Don't step back...

Uploaded by ladyhedda.

We're in Cober Pedy - the Opal mining capital of the world. It's a trip here - 80% of the population live underground in dug out homes. Some of them are old mines, and some of them have just been dug out for the fun of it.
The above ground landscape is almost like a moonscape. Not that I've ever been to the moon, but it's what I imagine the moon could look like if people had been digging for opals all over it's surface.
Not being that interested in gemstones myself I avoided all the millions of opal stores in town and headed for the underground bookstore and underground church.
I also took a tour of a mine and tried my hand at divining. What can I say. I'm a natural.