Lightning Ridge NSW 17/18 July 2019

Lightning Ridge NSW 17/18 July 2019

This is our fourth visit to the Ridge, just a quick two-night stop-over, mainly to catch the tour and show put on by Mel and Susie, the bush poets we first met in Winton ten years ago. Before I mention the Mel&Susie tour, I have to say that the road from Coonamble up to Walgett and on to Lightning Ridge is still rubbish. Looking back through this blog, it's been that way since our first trip here in 2011. Even though it is sealed, you could use this as practice for the Gibb River Road and travel at 20kph for the 240k.

The tour.

We were picked up from the van park at 630pm, just 10 of us. Mel and Susie moved to the Ridge about 5 years ago, when they bought the 'camp', as houses are called, which was set up by John Murray, the famous local artist. The tour started with the girls giving us an hour long show of material all about Lightning Ridge and its inhabitants, which was very entertaining. They followed this with a tour of the old 'house', which was made entirely out of recycled material, as were most thing on the fields. One of the favourite materials used is wine and beer bottles, of which there seems to be an over-supply, I can't imagine why! They followed this with a view of the new house, which having been built after John Murray started to sell a few bits and pieces, is made from new material and is very comfortable. One of the things about this town is that the houses are kept looking like junk heaps from outside, but many are very nice on the inside.

Backside of a bottle wall. Lightning Ridge NSW

Dinner was served outside as we sat around a campfire, which was showing some blue and green flames, as the star attraction. We were told we were eating stew with dumpling, but in the pitch black one couldn't tell, however it was quite delicious, As was the something and pineapple pudding served up to finish.

Weird fireflames.. Lightning Ridge NSW

Today was a bit of a slack day, our highlight was yet another self guided tour following first the yellow and then the red car doors, cunningly placed all those years ago by the same John Murray, who can claim to have started tourism in the Ridge.

Coopers Cottage. Lightning Ridge NSW
This one is as crook on the inside as out!

A big hole. The first open-cut mine on the opal fields. It started out as standard holes dug down to the opal bearing dirt. As it was an additional 60 metres down, on top of a hill, it was rightly called Lunatics Hill. Then they just dug one big hole and were done with it. Lightning Ridge NSW

One of many quietly rusting to death in the scrub. Lightning Ridge NSW

Like most things here, it is anything but what it looks. It was built as a movie set for the  film Godess of 69. Lightning Ridge NSW

Bit of junk lying around. A small motor winds a laden skip up from the  bottom of the hole, up and over the top and dumped into the waiting skip. Lightning Ridge NSW

I meant to add these before we left this morning, but time got away on me as I went for a wander up the road to the Artesian bore spa pool.

The steamy environ of the 40C artesian spa where I had my meeting with my very own spook.
Lightning Ridge NSW

One other thing that I have noticed out here in the scrub is that a certain ancient technology is literally being resurrected to support the newest of technologies, the NBN. It made me smile to see this cable being connected to all the camps that pride themselves on being off-grid.

Old meets new - telegraph poles and the NBN. Lightning Ridge NSW