It’s time for another GeekPic… This one is at an underground opal mine in Lightning Ridge, on the edge of the Australian Outback.

Opal fever is real

It will draw you in and take hold of you if you venture into the town of Lightning Ridge, where the cracks in the earth are filled with the most precious stone of them all. Way out in the scrubs of northern New South Wales in Australia, this is where the elusive black opal is found.

And it’s difficult not to get enchanted by its beauty.

The mesmerizing draw of luminous stone

Opal is unlike any other gemstone. The sheer array of colours, shapes and forms that occur in them, the way they shift & change at each angle with the light that falls onto them is truly mesmerizing.

GeekPic @ Lightning Ridge opal mine underground museum.

Here you can read my story about the opal fields of Lightning Ridge. The interactive map below shows several interesting places around Lightning Ridge and The Grawin.

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More to explore & discover

The opal fields of Lightning Ridge – The mesmerizing draw of luminous stone

Hinchinbrook Island – Unspoiled tropical wilderness

Tongariro – The track across Middle Earth

Flower Art – Australian flowers & bushnuts

GeekPic – What is a geek pic?

© All photos and content on this website are my own, and subject to copyright (unless credited otherwise). Please contact me if you want to use a photo or quote a text from one of my articles. You’re welcome to share a link to my blog articles and photos on social media, with a tag and mention to Wilderness Coffee & Natural High.

This article was first published on 7 March 2017 and last updated on 15 February 2024.