ANDAMOOKA Andamooka (never heard of it)  is an original. Everyone alive (traveling OZ anyway) should visit Andamooka. This is what Coober Pedy would have been 50 years earlier before modernizing. Andamooka is an original and is a delight to absorb and to take in ‘what was’. Andamooka is a town located approximately 30 km east of Roxby Downs. Opal was discovered in the region in the late 1920s, and the town developed out of the scattered miners' camps which established in the area. An Andamooka Opal Fields Post Office was not opened until 13 January 1947, and was renamed Andamooka in 1990. The Andamooka Opal was discovered in and named after Andamooka. Not many people live in the traditional dugout style houses of old, although remnants of the town's past remain in the main street, with the cottages of old miners dug into the side of the hill in the main street still standing. The main street is a fascinating mix of the very old and not much new. Amazing!!!! The Mad Max films were shot near and around Andamooka, one of the futuristic dune buggies used in the film still sits near the town's entrance. Another claim to fame for Andamooka is the "Andamooka Opal" that was presented to Queen Elizabeth the II on the occasion of her first visit to Australia in 1954. This opal once cut weighed in at an astonishing 203 carats. Andamooka has a War Memorial, a church and a pub. Andamooka though is an icon discovery. So after the ‘new’ Roxby Downs allow a few hours to delight in the real outback. Heritage diary