06/11/2025
When people ask what it’s like living in Andamooka, I usually tell ’em it’s equal parts beautiful chaos, peaceful and a lot stubbornness. You don’t just live in this town you survive it, love it, and let it shape you 👷🏻♀️
I moved out here to chase opal, but found a whole lot more along the way. brokendown old neglected machines, Abandoned dongas, priceless gems, and a community built on sweat, diesel fumes, and mutual madness. It’s not a lifestyle most would choose but for me it’s freedom.
People see the flashy stones and think we’re rolling in it. Truth is, opal mining’s a gamble every damn day. Some weeks or months, I find colour. Others, just rocks and regrets for not digging imthe other direction 🤦🏼♀️
But that buzz 🤩 when you hit a pocket, and that fire starts flashing under your light it’s so addictive. Doesn’t matter how long I’ve been doing this, I still get that kid on Christmas feeling every time I crack open a promising bit of ground ⛏️.
Andamooka’s wild. No traffic lights, mostly dirt roads that turn to muddy slippery slides after a rain. No Woolies or large supermarkets, No pub. Just red and white dirt, tough as nails locals, and the kind of night skies that’ll stop you in your tracks.
Most of us live in modified shacks, dongas or basic housing, battling heat, dust, and dodgy power setups. Water’s trucked in, the cafe on friday nights is where the best gossip happens, and everyone knows who blew up their excavator last week or struck it rich 🤑
It’s not glamorous but it’s real. And once you adapt, it gets under your skin in all the best ways.
