If there were ever one area of a country that ignited a passion and fierce pride in the majority of that country’s citizens, no matter where they live, it is the Outback of Australia. Arid and unforgiving, it speaks to people like no other place on earth.

The Outback is a land unto itself…wild and rugged. It is an environment where the saying “only the strong survive” holds true. To say that the land is barren is not really true. It is woven deeply in the tapestry of Maori history and that of the country as a whole. The treasures that it holds are, aside from gods and opals, in its landscapes and the adaptable creatures, human and animal alike, that inhabit it.

Dramatic, uncompromising rock faces rise from the ground to meet the sky; feral camels and donkeys roam the vast tracts of desolate land; fossils from long ago Ages; and people that have carved out their lives in this area all ignite the imagination of visitors. Places like Ayers Rock (Uluru), Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, and Katherine Gorge attract visitors like iron filings to a magnet. The draw is irresistible.

Uluru holds deep spiritual meaning to the Maori and is a place of reverence. The red stone sandstone outcropping rising majestically from the earth is one of Australia’s most recognizable landmarks. Many know it as the site where, in 1980, a 9-week-old baby was taken by dingoes. Authorities were convinced that the mother, Lindy Chamberlain, had killed the child. Subsequently she was incarcerated until experts testified that there was indeed evidence that dingoes did snatch the child.

Coober Pedy and Alice Springs are just two of the unique settlements that are scattered throughout the Outback. Both attract a large number of visitors each year. Coober Pedy is an opal-mining town with the distinction of being largely below ground as an adaptive measure to help residents beat the extreme heat. Historic Alice Springs, the second largest city in the Northern Territory, offers visitors a widely diverse range of attractions and activities from the usually dry regatta on the Todd River and the desert gardens to hiking in the stunning MacDonnell mountain range.

There are so many places in the Outback that are intriguing that it is difficult to pick just a few to highlight. The national parks and Heritage Sites are beautiful and time should be spent exploring them. Weather within the Outback runs the gauntlet from arid to flooding rains and extreme heat in the day to cold nights. There are only a few that can living in this punishing environment.

You could spend weeks in the Outback and not see everything that appeals to you so, when you plan your trip, set your itinerary in advance to maximize your time there. This wonderful area of Australia will call you back time after time.

From 1915, when the first opal was discovered, until the present; the tiny Outback town of Cooder Pedy has been famous for its high quality opals and has become a tourist destination. You will be utterly amazed at the amount of interesting things there are to do and see in and around this remote town with its population of under 4000. For a small town, it packs a big wallop.

The distances that this unique town is from major cities will stun you. Roughly halfway between Alice Springs and Adelaide, the term “in the middle of nowhere” is a term that could aptly be applied to Coober Pedy. Known as the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy is the largest opal-mining town in Australia.

The Australian Outback is renowned for its unforgiving environment and searing temperatures. Cooder Pedy is no exception. With temperatures of over 100F most of the year, except in the winter when the temperature drops to the 90F range, many residents of this small town have adapted their lifestyle to accommodate those grueling mid-afternoon temperatures.

Underground homes are the norm, as opposed to the exception here. Abandoned mines have been converted to subterranean abodes that remain at a fairly constant temperature year round, negating the need for air-conditioning. Other homes have been purpose built in underground for about the same cost as a traditional above ground house. The underground world scenes in the movie “Mad Max – Beyond the Thunderdome” were filmed in one of the best known homes in Coober Pedy, Crocodile Harry’s Underground Nest.

The first church to be built underground in Coober Pedy was the little church of Saint Peter & Paul’s Catholic Church. Starting out as a non-denominational place of worship, this unique church became a reality through the sweat of the community. Other churches have since followed suit providing residents with a comfortable place to worship.

Some shops, art galleries, and hotels incorporated the underground lifestyle into their business. The Desert Cave Hotel, Comfort Inn Coober Pedy Experience Motel, Desert View Motel, Radeka’s Dugout Motel, and The Underground Motel all offer the opportunity of living underground, albeit only for the length of your visit. Radeka’s was originally an opal mine that was converted to a motel in the mid-1980s. If your taste runs to B&Bs, there are dugouts B&Bs as well.

You can stroll to the Temptation Café and have a bite to eat in one of only three underground cafes in the world. Once you leave the delightful café, you can go “noodling”, or searching for opals, in the public area. Who knows, you may find a decent opal to memorialize your visit to this amazing town…others have.