Largest underground mining town

A South Australian opal mining town, Coober Pedy, is home to around 2,000 residents living in 1,500 underground homes. Each ‘dug-out’, as the locals call their houses, sits 2.4–6.7 m (8–22 ft) below ground with living and bedrooms, and has air shafts for ventilation. However, as the dug-outs make do without water or sewage, kitchens and bathrooms are placed on the surface. All of this is done in order to avoid scorching day-time temperatures, which reach 51°C (125°F) in the shade. The sealed sandstone walls offer an attractive rose-coloured environment, and if you want to make your home larger, then you just start digging and drilling! Coober Pedy, was founded in 1915 when opal was first discovered in the region and miners began settling in. The name Coober Pedy derives from the Aboriginal kupa-piti, which means ‘white man's hole’. Today, the underground town also has a network of bars, shops, hotel, museums, churches and even a camping site. At night, residents play golf on Coober Pedy’s sandy desert golf course, using glow-in-the-dark balls and carrying a small turf clod for teeing off. Several films have been shot in Coober Pedy, including The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Until the End of the World.