AUSTRALIAN OPALS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 70, 25 March 1940, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN OPALS

INTERESTING DISPLAY UNDER-GROUND TOWNSHIP A collection of opals collected from Australia’s two richest fields at White Cliffs, New South Wales, and Coberpedy, South Australia, is now on display at the Australian Pavilion at the Exhibition from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit, which is worth about £2OO, has been sent specially from Australia and show the precious stone in various forms, from rough stone in the seam as it is gouged from the ground to the polished, flashing gem. Some particularly fine and black opal is included in the collection. An interesting fact is associated with the winning of opal from the South Australian field—Coberpedy is a complete township but it is built entirely underground. From half a mile away across the flat sandy northern section of the Nulabor Plain a traveller would not know that he was near a town. A post office, Commonwealth Savings Bank, stores and homes are all cut out of the soft limestone formation. This unusual procedure has been adopted, as beneath the soft stone is the only cool retreat from the hot sand-laden winds which penetrate the arid interior.