Lightning Ridge

Hi All. I'm a bit behind in my updates on where we are, but there you go. That's what a week without reception will do for you :-). Anyway,  Lightning Ridge was certainly an experience.

It is definitely a mining town, and there are old diggings all around.

The caravan park was all gravel, although they did have a few grassed areas near the camp kitchen and laundry, and we had trees around our site.

We enjoyed Mel and Susie, the nightly bush poet comedians, who tried valiantly to get Ben up on stage, but my boy is made of stronger stuff and resisted, even with the lure of embarrassing daddy. Garry was very grateful.

We also enjoyed our dip in the hot springs, 40 degree water straight from the artesian basin. The pool is a large round concrete pool with metal step seats that is open 22hrs a day for free.

We went on a couple of tours, with the highlight being Chambers of the Black Hand. This was an opal mine where the miner had discovered he could carve in the sandstone layer above the opal bearing level. There are hundreds of carvings all within his 50x50m claim area. Unmissable.

We also marveled at Amigo's castle, assembled rock by rock by Italian immigrant Amigo, based on his childhood memories of playing in a ruined castle. Again, entirely on a 50x50m claim.

We did have a go at noodling, but we had the feeling that any chip of colour had been swooped up and put in little bottles to sell to tourists at the weekly market. Very high priced little bottles given they aren't jewelry quality, but I guess they have to make a living and mining is expensive.