No luck with opals in Lightning Ridge

Oh my gosh it was freezing this morning in St George so it made it hard to get up out of bed.  Waking up was easy as of course the kids woke up cold and joined us in our bed.  Kayla was quite congested so it looks like she is coming down with a head cold.  I think we might be secretly wishing we had gone north instead of south.  Still we needed to get on the road and get down to Dirranbandi before Hamish’s on-air lesson so we got dressed and joined Nanna and Pop in the house for breakfast.  Then it was the last putting away of things ready for travel, a few family snaps and we were away. 

This was again a road I had never been on before, unless of course I was too young to remember it.  The drive down to Dirranbandi was uneventful but at the same time really nice as the land looked a lot greener thanks to the wheat and cotton crops and the bit of rain they have had.  For once we seemed to have arrived with plenty of time to spare which was a nice feeling until I realised that Jason hadn’t prepared everything for the lesson.  I had warned him when I printed it that it looked like there was a lot of cutting out.  Then he cut out a few things and said he was ready, so I double checked as I had thought there was a lot more and yes there were another two sheets to go of detailed fiddly things.  What is it with men and reading the instructions!  So we managed to just finish cutting them out in the nick of time.

Location of the classroom for the morning.

Kayla and I entertaining ourselves.

Kayla and I then ventured out and around whilst Jason did the lesson.  We decided since it was so cold that the best place to hang out was the local bakery.  There we treated ourselves to a yummy treat and I had a nice hot coffee to get me through the day.  After that we stopped in at the van to change Kayla’s nappy.  I hate going in half way through the lesson as I feel it distracts Hamish but it needed doing and the nappies were in the van.  At least when we went back out the library was open and we could hang there until the end of the lesson.  Then it was a quick pack up and straight back on the road.

We wanted to get to Hebel by Hamish’s reading lesson.  I had everything out and ready so just needed phone reception to do the lesson, oh and of course Hamish’s co-operation.  We arrived with 5 minutes spare so plenty of time, however my stupid phone that is playing up of course wouldn’t let me dial the number as there is a small section of the screen that doesn’t work and of course that is a row of numbers on the phone!  So thankfully Jason could give me his but then I couldn’t work it (oh I am already falling behind in technology).  So it was my turn to be disorganised and harassed, but again we managed to get there in the nick of time. 

This was an interesting lesson as the questions asked seemed to make me question their use of wording so later that day I did email Hamish’s teacher as I need to have the right understanding so I can teach him appropriately but also at the same time want to know the expectations of how long a child should remember exactly the details of a book.  Once the lesson was finished we all jumped back in the car and headed about 400m down the road to have lunch at the Hebel pub.  On our arrival we realised it was closed so decided instead to go to the café across the road.  Of course once we were inside we noticed the pub was now open, but we decided the café was so nice and warm we were happy to stay.

Hebel pub.

Love the country signs.

Because the first sign wasn't enough.

The kids with their new beanies in front of the café.

Jason and I both ordered the steak burger and they were so fresh and delicious.  Jason couldn’t make the call as to if he thought it was better than the Augathella one, so decided they were both as awesome as each other.  Whilst there we even splashed out and bought the kids some beanies to help keep them warm the more we head south and for our trip over to Toowoomba.  By now we were so full and it was time to finish off the last sixty or so kilometres to Lightning Ridge.  We even crossed over the border to NSW, our last state (other than our return to QLD) that we will be doing this trip.  Funnily enough there was no big pull in area to have your photo in front of the NSW sign, obviously with their State Of Origin record a lot of people don’t want their photo with the sign!

Crossing over into NSW.

Nowhere to stop but he is the welcome sign.

Followed closely by their common second welcome sign!

Check in to the caravan park was a breeze.  There looked to be a free camp at the turn off but with the cold I don’t know if we will be doing another free camp this trip.  A gas heater for the van is on the wish list.  We then washed and did the only school lesson I had flagged for the day whilst also reading up on all the brochures of what there was to do here.  There seems so much so we were a bit worried that two nights wasn’t enough but that is all we have due to family commitments in Toowoomba.  So we then headed out to knock some over that afternoon.

I wish I was that thin.

Of course Hamish didn't want to miss out.

They have these cool coloured car door drives which help direct you where to go.  The first one we did didn’t take long as two things we wanted to stop and see were closed.  Then on the green door drive it was just straight out to a lookout where I wasn’t keen to let the kids out due to all the old mine shafts around that were not appropriately secured off.  We also stopped in town to make the big purchase of a fan heater which will hopefully work better than the air-conditioner on heat.  That night we cooked inside for some strange reason (ha ha).  It was great having meat from my parents place and fresh vegetables from Jason’s Nanna and Pop. 

The direction signs for the tourist drives.

Apparently the first ever mine dug.  Who knows if it is true!

Nowhere for the kayak here.

The new fan heater then got a good work out and I must say it worked like a treat and kept the van nice and toasty all night.  Unfortunately it didn’t mean we got a good night sleep as poor Kayla was so congested she joined us in bed quite early and then all I could hear was her trying to breathe.  Then Hamish was up at the crack of dawn so I called it quits on trying to sleep and decided to catch up on this blog.  After a while Jason got up and joined me, making the much desired coffee I needed and getting us all breakfast.  He had moved to Kayla’s bed during the night in the hope of getting some sleep, I don’t know if he got much more really.

