Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Canberra

Accommodation

We travelled south from Sydney and arrived at the Canberra Park caravan park to join up with another 10 caravans to begin Tagalong24.

We visited Canberra in 2022 and visited most of the major attractions and totally enjoyed them all, but this time we caught up with some of the attractions we missed out on last time.

Tour of Old Parliament House

Taking a 1 hour guided tour is a great way to begin your journey around this historical building. It’s a free tour and we learnt a lot of the historical stuff which then set us up to complete the trip through the rest of the Old Parliament House.

You’re met by a magnificent statue King George the 5th as you enter, who opened the 1st Federal Parliament in Melbourne in 1901.

We got some funny photos too, especially when Merrisa & Anne met John Howard in his office.

ANZAC Day Dawn Service and RSL March

The Tagalong group headed out at 3:30am on an extremely cold (0.5 deg) morning to catch the bus into the Australian War Memorial for the dawn service. There were about 30,000 people there and we didn’t get to see very much that was going on. The ceremony was still pretty amazing with four current members of the Australian Military Forces reading letters from soldiers from the various war’s that Australia was involved in. A very touching and sad story about the evils of war and the mate-ship that these letter writers all experienced.

These are my photos of the dawn service…

These are photos I downloaded from the RSL and news websites, which show a much clearer picture of the dawn service…

Cruise on Lake Burley Griffin

There’s a little electric boat called Griffin, that is captained by Captain Jim, which runs twice a day on Lake Burley Griffin. The Lake Burley Griffin cruise is a great way to check out Canberra from the water and Captain Jim has a vast knowledge of Canberra and his anecdotes make it a really enjoyable trip.

The boat leaves from the small dock out the back of the High Court and is located at Queen Elizabeth Terrace, Parkes ACT

Views from Mt Ainslie Lookout

The best way to see Canberra from “on high” is definitely Mount Ainslie. Located at 20 Mount Ainslie Dr, ACT it’s an easy drive from the city centre. I would have loved to get there to check out a sunset but never did – maybe next time!

Japanese & Chinese installations in Lennox Gardens

Lennox Gardens is home to two landscaped gifts from Japan and China; each celebrating the sister city links between Canberra, Beijing and Japan’s ancient capital, Nara.

The Beijing Garden is designed in the imperial Chinese garden style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912); a style symbolic of luxury and refinement. It features a traditional Chinese welcome gate, paths that meander past Chinese stone sculptures and a Chinese pavilion offering a place for quiet retreat to enjoy the garden’s serenity.

Canberra Nara Peace Park is the home of the annual Canberra Nara Candle Festival held in October. It features a small Japanese themed garden, traditional wooden gate and gazebo, and a number of iconic cherry blossom trees. A distinctive feature of the park is its “borrowed landscape” or the extension of the park’s boundaries to encompass landmarks such as Lake Burley Griffin, Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie and Lotus Bay.

It’s a pleasant walk around these gardens taking in some of the great art installations. We also did have a bit of fun clowning around behind some of the installations.

Canberra’s Botanic Gardens

The last place we visited were Canberra’s Botanic Gardens. The Pollen Cafe was a great place to begin, with a really yummy lunch. It was then onto the free guided tour of the gardens with our volunteer guide, Andrew. The tour mainly took in the Banksia section and lasted 1 hour.

Happy Hour fun!

The Tagalong group gathered every afternoon at 4:30pm in the caravan park’s camp kitchen. We had fun time playing Jenga on one of them (read more on WikiPedia about Jenga).

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Camden

Accommodation

Leaving Canberra we travelled a very short distance to Camden, checking into the Poplar Tourist Park for 3 nights (maplink). It was a pretty basic caravan park with amenities in desperate need of destruction and total rebuild, but as always, our Tagalong group made themselves at home. We had a great grassy area at the back of some of our vans which let us spread out for our happy hours.

Burragorang Lookout for lunch

A group of Tagalonger’s headed out to the Burragorang Lookout, which has a fantastic viewing area over the immense Lake Burragorang, which is a major water supply source for Sydney.

It was a great spot for lunch with a view.

Warragamba Dam

After lunch at the lookout we drove another 30kms to check out the famous Warragamba Dam.

Warragamba Dam is Sydney’s largest water supply dam. The dam is made of concrete and took 12 years to build from 1948 to 1960. Lake Burragorang, which is formed behind the dam, holds about four times more water than Sydney Harbour. It accounts for about 80 percent of the available water supply for the Sydney region. It is the largest concrete dam in Australia and one of the largest domestic water supply dams in the world.

