Lightning Ridge, here we go again!!

 

Well, well, well ...

 

Here we are again, at Lightning Ridge with our experienced opal miner "MR. KEN WESTBROOK" !!! Look at his smiling face, must be happy to see us (MAYU next to him) at his PUB - The Sheepyard Pub.

 

 

 

Well, opal miners love to drink day & night, but also love to find opal all day long... When they are not at the pub or on the ground, they're always UNDERGROUND, digging non-stop!!!

   KEN & ROGER

 

 

 

And ofcourse, our Lightning Ridge visit won't be completed without a great "Driver Guide - Larry" !!!

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting our friends at Black Opal field always made us feel welcoming, busy running around and creating more business for future ... Thank you Ken, Roger and Larry ... Now it's time to fly bacl to Gold Coast by a "Charter Flight" ... Thank you Glen & Andrew for a comfortable flight!! We will see you again ...  (^^)

 

 

xxxx    Malayvone

 

 

Lightning Ridge ... here I come !!!

 

 

 

Went to "LIGHTNING RIDGE" !!

 

And this is how wetook a small group from Japan to there ... by a CHARTER FLIGHT, nice hey?

 

 

 

 

 

As always, Lightning Ridge was sunny & dry ... A friendly (??!) place with all sorts of wildlife awaits for our arrivals.

 

 

Our good friend, who's been mining opals for about 30 years, was so inviting, he even took us underground to experience the actual mining process!!! What a great friend we have ...

 

 

  

 

So ... where is a quality opal?

Can you see something's hiding here??

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding how rare it becames to find any 'QUALITY PIECE' today, we just had to cut & polish some of the 'POTCH' - Non Colored Opals ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, well, well, are we lucky on not??!!?? May be not this time ... they're too grey, not very bright and too sandy. This won't become a 'GEM QUALITY' unfortunately.

 

There's always next time & we are heading to L/R again next month!!! See you all soon.

 

 

 

xxxx      Malayvone

 

 

 

 

 

LOTS & LOTS OF SOIL !!!!!

SEE WHAT I MEAN...   ???!!!??!!!!


Opal miners are working really hard, digging all this mud & soil just to get LUCKY... and the rality is not as what you've described!!

Many have dreamt of getting a "BIG HIT", earn a steady income by finding few quality opals or become a "MILLIONAIRE" instantly or just wanted to enjoy their new lifestyle in the desert, away from the crowd, believing it would be a good change....

Well, truly it's not like what you'd expect at all.
Not many are finding enough 'quality opal' and not many are actually enjoying their lifestyle in a remote area.... It's extremely hot and dry in Summer time, and you just need to keep digging lots of soil everyday (and believe me, it's a hard work!!).


There is no "Theme Parks", no "Fancy Restaurants" or anything like that so, you will have to wake up early, do the digging all day and go to the BUP for liquids and light snack, and just go to bed early or get into the cutting if you've found few opals on the day....
Life is so simple at Lightning Ridge, but can be hard if you're seriously looking to get LUCKY !!!!! So, wanna try ???!!


xxx     Malayvone