We loved Lightning Ridge. It was so different. Down to earth people who had given thought to what they could do to make the area attractive to tourists. So the events/activities were quite unique to them. After all no point in finding precious opals if you have no-one to sell them to. On our way into town was an emu statue - it was enormous called Stanley. Its body was once a VW beetle to give you some idea of its size.
Although our plan as we drove into town was to book into the Big4 Holiday Camp first, as it was after 3pm when we arrived, the tourist information office was just on the right, so in we went. The ladies were lovely. They were impressed with the research David had already done on the area and we paid our $1 to get our copy of the coloured car door routes map. They also gave us a map of the town with all the activities numbered (as most towns have done) but they also gave us a separate sheet which listed the numbers in order with the name of the activity, the entry cost if there was one and finally the opening hours. They had even gone to the trouble of telling you which ones were shut at the moment. So helpful.
After checking in and sorting ourselves out we decided to try out the Artisan Bore Baths, we were already hot and sweaty so wouldn't notice water at over 40 degrees! Bore water has a very distinct smell to it. By this time we had lots of showers with bore water. Cleaning your teeth can be quite interesting with warm smelly water but you do get used to it. The baths weren't that packed which was great as they are free and open most of the time. They only shut for cleaning between 10 and 12 Noon each weekday. It was surprisingly invigorating - just like having a very hot bath. David jokingly tied his handkerchief up to keep his head cool so a picture had to be taken.
We only stayed for 30 minutes or so; after changing we realised it was still quite early and so decided to do a couple of the door tracks. We started with the green track. It had a painted jeweled rock on the side of the road to let you know to turn right at the next turn as it was a few km out of town. We did find all 13 doors and took photos but I decided it would be boring to have 13 pictures of different green car doors. The track map you are given not only tells you how many doors there are but gives you a guide of what to look out for at each one. It also tells you how long the whole track takes. The green track should take about 20 minues and at the end is Nettleton's First Shaft lookout - great for the sunset - but it was too cloudy to bother. As you pass along the drive you pass lots of private claims currently being worked as well as others which have been abandoned long ago. There are lots of individual made signs and novel art work in their "gardens". If you leave your car you need to be very careful as there are existing and old air shafts all of the place.
Finally, opposite the first shaft memorial is a beer can house. Inside is a fridge with a visitors book they encourage you to go in and sign - which we of course did. I loved it. Although it is known as the beer can house, it does also have windows made from bottles. W
e thought it was spectacular. As the sun shines through inside it is lovely. We were smitten with the simplicity of it which gave it its own beauty.
As we decided the weather wasn't suitable for a good sunset we decided to do another route as we had loved this one so much. We chose red as it started right next door to the caravan park and again should take about 20 minutes. There are a total of 10 doors. This drive had one of the attractions David really wanted to visit - Amigo's Castle - but it is currently shut. I loved the bottle house - found it fascinating to look at and although this one on the red drive was a private residence, there was another in the town you could pay to enter so we were both looking forward to seeing that tomorrow.
We had booked to enter the Chamber of the Black Hand which was on the yellow route (35 minutes) at 10.00am so we left early to do the doors before we went in. Ron Canlin was an Englishman who joined the marines and then worked the oil rigs. He taught himself to whittle in the decompression chambers. He later emigrated to Australia and moved to Lightning Ridge to become an opal miner. He never hit it rich from his opal mining but during his lunch breaks he started to sculpt in the area set up as the "break room". He used a bone handled butter knife and later started using a fork to add texture. He built the stairs going down by hand with a pick axe. He has created an art gallery under the ground (I think 12 metres). We took so many pictures. He has sections - star wars - marvel - Australian Prime Ministers - Disney characters - Greek mythology - Egyptians - pop music icons - the last supper and crucifixion - it would be simpler to say there is something for everyone. It is truly amazing. He started selling tickets to see his sculptures to help pay his expenses to keep mining. He has since retired.
It was lunchtime and as luck would have it the one coffee shop in town was right next door to John Murray's art gallery so was a must visit. The gallery was lovely but you obviously weren't allowed to take any photographs at all. David did buy me some lightning ridge opal ear-rings as a reminder of our trip and so I bought him some John Murray pictures to hand in our snug - his will be a little trickier to get home in the suitcase though.
In the afternoon, we had one final car route to do (blue). This route only takes about 10 minutes to drive through but it had Beven's cactus nursery which David wanted to see.
John Beven was a very interesting character. His parents started the garden and he has take over. He like most people is an opal miner but has been a reservist fire fighter for 37 years to bring in extra money. It seems if you want to mine you need an outside income - very few people hit the mother lode. It has been known but not very often. He is a Rotarian and used to be a Mason before their lodge closed due to insufficient people - he does loads for charity work. We met some amazing characters. We never knew that cacti are not native to Australia and that prickly pear is considered a weed and must be grown in a cage if you are going to grow one). Enjoy.
We had heard that this evening was the town's Christmas carol service and John confirmed it started at 6pm and encouraged us to come along to the festivities. We did. It was very interesting as it wasn't a traditional carol service. Father Christmas came via flashing blue lights and the emergency services - kids were obviously very excited. The local children did a really cool set of aboriginal dances. They had local people providing entertainment and the fire services were there talking about fire safety over the holidays.
Carols started but you didn't have to join in - very odd. It was fine to just sit around with friends and chat/socialise whilst others sat closer to the mike and joined in the carols. It really was a free for all but it was a drugs and alcohol free event - very strict. By 8pm we were really tired and so left. At this point we realised we still had gone to see the bottle house and decided we would go at 9am the next morning before we left town. (Karen has forgotten that John introduced us to the local reporter who took photos of us and was going to add us, so she could report about the furthest visitor's to the carol concert.)
Sure enough we were there dead on 9am but sadly no-one was there. We waited 10 minutes as a lady saw us pull into the parking lot but no-one came so we left having taken a few photos of the outside.
It has never ceased to amaze us about how many talented people there are who freely put their work on display in the remotest of places for people to simply enjoy - We wish to thank all these talented people and the people we have met throughout Australia that have made us welcome. Not only those who have become friends but all the people we have met and chatted to - thank you.
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