The dam was devised as part of a collective engineering response to Sydney’s critical water shortage during World War II and was originally known as the Warragamba Emergency Scheme. It created capacity for a reservoir of 2,031 gigalitres and is fed by a catchment area of 9,051 square kilometres. The surface area of the lake covers 75 square kilometres of the now-flooded Burragorang Valley.

The visitors centre runs a series of videos about the building of the dam, it’s effects on the environment and how water is channeled down to Sydney.

Happy Hour and a very competitive Finska comp

Another happy hour and another game to play. It all starts off with laughs and giggles and then begins to become fairly competitive. This game is called Finska which is an ancient wood-chucking game whose origins can be traced back to the ancient game of Kykka which hails from the birchwood forests of Finland. The aim of the game is to knock over a set of 12 pins and arrive at a total of 50 points which is the winning score (a lot harder than you think!). Winners were Jock & Fran.

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Blackheath

Accommodation

It was a rather short and quick 98kms from Camden to Blackheath (Blue Mountains) for a 4 night stay at the Blackheath Glen Tourist Park located at 69 Prince Edward Street Blackheath.

This caravan park has a fantastic camp kitchen for our group’s daily happy hour. We also welcomed Michael & Joan Bailey here to expand the Tagalong to 12 caravans.

Scenic World Toowoomba

Scenic World is such an amazing way to experience the beauty of the iconic Blue Mountains.

A group of our Tagalonger’s got together and purchased a day pass, which gives you unlimited access to the 3 main thrill seeker rides on the Skyrail, Scenic Railway and Scenic Cableway, as well as access to some fantastic walking paths.

Skyrail

We began with a return trip on the Skyway, which is a 720 metre journey suspended 270 metres above the valley floor. It provides the best views of Katoomba Falls, the Three Sisters, Mt Solitary and Jamison Valley.

Scenic Railway

It was then down over the escarpment on the famous Scenic Railway, which travels an unforgettable 310 metre route through a cliff tunnel before emerging on the floor of the Jamison Valley. The original railway was built in the late 19th century to serve the Katoomba coal mine. Acquired by the Hammon family in 1945, it has operated for tourists for over 70 years thrilling 25 million passengers.

The travels down an unforgettable 52° (128%), 310 metre incline through a cliff tunnel before emerging on the floor of the Jamison Valley.

Passengers can choose their level of adventure, adjusting their seated position up to 20 degrees – CLIFFHANGER at a steep 64° incline; LAIDBACK for a more relaxed journey; or for loyal fans, ORIGINAL at 52°. We all chose the Cliffhanger – living on the edge 😂!

Scenic Cableway

After alighting from the Scenic Railway we took a stroll through the forest to the Scenic Cableway, a Gondola ride back up to the central building of Scenic World. We had some fun along the way too.

Opened in 2000, the current Swiss-made cabin was launched in 2018. Built by world leading rope-way engineering company, Doppelmayr Garaventa, it features improved accessibility with capacity for 84 passengers. It is the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere.

Everglades House & Gardens

Everglades is a stunning Art Deco home set amongst 5.2 hectares of graceful, world-renowned gardens in Leura. Owned by the National Trust, and Heritage Listed, the property is open daily with it’s beautiful garden and spectacular views of the Jamison Valley.

The house

The art deco house, designed by Danish landscape designer and horticulturalist, Paul Sorenson, is truly impressive. We were amazed at the quality of the building and loved things such as the sauna for one, the staircase and views over the gardens and the blue mountains escarpments.

The gardens

The current landscape was developed in 1934, when owner Belgian-born businessman, Henri Van de Velde, hired Paul Sorensen, Australia’s ‘Master Gardener’, to design a garden on five hectares of steeply sloping orchard in Leura. Sorensen is also believed to have influenced the architectural design of the Art Deco house.

The result of four years of tireless work is Australia’s most spectacular inter-war period garden intertwining European Romanticism, 1930s Modernism and the wild magic of the native Australian bushland.

They even built a swimming pond on the escarpment which is known as “The Grotto”.

The Hydro Majestic & Pavilion

Founded by Mark Foy in 1901, the Hydro Majestic was Australia’s pioneering health retreat, featuring cutting-edge facilities like its own electricity supply before Sydney. Opening in 1904, it quickly became a haven for celebrities, including Dame Nellie Melba and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The historic hotel stretches for 1.1 kilometres along the escarpment edge of the Blue Mountains, in Blackheath, overlooking the picturesque Megalong Valley.

After many decades of decline and neglect the Hydro Majestic underwent a series of refurbishments during the 1990s.

The Pavilion

We began our visit in the adjoining Hydro Pavilion with morning coffees and cakes. It was then a stroll through the shop before we “snuck into” the actual Hydro Majestic building itself.

The Hydro Majestic

We visited this glorious old building in the early 1980s and it is certainly now a lot different some 40 years later. Back then the floors of the buildings long corridor, on the western side, basically followed the contours of the mountain side, and you went up and down like a roller coaster. Today they have all been straightened out but still creak and groan as you walk along.

It is now back to it’s glorious and glamorous self.

The Black Cockatoos

While we were out on the Hydro Majestic’s rear terrace we spotted some absolutely beautiful Yellow-tailed black cockatoos in the gum trees. Not only are they very noisy but a bit difficult to photograph, so I got pretty lucky!

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Bathurst

Accommodation

Leaving Blackheath we travelled westward to Bathurst, pulling into the NRMA Bathurst Panorama Holiday Park. It’s a nice park, about 5kms out of town. The weather was abysmal with non-stop rain beginning after we’d parked and set-up the van (probably a good thing – I didn’t get wet!)

The weather report and BOM radar did not show much of an improvement as the day progresses…

This is a really nice caravan park with great modern amenities and grounds. It has a large camp kitchen/games room and even a mini golf course as well as a pool (closed atm).

Tripping around Mt Panorama Race Circuit

Last year when we we here we took a drive around the famous Mount Panorama racing circuit and took the caravan around on our way out of town.

This time we repeated the lap and this time it was with our Bailey mates Graeme & Lyn. It was great fun.

Here’s a couple of videos of our lap…

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Parkes

Accommodation

What appeared to be a nice caravan park to stay in, turned out to be one of those “won’t be back here” ones. Practically every site our Tagalong group was allocated at Spicer Caravan Park was so far from being level that you just couldn’t get a level caravan. One of our group even slept at the other end of their bed so their head was up the higher end.

The only thing that we liked about the park was the fantastic fire pit in the camp kitchen, otherwise we’d be looking for another park next time we visit parks. We’ve stayed in far better showground camps that were less than half the $45pn we paid for here.

Around town

Parkes is a nice, very tidy town. The artworks around the town are pretty good too. Every year they host the Elvis Festival, which is held every year in the second week in January, coinciding with Elvis Presley’s birthday. The 2024 Parkes Elvis Festival was held from 10-14 January and was the 32nd year it was held. Recognised as one of the top three Festivals and Events in Australia, the Festival attracts over 24,000 fans, both nationally and internationally, having a global reach of more than 422 million with exposure in the United States, the United Kingdom and Asia.

Memorial Hill Lookout

The Memorial Hill lookout provides the best vantage point for magnificent views over Parkes and the surrounding farmlands. It is the most visible landmark in town, with its 33-metre high Shrine of Remembrance towering high over Parkes. The hill offers the opportunity for a leisurely bush walk around the monument surrounds, or a picnic in Rotary Park on the northern side of the hill.

Parkes Radio Telescope

Leaving Parkes and heading north towards Dubbo took us past the famous Parkes Observatory (AKA “The Dish”), so we just had to pull in to check it out (even though we’d been here multiple times before).

The Parkes Radio Telescope is famous for being the primary television connection between the 1969 Apollo moon landing and planet earth.

The girls also had some fun with the “whispering dish”

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Dubbo

Getting there

We stopped off on our trip from Parkes to Dubbo at the small town of Peake Hill for a coffee at 86 Cino, a small Café, run by a lady who could be anyone’s “nanna”. She was lovely and kept us all seated as she told us her life story – pretty amazing.

We then checked out the famous Peak Hill Mine site before moving onto Dubbo.

Accommodation

Following recommendations from other travellers, the NRMA Dubbo City Holiday Park was chosen for this stop and it wasn’t a bad choice at all. It’s located at 18 Alfred Street in Dubbo and is close to the centre of town.

Happy Hour fun

Our games coordinator, Rich, had more fun planned on our 1st night’s happy hour. Partners had to use a drinking straw to pick-up smarties (by sucking the straw to pick them up) and drop them into a bowl. The team who transfers the largest number of smarties wins. Lots of laughter (by the audience) proved that this was yet another hit!

We had also organised a pizza night, ordering about 17 pizzas from Spartans Pizzas for everyone which was also a total success. We did this on last year’s Tagalong and it has proven a great concept – just have to make sure ALL pizza’s have names on the boxes, which we did this year.

Dubbo Zoo

One of the main reason’s for choosing Dubbo as a location was the major attraction of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo (AKA Dubbo Zoo). Most Tagalonger’s visited the zoo and took about 3-5 hours. The zoo is now widely recognised as Australia’s greatest open plain zoo. The Zoo is an open-range design, with walls and fences replaced by concealed moats which divide the animals from the visitors. Dubbo’s Zoo is home to over 700 animals including exotic and endangered species such as Black Rhinoceros, Sumatran Tigers, Elephants and Giraffe which roam wide open spaces across 300 hectares of bushland.

We took our car and drove to a location indicated on the zoo map, parked and then walked to the exhibits before driving onto the next location. Below are some of the exhibits we visited (in no particular order)…

Meerkats

Meerkats are one of my favourite zoo animals greet you on entry and also provide plenty of entertainment at the “Waterhole“, while you have your lunch.

Giraffes, African Wild Dogs and Elands

The Giraffes were so majestic and there are quite a few to check out, the African Wild Dogs were having a siesta and the Elands were just chilling out.

Hippos and Rhinos

There were a couple of Pygmy Hippopotamus to view and one of them was actually having a check up and receiving some meds from the keeper while we were there.

There are two types of Rhinos at the zoo – White Rhinoceros (near threatened) and Black Rhinoceros (Critically Endangered).

Big Cats – Cheetah & Lions

There was a solitary Cheetah sitting out in the sun grooming herself. A truly majestic and beautiful animal.

The Lion attraction has a fantastic entry with a Lion and African tribesman created using chicken wire. The enclosure is so large that it was rally difficult trying to locate them, finally catching a glimpse using my camera’s 300mm zoom lens.

Elephants

The elephants featured at the zoo are Asian Elephants. It was feeding time just as we arrived. This was also a very large enclosure but it was easy to spot them. There were also some beautiful & colourful Red-rumped parrots there too,

Gibbons

Walking toward the White Handed Gibbons enclosure was absolutely stunning, as there was no wind and the building they live in was perfectly reflected in the pond.

The two Gibbons, Jantan & Bacan, travel along a wire rope to a little island where we watched them being fed. These are really cool animals!

The Watering Hole for lunch

Our lunch break at the the “Waterhole Café” was great. The food was really good and reasonably priced. It’s location is about half way through the zoo, so makes a great spot to have a rest, put up your feet and check out the magnificent Barbary Sheep while you eat your lunch.

Wellington Caves

The Wellington Caves are located approximately 60kms south of Dubbo and really worth the trip. The caves are located in an outcrop of Early Devonian limestone, which is about 400 million years old. That limestone is part of the Garra Formation.

We took the “double tour” of the Gaden & Cathedral Caves and glad we did as it was absolutely worth visiting both. They are both spectacular in completely different ways. Learned a lot from our fabulous guide. Lovely and cool in the caves, no need for a jumper. Cafe food was delicious, good coffee, reasonably priced.

Please note: the only way to see our spectacular caves is by guided tour and Enclosed non-slip footwear must be worn for all tours.

Arrival with greeting from ancient monsters and what about the goats!

Arriving at the Wellington Caves Centre we were greeted by a giant prehistoric wombat – Diprotodon optatum.Then we were off on our 1st tour of the Gaden Cave and on the way we came across hundreds of goats munching on the weeds along the pathway. Our guide told us that they had been “hired” to clean up the area and within a week they had just about finished the 1st couple of acres – WOW!

Further up the path we met a replica of Megalania Prisca which was the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed and was named by Richard Owen in 1859. Megalania was up to 5 metres long and would have been a top predator eating large mammals, other reptiles and birds.

Gaden Cave

From their website – The smallest of the caves, Gaden displays a showcase of dazzling formations of stalagmites, stalactites and unique coral-like formations. The complexity within this chamber results in a diverse display of crystal formations to wonder and amaze. A word of warning though this amazing cave can be impacted by the external environment so please plan ahead and ensure the Gaden cave is open.

Cathedral Cave

Our second underground experience in the Cathedral Cave was a lot more stunning than the Gaden Cave. The stand out sight of course being the 15m high ‘Altar’ stalagmite which included the crystallized bible.

From their website – Formed over millions of years, this limestone cave showcases an inspiring limestone and crystal formation reaching a staggering 15 metres in height. As you wonder at its extraordinary features you will also see hints of marine life from 400 million years ago. Here you may even catch a glimpse of a dig where today’s paleontologists are searching for ancient answers.

TIP: The Osawano Japanese Gardens also located next to the caves centre but, sadly, we had run out of time and did not visit them. We discovered later that it was something we really should have done – so don’t make the same mistake we did and pay them a visit – it’s free.

Shoyoen Japanese Gardens

The gardens are located in the Dubbo Regional Botanic Gardens and are truly beautiful. Totally worth the visit and it’s free to enter! The address is 851 Coronation Drive Dubbo.

‘Shoyoen’ means ‘strolling and refreshing garden’. Shoyoen is recognised as being one of the most authentic Japanese Gardens in Australia. It was gifted to Dubbo by their Sister City Minokamo, Japan.

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Coonamble

Accommodation

The Coonamble Riverside Caravan Park was selected for our stay as it was close to town and people could take a leisurely stroll into town to check out whatever Coonamble had to offer. The caravan park is pretty basic but the owners are currently undertaking some improvements, starting with a great new camp kitchen.

Around the town

Nowhere are nicknames thicker on the ground than across Australia’s remote rural regions and we were told that Coonamble is the capital. We took a stroll to see the billboards scattered around the streets and get to know some of their stories.

It’s such a shame that the billboards were now faded and hard to read as the concept is fantastic and it’s still worth a look if you’re ever in town.

Coonamble Water Tower

The 25 metre high Coonamble Water Tower was painted by John Murray and Sooty Welsh and was completed in June 2017, taking 11 days to complete. Background spraying was by Bob Barrett.

It was commissioned by the Coonamble Shire Council and features Australian Pink and Grey Galahs, fence posts to signify the rural aspect of Coonamble, plus the sun, moon and the southern cross. Aboriginal dream-time artwork is also a feature on the water tank, this part was completed by local artist Sooty Welsh.

Visit to the Pilliga Forest National Park

The Pilliga (Forest) National Park is situated between the towns of Coonabarabran and Narrabri and about 72kms from Coonamble.

One of our Tagalong group, Ian, organised a day trip beginning at the Pilliga Discovery Centre in Baradine, then on to the forest itself and its points of interest such as the sculpture walk, lookout tower etc.

Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre

The Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre is both a small museum as well as a tourist information centre. I really liked the time line in the wall which put the entire history of the region in front of you. The Aboriginal culture was very interesting as was the early white inhabitants and there utilisation of the forest. There were lots of stuffed animals as well as some nice activities for kids. There were a number of listening stations with gave you interesting info on various aspects of the Pilliga.

We met and purchased Walter who is our new hand puppet wombat (yet another wombat) .

I soon discovered that Walter is a Carlton supporter and gets really excited when the blues have a win 😂!

Forest Drive and Sculptures walk

The above mentioned “forest drive” is rather underwhelming drive BUT it takes you to the amazing Sculptures in the Scrub walking track, and totally worth the drive (in the end). Its approx 33kms from the Pilliga Forest Discovery Centre.

Sculptures in the Scrub are, as the name suggests, not an entirely natural attraction – it is a set of 5 sculptures created as a collaboration between artists and the Gamilaraay Elders – the indigenous custodians of the land. The sculptures have been placed at the top Dandry Gorge overlooking the gorge and the beautiful Pilliga forest. The track is rated a Grade 3 and suggest time is 1.5 to 2.5 hours to make the 3km return
(link to the NSW National Parks map).

WE were disappointed to find the other nearby attraction, the Sandstone Caves walking track, was closed due to damage caused by recent heavy rains and flooding. Looks like we may have to return in the future as they look amazing on TripAdvisor.

Salt Caves & Fire Tower Lookout views

According to legend, the Salt Caves were once 30 metres deep, and salt hung in columns like stalactites from the roof. Animals were often seen licking the salt and local Aboriginal and pioneer women collected it to cure their meat.