The big emu outside town.

So the day started off awesome.  We got into school extra early and managed to get the first of two lessons done well and truly before Hamish’s on-air lesson.  We tried for a second but honestly that was pushing it as I was trying to do the blog and Jason was trying to organise catching up with friends in Toowoomba so neither of us were focused so I don’t know how we expected Hamish to do it.  So we decided to just leave it until later in the day.  While Jason did the on-air lesson with Hamish, Kayla and I went for a walk around the caravan park and managed to find the fossicking area.  That kept us entertained for the whole time and we even managed to find six or so small opals, obviously not worth anything.

As soon as the lesson was over we headed straight out to do one of the underground opal mines.  I am going to be honest and I don’t think it was really worth the $40 to do it as we just got given a mud map and no guide to show us around and explain everything.  Then it felt so unsafe and like it was about to cave in (we were 115 steps underground) so I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  Even just getting the guy to tell us stuff seemed like it was a huge effort.  So I went outside to do Hamish’s reading lesson with his teacher.  It went quite well and afterwards we had a good chat about the questions I had emailed through the day before. 

A long way underground.

Making our way around the mine.

Hamish looking how far up it was to the main shop area.

It made me feel good as it helped me clarify things and understand where I need to be going with him, but at the same time I was told I raised a valid point and they will word the questions in a more appropriate way.  She also said that she had seen a huge improvement with Hamish since we were in Longreach so it is nice to know that they are recognising my hard work with the extra reading and practise.  Not to mention the time I have been spending on his sight words and getting him to write them out which also has been improving.

From there we went to go to The Black Hand underground carvings but it wasn’t open until 3pm so we decided to head back to the caravan for some lunch.  Kayla fell asleep on the way home and stayed pretty much asleep until we went to go again.  This at least allowed us to make and eat lunch and then finish school and rest for a bit.  Unfortunately due to the bad sleeping conditions the night before my back was very sore, even the bad dirt roads were hurting it, so thankfully Jason got out his massage ball and rolled that over my back.  It hurt so much but I knew it was doing me good. 

Back at The Black Hand we joined in on the 3pm tour and yes it cost $70 for us to do the tour (kids were free) but it was so worth it.  This one also has lift access for those who can’t do all the steps up and down but we needed the exercise so walked all the steps down and then back up.  First we paid for the tour and then we were led down into the mine area which was even further down.  There the guide who use to be an opal miner gave us a history lesson and pointed out different types of opal.  The best bits were his stories of people who have struck it rich and then wasted it all.  Also how you can be so close to a massive opal deposit and not know it, but worse still was the day he shattered a large opal with the jackhammer. 

Just amazing what he has done.

This one was of course Hamish's favourite.

I bet every minor wishes he found a stone that big.

It was a fantastic tour and we learnt so much about the life of an opal miner and how things work in the area.  Then it was back up a level to the main showcase which is what the miner had done with his time since he couldn’t find any opals.  He has spent a lot of time doing the carvings and even painting some of them.  You can’t deny that the guy has talent and I wonder if he now makes more from his tours and the opal sales then from actually finding opals himself.  Jason even let me buy myself an opal ring but not before reminding me what happened to the last opal he bought me.  It just happened to be for our first wedding anniversary, he bought me a beautiful pair of opal earnings from the Barossa Valley and well somewhere along the lines just after Hamish was born and on our way to St George I managed to lose one.  So that is why this time I opted for a ring! 

From there we headed back into town and checked out the John Murray Art Gallery before making our way back to the castle to see if it was open.  This time we were in luck and paid the $10 to walk around the area.  The kids were playing up a bit so I opted to wait for Jason with them in the car.  Then it was a quick stop for a few items from the local IGA and some fuel and it was back to the caravan to start preparing dinner and packing everything away.  We even noticed that our neighbours beside us were packing everything away and we did joke that we will get away before them tomorrow.

Not too bad.

I love the entrance way.

Welcome signs.

Guessing it doesn't come too often.

Something I thought we had in the bag when we hitched on after showers, but half an hour later we heard them hitching on and packing up more of the van so I think they will probably get away before us.  It is funny the little personal jokes we have between us, trying to beat nomads out of caravan parks, seriously is this what we find entertaining!  Oh dear we are tragic but realistically it keeps us sane and we do need to be on the road by no later than 7:45am in order to make it to the next town with mobile reception for Hamish’s on-air lesson.  I also started to get out everything we will need to take to Toowoomba for school.  I am thinking it might be easier to tow the caravan (ha ha).  It is really more just things that we aren’t so sure about so it is better to have them than not and also I do need to post some books back.

Wildlife in the outback.

One of the tourist drives.

I really wish we did have an extra day to spend here so we could finish the last tourist drive and check out a few more things, but that would mean a massive day of driving to get to Toowoomba in time and well that isn’t realistic at all.  At least this way we can get to Moree where we will store the van and then only have to drive from there to Toowoomba the next day.  It gives us Friday to get a few jobs done like shopping for Kayla’s birthday present and preparing her cake so we can still make her day special just like she is.  It would have also been nice to swim in the thermal pools, but with us already being a bit under the weather we opted out of that as going from cold to hot and then cold again wouldn’t do us much good.