Di's Dugouts

12/09/2026

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07/09/2026

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The steel tree on the hill overlooking the town with the Big Winch was created by Bob Amorosi to give his kids the experience of a tree in a town that, at that time, had no trees.

The twisted metal used to construct the tree, resulted from a freight truck fire around 200km south of Coober Pedy. On-board with the steel pipes were quite a number of full LPG cylinders bound for Coober Pedy. A fire on the truck ignited the gas and the extreme heat twisted the pipes making them unsuitable for sale.

Bob had Joe Dionisio, a boiler maker working for him at the time, cut and weld the bits together to his design. The tree originally stood in the Amorosi yard (Coober Pedy Trading Company), on Seventeen Mile Rd. It had roots to hold it firm and a wheel hub welded on top. That hub was a challenge. The kids used to try to reach and sit on it but, as far as Bob’s son Eugene recalls, no one ever did. The attempt alone was dangerous.

Photo donated to the CPHS by the Amorosi family

ℹ️ Information thanks to Coober Pedy Historical Society

23/08/2026

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22/08/2026

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19/08/2026

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07/07/2026

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Located in the South Australian outback, Coober Pedy regularly experiences summer temperatures above 40 degrees. Rather than fighting the heat, many residents simply dug homes directly into the hillsides. These underground houses, known as "dugouts", stay remarkably comfortable year-round without the need for constant cooling.

What started as a practical solution eventually became the town's identity.

Today you'll find underground homes, underground churches, underground hotels, underground bars and even underground museums. From the road, parts of Coober Pedy barely look inhabited at all. Then you discover that entire neighbourhoods are hidden beneath your feet.

The town itself was built on opal mining, and many of the original dugouts began as mining excavations. People realised the tunnels stayed cool during the day and warm at night, so they simply expanded them into homes.

It's one of the most uniquely Australian responses imaginable.

The desert became almost unliveable.

So Australians dug a giant burrow and carried on as normal.