(3) The Town of Lightning Ridge / Night in the Town
In between shopping, I explored the town a bit.
Black Opal Town, Lightning Ridge.
The main street of the town is of course "OPAL ST."
Lightning Ridge is a very small town, but it is said to be wealthy because of its abundant resources of black opals.
In the morning at the motel, we were greeted by pink parakeets.
I had always wondered about a drawer with a lock and number, like a safe deposit box, on the exterior wall of the post office in the town of Lightning Ridge.
It's strange because it's installed outdoors, but this is a post.
People living in this town do not have mailboxes at their homes, so all packages are collected at the post office and placed into this box from inside the post office.
Apparently residents go to their post offices and check their own mailboxes.
This is because the town is too small to receive enough mail to hire a courier, and some people live in the mining area and do not have addresses in town.
The town can be walked around in 30 minutes, but everything except for a few restaurants closes after dark.
The town lights were minimal, and within 1km of driving we were already in darkness, with the moonlight being almost dazzling.
At night in Lightning Ridge, the temperature drops below 10 degrees, making it chilly compared to the heat of the day, so miners returning from the mines head to the hot springs on the outskirts of town to relax and soothe their fatigue.
The hot springs at Lightning Ridge are heated geothermally and are about 150cm deep, so the standard procedure is for people to either sit on the steps at the edge and soak in them, or to swim in them like they're in a pool.
It is rich in minerals and has a thick consistency, so it feels like you are jumping into lotion, just like the showers at the motel. It is open 24 hours a day for free and anyone can use it at any time, so it was very crowded on the night of the festival.
The Southern Cross, which can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere. I was even able to capture the Milky Way, albeit faintly, on camera.
The open-air bath with no roof and the star-filled sky are the ultimate luxury reward for your tired body.
