Our accommodation in Lightning Ridge is a cute little 2 bedroom cottage called "Harlequin". You know you've been on the road awhile when your wife's first response when we step through the front is "Wow it's got a full fridge" (admiring pause) "and an oven". As we explored we found a separate lounge and two large bedrooms. Further excitement for the domestic goddess when she discovered the full size laundry. Needless to say this place is bliss after some of the cramped cabins we have been in. The last place in Bourke didn't even have running hot water in the kitchen plus the ensuite was outside.
We were so excited at our recent good fortune on the accommodation front we headed into town to buy the makings of a slap up mid afternoon lunch. By the way the cost of food, grog and fuel in Lightning Ridge is the same as you would pay in Brisbane. Go figure.
With the vegetables left from our lucky door prize in Broken Hill, two big T-bone steaks, a loaf of fresh baked bread and a bottle of red wine, we dined exquisitely. Oh the joy of the smell of sizzling BBQing steaks(the cottage has a outdoor gas BBQ; it just keeps getting better).
The next morning we headed out to the opal fields.
The standard mining claim on the Ridge is 50m by 50m. Most miners (the majority of the population) live in camps on their claims. In the opal field camps there is no electricity, no town water, no underground sewage, no formed roads, no street signs and almost no name signs or absolutely no letterboxes. It would be impossible for an outsider to find anybody if they did not want to be found. There appears to be a lot of people around Lightning Ridge who do not want to be found.
This a few examples of the camps....
a nice touch of stone masonary....
something cobbled together from what was around .....
While most of the opal fields are hand mining, there are a few open cut mines. This one is on the Lunatic Hill field.....
This "church" was built for some weird art house film called "Goddess of 1967"....
This is the first shaft dug by Charles Nettleton in 1902. While he did not find opal in this mine it encouraged his belief in the presence of black opal at Lightning Ridge. He was proved right and he sold his first parcel of black opal in 1903. Nettleton is considered to be the founder of the Black Opal industry.
The countryside is littered with thousands of abandon shafts. All shafts are supposed to be filled in as part of the conditions attached to the mining lease. Very few ever are and the mines department has no chance of finding the offenders. It is like a land mine field. The recent fields are bare and the shafts are still visible if you take care and look. The old fields are overgrown with grass and trees; anyone wandering though there is sure to disappear down a very very deep hole (most shafts are 50 to 60 feet straight down). This shaft entrance is fairly well protected....
this one a little less so....
and this one the miner has just use a car door and seat to cover the entrance to his mine.......
Claim jumping (rattling) has been and continues to be a big big problem on the opal fields. The rats (those who rattle) sneak into the mines overnight and do a little mining for themselves. Everywhere you see signs warning against entry to a mine site and the fate that is likely to befall any trespasser. The first thing to say is that any "Rat" game enough to down into an unknown mine, after dark, unaware of the traps and pitfalls that may have been prepared by the miner for protection of his bouty, is either very very brave or very very foolhardy. There was an article in the local paper while we were here, warning that rattlers were active and asking anyone who has seen a suspicious white commodore around the fields over the last few weeks to let police know. The article went on to say that if the informant didn't want to talk to police directly (no prizes for guessing why some people would not wish to talk to the police) then they could give the information to the miners associations anonymously.
One of the revelations of our time in Lightning Ridge was a tour through an old mine. After you hear and see what the miners have to do, how hard they have to work, the risks they take and the uncertainty of a successful outcome, you would not begrudge them a single cent of what they can get for their opal. (Jenelle looks quite fetching in a hard hat, don't you think?)
This old worked out mine has been converted into a tourist attaction supposedly fitted up for safety (note the electricty supply on the top left of this picture). Having said that, you can see the stratification in the rock; the opal lies in the top of the light band of rock, level with Jenelle's hand. This generally is 50 to 75 feet below the surface.
Oh yeah this looks safe; not. Last recorded fatal cave in was eight years ago. "Most of the time when a cave in happens, we go in and dig the miner out, no major problems" the old still active miner/tour guide tell us. "Most miners die from falling down the shaft while they are drunk" he adds. We are only 65 feet underground, nothing to worry about; "I am claustrophobic" John thinks to himself, "what the hell am I doing down here?"
