Day three and we headed off to Lightning Ridge, the home of the black opal. Richo likes to travel the back roads, he reckons there's more wild life and scenery to see. This actually was a short cut by about 50 kms but I think it took a lot longer because the road was rutted, corrugated and in a poor state of repair as a result of recent rains. We did see emus, kangaroos, red and grey varieties, wild goats and plenty of dead wild pigs. The following 2 photos depict the view from the car park of the Lightning Ridge Bore, Emus happily grazing oblivious to the Armada of motor homes and vehicles entering and exiting the car park. The facilities are new and clean with hot tiled inside showers and pool side cold showers. There is a baby pool, covered seating and picnic tables. There is no camping here but the caravan parks are close and reportedly modern, clean and first class. We didn't stay here though. We had a swim, there are plenty of good stable entry steps to the pool and you can walk around easily in the water. They are the largest so far and you could swim easily EXCEPT they are so hot. The water ranges from 41.5-46 degrees celsius. You cannot stay in for very long and the cold wind is welcome when you get out. After about an hour of immersion we both had a headache my ankle had swollen to a shiny purple skin taut football shape and I felt sick. Another bather said"are these baths supposed to make you feel good?" He was told "yes!" To which he replied "I feel bloody crook! Look at me I'm half cooked like a bloody lobster !" It was quite funny but he had a red tide mark on his body from chest height down where he had been in the hot water. He looked terrible and said he was going to have a lie down. We soaked my near splitting ankle in cold water until the swelling subsided and it was a blotchy colour of white and red and headed into town.
We went to our favorite crazy shop that carries everything you could imagine from quality camping, hardware, cookware, clothing, beauty products, craft etc etc etc all at prices cheaper than eBay. We bought a hose reel and stainless steel bucket (because Richo took the camp bucket out to wash the car and forgot to put it back !!) have I mentioned the Doona Yet??? The aisles are so paked and crowded it was a feat negotiating the shop on my knee scooter. Then off to the new IGA where we had a complimentary cup of coffee and replenished our bread and meat supplies. Of all the places I bought 2x2kg jars or Maraschino Cherries, I have been looking for these for months and was on the verge of buying them online from overseas, yet, here they were, in this tiny town in outback Australia, so expect to see them in some cocktail and dessert recipes in the future on our YouTube channel.
We considered having another swim and went back to the baths just on dark and it was full, there must have been 80-100 people in there, not in the water, too hot for that, just sitting around the edge in the steam. I didn't think my ankle could stand another dip so we headed off towards Walgett. In the few kilometers leaving town there were at least 100 kangaroos, great mobs of them grazing at the roadside or crossing the road. They are unpredictable and big and fast, just this morning we clocked one doing 60kms an hour alongside the road inside a fence. You don't want to hit one in your car, it would be disastrous for the 'Roo and the van!
So we made camp along the way and were blessed with a visit from some idiots who did a burn out around us before fish tailing off down the road. Just goes to show there are morons everywhere!
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