Around The Ridge 3 - 27 June 2008

While Lightning Ridge is the most famous of the opal fields in this part of NSW there are also the opal fields of Grawin, Sheepyard, Glengarry & Coocoran, which are about an hours drive away. What really is interesting is that Grawin, Sheepyard & Glengarry all have operating licenced premises.

The first stop was Grawin, the site of the largest opal found in world the 'Light In The World' opal in 1928. It also boast the Club In The Scrub a fully operating licenced club (yes, you do have to sign in!) & an 18 hole black sand golf course. The Club In The Scrub would have to be one of the most remote clubs I have drank in. Unfortunately the locals weren't all that welcoming & treated the tourists with disdain. It was a cold breezy day when we were out there & the locals all stood around hogging the open fire, no 'olde-style' country charm out there!

The next stop on my pub crawl itinerary was The Sheepyard Hotel, out of all the drinking holes in the area this was the most modern, however Jude wasn't keen to visit & so we didn't go in ... but next time!

The last stop was the Glengarry Hilton, another quaint drinking establishment, this time I did get to grace the bar & have a cold one Although the weather wasn't the best for partaking in chilled alcoholic refreshments, I made it my duty to do so!

So if your travels take you out to Lightning Ridge, take your camera, your thirst & go & visit these unique fields in the middle of the scrub.

P.S. One of the things that stuck me about these remote fields, even more so than Lightning Ridge are the amount of old trucks that litter the area, there are hundreds of them in all shapes & sizes, a photographers dream!

Around The Ridge 2 - 26 June 2008

What lies beneath is not just the title of a movie released in 2000 starring Harrison Ford & Michelle Pfeiffer, but could also describe the area around Lightning Ridge. When you see mullock heaps piled around the the entrance of opal mine shifts, giving that 'moonscape' look, it doesn't really relate to the work that is taking place up to 20mtrs below the ground.

And also some of that action, isn't even related to opal mining!

Take for instance the unique art gallery that local miner Ron Canlin has created 11mtrs underground. His carvings into the beautiful cream & pink sandstone will totally aastound you. Not only does he use the the natural stone to maximum advantage, but some of his carvings are beautifully highlighted by judicious use of paint. Then on the next level, another 11mtrs below, Ron has left some of the original diggings in place to give visitors a realistic look into how hard the early miners of this exotic stone toiled. It was in this environment that I was able to use the skills I had learnt earlier in the year on photographing in low light conditions came to the fore & assisted me in capturing the beauty of Rons work, without the colour being washed out by over-use of the flash. His attraction is called 'Chambers Of The Black Hand' & is a must see attraction.

Another insight into life underground can be found on the Outback Opal Tours operation (http://www.outbackopaltours.com.au/ ) in which includes a visit to Lightning Ridges famous Walk In Mine takes visitors on a tour of how opals are mined & the history of opal mining in the district.

Both these guided tours provide outstanding photographic opportunities for all photographers, no matter what your skill level is.

Around The Ridge 1 - 25 June 2008

You know you can spend hundreds of hours & take thousands of shots, then when you least expect it, wham, you jag the perfect shot. The shot taken above was initially uncomposed & in my opinion, is the best I have ever achieved so far in my short time as an amateur photographer.

We had settled into our new digs at the Chasin' Opal holiday cabins the previous day & so the first thing on the agenda after breakfast was to head to Hebel (which is actually in Queensland) on the recommendation of the cabins' operator & go have a feed at the historic Hebel Hotel. So we jumped back into the car & drove the 65klms into Queensland. The town of Hebel , is a one horse town, that is apparently kept alive because it is a changeover point for trucks heading between FNQ & Melbourne. Unfortunately we arrived too early for lunch, so instead of hanging around for an hour, we decided to go to the cafe across the road, grab a coffee (International Roast ... yuk!) & work out our next move.

Our next move was to actually head out across the black soil plains towards Goodooga, only because I had seen that the Post Office is up for sale (only $165,000, but I couldn't convince Jude to commit, lol). What I love about our adventures, is we get to appreciate just how lucky we are to live in the cities, especially when you see these isolated rural communities out in the middle of our rugged country. E.g. the nearest Big W is at Dubbo an 820klm round trip, even for the kids to go to high school or TAFE, its a 100klm trip!

That afternoon we decided to observe the sunset from the lookout at Nettletons First Shaft, located just west of the town on the Green Door self drive tour (it's a local thing, lol). When I was just about finished shooting a 4WD turned up & a young woman got out, unloaded a professional camcorder & proceeded to film the last rays of sunset. It turned out that they (Monica & Sophie) were from Imparja Television & were on assignment. Monica asked me if she could film me taking some shots of the sunset & so I said no prob. After the that was done, I was heading back to the car & I turned around to see this wonderful shot of Monica on the ridge, silhouetted against the dusk skyline, it was perfect.

A perfect end, to a perfect day.

Road To The Ridge - 24 June 2008

Colin Buchanan once sung -

"Coz once you've crossed the

the North Bourke Bridge

& stood on the dust of an

ancient red ridge

Oh the locals know

The outback calls you back

They knew that I'd be back"

I've been to Bourke before & like the song, I had to return. I don't know if its the Darling River, the wonderful scenery, the history, or just because it has the cheapest beer in NSW (no joke, $3.00 a schooner!), but I had to make another visit to this magical spot with my trusty 400D. Unfortunately we only spent the morning in Bourke, which we spent 2hrs on the Jandra paddle boat cruising down the mighty Darling River.

After that, it was back in the car & heading off to Lightning Ridge, a trip of around 300klms. The major towns that we passed through were Brewarrina & Walgett. Being out on our unfenced country roads it is an opportunity to see an abundance of our wildlife, including roo's, emu's, goats & wedge-tail eagles. It is really quite spectacular, as long as they stay well into the paddocks & don't stray onto the road! It may be worth noting here, that if travelling in outback Australia, it is always advisable to stop travelling 2 hrs prior to sunset & make camp, look what happened to Joanne Lees & Peter Falconio ... !

Arrived at Lightning Ridge around 3pm & was immediately impressed by this wonderful town on the edge of Australia's harsh arid outback.