Lightning Ridge

Location~ Opal Holiday Park (Big 4)

Cost~$49

Artesian Bore Baths
Coloured Door Tours (Self Guided)
Chambers of The Black Hand
Amigos Castle
Bevan’s Cactus Nursery
Bottle House & Collectables
Arts and Crafts Centre
Three Pubs in the Scrub
Nettletons First Shaft Lookout

Lightning Ridge is a small outback town in north-western New South Wales. It is also located close to the Southern border of Queensland. This town is famous for its rare black opal, mining history and colourful locals.

We decided to come to this place as they have Artesian Bore Baths and its a perfect way to end our trip.

I was very impressed on how much there is to do and see here in this small town. We had to book an extra day so we could visit most of the attractions. Allow a minimum of 3 days and check weather conditions prior to arrival.

Our first place we visited was the Coloured Door Tours which are self guided around Lightning Ridge town. You collect a map from the Information centre and follow the coloured doors. They are very interesting and hold so much history and information on this Opal Mining Town. I was taken back by the amount of caravans and derelict houses that were on these tours. The areas are known as claims. You can apply for a Opal mining claim from the New South Wales Department of Minerals. The claim area is 50×50 and you can lease this land out and mine to your hearts content. If your lucky enough which is a small percentage you might make a bit of coin. Be prepared to chip away for awhile.

This is one of the finer houses out in the mining fields ⛏️

If you are lucky enough to strike it rich contact a Opal Runner who will sell on your behalf, they of course will receive commission. This is a safer way of trading as once the locals are aware things could get quite interesting…. And not in your favour. This tour is free it is advisable to have a 4wd.

The next big tour we visited was the Chambers of the Black Hand. I highly recommend this tour and for a price of $80pp is well worth it. You get to see the famous underground sculptures that Ron Canlin created with his bread and butter Knife. He was an opal miner but found his passion of creating art in the walls 11 metres underground. There is so much to see it can be quite overwhelming. To give you an idea on what is in this underground museum there are terracotta soldiers, jungle rooms, presidents, Life Size Elvis and Michael Jackson. Even our beloved Queen is there with her family.

We chose the 2 level tour which took us 20m below into the mine to learn about the mining and the harsh conditions these miners had to endure over their working day. Being stuck in the dark chipping away in small confined spaces with a pick is definitely not for the faint hearted. This tour took 2 1/2 hours so allow half a day for this.

We went down the road from our tour and visited Amigos unfinished castle. This man was also made of steel, he was very fit agile and strong in order to create his masterpiece .The castle is all stone piled up on top of each other. He used limited tools to build his dream castle in between opal mining. Safety was overlooked whilst building this castle many days were spent with planks balanced on drums. The castle is 3 storeys high so that’s a lot of drums and planks to drag these heavy stones on to. The workman ship is incredible and he did live in part of the castle until he moved out a few years ago and resides in a caravan out the back. He is in his 70s now so i guess the castle will remain unfinished.

Amigos prized Bedford Truck he used to carry all the rocks in

Another free tour i highly recommend is the Orange Door Explorer tour. This will take you past working mines on very rough roads. On your way around the Loop you have the chance to take in some lunch at 3 of the pubs that are located in the Scrub so to speak. They are all very unique pubs with their own history, owners and menus. The pubs are only a 5-10 minute drive from each other. Have lunch with the locals or the owners they have a few stories to tell. We had burgers at the Club in the Scrub as they are famous on this stretch of road for them. All these pubs offer free camping enquire at pub on arrival.

(1) Club in the Scrub

(2) The Glengarry Hilton

(3) The Sheepyard Inn

We had a great time here in Lightning Ridge and thoroughly enjoyed all the attractions this place has to offer. The Artesian pools were in walking distance from the camp so it was nice to wind down in their pools after dinner and Relax. This camp also has comedy acts every night which brought a real communal atmosphere .If you have the patience for fossiking for opals and enjoy the outback with the flies come and visit this place.