Coober Pedy Opal

[den]

Coober Pedy is an Aboriginal word that means "Man In A Hole."


People wonder why a bloke would put himself through the difficulties and hardships to mine opals by hand. This is why.


This one was bought by my Grandfather in the mid 60s, when a trip to Coober Pedy took seven days and Alice Springs was a 2 week expedition away. In those days it was quicker to sail to Darwin than it was to drive, and opals had very little value. This one is 25mm x 15mm. Mum wears it.

This isn't a black opal. They are only found at Lightning Ridge.

Comments

[tatterdemalion.livejournal.com]

ooohhh dats soooo pretty

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

It's just stone.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

It's an accident of nature. A random collection of water molecules in a sillicate matrix. How does luck attach to them? Silly people see coincidences and attach "luck" to it.

I don't believe something so nice could be bad.

Re: It's just stone.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[ngarewyrd.livejournal.com]

Mum has a ring with the same sort of opals in it, she went to CooperPedy on her honeymoon, and bought it there...

black opal is nice, white can be just as nice *grins*

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

I like opals... I've actually been to Cooper Pedy a long time ago

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Tim and I met in college about 29 years ago. I was a Theatre major and he was stage managing a show I was in. At the time, the college theatre consisted of a large boxy temporary building which has since been replaced by a gorgeous performing arts complex. But we loved it. The theatre department was small, and close knit, and it was one of the great times of my life.

In any case, there was, in the middle of the box that was the building that housed the theatre deparment, a pit with a trap door in whicn we stored flats and lights and other equipment. We called it Coobra Pedy. I don't know who started it, but it was annointed as such when Tim and I were there, and remained so until the building was demolished, abou5 ten years ago.

To this day, once in awhile, Tim will sidle up to me and whisper in my ear, "Coobra Pedy". It's very romantic. Really :).

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that should have read "Coober Pedy". *sigh*

[http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/]

Beautiful. Opals are probably my favorite precious stone. There's just something about them...

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I have a Coober Pedy opal in a little setting, tiny, got it in '81. I turned down my only chance to go visit because of the travel time, but I'll take it one day. It looks a bit like the gopher warren in our back yard, I hear.

[lostwanderfound.livejournal.com]

It looks a bit like the gopher warren in our back yard, I hear.

Kinda like this (http://photobucket.com/albums/v137/lostwanderfound/?action=view&current=3-10.jpg), actually. Next to each of those piles of dirt is a 10-20' hole. It's like that for about ten kilometres on each side of town.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

That's lovely. I dream of someday being rich enough to work in opal; every gem show I go by the booth of the opal vendor and just stand there and drool for a while.

This time, I was able to partially assuage my opal longing by getting a cab of fuschite/kyanite (http://www.crystalstargazer.com/kyaniteFuschiteSph61mm1.0.JPG). The picture doesn't really do justice to this mineral; my cab is significantly greener and has some additional red streaks which are either ruby or garnet, along with the "flowing water" sparkliness of the kyanite. I have GOT to start doing wire work.

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

My mother has a very good friend, who lives in Canada now, but was a British journalist, who'd lived for quite some time in Coober Pedy - she wrote a very interesting book on the history of Coober Pedy, unfortunately she never found a publisher for it. I have a copy of the manuscript

I've always loved opals, they are among my favourite stones, although I do prefer black opal to white. Here in Brisbane all I've seen are overpriced for the Japanese tourists or cheap triplets. There is a possibility of seeing Lightening Ridge on our way southbound - however James tells me it's a choice of either Lightning Ridge, or the Light House at Byron Bay. Damned big country - can't do a day trip outta Sydney to Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef *snerk*.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful. Look at all that fire. The opals we sell in the US are crap.

[lizardling.livejournal.com]

My uncle used to be an opal digger at Coober Pedy. Might still be, I'm not sure (Haven't talked to them in years).

Last time my family visited Australia, which would have been when I was in middle school or so, he gave me and my sister each an opal. She got a wee teardrop shaped white one, and I got a slightly larger black opal. Unfortunately, the black opal has visible pores in it, so I don't think it's a good quality one, but it's still one of the prettiest stones I ever saw.

[red-frog.livejournal.com]

I've been fascinated by opals since I was a very lucky child with a neighbor who collected them and let me stare at her collection. These are beautiful.