Opal Archives - Australia by Red Nomad OZ

Dugouts, Dirt and Dunnies! 3 reasons to visit Andamooka, South Australia

September 10, 2015 Red Nomad OZ Andamooka, Australiana, Opal, Scenic Public Toilets, South Australia, Things to do, Travel

I don’t know if anyone ever struck it rich in the old days – or even the new days – by hitting a seam of opal while sinking a dugout dunny shaft. But if it’s going to happen anywhere, the chances of it happening in Andamooka are better than average. As long as the hole is at least 3 metres[…]

Aussie ABC: O is for Opal!

December 18, 2013 Red Nomad OZ Aussie ABC, Australian Round Up, Coober Pedy, Lightning Ridge, Opal, Outback, Quilpie, Random Adventures, Road Trips, Things to do, Travel, White Cliffs, Yowah

Australian Opal I didn’t understand all the fuss about SiO2.nH2O until 2004. That’s when I first visited Coober Pedy. It’s slap bang in the middle of absolutely freakin’ nowhere in the South Australian Outback. And it’s where I first found a piece of SiO2.nH2O I wanted to take home with me. You might know SiO2.nH2O better as Hydrous Silica. Or[…]

White Cliffs Waterhole, Outback New South Wales

7-and-a-half Minutes in Paradise! White Cliffs, New South Wales

February 10, 2012 Red Nomad OZ Bird watching, National Parks, New South Wales, Opal, Outback, Paroo-Darling National Park, Random Adventures, Things to do, White Cliffs

Think of ‘Australia’ and ‘Paradise’ in the same sentence and I’ll bet you’re thinking tropical. White sandy beaches, palms and and clear blue sea. Colourful fish, corals and lush rainforest. Balmy, moonlit nights and cocktails under the stars. But that splendid vision – while undeniably fabulous – is only one of many versions of utopia in this country of diverse[…]

Fossicking Fields Dunny, White Cliffs, New South Wales

Australia’s Scenic Public Toilets #17 – White Cliffs, New South Wales

September 9, 2011 Red Nomad OZ New South Wales, Opal, Outback, Scenic Public Toilets, White Cliffs

The exacting recreational pursuit of opal fossicking demands much of its devotees. Physical strength, mental fortitude, stamina and courage at the absolute minimum. Oh, and the ability to cross your legs and hold on for grim death when nature calls! So it was a relief (in more ways than one!) to find that the ability to cross ones legs for[…]

Only in OZ #6 – The Flying Combi, Lightning Ridge, NSW

October 27, 2010 Red Nomad OZ Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Opal, Outback, Travel

The combi van is generally accepted as a symbol of surfie/hippie culture, but a decorative, airborne one with the label ‘surfing art’ in the middle of the outback town of Lightning Ridge in north central New South Wales far, far from the ocean SURELY deserves its own classification! I just don’t know what that is. I DO know that Lightning Ridge, world[…]