The lookout tower is used by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to monitor fire conditions. We climbed the tower and were rewarded with a spectacular view over the Pilliga National Park.

Coonamble Show

We were fortunate enough to be in Coonamble in time to experience their annual show. This was a “real” country show with various competitions like kids veggie animals, quilting, kids art, cakes, garden produce etc.

Plenty of food stalls to fill your tummy and joy rides for the kids.

Stunt Riders

There was even a stunt show put on by Eljay Freestyle Entertainment starring Eljay (aka Randy Ryder, Reggie Ryder & Disco Dave). Plenty of thrills and laughs were presented as our star did various stunts on his BMX and stunt motorbike.

Eljay chats up Ethel

One of friends, Jenny, was picked out of the crowd by Eljay, who he proceeded to chat her up. He even gave her a new name, Ethel, which stuck for the rest of our tagalong. It was a real funny experience.

Closing Fireworks display

The closing fireworks were spectacular, being started by a young 12 year old who won a local competition to push down the old fashion dynamite starter box. What a local star!

Link to Tagalong24 Member’s website page for Lightning Ridge

Getting there

It was a fairly easy BUT very bumpy 196km drive up the Castlereagh Highway from Coonamble to Lightning Ridge. The road was so rough that our travelling buddy’s caravan actually left the asphalt one one of the bumps (a bit scary).

Stanley the Emu

Make sure you check out Stanley the Emu, which is about 5kms south of the turnoff to Lightning Ridge. Standing 18metres tall, Stanley is crafted from old VW beetles and satellite dishes atop steel girders, it was designed and built by local artist John Murray. It’s such an iconic piece of art and even has his own Facebook page.

The Gateway

There’s a great gateway which greets travellers as they turn off the Castlereagh Highway toward Lightning Ridge…

One thing for sure is that Lightning Ridge has so much to offer as far as attractions, mine tours, great sunsets. It’s one of those place that you should include on your “must visit” list of fascinating places in Australia.

Accommodation

The BIG4 Opal Caravan Park is located at 142 Pandora Street Lightning Ridge, which is just 2kms out of town, but within walking distance of the famous Lightning Ridge Artesian Bore Baths.

It’s a good caravan park, but its a real challenge getting your pegs into the hard gravel.

There’s a great firepit and lovely grassy area for our happy hours, where we had some fun games. They seem a bit silly but REALLY brings out the competitive nature in some people and provides plenty of laughs from the spectators.

Car Door Tours

A great way to check out some of the quirkiness of Lightning Ridge is to visit the Tourist Information Centre and grab a copy of the Car Door Tours Map.

Here’s some examples of the Car Door Tour signs we saw as we took the respective tours…

Opal Mine Adventure

The Opal Mine Adventure was our 1st opal mine tour as it was a “walk in” mine with great reviews on TripAdvisor. It’s a self guided type of tour where you get to learn about the elusive black opal and how they mine for opal on various videos. It’s also a lot cheaper than some of the other mine tours.

Bevans Black Opal & Cactus Nursery

Located on Stop 7 of the Blue Car Door Tour (view map) , Bevan’s Cactus Nursery is home to the world’s only opal mining cactus farmers. Started in 1966, and now encompassing two passionate generations, Bevan’s host one of the largest cactus nurseries in the southern hemisphere with approximately 2,500 young and aged varieties. Grown from seeds collected from around the world, many plants are now well over 100 years old, with the oldest being nearly 150.

There’s some pretty spectacular plants around this large cactus garden…

Around the Town

It’s not a big town but Lightning Ridge is an “interesting” place to visit. It’s grown due to the opal mining and it’s pretty rustic. There’s a fair bit of street art around the town by the fantastic local artist, John Murray (more below)

John Murray Art Gallery

You cannot visit Lightning Ridge without checking out the John Murray Art Gallery. This man’s art is one of the outback’s favourite painters, here you can view the brilliant landscapes and characters first hand.

The contrasting landscapes of the Australian Outback are portrayed in photo realistic detail with humour and whimsy. Head in and browse the large range of original paintings, prints (canvas, mounted, framed, posters), cards and souvenirs.

The John Murray Art Gallery is located 8 Opal Street Lightning Ridge.

I have included a few images of his art below…

Fantastic Sunset

There’s a spot called Nettleton’s First Shaft Lookout, at at the end of the Green Car Door tour, which is renowned as a perfect sunset location. So, we packed some nibbles, drinks & chairs and off we all went to check it out. The views looking West over the Coocoran Opal Fields provided the perfect photos and certainly justified the dusty track you take to get there (maplink).

