Day 94 Monday 18th September

Today we returned to the Black Hand Mine to finish off our visit. Our ticket was valid for 48 hours so we went in and finished watching a couple of videos we had been watching as well as doing a couple of the chambers we had missed. We were lucky enough to see the sculptor at work. We finished up in the underground opal shop and there may have been a few purchases made…..After lunch we visited the John Murray art gallery. This famous artist has lived in Lightning Ridge for about 28 years. His quirky outback art is very clever. We actually saw him high up on a ladder in the middle of town working on a mural, next to the petrol station. I bought a couple of funny emu block mounted prints. Rob and I both thought his painting of Tony Abbott in budgie smugglers was hilarious. Sorry..we couldn’t take photos of it but if you google, “The Budgie Smuggler” by John Murray, you’ll see what we mean. Rob then dropped me off at a cactus garden and while I admired these strange plants he did some shopping. I must admit I’m not a fan of these plants but there was a huge variety and I learnt quite a lot about them. I took many photos and the one that I liked the most was nick-named “The Mother-in-law’s cushion”. You might be able to pick it out in the photos.   













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