Bouncing the OUTBACK must visit Coober Pedy

! We are now driving in the direction of Alice   [Music] Springs, and we just saw another kangaroo.  Welcome to Coober Pedy or Coober Pedy—I’m not sure   how to pronounce it. Anyway, this is nearly  halfway to our final destination. We’re going  

To stay here the night because we don’t want to  drive anymore. We want to spend a little bit of   time in this town, which is a mining town and a  quite famous stop for people driving from Adelaide  

To Alice Springs. So, we’re going to stop here.  Yeah, let’s see what this place is all [Music] About; well, apparently, Coober Pedy has a lot to  offer, and we stayed three nights instead of the   one originally planned. If you don’t know,  Coober Pedy is the world capital of opal.  

If you don’t know what opal is, don’t worry. I  didn’t know either, but it’s a precious stone,   a gem that is quite expensive and mined over  here. 85% of the world’s opal is mined over here,   so it’s a big deal. It’s simply the most  stunning gemstone on the planet. It’s just  

Remarkably beautiful. You can put the thing  away for a week, pick it out, and look at it,   and you can still see things inside it that you’ve  never seen before. We learned this at the free   museum they have. There’s information about Opal  but also about the indigenous people that live  

Here and the region. It was very interesting and  a very complete museum, I must say. Yeah, there’s   a little bit of information about the region,  the area, the indigenous people, a little bit of   everything. Coober Pedy is a unique, wacky town,  I must confess that’s for sure. On the first day,  

We didn’t do much. We just visited the free museum  and an underground Church—Serbian Orthodox Church,   which was pretty random. The reason why we  visited only the church and the museum was   that it was raining, so we had to take cover. The  only two places that were open were those two,  

So we ended up only visiting that and then  stayed for the night in the freedom campsite,   which was pretty quiet, and we had toilets,  and the toilets were also underground. Yeah, I think like 50 or 60% of the population  of Coober Pedy lives underground because the  

Temperatures here are harsh, very dry, and they  can reach like 50°. So, people have dug holes and   lived underground for a few hundred years. Yes,  and I must say that we learned that also at the   museum—the underground houses that are called  dugouts. People have dug them because they  

Realized that underground, the temperatures were  pretty much the same between 20 and 25° all year   round. So very pleasant temperatures, rather than  just staying on the top of the earth and being   super hot and not pleasant at all. After a day of  work, who wants to stay in a massive oven? Nobody.  

They just want to chill in their homes. Yeah, the  museum is also underground, so we could experience   the nice temperature that we could feel on the  underground dug houses or dug holes—dugouts. So   many dogs. The landscape here is very unique, and  that’s why a lot of movies were filmed here. One  

Of them was Mad Max, and another one was Kangaroo  Jack, which is one of your favorite movies ever. Yeah, when I was a kid, I have a story about  that. Funny enough, because when I was a kid,  

I kept stealing my brother’s DVD of Kangaroo  Jack, and I kept watching it over and over again,   thinking that he would not realize that I  was stealing his DVD and putting it back   into his DVD folders. He had a massive folder  full of DVDs. But obviously, he realized. So,  

He gifted the DVD to me on my birthday. I don’t  remember how old I was, but I was a kid. The   film was out at the time, recently, so it was  probably, I think, 2003, yeah, around 2003, 2004,  

Around that time. So, he gifted me the movie, and  since watching Kangaroo Jack, I was obsessed with   kangaroos and Australia. I wanted to come here. It  was like my dream to come to Australia and to see   kangaroos in the wild, jumping around. I don’t  know if you haven’t seen Kangaroo Jack movie,  

Go and watch it, and then you’ll realize  what I’m talking about. It was filmed in   the landscapes of Coober Pedy and the Northern  Territory, so the dry and red sand landscapes,   which I was just obsessed with. It’s crazy. One  of my dreams was to come to Australia because of  

That movie. I didn’t realize because it was many  years ago that I watched it. I didn’t realize that   it was actually filmed in Coober Pedy. That was  the actual—we re-watched the movie last night. Yes, we did rewatch The Movie last night, and then  we were like [Music], “No, we are here.” It was  

So curious because also I wanted to go to Alice  Springs, and the main reason why I wanted to go   there was because there’s a kangaroo Sanctuary  there. I wanted to see baby kangaroos and the   rescued kangaroos up close. Obviously, the wild  ones that are in the wild, you can’t really get  

Too close to them; otherwise, they will kick your  ass. So, I just wanted to go and see the kangaroo   sanctuary, and Alice Springs, even though  it’s super expensive, was one of my dreams.   But I don’t have to go anymore because there  is a kangaroo orphanage or kind of a sanctuary  

Where they rescue kangaroos, either adult ones  that suffered any injuries or baby ones where   they lost their mothers. So, there is a rescue  center there, and they take really good care of   them. We went and visited it, and it was the most  amazing experience ever. I still can’t believe it.  

I still haven’t processed it properly, but we held  a baby kangaroo, and he was the cutest thing ever. It’s so cute, meigar, and they’re all friendly,   yeah. I got some VIP here for the big ones out  of the bag, and I’ll give one. Hello there.

Cute, we go. Hello, I grabbed some. Is this Bella? That’s a shie. Some wasabi. Wasabi, hold your hand  down. Nice and low, your hand down really low,   and now eat out your hand. Don’t make a mess.  Show one of your feeding. Then, next one is  

Bottom. You’re making a mess, and then you have  fell down the end. You want more? No, no, you can   feed yourself. You can feel the s—everything. Oh,  my God, he’s friendly, though. Yeah, so basically   what we do is take orphan kangaroos. So when  the mothers call, we end up with the babies,  

And you get them in two ways: one where moms  killed on the highway. So, we get them from where   moms got on the highway. The other way we get our  kangaroos is from the local Aboriginal people who  

Still have kangaroo for dinner. They go and hunt  the mother to eat, and quite often, if there’s a   baby, they might give it to the children to play  with. Then, after a while, somebody in the family,  

Grandma, realizes kangaroo is not looking too good  and will bring it in. So, we get our kangaroos. In Bella, are you going to come and get some food  too? Bella, that’s Bella. Bella’s on your right.   That’s Bella. Yeah, this is shie and Blossom.  Blossom, Blossom, Blossom. Blossom, come here,  

Boy. Yes, she’s recing. Not you. You already  ate. She’s cancer removed and thinking up.   This is Daphne. She’s about 6 months of age.  Hello, Daphne. She hops up to you and gives   her a little Pat. Just don’t try to pick her up.  She falls over. Ignore her. She’s got to learn  

To get up herself. Yeah, so when they’re born,  they’re about the size of your thumb. They climb   in a mom’s pouch, and that’s where they stay  for 6 months while they grow their fur. Once   they have their fur, sort of coming up to Daphne’s  age now, mother kangaroo starts pushing them out.  

They need to learn how to hop and stand and get  around. Also, learn to go to the outside of the   pouch inside Mom’s pouch. She does a little bit  of housework. So, little Daphne here is learning  

To stand, very pop. Very wobbly legs yet, still  got wobbly legs. She tries. Yeah, I know. Oh,   that’s how you’re scary out there. Karo in  the bed, your bed. Come on in. You go. Oh,   in the goes your head out. Hey, what are  you doing? Silly. What are you doing? Okay,  

Then she’s safe again. So, usually around  this time, they go out for a little bit to   feed and a little bit of exercise. And  slowly, that increases as she gets old. Would you like to have a hold? Yes, please. Dream  come true. Right hand behind your back. Right hand  

Behind your back, right back. Your back is here.  She’s nervous. Feel there, little tail. Feel the   tail. Nice tight grip. Don’t let her go. Okay, get  rid of that up like that. Nice, nice and tight.  

Bring your hand up and give her a little Pat. Oh,  my God, I still have the tail. So, when kangaroos   meet each other for the very first time, they come  up nose to nose and sniff each other’s breath. So,  

When you meet a kangaroo, you blow very gently  into their nose. If you do that with her,   you might get a kiss. She will notice your breath  in a minute. Oh, who’s being distracted? What are  

You doing? You’re going to give kisses. Here  we go. A kiss. Kiss. Yes, I’ll give you a kiss.   She’s so cute. Been kissed by a kangaroo. Now,  she doesn’t have much. No, she’s growing up. The orphanage place where we held our first baby  kangaroo is also an art gallery where there’s a  

Lot of paintings, tools, and instruments of the  indigenous people of Australia. It’s also the   center where they rescue kangaroos—not just the  baby ones, like we mentioned, but all types of   kangaroos, all ages. The gentleman that runs it is  really cool and has a lot of knowledge. Randomly  

Enough, he also played us a little bit of the  didgeridoo, which I never heard before. I mean,   we have heard it, but not live. So, that was  a cool experience. We also bought a boomerang,   and that boomerang was used by aboriginals to  hunt rather than what we originally thought,  

That it was just like a play tool. I think the  stars aligned at this moment for you to have this   experience here in Australia. It was Coober Pedy  was destined to be everything happened there. It’s  

