It has been about a month since I arrived in Koroit. Once again I'm used to being dirty and always keeping my eyes open for snakes and spiders and opals too. This morning, literally before lunch, we saw three deadly brown snakes (they may have been brown snakes or king brown snakes - determining the species can be tough. Arguing about the species is much like arguing about the exact caliber of the bullet that killed you.). No, I do not have any photos to share right now of the serpents, but I did shoot some video of one of them that I hope to share after I get back to the USA in November.
I have been lucky. I've been digging and searching and have found some pretty opals . . . and hope to find more.
Unfortunately, I have very limited internet access and am not able to share much info or many photos during this trip except when I go into Cunnamulla about once every 10 days. Thank you to Paul and Nicky Webster at Boulders Coffee Shop -
Boulders Coffee Shop has good food, friendly people and free wi-fi. . . Thank you!
While walking between a friend's camp and his mine, I noticed a few tracks in the bulldust. (Bulldust is a very fine type of dirt found in this area. It's like a fluffy, rust colored talcum powder. When it rains on bulldust, it can make a terrible mess to drive through.):
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| A boot print and emu footprint |
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| A boot print and footprints from 2 different sized emus |
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| An emu footprint |
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| Kangaroo prints (tail and feet) and boot prints |
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| Prints from a kangaroo tail, hind-legs and forelegs |
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| Foot prints from 3 different sized emus |
As I said, I have been very lucky. I've had my mine for 11 years and have managed to make a living in the opal business. I would have made far more money if I had remained in grad school and completed my PhD in Neuroscience and been in the academic world, but then I would have missed this adventure. Yes, opal mining is an adventure. However, it is also very difficult and unpredictable, with no guarantees. Sometimes people will see a few gorgeous and valuable stones a miner may have found and mistakenly think they are wealthy. The economic realities of opal mining, like the desert countryside here, is harsh and unforgiving. Often that small handful of pretty stones is all the miner has to show after months of very hard work under harsh conditions and thousands of dollars spent on diesel fuel and equipment repairs. Many miners do not even find that small handful of stones, even after all the hard work and thousands of dollars spent on fuel and equipment. Most opal miners in Koroit and in the rest of Queensland have not been very lucky. Most opal miners do not even break even - they don't even cover their expenses. Koroit opal is rare and is tough to find. Every time I find opal I say thank you the universe and am very grateful. Less opal is coming out of the ground each year. Mining expenses and paperwork get more costly and troublesome each year. I know miners who have been working for years and have not even found enough to cover their fuel costs. Many of the miners are miners part-time and have "regular" jobs or are retired. You might wonder why they continue to mine if they aren't making any money. Of course there is the chance that tomorrow will be the day when they'll find that patch of gorgeous and valuable opals. Yet money isn't everything. It is amazing out here in many ways. The conditions are harsh and many of the animals are deadly. However, the chance of finding beautiful treasure, the love of these stones, having this experience, sharing a few drinks with a few friends around a fire, under a sky full of stars, while talking about these beautiful stones or the meaning of life, is worth a fortune.
A few new chisels for my Hilti jackhammers just arrived. I'll be putting them to use in a few days about 40 feet below the surface. I'll try to keep you updated on my mining progress.
Thank you!
