Another great day on the road today as we left Lightning Ridge to head to Brewarrina via Walgett. Before leaving LR we visited the John Murray art gallery & some opal shops. John has adorned a lot of alleyways & businesses in Lightning Ridge with his wacky & very humorous murals. What a talented man!

The black opals which are the most rare & valuable type & give the most intense colour are only found in the LR Opal fields. Unfortunately they come with an eye watering price tag so it was window shopping only.

They are just starting to plant some wheat out here even though the country looks so dry. The paddocks are absolutely huge so it is easy to understand why they get contractors in to harvest. Yesterday we drove through a station that was 92,000 acres. About 10 years ago when they were experiencing drought conditions they had to change from running sheep to wild goats.

We thought it was dry around LR but it is even worse between Walgett & Brewarrina. Such vast, open country. We saw more emus than sheep & cattle today.

Brewarrina is on the Barwon River & when we arrived we met Bradley, our Aboriginal guide, who gave us a tour of the Aboriginal Cultural Museum including the ancient fish traps that still exist in the Barwon. They have been dated at somewhere between 15,000 & 150,000 years old & may be the oldest man made structure still in existence in the world. A very interesting tour but unfortunately as the Barwon is in flood we weren’t able to see much of the traps.

We are staying at a great spot out of town with the river on our doorstep. Perfect place for a campfire. 🔥

The road between Bourke & Louth was closed today but hoping it will be open tomorrow so we can get through to Trilby Station. 🤞🏻

Lots of renovator’s delights out here.