We opted to do a local town tour, there are a couple to choose from, we choose Outback Opal Tours. The tour starts off with the friendly bus driver in our case Nat picking us up from the caravan park. There was only one other couple on the tour also from our park.
Visit the Outback Opal Tours for tour costs as they can change. The fee includes morning tea, entry fee into the Walk in Mine, Miners camps, Three Mile Opal Fields, Lunatic Hill open cut mine, Amigo’s Castle, opal cutting demonstration, information about the town, it’s history, characters and of course the black opal.
The Walk in Mine (Opal Mine Adventure) is the most easily accessed mine (wide stairs and rails) in Lightning Ridge and was originally a real working opal mine.
The opal cutting demonstration took us into the workshop of an experienced opal cutter. She also is an opal carver and an expert in her field. It was one of the highlights of the tour.
Amigo’s Castle, is interesting and an incredible work of art. Unfortunately it’s unlikely to be finished due to many different factors. We were fortunate to meet Mr Amigo, an interesting character with lots of stories to tell.
It was a great morning out and well worth doing, you find out information about a town, the people and district that you wouldn’t otherwise know.