Day Twenty-four - Home!

Hello all you gorgeous creatures! How are you this fine Saturday? I am sitting in my very own lounge chair, contemplating that although the last three weeks of adventures have been fantastic, Dorothy & her ruby slippers had the right idea ... There's no place like home. :0)

So ... This will be my last holiday report ... Day Twenty-four. After we packed ourselves into Big Blue, we had one last place we wanted to visit in Lightning Ridge ...

The name of this attraction doesn't really give much of a clue as to what you will be seeing, but let me tell you a little story ...

Once upon a time, there was an opal miner who was waiting for some friends who wanted to visit his mine to see what he was doing. His friends were running late & the miner was bored, so he picked up a bread & butter knife & began carving a "welcome" sign in the sandstone near the entrance to his mine. (FYI the layer of sediment that contains opal is found under a layer of sandstone) The miner was so pleased with the result of his carving that he decided to continue it in his spare time. Word of his creative endeavours spread & he soon found he was spending more time showing people through his mine then he was digging. At this point, he went into partnership with someone who turned a carving hobby into a thriving tourist business. It also gave the miner more time to create. :0) At 76 the miner is still carving, though he is no longer working the mine for opals. 

I took over 80 photos ... & that wasn't even taking a photo of every carving! Are you starting to get an idea of the scope of the underground gallery? And all 11 metres below the surface. Let me share a glimpse of this special place with you ...

This shows an opal miner & gives you an idea of the gallery. The tunnel winds around & widens in places to form larger chambers, all covered in carvings.

Some are representations of famous artworks, like this one of the last supper.

This wounded lion is also from a famous statue.

And this one.

Then you find yourself in ancient Egypt with a sarcophagus.

And hieroglyphics.

Or a sacred scene.

Or you might recognise a historic figure.

Sandstone warriors stand guard.

And a tribute to miners. But one of my favourites was ...

The dragon guarding it's egg. There were tv characters, movie characters, musicians, acteors, creatures from mythology, legends & so much more represented. You could walk around all day & still find something new each time you went around. It was a bit pricey to get in, but well worth seeing. With the final attraction crossed off the "to do" list, it was time to fuel Big Blue for the trip home ...

And look what was behind the bowser ... One of John Murray's murals. These emus crack me up! :0) And it was particularly fun to see this one as I had followed the progress on John's Facebook page as he was working on this. Then it really was time to head home.

Our three weeks of road tripping has been fantastic. We covered 6846km, passed through four states, visited some magical places, saw some wonderful sights, had some once-in-a-lifetime experiences, spent time with family & friends, met new people & were reminded that Australia is a land full of contrasts & contradictions ... And concluded that you could travel around it for the rest of your life & still not see everything there is to see. So ... It's wonderful to be home again ... But we're already making a list of places we want to visit on our NEXT road trip adventure! :0)

I hope you've enjoyed traveling with us virtually. I've found doing a daily post of our adventures a bit of a challenge ... I've never kept a daily diary cos I'm too lazy! :0) ... But I've also found it a good way to keep track of where we went & what we did. I'm sure I'll be referring back to these posts to settle arguments in the future! Tee! Hee! Hee! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, ours will be all about unpacking, washing & generally organising ourselves for the coming work week ... SIGH! Take care. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS