In the heat of day and dead of night

Humans are by and large a fascinating species. We have odd quirks, habits and characteristics that work both for us and against us. We’re remarkably vulnerable, fragile and delicate. But we’re also remarkably persistent, resilient and hardy. Our ingenuity helps us to achieve balance between these characteristics. If it weren’t for our resourcefulness we wouldn’t be able to live in half the places that we do manage to set up residence.

Take Coober Pedy in Australia for instance. Australia is not the most hospitable country at the best of times. An extreme climate and the fact that it hosts the most poisonous creatures known to man have made human habitation challenging, to say the least. Yet it’s become one of the most thriving populations in the world. Ozzie people are hardy, but hardiness with only take you so far before succumbing to inexorable nature. If not for the ingenuity of its residents, Coober Pedy could have become just another small Australian town struggling to scratch out a meagre existence in 40 degree summers and below freezing winters.

Not willing to be dictated to by mere weather, nor willing to give up their rich, opal mines, the people simply burrowed into the surrounding hills and carved out comfortable caves to live in. Nothing much stands in the way of a Coober Pedy resident. Faced with a severe shortage of trees (there were none), they built one of their own, from scrap iron. It’s now a popular tourist attraction, in fact, the whole town is. People come from all over the world to stay in Coober Pedy’s underground hotels, see the underground churches, the mines, and of course, the tree.

Golfers are a singularly determined bunch. They go out in wind, rain, snow, and would probably go out in 40 degree heat, if it weren’t for the fact that it would probably kill them. Coober Pedy’s golfers faced a dilemma, to play or not to play, that was the question. A question neatly answered with glowing balls and night golf. As has been mentioned, there is a flora shortage in the region, so the fairways and greens are somewhat indistinguishable from the rough. Always up for a challenge though, players carry their own piece of turf with them, for teeing off purposes.

The dearth of plant life notwithstanding, the town has its charm and is, in its own way, very picturesque. This means that it has been exploited to a certain degree by rabid film makers who like to think that there is no place on Earth that they cannot shoot in. So if you ever visit Coober Pedy you may find that you recognise some of it, that is because it’s been in the movies Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, to name only a few.

We may be delicate and we may be fragile but we certainly know how to make the best of even the most challenging situations. There’s a lot to be said for ingenuity and our ability to overcome. And I for one would like to go and see the tree that proves it.

Recommended sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy

http://weburbanist.com/2007/09/30/7-underground-wonders-of-the-world-labyrinths-crypts-and-catacombs/

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