The mysteries of life and other joys of travelling

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In the great rush to get the last blog into print we forgot to mention the bird life at Charlotte Plains. As with most things in the bush, there was a distinct lack of avian life, but as we were departing we counted ourselves lucky to have a couple of magnificent tits flash before us from the only other campers around the bore! Female of course. Now that we have your attention...

Feeling somewhat invigorated after taking the waters and sights at the bore, we pointed the Pajero South towards Bourke. We have seen a lot of barren country, and this was to be no exception. Real rain has not fallen here for a long time and the rain that we have encountered has been erratic in its placement. Some areas show weak patches of greenery and others absolutely no evidence of rainfall at all. As a consequence, the wild life is forced to find feed on the side of the road, which is not a good place for animals raised in paddocks. We were warned that this leg was strewn with dead roos, and that was proven to be the case.

Arriving in Bourke, it was evident that the town has a problem with some of its residents. We do not know the reason some towns cope better with the indigenous population, and other do not, but we are suggesting that Bourke fits into the second category. How do we draw this conclusion? When everything of value (especially government property) has protective shuttering or high fences with barbed wire or pointed stakes on top and the van park we stayed in had an electric wire around the top it is a bit of a giveaway. When we went to the local supermarket which incorporates a bottle shop, there was a security person on the door and we have never been in a bottle shop where the merchandise is behind a floor to ceiling Perspex barrier. Yes, I think we can conclude that there is a problem.

Bourke does have a wonderful Information Centre and a “Back o’ Bourke” Exhibition which we found very informative (ok, that is what Info centres are supposed to do). The town has a very rich history stemming from its position on the Darling River and once being the biggest inland port in the Southern hemisphere and it is somewhat sad that it seems to be in decay now. Marg did find one gem however in the form of an artist’s gallery in North Bourke (just across the bridge over the Polygonum Swamp and the Billabong of Polygonum Swamp (yes they really called it that!). Anyway the artist won and Geoff parted with the hard earned...

We headed West for Walgett on our way to the iconic Lightening Ridge. En-route, we passed through a town called Brewarrina (pron: bre –warr –ina). It’s famous for the Aboriginal fish traps in the Darling River which have been dated back some 40,000 years! The fish traps are still operating as the wading birds around them will attest. It was really quite striking to see the difference in the attitude of the community here with indigenous and white folk greeting each other in genuine friendship if you can say that after a half hours stop. It’s less than 100 kms to Bourke, but it could as well be 1000. Walgett is at the intersection of 2 highways (Kamilaroi and Castlereagh), and that seems to be its main reason for being. We spent the night there at a free camp and headed North in the morning for Lightening Ridge.

An 18mtr tall iron emu greets you on the outskirts, giving you the feeling that this town does not take itself too seriously. We had booked into a caravan park, largely because there was not much free camping showing in the bible, but mostly because Lightening Ridge is on most grey nomads bucket list. It is world famous for its black opal, a fact that is reiterated on the hour by every local. Black opal in not really black, well it is, but it gets its name from the black backing under the ‘colour’ which gives the colour so much more depth and vibrancy. Geoff will be staying here if becomes any more of an expert on the subject! As you would expect, every second shop sells opals, and while one could suspect that the thing that keeps the town going is the constant flow of grey nomads, that would be exactly what they want you to think. The fact of the matter is that despite opal being very hard to mine and find, the rewards are very high.

Lightening Ridge is a strange place where you look at it on one level and think, “gee I’m glad I am moving on”, but strangely nearly everyone extends their stay – a lot for a lifetime. On the first level, the town looks largely tired and the locals a bit the same. It is surrounded by what is best described in parts as a moonscape and there are mine shafts and tailings everywhere. On the other side of the coin, the lure of possibly kicking over a big/valuable opal in the street is just too much for some. The reality however is that really valuable opals only come along once in the lifetime for about 1 in 50 miners (you can forget it happening for a fossicker – Tatts Lotto is easier to win). We have done one comprehensive tour and seen some sights that are unique, especially the Chambers of the Black Hand. That could conjure up dark and foreboding images, but whether creator of the Chambers had that in mind or not, the reality is one of quite awe inspiring beauty. It is the work of one man (a common theme out here). He knew that the opal on his claim was some 45 mts below the surface and he decided to make a stairway down to the work area, with a view to having it as a space where he could show and sell his finds. He carved a small ‘Welcome’ sign in the sandstone at the entrance, and found that it was a medium that he liked to work with. He continued to dig out tunnels to mine for the precious stone, but he did so with a view to creating more sculptures. Some 2,500 tonnes of ‘dirt’ (and he is still digging) later there is a network of tunnels and some 500+ sculptures ranging from animals to theological icons. It was simply amazing. BTW, the Black Hand is a sign on a tree that designates an area of the (subterranean) mine fields – just one of the miners’ jokes.

Our guide on the tour gave us a great insight into the ‘culture’ of the town. He says he is a miner (but it isn’t paying the bills at the moment) and has been in town for about 35 years. He knows most people in town, but says that very rarely do people share their surname. He told us about the mining claims, how fights can erupt over who is staking out a piece of land and the case where 2 miners came to blows over who was first to the claim and while they were fighting a third fellow whacked in his stakes in the 4 corners of the claim and the combatants missed out. The tour took us through a lot of the diggings and we now know where old caravans go to die. There were caravans dotted around that I have not seen on the road for at least 30 years! And as for old cars, well maybe not so old, perhaps unloved would be a better description, they were everywhere and nearly all unregistered. The guide said that the highway patrol cars were not allowed on the diggings roads, so if you could beat the police to the diggings you were ok.

There are also bores from the artesian basin and the large pool at Lightening Ridge is free and VERY HOT. We went the first day we arrived and it felt like we were about to burn our feet right off. It was freezing cold at Lightening Ridge and the wind was very strong making it seem like about 5 degrees even during the day. It was certainly 5 degrees at night. The van park provided a camp fire in the evenings and some entertainment. While there we bumped into Tony and Jane, friends from Orange who we had met on our first van trip 2008 which was great.

We haven’t encountered any snow yet, but it is now 8.30,and 5 degrees outside. I think we will wake up to frost tomorrow morning. The Ritchies are on the last leg of their trip and hope to be home by next weekend. This cold weather is sending us back to our warm house.

Just a reminder – occasionally we post more photos than fit in the text; you will find them at the end under a link saying ‘more photo’s below’. As well there is an opportunity for you to post a comment on the site and we would be happy to hear your feedback (and then delete you from our subscriber list J)

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Photos

Aboriginal fish traps - Brewarrina
Only 40,000 years old. You may be able to pick up the birds sitting waiting on he rocks

Advertisement in Brewarrina cafe
Can't understand why I haven't seen this in The Age at home...

First Shaft lookout - Lightening Ridge
Moonscape with holes

Black Opal Tour - Fred Bodel's Camp
Two room luxury with breezeway!

Black Opal Tour - Omigo's Castle
One man's folly

Chambers of the Black Hand
Not bad for a miner

Chambers of the Black Hand
A miner with a vivid imagination and an amazing skill

Chambers of the Black Hand
This one was hard - they are all done in-situ, but this is the only one on the roof.

Chambers of the Black Hand
Dry sense of humour around here