The kids were excited to get to their first opal mining town – Oli’s top location for this trip has always been Coober Pedy where he wants to ‘buy lots of opals’ – so Lightning Ridge was a good start for him. On the way there we met up with our mates from West Pymble – the Grays and the Phairs. We were all going to spend a couple of weeks following the Darling River down to Wentworth where it meets the Murray.
After setting up camp at the appropriately named Opal Caravan Park, we had a lazy afternoon. Before long it was time to get dinner ready and then put the kids to bed before spending some lovely relaxed time chilling out with friends.
The next day we donned helmets as we headed underground for a tour of the Chambers of the Black Hand opal mine, a unique mine where an artist has carved over 700 sculptures into the sandstone. Dinosaurs, 10ft high Buddha, Star Wars and Frozen characters, Super Heroes and an unknown number of little Where’s Wallys – it was literally a labyrinth of tunnels full of artworks, although the guides assured us we couldn’t get lost. We heard amazing stories of the mines during the tour of the lower level, with tales of riches and ruin, hardship and mateship. Once safely above ground again, the kids had fun successfuly fossicking for shards of opals in the piles of rocks and dirt.
That afternoon we went for a dip in the nearby Artesian Bore hot springs, where the 45° water lulled us into a dreamlike state. Then it was off to visit an impressive and eclectic castle built by a local where the kids had a great time running around the levels and in and out of the various rooms.
Lightning Ridge was certainly an interesting place full of quirky sights and people, definitely not an easy life to lead there mining for opals – maybe all that heat and dust sends you a bit crazy!
Wide open spaces 