Chambers of the Black Hand tour

The story behind the creation of this outstanding mine’s gallery is really amazing. Ron Canlin is the mastermind and extraordinary artist behind each and every carving in the Chambers of the Black Hand. The Chambers were originally dug to search for opal, but with years of digging and no luck on the opal front, Ron discovered that the walls were perfect for intricate carvings.

He used nothing but a blunt butter knife to carve every single piece of art that is on the walls today, and opened the Chambers to the public in 1997. What’s left of that very butter knife is even on display in the Chambers.

The endless walls of insanely detailed carvings must be seen to be truly believed. There’s over 900 individual sculptures making up the Chambers of the Black Hand, each one carved by hand, by Ron Canlin. They are grouped into the ‘Chambers’ – 26 different chambers each with a unique theme. From Egypt to Australiana, Under the Sea, ‘Fantasy’ and Famous Faces, you will find something that sparks your personal interest.

Located about 4kms from Lightning Ridge and is stop #5 on the Yellow Car Door Tour. They have 2 tours – Chambers & Opal mine and cost $48 each or package deal of $85 (as at May 2024). Book via their website.

Yellow Door Tour

Following our Chambers of the Black Hand tour, we headed further out along the Yellow Car Door tour to check out some of the sights. One of the 1st places we came across is the massive development for the new Australian Opal Centre being built over a huge area, but most of it will be underground based on an environmental sensitive concept.

Further along the route we came across air vents sticking out of the earth, assuming they provide air to the mine shafts and tunnels below. It makes you wonder how safe it is driving over what could be people digging away in a tunnel beneath you 😟!

There were also places where old and abandoned rusty cars and machinery which must have been left behind after someone either leaving rich or poor following the search for the elusive black opal.

Red Car Door Tour

These car door tours are really a great way to check out the areas surrounding Lightning Ridge. There’s so many stories to discover. The Ridge Castle was an unusual home from stone & flagons.

My visit to the Black Queen Bottle House (see below) meant that Amigo’s Castle was closed by the time I got there, which was so disappointing, as I really wanted to check it out (took some photos over the fence). There’s an interesting story about Vittorio Stefanato (Amigo) who built this amazing home. I read that Vittorio Stefanato was sentenced in 2023 for murdering Christine Neilan at Lightning Ridge in 2020

Black Queen Bottle House

Travelling along the Red Car Door tour I pulled up at the extraordinary Black Queen and was met by Gale Collins, the passionate owner of this establishment. Paying $10 for a guided tour of the house by Gale was totally worth it. I’s located about 2kms from town (maplink).

The house was built with 14,000 coloured bottles by local woman Joan Andrews, who, while in her 60s and recovering from breast cancer, fashioned it by hand. Joan Andrews was inducted into the Pioneer Woman’s Hall of Fame on her 88th birthday.

As the open of the bottles point toward the outside you can actually see frogs taking up residence in some of them. When Joan Andrews buried her dog in the backyard she built a large round bottle memorial to it, something that her late husband didn’t get when he died (a rather funny fact).

3 Pubs in the Scrub

It may be a 70km trip (one way) west of Lightning Ridge to check out the Three Pubs in the Scrub but it was really worth it. They are remote, ramshackle and probably home to a snake or two. The beer comes in cans, the schnitzel comes in portions the size of your head and everything else comes with a tall tale attached.

We visited the Glengarry Hilton, Grawin Club in the Scrub and Sheepyard Inn and all had their own version of outback quirkiness.

Last minute Artesian Hot Springs swim

On our last night, after packing up our campsite, some of the boys headed off to the famous Lightning Ridge Artesian Hot Springs for a dip.

The water comes from the Great Artesian Basin and is approximately two million years old! Natural pressure sends the water to the surface through an artesian bore and it maintains a temperature of between 40 to 50 degrees Celsius.

IT’S OVER!

Well, Lightning Ridge saw the end of this year’s Tagalong24. I hope that all of the “Tagalongers” had a great time and have great memories of what (we’d like to think) was another successful Tagalong. Looking forward to the next one!

Neil & Merrisa Alexander

BUT… there is a bit more. As the Tagalongers all headed off toward further adventures, we took the long way home to Melbourne. There’s one more post covering this trip too.