Lightning Ridge

We left the coast at Hervey Bay and travelled southwest into the outback. It took us two days to get to Lightning Ridge, which is a black opal mining area. Opal is Australia's national gem stone. After the first day's travelling, we stopped over at a nature conservation area called Broadwater. In the evening we watched the kangaroos come down to the water's edge for a drink and a feed. The trees were full of cockatoos and lorikeets. The little b***ers woke us up really early in the morning with their love calls which were more like banshee screeching to us.

 

Fascinating wildlife.

 

There was an amazing amount of road kill on the highway here. We passed hundreds of kangaroo and wallaby carcasses. It was a bit disconcerting and really caused us to go carefully and scan the side of the road for movement.

Much like northern Canada, we drove for very long stretches without seeing any signs of habitation. There was the odd side road off to a cattle station, but very little else. We stopped to photograph a flock of emus by the road.

 

It goes on for miles!

 

Prehistoric looking critters.

 

Lightning Ridge is a unique little town, made quirky by the characters that inhabit the place. One fellow built his own castle and another made underground carvings in the sandstone layer above the opals and turned it into a sightseeing business. The isolation out here may turn people a bit eccentric, or maybe they're eccentric when they come here.

 

Amigo's Castle -- a network of tunnels below for opal mining.

Sandstone carving 40 feet underground, just above the opal level.

 

Cindy and the superheroes. Her biggest hero is behind the camera.

The opal mining level below the sandstone carving level.

Mal fossicking -- searching the tailings for missed opals. And he found one!

 

Tomorrow we head south towards the Blue Mountains on our way to Sydney. There we drop the campervan and have a few days to see the sights of the city.

 

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