• Gennadios@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    It’s not that fantastical, it’s resembles a small town and has aboveground buildings as well. The underground dwellings are mostly rented to tourists nowadays.

    Few things I remember from there around ~10 years ago:

    Coober Pedy literally means ‘White Man’s Warrens’ in Aborogeni.

    You have yo register your ID to buy alcohol and are limited to 2 beers/1 spirit per day because the aborogenies keep getting tourists to buy them hooch.

    The 1st part pf the Vin Disel Riddick Epic ‘Pitch Black’ was filmed there and the full size spaceship prop is still in place.

    • yokonzo@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You have yo register your ID to buy alcohol and are limited to 2 beers/1 spirit per day because the aborogenies keep getting tourists to buy them hooch.

      Was researching this and yeah, It seems to be a pretty big issue though why full legalization is such a problem eludes me

  • pearsaltchocolatebar
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    3 months ago

    This is the reason I don’t think climate change will be what kills humans off. We’re pretty resilient, and could just start building underground cities.

    I think it’ll be microplastics that do it

    • Sʏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      Water security is a real issue though. Coober Pedy relies on water being trucked in from the coast which is only viable there because of the wealth extraction from the opal trade.

      In many outback towns there are legitimate questions around long-term viability due to increasing water scarcity. I agree that humans are resilient and resourceful, but there is much more to existing under a warming climate than escaping the midday sun.

    • CandleTiger@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      Looks like. I was in Coober Pedy a few years ago and it was pretty much an ordinary town with ordinary buildings. There was a mining museum including an exhibit of how they used to furnish old mines and make houses out of them but I guess modern air conditioning has pretty much ended that.

      Edit: ok the town was pretty fucking weird actually and very interesting. But it does appear to be 99% made out of ordinary buildings

  • Sʏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 months ago

    As novel and interesting as this place is, it really shouldn’t exist. It is just there for people trying to get rich mining opals and, by all accounts, is a really bleak and depressing place. Sorry for being a downer!

  • TurdMongler@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I watched some house show several years ago and thought these were awesome. I think there were temporarily trading houses with people.

    • nick@midwest.social
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      3 months ago

      “Instant hotels” was the show I saw that was here. Seems cool but apparently, according to the show, the flies there are just insane. Like clouds of them, they’re everywhere and on everything. Kinda killed my desire to check this weird place out.

  • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    I would 100% do something like this.

    I don’t have enough money to buy the land to make it happen.