esCarpade 2026 - Day 4 - Lay Day in Lightning Ridge

Lay Day on esCarpade is traditionally a time to relax, fix the car, spend time away from your co-driver, do the washing and potentially do some sightseeing in and around the town!

Having done the washing and hung it out to dry, Damian found a nice patch of dirt to knock some of the dried mud off Bluey...

Clumpy mud clumps are clumpy!

One front mud-flap was a bit worse for wear after the mud baths of Day 3... Damian bent it back into shape and generally ignored it!  Sounds like a prime candidate for fixing before next year's esCarpade!

There was a mineral claim on the yard where the boys were stopped... a 50m x 50m permit for mining opals!

Might have been mining, might just be a display for the opal shop across the street... who knows?

The boys took a little drive past Amigos Castle - hand built by an eccentric bloke over many years!

Wandering through town, Jordan found a Buddy Bench... it didn't help!

Parked in the main street... Damian lined up off the car beside him... apparently the lines are more of a general guide than anything else!

A trip out to the Opal Miner's Hall of Fame.

Old cement mixer barrels are used to wash and slush around the rocks ready for looking for opals!

Hall of Fame!

An interesting presentation on the history, process and local Hall of Fame members.

Opals...

Modern mining techniques use machinery rather than picks and buckets!

Jordan tried his luck outside...

Legend has it, someone found a stone in there recently that was worth thousands!

Jordan smacking rocks...

Wandering through town, Damian found a sign on a church that said "Jesus is even better than Bluey's Dad!"  That's a big call... Bandit is a legend!

Old miner's shack...

The Bluey Motel (not where the boys are staying).

Damian and Jordan heading out for dinner.

Past the museum...

And in to play pool with the Team Buzz fellas...

Harry was a bit of a shark!

After some games of pool and dinner, it was time for an early night... Day 5 will be here before the boys know it, with more driving and some school visits!