Andamooka, a remote town in outback South Australia, is known as one of Australia's 'last frontiers'. The town, six and a half hours north-west of Adelaide, relies heavily on opal mining and its residents manage their own affairs due to the lack of a local council. The text highlights the self-reliant spirit of Andamooka, its unique history, and thriving arts community.
Surrounded by the ruby-red moonscape of outback South Australia is a town locals consider to be one of Australia 's 'last frontiers'. Andamooka is an outpost about six and a half hours north-west of Adelaide. Leila Day has lived and worked in Andamooka for the past five years and says the little town is somewhat left to its own devices. 'We don't have a rubbish collection.
We're in the unincorporated part of South Australia, so we don't have a council to look after us, and basically we do everything ourselves,' she told ABC iview's Back Roads. Leila Day is an opal miner and one of the 262 people that call Andamooka home. Andamooka is the largest town administered by the Outback Communities Authority, a government body that oversees the management of remote communities. Instead of a council, the authority works with the Andamooka Progress and Opal Miners Association, which advocates for the town's needs and priorities. Andamooka's origins date back to the 1870s when a pastoral lease was taken out on the area, which became known as Andamooka Station. Decades later, in the 1930s, a group from Coober Pedy travelled to the area to try their luck mining opals within the station boundaries. By the 1960s the town was producing some of the most valuable gemstone opal in the world and its population swelled in size. Now, 262 people — including Leila — call it home. 'Outside of the opal mining there’s always someone doing something curious and fun and different … and there’s a really busy arts community here,' she said. Andamooka local Cal Prohasky, known as Cal the Stoner, has spent thousands of hours honing his craft of intricate carving or 'intricarving', as he calls it. Cal's sculpture, the Andamooka Tiger. After spending a mammoth three and a half years and 8,000 hours creating his piece the Andamooka Tiger, Cal's moved on to a new work —The Goddes
Opal Mining Remote Communities Arts Outback Australia
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