Of course the raison d'être for Coober Pedy is opals and it is regarded as the "Opal Capital of the World" because of the quantity and quality of the opals mined there. Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality opal.
This "old timers mine" was originally dug by pick and shovel and was once a working mine. It is now a wonderful museum complete with real life characters who existed in the early days going about their daily mining business.
This is George Burford who came to the mines in 1919 and in 1920, became a JP and the unofficial "mayor" of the field.
We are 20 metres underground at this point.
Did you chance upon an opal and did you mean 1919. I taught with an elderly lady who grew up as a girl on the opal fields and she always wore opals, the most fabulous opals I've ever seen.
It's interesting to make this connection to opals. My mother was born in October, so her birth stone is opal, and she had many. When she moved to assisted living this year, we three daughters each took an opal for ourselves, our daughters, and our granddaughters.
