Rock Patrol: Coober Pedy And The Search For An Opal

I had flown from Sydney to Adelaide and decided to hop on a Groovy Grape bus that would take me from the bottom of Australia to the outback. We travelled from the south coast heading north and it did not take long for the desert to appear. Great open spaces, sparse vegetation, giant dry salt lakes and overall beautify scenery.

Our first overnight stop was Coober Pedy. This is an opal mining town where the majority of the residents live in homes carved out of the stone. The benefit is that with the extreme temperatures of the desert their homes remain a relatively constant temperature - never needing heating or air conditioning.

We slept in dug out dorms meters under the ground. Out of 4 buses that happened to be in town that night I was the only outsider in the local underground bar. I got to find out quite a few things about the characters in town and was treated pretty well.

The next morning another backpacker and I said goodbye to the group we were travelling with and waited until noon before we would catch up with a new group that we would be with for the next 4 nights. The afternoon started with an opal mine museum tour and then some free time to wander.

A couple of us ventured to a public nooding (fossicking) area at the edge of town (noodling is the term used for people who look for opal in the miners discarded opal dirt). The search was going nowhere and I told the other two that I was with that the desert flies were too much and I was heading back. A few meters from the road I saw some potch (white worthless opal) and picked it up to take a look. A tiny aboriginal woman saw me and walked over asking what I found. I explained that it was just potch I hadn't found anything. We chatted briefly as her dog wandered around us. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a colourful stone in a fake gold mount from a necklace. At this point I though that she might be selling this costume jewelry as opal. She said, "See, this is an opal. A nice one. I found it on the ground, just like you found the potch. You can take it". I smiled and declined but thanked her and said "No, it's okay, you can keep it." Again she refused to take it back and I could sense that she would be offended if I did not smile and take the little trinket. She seemed content that I took it and returned to her course. I popped the charm in my pocket and shared the story with my fellow travellers. We all laugh and thought that at that very moment that little old aboriginal woman was telling her friends that she convinced some white man that he had a real opal.

A couple of days passed and I noticed that it was still in my pocket. I told the story to our guide Kev and he said that it was very unusual behaviour. "She didn't ask for anything?" he asked, "Not even a couple of dollars?". "No", I replied. "Well, your are very lucky to have that happen. I've never heard of that before." he said. I showed him the stone and he mentioned, "If this is a fake its a really good one. You should have it looked at when we get to Alice Springs." But when we compared it with some opals that members of our group purchased it did look quite different, darker and much larger. We all laughed and I threw it in my pocket again.

Days later in Alice Springs our group was having a farewell breakfast in town. Across from us was a jewelers and the girls in our group teased be to go in and see if it was real. "No", I said, "If it's a fake and I prove it then it's not as good of a story". They were not amused with my decision. After everybody walked off Kev and I walked into the shop to solve the mystery. It is a real opal. A solid one piece matrix opal valued conservatively at three to four hundred dollars on a 9kt backing.

When we walked away from the shop Kevin turned to me and said, "See, the aboriginal people do not place such a monetary value to things like stones and gold. They are all just parts of the earth". We chatted again about how unusual it was and how even the people behind the counter at the jewelry store had never heard of anything like that ever happening.

We ran in to a couple of people from our trip and shared the news. They were amazed and said I could sell it and pay for some of the trip. "Nope!", I replied.

I don't think I would ever sell it but I would surely give it away some day. It is a great end to the story and a humbling lesson of simple generosity from an older culture not fully tainted by greed or material possessions. An old woman saw a man looking in a pile of dirt and rocks for a colourful stone. She had one and thought I might like it. Someday I'd like to give it to somebody that I think would like to have colourful stone.