May 19th, After
getting some relief from soaking in the Artesian Pool, I have been down there
yesterday and again today, but both days I felt a bit dizzy when I got out of
the pool and had to rest on the side while I recovered. Although I don’t have a
blood pressure problem, Val decided to check my blood pressure and it was low
but on a second reading 30 minutes later it was OK. Val thought that it could
be related to the high heat of the Artesian Pool and staying in too long.
May 20th, I drove the 75klms down to Walgett, to
keep my 11.30am Dental appointment at the Aboriginal Services Centre. After an
x-ray of the offending tooth showed a deep cavity in the side of one of my
upper back tooth, my options were “root canal” or removal. I went immediately
with removal. Of course, with the size of the cavity, the tooth broke into
pieces and had to be removed a chunk at a time. Although a lengthy difficult extraction,
my Dentist did a marvelous job getting the entire broken tooth out. It was
absolutely painless. When I got back home, Val gave me a bowl of tomato soup
and I went off to bed and slept off the anesthetic.
May 21st, Val went down to the Pool, in our Park,
to test out the solar heated temperature and do her noodle exercising. She wasn’t
all that happy as the temperature wasn’t as warm as the artesian pool at Moree.
Willie and Jo came to entertain us again (they really are a class act, very
entertaining and enjoyable to listen to) and after the show, we sat around the
fire with a group from the Park and enjoyed good company with a few wines.
May 25th, I went down to the Sunday Markets, at
the Information Centre, and bought a few more westerns. We have a new
singer/songwriter (Steve Case), staying in the Park, that has been doing his
show every afternoon that Willie and Jo are not on.
May 27th, We went into Town and had a look at
some of the interesting shops. We started with “Mr. Cheap”, which is part of True-Value
Hardware, and stocks a huge variety of goods. Next we went into the “John Murray
Art Gallery” and were absolutely gob-smacked at his work. Brilliant vibrant
earthy colours of, mostly, charactertures of animals in Lightening Ridge scenes.
No photographing was allowed inside the Gallery, so I could only get a photo of
the front wall. Next door was the Newsagency, which also doubles as a furniture
store. Our last stop was the Opal Cave, which has a huge display of Opals and
Opal Jewellery. The colours in the solid “Black Opals” are brilliant and very
expensive. As you would expect, there are a lot of Opal selling and buying
places in Town.
May 28th, Willie and Jo entertained us this afternoon,
then after a quick dinner, we gathered in front of a big TV screen, at the back
of the BBQ area, to watch the NRL “State of Origin” game, this 1st
match being played in Brisbane. A very tough encounter, but with a great NSW
WIN! Yea! Next game is in Sydney, we can’t wait for that.
May 29th, Willie and Jo invited us to their place
for afternoon tea and to have a look around their camp. They live just out of
Town on two opal mining sites. All opal claims are 50 X 50 metres square. They started
with a small “Miners shack” 37 years ago and have gradually expanded their living and outside pergola areas, to
make life more comfortable for themselves. It was interesting to see the way they
live, typical of miner dwellings in this region, but on a grander scale. Noboby
living in this area throws anything away, as it will come in handy one day. As
an example, Willie was given an old unwanted corrugated water tank from someone he worked for years
ago, so he bought it home, laid a concrete floor inside, put in a door and
turned it into a Visitors Bedroom. How inventive is that? Their block is filled
with old trucks, caravans and a lot of stuff that to us would be junk. It’s the
sort of junk that they love, some will be fixed up and used or sold. They
generate their own power, and use solar power during the day and take their
rubbish to the Tip. They get no services from the Council. They made us very
welcome and we enjoyed our afternoon visit. Today is our 49th
Wedding Anniversary (how has Val put up with me that long?), so we went to
Bruno’s Italian Restaurant for another lovely meal and finished off the evening
at The Bowling Club.
May 30th, I had to go into Town to get a few
items from IGA and I thought I might try fossicking at the Information Centre.
I found out that the Lightning Ridge Mens Shed was in the street behind the
Information Centre, so I drove around to check it out. I was standing out
front, taking a photo, so I could show Carole and Rob that I had went there,
when an old guy came out to get in his car and started talking to me. It was
2.30pm and the shed was closing up but he told me to go in and they would show
me around. So I did and was made feel very welcome. After a tour of their
complex, I was surprised how large their premises were and I made the comment
that Rob would be very envious as this facility is much larger than the Newcastle
Men’s Shed. I went and did a bit of fossicking but didn’t find anything worth
mentioning. We went to the Bowling Club for the 8pm meat raffle, but didn’t do
any good. We listened to Tina’s Karaoke, after the raffles. She is a very good
singer and also works in the Office at our Caravan Park.
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