A town like Coober Pedy

This place was the whole reason the trip happened in the first place. The Oodnadatta track was like dessert – a something for after, something we weren't expecting. And while I can't say I was overwhelmed by Coober Pedy, it's hard not to be in awe of the place, where people dig out homes, work hard mining trying to find that one big opal that's going to make your fortune. It didn't inspire me to blog though... and then we met the lovely Vincenzo. We are staying at another caravan park, and while all caravan parks could be classed as quite the same, the Stuart Range caravan park in Coober Pedy is a cut above the rest. Excuse me, the toilet block tiles look like something out of Home Beautiful, and if that isn't enough, the park has its own lisenced pizzeria... run by no less than the great Italian nonna of the household. The pizza was divine, one of the best I've had. But I digress, we met Vincenzo when he asked if he could sit out our big big table to eat his pizza. Turns out he's from Milan, moved here a long time ago when his sister and brother in law talked him into to coming to Australia even though he was quite reluctant. Funny, his sister is living back in Italy now, but Vincenzo is still here, part time in his motor mechanics workshop, other times in his opal cutting workshop. After living in Carleton, he moved to Coober Pedy because he was interested in the process of opal mining. Since then, he bought a plot, built his own dugout house (using the explosives to blow out the inside of the hill and dragging all the debris out with a bulldozer). He still reckons it's hard to come back after each visit back to Italy, but come back he does and that's a good thing because our lives are a little bit richer after chatting to the Vincenzo the magnificent. Oh, and by the way, thanks Coober Pedy for putting on a pretty awesome fireworks display to herald our arrival... I just might like a town like Coober Pedy after all.