Coober Pedy

Strange town, full of secrets, driving into Coober Pedy through land broken up by mining i thought i'd hate the place, and disagree with the people in it, and probably find them a bit scary, but as we drove into the town i looked around at it and became fascinated, i don't quite know why, it is a desert town, the edges of which stretch out into harsh hot dirt riddled with mining holes and shafts. The main street is tourist oriented with opal shops and aboriginal art galleries, while the people who made the art lay in the only shade available on the street. All the people working in the shops were white. The people i was travelling with didn't like it and wanted to leave as soon as we got there, i really wanted to stay, and as we were leaving the bus got a flat, which meant that we got to stay from a few hours. It was wonderfully hot, just walking from the bus into town (maybe 250m) we were covered in sweat.
I visited the underground church which was through this little forboding door with a cross on it, and was so silent that i could only whisper. My skin was almost tingling, the pressure was different as well i think, i just sat there and felt the place and wondered about what had happened there.
As i went for a wander about the town i picked my way between buildings as the ground was so hot and my boots were starting to give me blisters, i stopped in the shade of buildings for a break as i went. One place i stopped at seemed pretty empty despite an enthusiastic sign proclaiming another opal shop, i wandered up to this big warehouse building and opened the door, inside i found a building in the middle of renovations and a very friendly couple who chatted to me and showed me their 'babies' little kangaroo's who had been rescued when their mothers had been killed on the road, they let me hold the tiny kangaroo who's eyes were hardly open and talked to me about the town. When i mentioned i was doing nursing they told me their daughter was also a nurse and worked at the aboriginal health centre down the road, they offered to call and see if there were jobs.
This is a bit random but the place just had some substance, and meant something that i can't articulate. I really want to go back.