Lightning Ridge 5 September 2015

Had a look around St George, a pretty little town on the Balonne River.

The countryside still very green, but the closer we got to Lightning Ridge the drier it got. Lightning Ridge is situated on top of a hill (hence the name) and is famous for their opals and the characters that dig them up. Except for a few open cut mines, all the other mines are bore dug and mostly owned by one or two people, who are allowed to live on their mining lease in houses they built themselves.

These are usually made of any material they can find – remains off old caravans or cars, the rock they dig up, remnants of old timber or roofing iron and even empty beer or wine bottles.

Each miner jealously guards their lease and has big signs saying “Keep out, savage dog, danger - electric fence, I shoot to kill”. These signs, together with the mullock heaps, quirky huts, dirt roads and rusty old trucks and machinery create a post- apocalyptic feel to the town.

On Sunday morning we got up early and went down to the local markets.