For those who have not heard the South Australian Government is closing down the township of Mintabie.

The residents, against their wishes, have been forced to leave their homes. Many are old and spent most of their working life mining opal at Mintabie. Most called the Mintabie community their family and in many cases this family is all they have. Many have no savings and their homes have been the modest, self built, very basic  mining camp but it was their home!

The South Australian Government is trying to stop illegal practices such as drug and alcohol sales at Mintabie by a very few ratbags. They  decided in their ultimate wisdom that the best way to stop this was to close the bloody town….. Must have been too hard to lock these ratbags up…cheaper to close the town!

So be afraid, very afraid ……a town near you – or even worse, YOUR town or city may be closed down because someone is dealing in drugs!!!

With more wonderful wisdom they have allowed mining to continue. The miners can live at Marla (about an hour away) and go backwards and forward each day. And the cost of housing at Marla? compared to the mining camps they built and already live in??? No prizes awarded here.

And as one Bulldozer operator said. ” I might as well put a sign on all my drums of diesel……FREE DIESEL -TAKE WHAT YOU WANT.  Same for parts, explosives etc! The miners can keep the parts at Marla only a 2 hour round trip and as most sane  people know, something is always breaking down with opal mining gear, sometimes several times a day.

And now to the party

What a night! What a celebration! WHAT COMUNITY SPIRIT.

This was a farewell worthy of a premier opal field. More original stories then Walt Disney could conjure up and perhaps more lies then a keen fisherman……but when it came to opal there was no need to “ham it up” or lie. Some of these miners have found opal to make your mouth water. Some have found pockets that would run an opal shop for decades. Some are still looking.  And the night  was reminiscence of the best of life.

A night of opal stories, character stories, crazy situations, dangerous experiences, thrills, spills and bonanzas and shared past days that bonded us all in to a very special club.

THANKYOU ALL FOR SUCH AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE