There’s another side to Coober Pedy that the local council doesn’t want you to know about. It’s not listed on the tourism business council and is slightly difficult to get to because it’s so remote BUT… you MUST go to Crocodile Harry’s Nest in Coober Pedy and if you miss it, you’ll be kicking yourself!
Harry is what Australian legends are made of – Crocodile Dundee was based on him. But his real life stories put the movie to shame.
He became the original crocodile hunter by mistake. Living in the Northern Territory there’s a giant risk of crocs eating you and it’s so incredibly remote that when you’re in trouble deep in the magroves, no one will hear you scream. So with a bit of quick thinking and a bit of hand to ‘claw’ combat, Harry took down the croc with a few stabs using the only protection he had – a hand-knife.
Not wanting to waste what he had just killed, he tried the sell the crocs as dog food – but unbeknownst to him, the buyer wanted to pay him $500 per crocodile! He went out and got a few more, funding his his newly accustomed lifestyle of making heaps of cash only to blow it on ladies and booze.
When he finally grew sick of being a badass Aussie superhero, he moved to Coober Pedy to chase the opal and thus Crocodile Harry’s Nest was born.
It’s stacked to the brim with incredible art both inside and out. Well, the inside is more of a virgin shrine.
When he wasn’t digging for opal, he was entertaining the ladies or as he lovingly mentioned ‘collecting virgins.’ They came to Harry’s in droves leaving their unmentionables as hanging artwork and as trophies for Harry!
Apparently, he was the recipient of one of Tina Turner’s private collection but has since been stolen from the Nest.
And this place is full of stories – like the carving above – it’s his ex wife… they had a few ‘issues’ and he dug her a home next door so he didn’t have to deal with her anymore… When she finally moved out, he celebrated by carving some art representing how he felt about the relationship – him choked with a chain that was pulled by his ex wife. Brilliant!
Crocodile Harry’s Nest was also in Mad Max – The lovely cast and crew left Harry with this busty carving. If you use your imagination, you’ll figure out where the beer tap is.
There’s so much cool stuff here, that I’m going to leave you with an Irish interview with Harry – don’t worry, you wont be able to understand the voice over at all because it’s in Gaelic -but give it a red-hot go… You’ll be able to understand Harry, but his accent might amaze you!
Incredible artwork!
More cool stuff!
And finally, where some of the ‘magic’ probably happened!
