In mid-June Ambassador Dr Damir Kušen visited Croatian community in a small mining town of Coober Pedy, 845 km north of Adelaide in South Australia. Development of this town situated far in the desert relates back to 1915 and the discovery of opal that attracted thousands of migrants and profiled it as the world"s opale site. Small Croatian community is mainly engaged in the opal business and lives in harsh conditions with summer temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. That is why many residents live in so called «dugouts» or underground houses. Local Croatian community build a Croatian House and a Catholic church dug in the rock that has become one of the landmarks and a major tourist attraction fo the town. Ambassador Kušen was warmly welcomed the Croatian Club led by Mrs Julia Durlin-Tisina, Mr Franjo and Marija Novosel, Mr Luka Alavija and others, especially so because the last visit from a Croatian Ambassador took place nearly 20 years ago. They explained the specific conditions or life and work in the mines and presented achievements of the Croatian community in terms of business, sports and culture. Ambassador Kušen also met with the Mayor of Coober Pedy Mrs Michelle Provatidis, who spoke about the town, its development priorities, plans and problems and acknowledged the important role of the Croatian community in build-up of Coober Pedy.
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