Big Winch 360 Lookout & Historical POI

With spectacular views over Coober Pedy, the Big Winch has been a popular attraction and meeting place for visitors and locals since it was built by Claus Wirries in the early 1970’s.

Claus was an opportunistic man who had an eye for things that would appeal to visitors. Pictures of his trademark bowler hat and the dachshunds who had their own dugout kennel must feature in travel diaries around the world. Claus was a man of vision, a persuasive man who helped many people but he over-reached and, in the end, had make a quick departure from town.

The Steel Tree

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, resulting 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, eventually ignited the gas and the extreme heat twisted the pipes making them unsuitable for sale.

Bob had Joe Diosisio, a boilermaker working for him at the time, cut and weld the bits together to his design.