Lightning Ridge
Travel guide to the best Australian holiday towns
What makes the perfect Australian town for a holiday? Here are our picks of the best.
- by Sue Williams
Outback with a vengeance
Cheaper flights and a swag of new tour resorts and hotel makeovers are helping lure travellers back to central Australia, writes Lee Atkinson.
The pits, and we love it
The resources boom is driving the economy and now tourists are chasing a slice of the action, writes Sue Williams.
Air and water
Penny Watson buckles up for a bird's-eye view of the outback during a tour in a small plane.
Heaven and high water
Lee Atkinson manages to stay one step ahead of the floodwaters on a road trip through outback NSW.
Big dreams and crazy tales
Lee Atkinson revels in the wacky ways of Lightning Ridge, where the stories get bigger with every beer.
Whatever to wicked: teens' favourite destinations
Avoid a teen scene by discovering how generation next like to spend their time off, writes Fran Molloy.
Truly, madly, deeply
Craig Tansley is drawn into a world of lucky strikes and madcap adventurers.
Lightning Ridge - Fast Facts
<b>Lightning Ridge</b> <br> <b>Famous opal mining town</b> <br> Although there are lots of opal mining towns in Australia there are four which have become household names - Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge. These are the four which seem to hold some mystery and interest to people who live in the cities. They are wild and unruly places surrounded by a moonscape of mullock humps where people fight against horrendous climatic conditions in their search for precious gemstones. They are, as one observer noted 'monuments to the tenacious optimism of all mankind'.
Lightning Ridge - Eat
<b>Lightning Ridge</b> <br> <b>Famous opal mining town</b> <br> Although there are lots of opal mining towns in Australia there are four which have become household names - Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge. These are the four which seem to hold some mystery and interest to people who live in the cities. They are wild and unruly places surrounded by a moonscape of mullock humps where people fight against horrendous climatic conditions in their search for precious gemstones. They are, as one observer noted 'monuments to the tenacious optimism of all mankind'.