Day 25 - Lightning Ridge

And……….just for something different, another beautiful morning…….but, today there was a different start to the day.

I surfaced at around 6am, unlocked the bike and rode to the artesian bath. What a perfect way to start the day. Watching the sun rise above the steamy thermal water was amazing.

Graham and I booked another underground tour. Same place, same company as yesterday. This time it was a guided tour covering the whole opal mining process. This was in tunnels under the ones we were in yesterday.

We were directed to return promptly after that tour so we could commence the “Pubs in the scrub” tour. This self drive tour commenced about 65 km from town and took us to 3 typical outback pubs.

These were The Grawin Pub, where we had lunch (absolutely awesome burgers), the Glengarry Hilton and then The Sheepyard Inn. Pubs located in the middle of bum@&$? nowhere servicing the opal mining industry.

Every where we went there were tin shacks, of all levels of class scattered amongst the bush, the endless piles of earth extracted from the ground and abandoned machinery, whether cars, trucks, wheel barrows or drilling equipment.

The road leading to the Sheepyard Inn was particularly strewn with abandoned items.

All in all it was a great day exploring how life exists in the relentless search for opals.

Given lunch was somewhat very filling, dinner tonight was cheeses, dips, meats and biscuits, along with a few shots of Fireball WhiskyRead more