What we are about to see dispels the claustrophobia!!
The upper level of this old mine has been turned into a carving gallery by a local sculptor. While he is no Michelangelo his work is ,very impressive here are some examples of his work....
the Pharaoh's tomb
the Last Supper (life size)
the Archangel Gabriel
Buddha ( note the abs, Buddha has been working out)
his Terracotta Warriors....
On our drives we came across the local cemetery. We like to stop and check out cemeteries; there is a lot you can learn about a place and it people from a stroll in the cemetery. We got out of the car, walked to the fence and in the first row of recently interred was a graved marked with a simple white wooden cross with the inscription "RIP Unknown". There were dozens of unknowns. Were their identities unknown when they died or have the names of the occupants of the graves been lost? Out here it may well be the first.
Most people in Lightning Ridge live in camps that are pretty close to third world slum type buildings. Corrugated iron instead of cardboard. However some are very very eccentric about what they build. There is no explanation for why!
This is Amigo's Castle, Amigo has been building it since 1981. It is still nowhere near finished.
The Astronomers' Monument; another private project complete with inscription in memory of famous astronomers. The sign at the front gate says "Universe Observatory"
Sometimes you just can't seem to drink enough cans of beer or bottles of plonk to finish the walls of your dream home; close but no cigar...
Lightning Ridge has a unique way of guiding tourist around a self drive tour; there are 4 self drive tours in all. They are called the "Car Door Tours" , because the tour markers are car doors. Each tour colour coded; red, blue, green and yellow. In case you don't believe us here is an example from the "Red Car Tour". Most of the people out here are very eccentric.
Some members of the family were keen to fossick for opal, the other member was not so keen. "There is no opal in those piles, it's just to suck the tourists into staying a little longer and spending a little more money" he said grumpily, like there was anything else he could be doing. Well Jenelle fossicked for a few minutes and found her opal and he ended up with egg on his face.
One of the places we were told not to miss in the Ridge was a place called the Black Queen. It is part storytelling, part home visit and part light (lamp lights) show. It is run by a eccentric, entrepreneurial, middle aged couple of refugees from Sydney. She, former Yank, is the star. He, former Qantas exec, is the roadie. The house (three cottages) were built by hand, by a lady from bottles. She started in her sixities, sold out to these people at the age of 85 and is still going in her early 90s in retirement. She was still building to the day she moved out. The story is very new agey, mystic, motivational, psychological, self promotional based around the house, its builder and a lamp collection of world renown. Needless to say John was a bit less than impressed with the experience. Jenelle said "my negative aura was quite obvious" during the show. She fully expected me to "spit the dummy" at any moment and especially when she asked me to take some photos of the lamps being presented.
The lamps were very impressive (although John is still not convinced about some of the wild claims made by the owner as to their origin or value).
Part of the room full of lamps....
A rare Versace model.....
a storytelling french lamp from around 1850....
As an example of the craftswomanship of the lady who built the house, below is a photo of a memorial she built for her pet dog. The Memorial stands about 9 feet high and is a hollow cylinder about 3 feet in diameter, made of bottles mortared with cement. I think the shape suggests a beer glass; "cheers old fella".
Lightning Ridge is littered with old machinery; cars, trucks, earthmoving equipment, compressors, cranes, drilling rigs, winches, you name it. The place is just one giant junk yard. We took some photos of old rusting cars as source material for paintings, but this will give you some idea that Lightning Ridge is "where old machinery goes to die" just like that valley in Africa where the elephants go to die.
and
and over here...
Well that's Lightning Ridge. Interesting eh! My father 'Hec' would have loved this place, he would have been completely in his element, old clapped out gear to pretend it is great, great day dreams and expectations, much drinking, much story telling (tall tales and lies), a man's world full of nutters and eccentrics. Only problem he would have had was that he was totally, utterly, claustrophobic (he couldn't even go in a lift), so no mining for him.
If you want to write a book, come to the Ridge. There is a best seller in every camp; truth is stranger than fiction. Only problem is they won't talk to you, because you might be working for the police, rattlers or the "Mrs" they ran away from.
We had just the best time in Lightning Ridge and we are just a little sad to leave.
See you in Inverell in a few days.
