Legendary Lightning Ridge

Best known for its unique black opals, this mining town midway along the NSW-Queensland border has for over a century attracted non-conformist fossickers, many of who left behind improvised dwellings built above and dug below their 50m2 claims. Recycling and reusing as construction materials anything from beer cans to train carriages, these "camps" can be viewed as an outdoor sculpture museum such as Gaudí might have designed if suffering from sunstroke and catastrophic budget cuts. Several of the most elaborate follies, conceived and erected before the imposition of any building regulations, can be visited on guided tours where you can also learn about their eccentric creators and possibly even meet them.

Tours
With Outback Opal Tours you can enter the labyrinthine tunnels under Amigo's Castle and maybe even spot him hauling rubble out of his latest extension in a wheelbarrow. With Black Opal Tours visit the Astronomers' Monument, a concrete wedding-cake edifice dedicated to the great gazer Galileo. The owner/builder saw a strong analogy between the persecution of 16th century philosopher Giordano Bruno by the Catholic Church and his own prosecution by the NSW Police. At the Black Queen Experience you can sit inside a strangely comfortable bottle-and-concrete bungalow and hear the story of the remarkable woman who built it, told by the current owner, who is no average Jane herself. The extensive collection of oil lamps and her tales of their provenance from bordellos and palaces are worth the $25 admission alone. Next door is the gnome-studded Ridge Castle in mock 13th-century style, regrettably not open to visitors.
Outback Opal Tours (02 6829 4110 www.outbackopaltours.com.au).
Black Opal Tours (02 6829 0368 www.blackopaltours.com.au).
Black Queen Experience (02 6829 0980 blackqueen.com.au).

Chambers of the Black Hand
For a dose of interior decoration run wild as a bamboo root system, nothing could beat the Chambers of the Black Hand. This old opal mine includes an educational tour that makes you think about the hardships endured by early prospectors tunneling away with handpicks in the dark. But the main attraction consists of a dozen rooms of chiseled and painted rock face that have turned this mine into an underground museum housing a naïve artist's recreation of the history of world sculpture. Enter a plausible facsimile of Tutankhamun's tomb and move on a few steps to pay your respects to the gilded Buddha. No masterpiece is safe from appropriation: Ned Kelly is flanked by entombed Chinese warriors, Michelangelo's David, and Rodin's kissing couple. It is a personal monument to what one man can do with plenty of time, space, sun, and no fear of getting his clothes dirty.
Chambers of the Black Hand (02 6829 4730 www.wj.com.au/whatto/blackhand.html).

Where to stay
Local accommodation includes the Lightning Ridge Hotel Motel, two other hotels, and a B&B. Dine at the motel or the Bowlo or the Dig. Unfortunately, none of the rooms has the eccentric character of the camps, but you can sample the nicer side of the prospector's life by driving to the open air Artesian Bore Baths on Pandora St (free, open 24/7). That's where the locals who lacked plumbing always went, and it still flourishes as a watering hole for tourists and old-timers alike.
Lightning Ridge Hotel, Lions Park, Morilla St, Lightning Ridge 2834 (02 6829 0304 www.lightningridgeinfo.com.au).
Dig Inn, 57 Bald Hill, Lightning Ridge 2834 (02 6829 1671).

Getting there
Unless you're flying your Learjet onto the local airstrip, plan for a few days. Fly to Dubbo on Qantas or Regional Express and visit the Western Plains Zoo there before making the four-and-a-half hour drive to the Ridge.

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