Road Trip 2022: Day 11 - Lightning Ridge

So today we decided to head out to the Grawin Opal fields and Glengarry to the "Pubs in the Scrub"

This is the "Orange Door" tour and is the biggest trekk of all the tours.

After heading out onto the Castlereagh Highway we headed down to the massive emu sculpture just out of town

You need to look closely to see how they have made this. There is nothing they don't use around here.

Now anyone that really knows me, will recognise my navigation skills. I pride myself in being a better navigator than Georgie. Mind you that would not be hard as he gets lost on the way to the bathroom. Well we are happy travelling south along the highway when I look at the map and realise that we were not suppose to be heading south after the emu sculpture but turn right and head west. Well you can image the groans and eyerolls I received from the driver when I told him to turn around as we were heading in the wrong direction.

After a snappy u-turn we headed north and found the turn off. We travelled about 20klms along this road when I again decided that we were going the wrong way and needed to go back. This time the eyeroll turned into a lengthy stare that could chill one to the bone and the words "are you sure". Yes Yes I was sure. Back to highway and up to the emu sculpture again. Now even I am getting despondent with my navigation skills and decided it was the wind and dust that were causing my GPS to go haywire. After a pause in the driving and a scramble into the back seat for the maps the tourist information centre had given us alas we had been on the right road travelling west!! I thought this was great news but George had other ideas and after a screeching of the tyres and another snappy uturn we were off back down the same road, this time for 45klms before we turned right and headed north again for another 13klms and bingo we found the "orange doors". What a bloody relief my navigation skills were back.

So our first stop was the "Club in the Scrub" where George downed his first beer in a minute flat and he was again talking to me not growling at me.

The Club in Scrub is a registered sports club which was built by opal miners over several years. There is even a Golf Course.

Footnote at this point - we had left Lightning Ridge with about 260klms of petrol in the tank and a heated discussion not to worry about filling up we were not going far. So lucky for us (or me should I say) a petrol station at the Club in the Scub was a relief.

By the time we reached the Orange door tour, it was well after lunch time so our next stop was the Glengarry Hilton were we had the best hamburger ever and lovely cold drink.

After being fed and watered we then travelled onto the third "Pub in the Scrub" down the Dog and Duck Road (just love the names of the roads out here), the "Sheepyard Inn". Now this was an interesting stop and not so much for the pub but what lay around the pub. If you need a spare for an old Dodge or Holden this is the place for you. George was amazed at how inventive these miners are. They glue one bit to another bit to make anything they can use to wash or gather the gravel looking for opals. Everywhere you look there are remnants of opal miner's lifestyle.