Going to be a very special place for me that  you’re going to cherish for the rest of your   life. Exactly. It’s where the movie was filmed.  It’s where you held your first-ever kangaroo and   baby one. I first touched a kangaroo, really.  It was the first time I touched a kangaroo in  

General. So, I’m super happy. My dreams have  come true. I’ve managed to get my dreams done,   and I’m so, so happy. Couldn’t be happier. Thank  you, Coober Pedy, for being amazing. Even though   it’s a wacky town, it’s not in a negative sense.  It’s just like it’s a weird place but not in a  

Negative sense. It’s just like it’s a mining  area, mining town, unusual. Very, very unusual,   and it’s very unusual. Exactly. The landscape is  unusual. It feels like you’re not on this Earth,   but people are super nice. People are nice,  and we were very welcomed there by everyone.  

That’s why we ended up staying three,  right? The first one, like we mentioned,   we didn’t do anything. The second one, that’s  where we went around town a little bit. On the second day, we also went to the public  noodling area where we tried and find some  

Opal. Well, we actually don’t know what we are  looking for because this is the public area for   noodling for finding opals, but we have no  idea how to look for them. But we came and   gave it a try anyway, and we found these cool  shiny rocks. Unfortunately, couldn’t find any,  

At least we don’t think we found any, but we  found a lot of shiny stones. It was [Music] fun.   The first night we stayed at the Freedom Camp,  but then on the second and third night, we went  

To a caravan park to have a bit more. Yeah, we  needed to chill out, have a nice swimming pool,   facilities there, running water, nice shower,  running water. Exactly. It was so good,   and we deserved it because we’ve been on the road  for a really long time. It was our first time on  

A caravan park, on a paid one. We have never paid  for a campsite before in Australia, in Australia,   and in New Zealand. We paid, I think, one at the  beginning or something, but mainly because we  

Needed to have a shower, and there was no showers  around. And this time, we looked, and we’re like,   “Oh, there’s a swimming pool. It’s not so  expensive, and it looks like an oasis in the   middle of the desert.” It was pretty much empty  because it’s off-season now. So, we had the place  

Pretty much for ourselves, and we deserved it. We  really enjoyed. We took really good advantage of   the swimming pool and really good advantage of the  TV room/kitchen because that’s where we spent most   of the time. And we also had free Wi-Fi, which  was good to speak with our family properly and  

Not being worried about spending too much of our  data. So, yeah, it was like a mini holiday for   us as well, of switching from the traveling and  just enjoying being there. And the last day was   just doing nothing. I think that’s how you say  it in Italian, whichmeans the pleasure of doing

Nothing like that something like that but  that was us yeah that’s pretty much what   we did and we’re very happy and ready for  our next adventure that starts today cuz   we are leaving Coba PTI so we scrapped Ali  Springs off no need to go there we had an  

Incredible experience so we are heading straight  to Uluru to the heart of Australia the Beating   Heart of Australia we are very very excited  and the weather has finally turned and it’s   not too hot and it’s also not cold anymore  like it was and it’s not raining beautiful  

Beautiful Skies so we are ready for the  next adventure and we hope that you join   us yeah next video will be U we’re just going  to drive straight over there I think it’s like   800 km from Koopa Petty r that I hope you  guys enjoyed this video thank you so much  

For watching and we shall see you on the next  one [Music] [Applause] [Music] peace [Music] o

After a long journey through the outback, we’ve finally made it to Coober Pedy! In this travel video, we’ll share our experience of this strange, but beautiful, town on the edge of the Australian desert.

Coober Pedy is a bit of an off the map destination, but that’s part of the appeal. If you’re looking for a unique travel experience.

Hey hey we made it to the Outback of South Australia, we stoped in Coober Pedy for 3 days, this has to be the strangest town in Australia, but in a positive way we loved it here, we visited the Umoona Opal Mine & Museum, the Serbian Orthodox Church, Josephine’s Gallery and Kangaroo orphanage (were we held a baby kangaroo named Daphne) BEST DAY EVER. Terry the owner even played the didgeridoo for us, the place is also a gallery and Cristiana bought a boomerang that was made by the aboriginal.

Coober Pedy is the opal capital of the world, opal is a gem, precious stone, we learned all this at the free museum.
Due to the unusual landscape a lot of movies were recorded here like: Pitch Black (2000), Red Planet (2000), Kangaroo Jack (2003), The Osiris Child (2016), just to name a few.

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5 Comments

  1. Oh gosh, it's indeed wonderful that finally Cristiana's dream comes true…cuddling a baby kangaroo and seeing kangaroo (s) at close range. Thank you very much for sharing this cool video of Coober Pedy.
    Merry Christmas, Joan Cristiana.

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