Peter’s Story

Peter’s Story is a series of articles written by Peter Blythe for a magazine called Metal Stone and Glass. The magazine is published every 3 months and to be fair to the magazine, the stories will appear on the web site shortly after they are published.

Following are links to each of his stories. They are mostly as originally published in Metal Stone and Glass except for some minor changes to make them more suitable for publishing as a blog article. You will possibly like to read all the stories starting from Part 1, but feel free to read them in any order you wish. I have included some highlights of each story.

  • Part 1 – The Early Days. Blue sapphires at Grabben Gullen, first Gemboree at the Warrumbungle National Park, the Great Australian Amethyst Mine, a Ton of Chrysoprase, Janice and Marilyn.
  • Part 2 – Trainee Geological Draftsman, Math’s for Surveyors, Calligraphy, Hot Potatoes, Squash, Kris and Michelle.
  • Part 3 – New Family Life, First Field Work, Trout Fishing, Movie Nights, Mum’s Death. Kim’s Birth, North Queensland, Topaz and Agate, Darts Sting, The Dance that Wasn’t, Bad Mouth Charlie and The Marriage Starts to Crack.
  • Part 4 – Kris Leaves, The 4×4 with Wheels to Please, Difficult Times, A Girl Named Sue, Kris Returns, Peter Moves Out, Pickled Eggs and Black Coffee, Bloody Duncan – The City Cook Goes Bush, Chrysocolla, Azurite Rosette Crystal, Erythrite, Russian Vodka – My First Sip, Bush Cricket, On Road and Off Road Incidents.
  • Part 5 – The Crabby Torana, The Bridesmaid, Computer Fear, My First Shop, Mineshaft is Born.
  • Part 6 – Stocking The Shop, Opening Day, Boulder Opal Mosaics, A French Speaking Galah, French Diplomats and the Real Australian Outback.
  • Part 7 – The French connection, Bright Lights and Smelly Roos, The English Flirt, The Demon, Us and Them, The Fin.
  • Part 8 – Life Changes – Again, The Billings Family, The Irresistible Package, The Mintabie Adventure Begins.
  • Part 9 – Introduction to The Outback, Cooper Pedy, Buying Supplies, Mintabie – We Arrive, Old Spooky, Mintabie – First Day, Noodling.
  • Part 10 – Blasting and Noodling, Buried Fortunes, Never Ending Sandstone, My Legs go Weak,The Pain Changes Location, Sorting Day.
  • Part 11 – Opal From My Own Mine, The Hermit, Oodnadatta, Warm Beer – Two-Up and A New Claim.
  • Part 12 – Peter and Robert Professional Opal Miners, The Long Drive, Mintabie – The First Full Time Year, I Almost Died, I Almost Die – Again, Meet Sarge, A New Partner.
  • Part 13a & 13b – Yeon Kim, The Weasel, Peter Bucke, Another Mintabie Black Opal Find, Back to Mintabie, Day-to-Day at Mintabie, I marry Ann, Business and Communication, Kim’s Car, Peppa, Kim Dreams of Tomatoes, Frantic Digging, Kim Dreams of Apricots.
  • Part 14 – My Dad Tries Divining, How to Divine for Opal, An Extra Glass of Wine, Opal Fever Strikes Again, Mad Max Encounter, The Town Called Alice, I Got Lucky Again – Not.
  • Part 15 – Expect The Unexpected, Caravan Upgrade, The Flying Porta-Potty, Peppa and Dingo, Kamikaze Bird, A Solid Home, Learning to Plumb, King Brown, It Does Rain – Eventually, The Sand Pit, Croatia Day, George.
  • Part 16 – Gut Feelings, Long Term Friendships, Bowler Ties For The President, The Blocked Vacuum Cleaner, Uncle Roy’s Lunch, Whisky – The Pitjantjatjara Tracker.
  • Part 17 – A Comfortable Routine, Multiple Responsibilities, Testing The Teachers, Kim Moves On, The Oversized Runway, Vesso, Grasshopper.
  • Part 18 – Preparing a New Opal Mine, The First Kiss, A Church at Mintabie, Our New Claim – A closer Look, The Mirage Was Real.
  • Part 19 – Finding the Balance, Back to Mintabie, Wailing – The Divining Alternative, The Letter in the Rubbish.
  • Part 20 – My Life in Turmoil, Landlords and Leaches, Mineshaft Moves, Home Life, The Phone Call.
  • Part 21 – Return to Mintabie, A New Camp, Stretch, The Blower Blows, The Somersaulting Bobcat, Transforming the Camp Into a Home
  • Part 22 – The Jet Black Opal Claim.
  • Part 23 – The Bits and Pieces Claim
  • Part 24 – The Prize Fighter Claim
  • Part 25 – The Prize Fighter Claim Part 2
  • Part 26 – The Bits and Pieces extention