Coober Pedy is a place like no other! If you haven’t been it’s quite hard to understand but we loved this unique town and all it had to offer. The Opal capital of the world, this is one of the hottest places I’ve ever experienced and many of the residents live underground. It’s a surprisingly multicultural place boasting 45 different nationalities in the census and today it’s prosperity is largely split between mining and tourism – the later being the very reason the CWK family is writing this today!
Coober Pedy is only a small town but it’s location on the Stuart Highway means it regularly plays host to those who need somewhere to rest whilst passing though. The Oasis Tourist Park (a member of the Family Parks Group) is a great example of this! Perched on the edge of town and a convenient few minutes walk to the main drag this park bottles old school charm with Coober Pedy’s signature uniqueness.
We have a long van (24 foot) and were delighted that the Oasis Tourist Park has designated spots for larger rigs. Many parks don’t offer this or find it difficult to squeeze us in so this was happy news to our ears on arrival! Reception was efficient and friendly and the kids were delighted to be greeted with an icecream on arrival. There’s so much truth in the saying it’s the small things that make the big differences! We were off to a great start!
We were escorted to a van site conveniently located near the amenities and – wow, then we saw something we’d never experienced before! The van site was fully shaded by a massive man-made structure. Genius! Trees are basically non-existent in Coober Pedy and the sun belts down year round. This shade structure is incredible and would definitely make your van stay more enjoyable shielding you from the harsh sun. We parked the van in the designated spot – it was a tight squeeze with only a few metres between vans but we didn’t need our awning and there was still plenty of space for our table and chairs. We had made it to Coober Pedy!
There are brand new facilities on the entrance side of the park where Ashlee was most impressed with the built in hair dryers (funny really as she’s never dried her hair! Kids!) Both options and the laundry are immaculately clean which ticks the boxes for me when travelling with small children and needing to catch up on washing! Traditional BBQ facilities are available and a very ‘retro’ shower block that was a sparkling clean journey back in time with pink porcelain and a shower curtain!
Two unusual experiences definitely worth exploring are the Oasis Tourist Park pool and games room. Both are unexpectedly located inside enormous metal water tanks! Used to cool the facilities from Coober Pedy’s sweltering sun none of us had seen anything like this before! It was weird and impressive at the same time, I am sure the locals had no idea what we were gawking at!
Oasis Tourist Park is a great facility for passing through. It’s well located, super-clean and the staff are friendly and helpful. If you’re headed to Opal Country and beyond this is a great location from which to explore a truly interesting and historic town.
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