Underground wonders

Today Colin and I learned what opal mining was all about. We first went on a tour of an opal mine after first watching a very good movie that told the story of how opal was created and how this area of opal field was found before being taken on a walk through the mine that is part of the show-room, owners home as well as the caves in which our accommodation is set.

Each of the homes dug into the hillsides started out as opal mines and once the opal was removed and there was a smart burrow left behind it was converted into living quarters.

Colin and I donned hard hats and went into 'Old Timer's Mine” which is an original mine cut with pick and shovel back in the 1920s and has been made interesting for tourists with plaques and dummy miners showing the various activities that were done and the hardships that were endured.

Behind a sheet of perspex was opal that was still in the rock wall, I used the flash and expected a big flash-back from the perspex but am pleasantly surprised at how well the picture came out. Can you see the opal?

When we emerged after 40 minutes of taking ourselves around the mine we walked into the shop where we had started our tour. My eye was drawn to a couple of carvings into the rock wall.

Yes, even the shop has rock as three of its walls, the fourth wall is the front of the shop and it is made of man made materials. I am not really all that enamoured of opal and although I gazed into the show cases and made all the right sounds of admiration, I had no interest in buying any! So I took my photo of the camel in the wall!

Another interesting place we visited was the “Catacomb Church” (there are actually several churches that are underground). We were fortunate in that a tour group had entered the church ahead of us and we were invited to stay while the local guide told everyone stories about how opal was found when the churches were created and that this Catholic church was unlucky in that no opal was found here – other churches struck it rich!

After the group had gone I was able to take my photo of the altar without using a flash.

A trip out to the Underground Pottery proved a waste of time – it was closed!
As I was writing this blog a familiar person walked towards me (I was sitting outside the dugout that is our home for three nights), it was Steven and with him, his co-pilot Sabine. It was lovely to chat with them both and we were invited across to have dinner with them and to meet the "group". What a treat! Everyone was so thrilled to be able to talk about what they had seen and done that we felt very comfortable in their presence.
Just maybe we shall meet up with them all again tomorrow - they, and we, are going out to the Breakaways.
That would be fun!
AJ