6th April. Lightning Ridge. HOT

We are at Opal Caravan Park, built in 2011. You should see the ablution block, showers are as good as home, glass door between shower & dressing area! It's a beautifully laid out park, naturally no grass, it's far to hot & dry.

We said goodbye to Steve & Elaine at Coonabarabran on Monday night as they had a 5.30am start on Tuesday. We left about 9.30 and drove 309 north through DRY land to a SUPER DRY place. We went to the out back last year and this place is out, out back. 

This morning we have driven the 'Red Door' tourist route & this afternoon we will do Yellow, Green & Blue. We have seen the tourist information DVD so know what to look for. Red Door etc is the sign of an arrow painted on an old red car door on the road side! This is Opal mining and the Black Opal is the prize gem. I LOOKED at the Opal jewellery $3,000 and rising!. One souvenir shop is enough, Brian didn't win the Lottery!, this is a little of what we saw this morning.

This is outside the actual town & in all directions.

A castle built by an Italian using 44galleon drums as scaffolding!

Everything is $5 to go into but as I'm not steady on my dainty little tootsies, we choose not to go.

It's amazing what people do. Like gold, Opals are addictive and the junk that is around is amazing.

These are old drums. Not the brass band type! I guess they actually the buckets used to haul stuff up from the mine.

It's now 4pm, temp 34 nice breeze and we have done all the other colour car door trips. It has taken us N. S. E. & W and some of the tracks were pretty wild.

I am not made of Pioneer stuff.....living conditions are often less than basic. Most miners live in shacks or humptys, or caravans. There are vehicle wrecks everywhere. No electricity in the digging area, generators, candles, gas, some windmills ....or go without!

How is this for 'being in the Cactus'?

Tonight we are going to the Bowling Club for dinner, it's our 43rd wedding anniversary tomorrow, so we celebrate tonight as we are Free camping tomorrow near St George in Queensland. After the Club we are going for a dip in the thermal hot pool across the road. It's to hot to go in the day time. Just went to see if I could negotiate it, looks OK. Its open 24 hrs a day!

Brian looking at an endless horizon across an opencast mine 'Lunatic Hill', now closed. No wonder with a name like that, they had to be lunatics to work there.

To nights swimming pool.

A very, very interesting place and an eye opener into old time mining..