bottle House Motel where he showed us some finished products. He polishes opals and put the finishing touches on a gem that took millions of years to create and perhaps years of backbreaking work to find.
But that's not always the case. While many spend years mining, some lucky souls simply stumble across opal while noodling on discarded mullock heaps.
I didn't but I certainly enjoyed looking.
Peter Tauber's display room is in the Andamooka Bottle House Motel. Andamooka is about 580 kilometres north west of Adelaide. Regional Express Airlines have regular flights to nearby Olympic Dam. You can book online or phone 13 17 13.
Andamooka
580 kilometres NW of AdelaideThe Andamooka Bottle House Motel
275 Opal Creek BoulevardRegional Express
Bookings 13 17 13
