Wednesday 20th, Thursday 21st Friday 22nd April.
With the weather seeming hell bent on preventing us getting to CAMERON CORNER we bit the bullet and decided that instead of heading north from BOURKE, we would go further east to WALGETT, and then north to LIGHTNING RIDGE, which, like WHITE CLIFFS, is a town founded on Opal mining. We would spend some time looking around that area, and then head back out to CUNNAMULLA. Hopefully by then things would have dried out and we could have another shot at CAMERON CORNER. If not we would probably have to forget about CAMERON CORNER and continue north, weather permitting, to CHARLEVILLE and then on up to LONGREACH.
From BOURKE to WALGETT, it was 220 km and more of the same country side. This time there were a few more bends, and the road was a lot less travelled. I think we saw about 6 semi trailers, and 2 or 3 cars the whole way. There was more wildlife, with quite a few emus, including one bunch of 9, and several red kangaroos. This was the first time we had seen the red kangaroos in the wild, as up until now they all been greys. It was quite sad to see them dead on the roadside as well. Another popular road kill was foxes. Judging by the number killed on the road, there must have been a lot of them about.
We also saw 2 or 3 live frilled lizards on the road, and had to swerve around one to avoid it. They just seem to freeze when a car comes, and make no effort to avoid getting run over. There were also heaps of goats, but as usual hardly any sheep or cattle. We fuelled up at WALGETT, and then headed north for the 70 odd km to LIGHTNING RIDGE, arriving at about 2.30. Unknown to us LIGHTNING RIDGE was having a big race day on Easter Saturday, and suddenly getting accommodation was a bit tight.
We managed to get one night at the first motor camp we saw, and decided that if we couldn’t get another night we would just move on. After our usual visit to the information centre, we realised if we wanted to see everything we would need at least 2 nights. Luckily the information centre told us about a brand new motor camp which had only opened a few days earlier, so we shot down there and managed to book 2 more nights in Lightning Ridge.
We also learnt about a heated swimming pool on the edge of town that was open 24 hours a day. It was heated by bore water and entry was free, so after a bit of a look around town we went back to the van for tea, then headed down to the pool for a couple of hours relaxation under the stars. The pool is circular, about 20 m across, and about 1.5 m deep. The temperature is constantly at about 40 degrees. Luckily it wasn’t too crowded and we spent a lovely couple of hours soaking and watching the stars. A great way to end the day.
Next morning, Thursday, we packed up the van and moved about 3km across town to our new Camp ground. Better still, it is across the road from the Hot Pool we enjoyed last night.
After setting up camp we took a drive to have a look at some of the mines, not that you can see much from above ground. The whole countryside is littered with ‘mullock heaps’, which are piles of shingle that have been brought up from the mines, making the whole place look like a moonscape.
Rough tracks wander in and out of the heaps and the old mine shafts, leading to ramshackle old buildings and caravans which serve as the miners’ homes. The whole place looks harsh and uninviting, with hardly any sign of life, yet below ground there is an army of people digging away trying to seek their fortunes. Apparently there are about 2700 active mines in the area. The only sign of life on the surface is in the town itself, which is probably about the size of Inglewood. Naturally the main type of business is selling opals to the tourists, as well as mine tours and fossicking.
The town advertises what they call ‘Car Door Tours’, which are sightseeing trips around the area to see the mine workings and other points of interest. All the ‘Car Door Tours’ are signposted by various coloured car doors. So you can take the red car door tour, or the blue car door tour, etc.
On one of the tours, we stopped at a mine site where the lady owner runs a shop in a shed selling Opals, which she had dug up, as well as letting you have a fossick in one of her mullock heaps. She was about 85 yrs old, and had spent a large part of her life digging her own mine, while her husband was away working at another mine. After looking at all the opals and fossils she had on display, we went out and had a fossick. It was easy to see why you could get ‘Gold Fever’. We kept finding rocks containing traces of opal, and this made you keep digging, hoping to find a bigger piece.
We later spoke to one of the miners who likened it to a modern day addiction to the ‘Pokie’ machines. You keep hoping the next spin will be big one. Probably the same reason we buy Lotto Tickets.
The mines themselves consist of an access shaft, which is just a vertical hole in the ground, just big enough for a man, or woman, to dig their way down, usually with a pick and shovel, and for the buckets of dirt to come up. These usually go down for about 30 feet to where the layer of rock and earth is that contains the opal. They then dig horizontal shafts in this layer looking for the opal.
The opal is usually encased in dirt or rock, and by all accounts, is struck purely by luck. It takes a very trained eye to spot it. Add to this the fact that the miners are working in very poor lighting conditions and you can see the chances are pretty slim. Their best chance of finding the opal is to bring everything to the surface and then start looking for it.
On Friday we did a tour which included watching the whole process starting from the raw opal, then cutting and polishing it to produce the final product ready for sale. Following that demonstration we went down a mine to experience the atmosphere and conditions under which the miners worked. Then we were allowed to fossick in diggings from the mine which hadn’t been worked over, which meant we had the same chances as the miners themselves at finding good opal. Again the fever would get to you thinking the very next bit of dirt you moved might be ‘the one’. We got several chunks of rock containing traces of opal, but it will be back to our old jobs when we get back to NZ. Great fun, but very dusty and hot work if your livelihood depended on it.
After tea we went back to the hot pool, and then drove into town as they were having a Carnival Night prior to their big Race Day on Saturday. Our motor camp had been rapidly filling up all day with people coming from far and wide for the Races, and the town was packed. The Carnival consisted of the usual Side Shows and rides, and Cameron conned us in to having a go on the “Twister,” which was a fast spinning merry go round thing with seats like a couch on it that also spun round. The whole thing also went up and down, and judging by the screams coming from those already on it, we were going to be in for a ‘great ride’.
I won’t try to describe it in too much detail, suffice to say that the bloody seat would spin at 2597 revs per minute in one direction, then suddenly stop and spin at the same revs in the opposite direction. At the same time of course you were also going up and down. After about three minutes of this, we were all a funny green shade, and it was only the huge centrifugal force ramming us back in the seat that stopped us chucking up all over each others’ feet. Even Cameron was abusing the operator each time the spinning stopped and he was able to get some words out.
After all that fun it was time for the Dodgems. Cameron and I did this while Christel tried to find her boobs which were last seen sticking out of her back. Cameron mastered driving the dodgems very well, and thoroughly enjoyed getting bashed and banged from all directions. After that he had a ride on a vertical bungy, where he was strapped into a bungy harness and then he bounced on a trampoline and shot about 5 meters up into the air. Just what you need after the twister. Then it was home to bed with a bag full of Candy Floss to help settle the tummy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment