Retro Rock-It's tripmeter went a little trippy just before lunchtime on Day 3... Damian jacked up the car to check the probe, tightened the nut and cleaned the area. Afterwards, the tripmeter was recalibrated, and worked fine for the rest of the day (spent sightseeing).
The motel that Damian and Angus are staying in is an old tram - the rooms used to actually be old tram carriages that were moved there (in the days before load restrictions on trucks, it would seem)!
After getting some advice, the boys decided they would visit the Walk in Mine...
And of course, found a bit of dirt to drive on!
The old mining lift to bring rocks up to the surface...
Welcome!
Damian in jail...
And Angus in there too!!
Hardhats on ready to descend...
Angus barely made it through the doorway!!
Damian needed to duck a long way!
Down the steps...
Into what used to be an active opal mine...
Lots of miners used contraptions to assist with the digging...
Some of the spaces they chased seams into were crawling height only...
Squeezy!
This was the original mine shaft, dug by hand.
Angus again demonstrating just how much headroom there was down in the mine!!
Watching a movie on the history of Lightning Ridge and opal mining... One in ten people who mine will find an opal at all... one in one hundred will find enough opals to make a living, one in a thousand will strike it rich.
Pretending to mine for opals...
New cordless range - simply cut the cord off and voila!!
Damian getting sore leaning over to watch another movie - no seats at this point.
Back up the stairs.
And on to Amigo's Castle.
Hand made with rocks from the local area...
You really would need to come to hear the amazing story of how it came to be...
Eccentric Italians and their crazy castles!!
The main section on the left was actually lived in at one point...
Photos of the construction process, using 44 gallon drums stacked up and climbing them to hand place the stones...
Make a wish!
Angus climbing more stairs...
View from up above...
Cathy and Nigel aka Mini Mouse and Mickey Mouse...
Angus and Damian striking a pose!
And again!
There were a few esCarpadians at the castle...
Damian thought this looked like a pizza oven!
Inside the walls...
And outside!
There was a mine there - originally this land was a 50m by 50m mining lease - no opals were ever found by Amigo.
And the tower.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and sifting through dashcam footage (and uploading it) ready for the blog posted earlier...
On the way to dinner, the boys passed an old shack with a statue outside...
Of course, why wouldn't you selfie with a statue?
Cheers... dinner time!!
Damian with Jason and Tim from LUGG (the luggage truck) patiently waiting for dinner... It was an interesting method they had - after an hour and 45 mins, they finally had their meals!! Apparently they just kept adding everyone's orders to the top of the order pile, so those who ordered first were given their dinner last!!
An early night is in order, with another long day coming up on Thursday...
Hope everyone has enjoyed the blog posts so far, and remember to check out the video highlights!
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