Lightning Ridge

 

Lightning Ridge is the only area in Australia where the rare black opal can be found. Miners and fossickers live in interesting dwellings made from anything that will keep the sun or rain off and the dwellings are often marked by old car doors decorated with inscriptions and art work or just bright colours hence the self-drive tours of the area are called car door tours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to take a guided tour around the district with the first stop at the Astronomer’s Monument. This unique structure was built by a polish man who was wrongly imprisoned for eight years for the alleged murder of his wife. After he was released he moved to Lightning Ridge, staked a claim, began mining and built his monument to astronomers from leftover concrete, vegetable oil cans and anything else he could recycle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was at Amigo’s Castle built by an Italian man from rocks he found in the area. A local artist is now using part of the castle as a studio and gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon tea of scones, jam and cream and a cuppa provided some refreshment before we visited the “Chamber of the Black Hand”, an underground opal mine where we viewed how mining is conducted. The disused tunnels of the mine are now used by a very talented sculptor who has carved over 500 figures into the walls. The carvings depict many sides of life from religion, movie characters, dinosaurs and history. This very talented artist is self taught and is still creating more works of art. We also were shown how opals are cut and polished and the terminology used in the trade was explained which came in very handy when considering making a purchase. We were also shown what to look for if we fancied our chances at fossicking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lightning Ridge has some intriguing signs, art work and buildings. A visit to the John Murray Art Gallery is very entertaining as is a visit to the Bottle House and of course the many opal shops. The Artesian Pool with a water temperature of 43 degrees Celsius is a very popular spot with tourists and the town also boasts an Olympic standard diving centre and swimming pool complex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As opals are becoming increasingly harder to find around Lightning Ridge the mining claims have now moved slightly south west to the Grawin, Sheepyard and Glengarry area. These small settlements each have a pub which acts as meeting place, post office, general store and even library. Grawin’s Golf Club, “The Club in the Scrub” is something you must see to believe. We called into ‘the club’ for a drink before continuing along the bush track to “The Glengarry Hilton” for lunch before returning to Lightning Ridge via Sheepyard Hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the Border

Our trip southwards to the border began on Thursday, 26 September when we moved on and had our first stop at Surat, an old Cobb & Co stage coach changing centre in the 1800’s. The museum has a great display of memorabilia and the old buildings lining the street are well maintained, giving the town a pioneering feel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

St George provided us with a great base from where we could explore the district. The Balonne River passes through the town and in wet times causes havoc by flooding the town and district. We also visited the “Unique Egg”, a brilliant display of hand carved emu eggs by a self taught Greek artist. He has illuminated the eggs by placing small LED lights inside the eggs and the light then shines through the carved designs. The eggs have been displayed in several countries and expos around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nindigully, 45km south east of St George and on the banks of the Moonie River has the longest continually licenced hotel in Queensland. Established in 1864 the hotel is a true outback aussie pub and it has featured in many commercials and the movie “Paperback Hero”. It is also famous for its huge Road Train Burger which weighs 5.7kg, costs $60 and feeds one to six people. We didn’t attempt the huge burger and settled for a “normal” one which was also extremely large. The pub has some interesting memorabilia and history scattered around the walls and also a rustic red gum timber bar. A rodeo ground, local hall and a freebie campsite are also adjacent to the pub.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dirranbandi, land of the croaking frog, in the heart of cotton growing country has possibly one of the most famous properties in Australia, “Cubbie Station” which has been in the news in recent times. We had a quick stop here then continued to the last town in Queensland before the border. Hebel, has a pub, general store/cafe, caravan park a few cabins and not much else. The pub is a quaint aussie pub, the general store has great food and after lunch and a refreshing drink we crossed the border into New South Wales before arriving at Lightning Ridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carnarvon Gorge, Injune & Roma

 

Springsure was the first small town we encountered on our trip to Carnarvon Gorge. The escarpment overlooking the town features a noticeable area called the Virgin Rock because of the weathered likeness of the Virgin Mary holding her child. We then passed through Rolleston before tackling the incredibly rough track into the gorge.

Unfortunately we were unable to stay more than one night as it was school holidays so didn’t get to see much of the area. We spent the afternoon wandering up the Mickey Creek Gorge where we saw the beautiful rock faces, soaring palms, cycads and the slightly trickling stream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rock pool/swimming hole was a great place for photos, swimming and the children were having a great time sliding down the rock into the water. Baloon Cave was a short walk from the roadway so with just enough time to venture in there we were able to see some aboriginal art work on the sandstone as well as some interesting rock layers with various coloured ochre. As the park was going to be overflowing the next day with 65 new campers coming in, we decided to make an early start to get out before the rush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rewan Memorial was part way along the track to the Gorge so we stopped to investigate. The memorial honours the lives of Australian and US soldiers who died when a Dakota aircraft crashed in the Carnarvon Creek in 1943. We then made our way to Injune, a quiet little town with a few old buildings and stayed the night in the caravan park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roma is a very old township with a prosperous past and present. The area started as a cattle and farming area but with the need for a better water supply, drilling for bore water was commenced. In 1899  the drilling made the town famous when natural gas was discovered. Now days with gas, oil, petroleum and coal in production as well as the huge cattle industry the town is flourishing. Roma’s saleyards have the largest turnover of cattle per year in Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnificent old buildings lining the main streets of Roma include the Court House, hotels and churches including St Paul’s Anglican Church with spectacular stained glass windows and a 567 pipe organ. A three dimensional mural depicting the history of the town can be viewed at the Council Chambers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A “Big Windmill”, a “Bailey Bridge” and a mini-train are also worth a visit. An avenue of bottle trees lines the streets of the town in honour of the fallen soldiers of the district and a huge bottle tree with a girth of 9.13 metres and unknown age is located in the park near the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roma’s “Big Rig” outlines the history of the gas industry with a walk around display with interpretive areas which can be viewed during the day and an evening show is quite spectacular with lighting and a video display.