How one sailor whittled a bucket-lister in Opal Country, lightninh rigde, outback NSW

Just occasionally you come across a tourist attraction that blows you away. It’s so amazing that you keep thinking about it and going back to look at the photos to make sure it was real. For me, Chambers of the Black Hand in Lightning Ridge, NSW, is that place.

A Seafarer’s Art

The history of how this Opal Mine started and slowly evolved into something else altogether is fascinating. Ron Canlin learnt to whittle while in the Royal Navy. That’s nothing really unusual, whittling has been a seafarer’s art for centuries. But, when you mix whittling with sandstone walls in an underground opal mine, it’s a whole different ball game.

As luck would have it, Ron ended up in Lightning Ridge with an Opal Mine. He dug down to 60ft so he could show tourists a working Opal Mine. Then he decided to create a level at 35ft so tourists could see a demonstration of opal cutting. As a nice way to say Hi, he carved a welcome in the sandstone wall.

Surprising Tools

One welcome to the mine carving on a wall lead to another one, then it led to more ‘rooms’ being dug out for more carvings until themed rooms started. One Buddha became three huge Buddhas. Stars Wars got their own room and the carvings were painted. Throughout the whole experience, some carvings are painted and some are left in their original state. It’s so hard to get your head around the talent of this man, and he’s still doing it today. Not as much, but still involved in the on-going magic of the Chambers of the Black Hand. When you find out that he does the carving using kitchen cutlery, you can only shake your head in awe. It seems that the sandstone is so easy to work with that ordinary cutlery is all you need, although there is one special effect that you need the scourer for!

Worth the Effort

I’m not in favour of stairs, but I went down the hand dug 80 step staircase because I was determined to, and I’m so glad I did. We didn’t do the mine level just the carvings. I have to admit that Opals, while they are rare and much sort after are not a favourite gem of mine. Discovering this major art gallery underground, and the work of one man, is breathtaking. Would I go again? In a heartbeat.