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Desert Cave Tour 
Outback Mail Run
Painted Desert Tour
Interpretive Display
Fossicking/Noodling
Down N' Dirty
Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour
Sunset Ghosts and Stars
Desert Cave Tour
Coober Pedy holds a fascination for visitors from all over the world. An 'underground' town where you could arrive with just the shirt on your back and leave a millionaire?
Rainbow flashes of opal, underground homes, easy-going lifestyle and the mystery of the dusty lunar landscape make Coober Pedy a unique and special place.
Tour the town, hear about its history, about our precious water supplies and power generation. Every element of life is hard-won in Coober Pedy.
On the Desert Cave Tour you visit
- A Working Opal Field to see Opal mining methods. Venture down a former working mine to see opal traces embedded in the sandstone
- The Breakaways, a range of colourful exposed sandstone outcrops - spectacular views over the Moon Plain - once an inland sea. This dramatically beautiful area has been the set for many internationally known movies
- The famous Dog Fence (dingo fence) - stretching 5,300km across Australia
- The Serbian Underground Church - spectacular excavation, traditional Serbian Orthodox architecture and fascinating sand stone carvings
- A genuine underground home or “Dugout” - see how the locals live
- Underground Potteries
- Opal cutting demonstration - professional advice on opal quality and price.
- Complimentary opal stickpin as a lasting memento
- Complimentry drink in the underground Level Bar
Departs: Daily, from the Desert Cave Hotel
Duration: 4 hours (approx.)
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Outback Mail Run
The Mail Run day tour travels over a triangle between Coober Pedy, Oodnadatta and William Creek, visiting points of interest and delivering mailbags to all cattle stations on the way. The route covers 600 kilometres of colourful terrain, passing historic ruins and monuments and part of the Overland Telegraph Line. Also visit, bores and cattle station homesteads.
Departs: Coober Pedy, Monday and Thursday (Except public holidays when Mail Run is moved to the next working day)
Duration: 13 hours (approx
Inclusions: Tour and all entry fees
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Painted Desert Tour
A one day 4WD tour to the spectacular breakaway country of the Painted Desert (Arckaringa Hills).The Painted Desert is an area of spectacular colourful hills that Mother Nature has taken 80 million years to create. Sediments originally laid down by the ancient inland sea have eroded away over time. This erosion, combined with the leaching of minerals from the soil, create this magical area whose colours change during the day, making it a photographer's delight.
To get there, Desert Diversity Tours leaves the world-famous Opal mining town of Coober Pedy, past the last of the underground homes and through the Dingo Fence (the world's longest structure). We travel over an area that was once the ancient inland sea bed, but today is commonly known as the Moon Plains.
This area is a very important marine-fossil bed that has become of great interest to palaeontologists since the recent discovery, by the operators of Desert Diversity Tours, of the partial backbone of a 5-6 meter long Ichthyosaur (ancient marine reptile) which swam in the ancient sea 120 million years ago.
See some of the vast cattle stations of the Outback, bush walk through the Painted Desert, experience the beauty of Outback landscapes and waterholes. Learn about the Great Artesian Basin, the early explorers and the pastoral industry. Morning/afternoon tea & lunch are supplied.
Departs: on application
Duration: 9 hours
Inclusions: Morning and afternoon tea, lunch, all entry fees
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Interpretive Display
The Desert Cave Hotel has its own colourful and informative underground display centre; open from 8am to 8pm. There is no cost for seeing this interesting display set in sandstone passages. Learn about Coober Pedy's past and present. Information includes historical Coober Pedy, formation and mining of opal, and visual displays of the unique Outback landscape.
FREE OF CHARGE
Open: 8am - 8pm
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Fossicking/Noodling
Fossick for your own gem in the Jewellers Shop area! Transportation to and from the site is provided on request.
FREE OF CHARGE
Departs: on request, daylight hours only
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Down N' Dirty
For those who want to experience the thrill of digging for a fortune, this tour offers a comprehensive hands-on opportunity.
The 4-hour tour includes:
- Informative, instructional and entertaining video on opal mining to open up the mysterious world of discovering the stone of fire "The Coober Pedy Opal"
- A visit to a working mine field to understand the various styles of opal mining, and to relive the hardship and joy of earlier times of Opal mining
- Entry to the Quest Mine where you will be supplied with a hard hat, torch and handpick. Get down and get dirty fossicking for your own fortune
- Access to the "Jewellers Shop" mullock heaps for an experience in noodling (fossicking)
- Experience the safe, fun, informative way to mine your own opal
The Quest mine offers ease of access with ramps into the mine
Departs: on application
Duration: 4 Hours
^top Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour
Join our accredited Aboriginal Tour guide on his tour to see for
yourself how the oldest living culture in the World lived and survived
in this unique, challenging and visually striking landscape.
Hear
the stories of the Kydigi people and Watee, the owner of the two dogs.
Become a hunter and gatherer and find Witchetty grubs, Honey ants, wild
bananas and Bush toffee.
Stop for lunch (not included in Tour price)
at Cadney homestead, to contemplate how life in the Desert really was,
before turning back to the Hotel.
Here we will round off the experience with a showing of Aboriginal art and artefacts.
This five hour tour includes Morning Tea and National Park fees.
You’ll need Sun screen, Hat, firm shoes, Water and a sense of adventure. Departs: 8.00 am from Reception Tour operated by Desert Cave Hotel.
Minimum 2 people, maximum 6 people.
Departs: Daily
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Sunset Ghosts and Stars
After experiencing a
glorious Sunset at the Breakaway’s , our experienced tour Guides take you on a
tour of the historical Cemetery in Coober Pedy where the life stories of the pioneers of Coober Pedy will be retold.
After this, two hours of Stargazing, including aboriginal legends of the Star’s
will leave you thinking.
Departs: Daily
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