Denise and Barry's Caravan Travels: May 29, 2016

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Lightning Ridge - St George

Our last day at Lightning Ridge we started with a soak in the Artesian Pool then we followed the mud map around Lightning Ridge vicinity, passing structures built by eccentric inhabitants over the years. Then it was into the township to the Opal Shops and to visit the John Murray Art Gallery. We were picked up in the afternoon by the courtesy bus from the Chambers of the Black Hand Opal Mine and then taken to view the remarkable underground carvings that have been sculptured and painted into the wall of the mine by Ron Canlin. After descending some 80 steps down the mine shaft we emerged into a chamber where you were presented with an opportunity to purchase a large selection of Opal items after viewing the many tunnels and chambers that displayed the paintings and carvings. We also had the opportunity of descending further into the mine where you were shown how the Opal is found and originally mined, we were now 60 feet underground! Baz & I thought we did re-markedly well as both of us do not like being in confined spots, to keep my mind off where I was I would think about the Opal I was going to buy on the way out. When we reached the surface it was starting to rain and by the time we arrived back at the Caravan Park it was bucketing down with water over the roads and mud and slush everywhere! We had 88 ml of rain in 2 hours, the noise on the caravan roof was deafening just glad we were nice and dry inside after the bus driver dropped us at our vans.

Thursday we left Lightning Ridge travelling further north to St George, along the way we again had to dodge a lot of road kill and we had to be aware of the wildlife as numerous very large kangaroos, Emus and Cows had come out of the scrub after the rain. We had a coffee break at the Hebal General Store then made our way over the road to check out the historic Hebal Pub.

It stated raining again yesterday afternoon and continued steadily into the night not letting up to 4am this morning. Around 2am we heard the sound of a collapsing awning, looking out to the caravan beside us we could see that the rain had been too heavy for their awning and had broken the roller in half. There was not much they could do until the morning when Baz and Brian were able to help them to manually roll it back into position and tape it to the van until they can get a replacement at a major repairer.

Only a tin shed above ground!

Steps down into Chambers of the Black Hand Mine

Carvings in the Black Hand Mine

Coffee stop Hebal

Hebal Pub

Pub window

Torrential rain Lightning Ridge

Rain drenched caravan park (Lightning Ridge)

Oh no, our poor neighbours bad luck!

Another rain drenched caravan park (St George)

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Moree - Lightning Ridge

If you are wondering, yes the crackle was delicious!

We had a great few days at Moree the only downfall was the cold front that came through, but the chill didn't put a damper on the hot pools. Maree & Brian arrived Friday and of course there was lots to catch up on since we had last seen them. Leonie and Richard also called into Moree to catch up with us, we had been hoping to meet them at Lightning Ridge but our original travelling plan changed slightly so it was lovely that they made it to Moree on their way home. Not only did we have Maree, Brian, Leonie and Richard with us in the caravan park another of our friends dropped in on our last night, Tony was travelling home to Brisbane from Melbourne after time in Tassie so it was great to catch up with him as well.

Monday it was on the road again this time accompanied by Maree and Brian heading to Lightning Ridge for three nights. The road from Walgett to Lightning Ridge has improved only minimal since we last travelled it five years ago, it is still a roll a coaster with many bumps! Beware when you open the cupboards in the van, things have a habit of falling out to meet you after bumping along that stretch of road. The days here at the Ridge have been very pleasant so far, nights and early mornings are very fresh so a great way to start the day is to warm up in the 40 degree thermal pool that is situated close to the park.

We had a great day out today checking out 3 Pubs in the Scrub. The Sheepyard Inn, Grawin Club in the Scrub and the Glengarry Hilton are situated in the Grawin Opal Fields and were well worth the visit. First stop was the Grawin Club in the Scrub that also boast a golf course, we enjoyed a nice cold drink at the bar before heading off to the Hilton for lunch. It was a different world out there driving in and around the Opal Fields on the corrugated gravel roads seeing all the Miners Camps and Mullock heaps everywhere and old rusty cars, trucks, flag poles, 44 gallon drums, water tanks, caravans you name it it was there. Our last stop was The Sheepyard and Community War Memorial at Lake Beard.