2016 05 23 MONDAY Nyngan

We shopped at Kahn's IGA in Nyngan and when we were all ready we headed North for Macquarie Marches. There were sections of dirt which would be impassable after rain. We stopped by a creek that was full of clear water, unusual for out here, we had smoko and then drove on with a slight tail wind. We were not quite sure what to expect, we hoped for the best but people's comments were varied so we were prepared to be flexible.

There is a spot called "Willie Retreat" - it is the only place you can stay near the marshes. We drove to a "Viewing Platform" - yes we could see empty channels where water used to flow, we passed areas where old gum trees were dead in their tracks, no water here. The Macquarie River is just a drain, with a thin film of brown water staining the bottom.

Well you can camp at Willie Retreat, but you can't get to the marshes from there, unless if the river is flooded then it backs up and then you might call it the extended marshes.

As best as we could determine what you have, NO, what you had was a large area where the Macquarie River sort of entered a very flat area. While the river did get from one end to the other, in many places the creek beds don't flow with any end, unless they were fully flooded then the whole area would be inundated for a period. Which is obviously what used to happen.

Well now they have dammed the river and use the water for growing cotton. So the area that used to be inundated extensively, is probably once in 100 years and the lesser marshes only get water when the Government demands that the dam release water - which is who knows how often.

Really it is highly possible the reason one can't enter the marshes anymore is because they basically are so degraded that they are stark evidence of how the cotton industry is trashing the environment, The Greens should spend less time trying to play politics and be in Canberra making deals and get back to the real reason they were formed to scream out loud about the environment - do we hear that. NO.

There is a small town called Carinda - where there is a cotton Gin. We drove through the town. Is this a town that is sharing in the wealth generated by the cotton industry? Well it looks doubtful, one pub and a bunch of occupied but very humble houses. How much of the money from cotton goes to the local; community? The guess is not much even stays in Australia and we are prepared to allow our whole eco system to go down the drain for a few dollars. It would be interesting to get the facts from for a counter argument.

WE camped on the banks of the Castlereagh River South West of Walgett. Water now that was a topic for the day. No water, not a drop. Why? Well maybe it just had not rained in the right area. We had a campfire, sat under the stars and tried to not think about a day which had been down right depressing.

2016 05 24

We packed up and drove through to Walgett. The town is nice and has a very visible aboriginal population. We had smoko and then headed out to Lightning Ridge.

Here is Maleny in the outback. Maybe more tourist dollars than opal dollars but that is probably an exaggeration. The town is full of quirky character. Mostly places have to recycle junk into their building program or look out of place. We found a spot at the caravan park, did our washing and then went out to explore the town. They have four old car door self-drive tours. So you follow the old green car doors with numbers on them and read the commentary or the red car door, or blue car door and so forth. It really fits the tone of the town. Many of the roads in the town are just washed out dirt tracks and many signs warn of death or worse for anyone who crosses a line that can't be seen. Everywhere a mounds of white gravel where a shaft has been put down. The town sprawls over the low ridge the extent masked by the rough terrain and bush which is surprisingly dense for such a low rainfall area.

We look for birds late in the day but they have left early so we see only a couple of plovers beachcombing the side of a shallow pool.

Lightning Ridge. Yes it has been touched by the tourism bug but it is worth a visit. There is a basic current of activity that weaves a certain ambiguous romance about the vision of the find of a lifetime - a large black opal.

2016 05 25 WEDNESDAY

It's cold in the morning, probably not freezing, still chilly. We are up early and ready to go on our tour with Peter. We are bus load of oldies and he is definitely a man with lots of opinions and he seems to have a flavour to him which maybe has a dusting of opal dust. Well apparently Black Opal is only found at Lightning Ridge and it is the best most expensive opal in the world and lightning Ridge punches way above its weight in just about everything including its certified Olympic swimming pool, funded totally by the community and opened by Dawn Frazer.

It might sound like the tour is being bagged, but no, the tour has a certain unconscious sincerity. The tour unfolds what seems to be some of the local attitudes as they seep out of Peter and the old miner we visit up on Lunatic Hill.

At the end of the tour we go to one of the many opal shops in the town and Justine shows us how she processes a piece of opal from the rough stage through to a polish to bring out the colour.

The opal is pretty and pretty damned expensive to go with it. When you see the mullock heaps that dot the landscape and the old rusted out agitators used to wash the opal out of the clay layer it is found in much of the expense is just running costs. The dig a lot of holes and really some of the bits of opal that are being sold are tiny. An opal which looked really nice was oval and about 20mm x 12mm and maybe 4mm thick was on sale for $5,500 - yes very nice blue.

We had lunch and did the yellow car door tour and then went to the free spa for a soak. Sue then went bird shooting and Mal read a book. We left the Ridge about 3.30pm and drove on a very dusty but not rough road to Collarenebri where we camped not far from the river.

The council has put in a very nice free camp with hot showers and toilets. It is probably the best free camp I can recall.

Spoke with Tim Holcombe on the phone and caught up with the news from home. It was good to hear that all are well.