A mum has opened up about what it’s really like to live in a remote underground town, where extreme heat has driven an entire community into “dugouts”.
Originally from Stuttgart, Germany, Sabrina Troisi, 38, now lives in Coober Pedy, a striking South Australian town with baking desert temperatures. The scorching heat reaches 55C in the shade, meaning residents are more comfortable in homes dug beneath the earth.
Along with husband, Nick, son, Thomas, 14, and daughter, Leah, 13, Sabrina lives in a unique $277,000 (£132,000) property carved into the side of a hill.
The unusual family home, concealed about four metres beneath the rocks, boasts two living rooms, two bathrooms, and a pool, plus an indoor and outdoor spa. Sabrina’s office is even deeper underground, around six metres further into the hillside.
Office manager Sabrina, who works at the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum, explained: “Walking into our house is just walking into a hill, basically.”
In a town of some 1,600 residents, approximately 60 per cent of Coober Pedy’s population lives in dugouts carved into the area’s signature soft gypsum-rich sandstone, which can maintain its shape without any need for additional structural support.
Sabrina, who originally trained as a childcare educator in her home country, first locked eyes with her now-hubby Nick during her gap year in Australia, where he acted as her tour guide. The pair fell in love, and Sabrina also fell for the “charming environment” of Coober Pedy, where the couple settled in 2013.
She said: “We had friends in Coober Pedy and wanted to move away. We used to travel through it a lot, up and down the highway, and it’s just got a charming environment most of the year. Underground is just fascinating, so we thought, Coober Pedy was 100 per cent the place for us.”
And at £132,000, Sabrina’s one-of-a-kind home is far more affordable than the average Adelaide property, which can set buyers back an average of $796,000 (£382,000).
The mum-of-two shared: “It’s much cheaper to live underground than above ground. It’s cheaper because you don’t need to heat or cool the rooms, and you just need lights inside.
“It’s also much cheaper to rent or purchase dugouts because the roof is already there, you just tunnel into the hill to make a building.”
Although some of the distinctive homes can be machine-dug in two months, others can take far longer. Sabrina revealed: “I have seen people digging for 10 years.”
For Sabrina, the best part about underground life has to be the peace and quiet. She said: “There’s no outside noise. When you shut the door, everything disappears. It’s completely dark, completely quiet, perfect for sleeping. I love sleeping underground.
“I wake up in the morning without windows, so you don’t actually look out the windows and see what the weather is like, like any other person.
“But you assume it’s normally nice weather in Coober Pedy, so there’s not much rain here. We get maybe five to 10 rain events a year. So you can probably leave your umbrella at home.”
Sabrina is so used to the town’s serene way of life that she now finds city breaks to be far too hectic. She admitted: “When I go on holiday, I’m actually exhausted from the busy, busy streets of Adelaide or streets of a bigger town because I’m so used to the quietness of Coober Pedy.”
However, although there are plenty of upsides, the dust and the maintenance work required can present challenges. She warned: “If you don’t seal the walls regularly, it gets quite dusty because you are inside a hill.
“Otherwise, you have got the crumbles from the ceiling dropping into your soup when you are at the dinner table. And that gets quite annoying. You do want to varnish the walls, and it does rub off, so you need to do it regularly.”
Although many would imagine life underground to be rather dark, Sabrina and her family make sure to get plenty of sunshine and fresh air. The mum-of-two noted: “It’s normally sunshine outside, so if you want your vitamin D intake, it’s normally just 10 minutes a day, so it’s not impossible.
“We do go for walks and we have got a garden. However, when you have a garden, you have to pay for water, which is quite expensive in Coober Pedy, so a lot of people actually use the shower and the laundry water.”
Now, teenagers, Sabrina’s kids were toddlers when they made the move to Coober Pedy, and can barely remember what it was like to live above the ground. She said: “When we go on holiday and stay in hotels, they notice every little noise, roosters, planes, anything. Underground, you don’t hear a thing.”
Coober Pedy is undoubtedly remote, with the closest town being more than 400 miles away. Residents have to drive long distances to access essential services such as banks, vets and hairdressers. However, the close-knit community spirit suits Sabrina and her family.
According to Sabrina: “It’s very relaxed. Everything’s five minutes away. No traffic lights, not many cars.”
Once, when her dog got sick, Sabrina found herself needing to make a 650km visit to see a vet. When she posted on Facebook about this, a kindly neighbour offered to drive. This, Sabrina claims, is not unusual for this “very welcoming town” where “everyone helps each other”.
Even though there are certainly hurdles when it comes to this way of living, Sabrina wouldn’t have it any other way.
Shunning the chaos of the big city, Sabrina reflected: “If we ever moved, I’d want to live somewhere quiet. Not busy like Adelaide or London.”
However, as much as she loves it, Sabrina isn’t convinced that underground living could catch on on a wider scale. She continued: “It could be a solution for global warming in other parts of the world. But the thing is, when you don’t have the right material, like we do, you have to build structures. I don’t think it’s the future unless they really find a way of doing it.”
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