We started off at the crack of dawn and after a few comfort stops, we reached Coonamble where we had lunch. In keeping with the Bollywood theme, lunch consisted of curry, rice and pappadams. A few hours later we were in Lightning Ridge. The trip never seems to be as long as we expect when we start.
We had a great BBQ dinner at John and Neroli Bevan's place just outside the town. There we met up with a few of the past Opal Queens and it was good to see what good ambassadors for Lightning Ridge they had become. We've certainly had picked well in the past and we expect to do the same again this year. You see, it was explained that Women in Racing play an important part in Lightning Ridge because we provide the neutral judges who aren't friends or relatives of contestants and we can leave town after the judging.
Saturday morning started off with a dip at the Bore Baths which is a large public swimming pool filled with hot artesian water at about 40 degrees C. It's a great experience to get into the hot pool from the cold morning air and gaze around through the steam raising off the water.
After breakfast we went on a tour of Lightning Ridge, touring through the mining camps and the flood water that remains after last year's Queensland floods. Following this we had morning tea at the Bevan's place where we visited their cactus nursery and practiced a Bollywood dance routine that had been choreographed by Sue. We planned to dance this number at the Opal Queen awards night safe in the knowledge that no-one we knew back home would see it.
In the afternoon most of us visited the Chambers of the Black Hand which is an old opal mine that has been converted to a fascinating tourist attraction. The owner of the mine got bored with mining all day, so started carving out the sandstone about half way down in to a series of caverns that he decorated with carvings. These caverns have themes that include African animals, superheros, and an Egyptian tomb.
In the evening we went to the Opal Queen awards night, with three of us being the official judges of the Opal Queen herself. The judges spent two hours interviewing all the contestants before coming out to join us. It was a great night and most exhausted themselves on the dance floor.
Sunday started with another trip to the Bore Baths before heading back to Canberra.
Once again it was a wonderful trip and I'm sure most look forward to doing it again. But next time I'll be steering Karyn away from the opal jewellery.
Below are some photos from the trip. If it doesn't show correctly on your browser, click here and then click on the slideshow button.
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