This property, was not your average property though. No house, No bathroom or real cooking facilities, no heating or cooling, not too unusual for so many people around the world, but for Lucy, coming from Melbourne, it was a bit of a culture shock as this property was not only very VERY Off-grid, but was in a foreign place in a remote and isolated mining town called Lightening Ridge.

Famous for its Black Opal—the rarest gem in the world—and its surreal, almost lunar "white" landscape of mine tailings and makeshift dwellings, Lightning Ridge is unlike anywhere else.

It's harsh, strange, and full of character. And it was here, amid the dust, the silence, and the eccentric characters, that Lucy began to unravel her mother's story—and, in turn, discover her own.

I will now let Lucy tell her own tale of love, loss, passion, compassion, awe and inspiration as she leaves the comfort of city life to travel with her 2 dogs to this remote of remote mining towns to find out why her mother had become so enamoured by the stunning, but alien landscape, the relentless dust and the unforgiving weather extremes in her chase to find the rare black opal.

It’s one of those places that always feels a bit wild, but someone’s definitely been in there with a whipper snipper at some point, you know? Like, it’s landscaped just enough to pretend it isn’t — which is great, because it still keeps that natural, "wild" look, but is tidy enough to spot snakes — for the most part.

And since we’re in beautiful autumn — as I’m sure you can tell from some of those brilliantly burnt red, gold, orange and yellow trees — this is usually the time snakes are out and about. Not just catching the last warm rays of the day, but also their meals. So, you really need to have eyes not only in the back of your head and on the dog, but just... everywhere.

Thankfully though, Spike and I have been lucky on our walks down there this past week — no snake yet.

And although we could hear the birds, we couldn’t see them up in the trees. The river gums are massive, their branches shooting off skyward in every direction, and honestly, between that and needing to keep our eyes on the ground... there’s only so much multitasking a person can do.

The path was covered in leaves — all those crunchy autumn ones in yellows and reds, and that really rich brown that always makes me think of stories with witches and deep forests. Spike was already on a mission before we even got out of the car. Nose down, tail up, doing that zigzag thing like he’s reading an invisible map only dogs can see. I just let him lead — he always finds the good spots. For himself, anyway. And hey, it was his walk. His choice.

It was the perfect time of day, too — the sun just starting to think about setting, streaking through the trees at that golden angle. A lot of the old river trees were still stubbornly green, but some had absolutely gone full show-off. One tree — I think it was a maple — had just exploded into crimson. Couldn't miss it. I actually stopped and stared for a bit. It looked like fire. But soft.

The birds were going off — all of them. From the cockies screeching somewhere above to others I couldn’t quite identify. Then, a kookaburra let loose behind me — one of those big belly laughs that feels like it’s definitely laughing at you, not with you. I cracked up. Spike didn’t care. He was too busy shoving his face in a clump of grass like it was full of party favours.

There’s this one spot where the track opens up and you can really see the river. The light hit it just right, making it shimmer like silver threads stretched across the surface. You could see the trees reflected in the still water. And right at the edge, this massive old log lay half-covered in moss and spiky little grasses. It looked like it had been there forever. And it probably had.

Unfortunately, the video and photos just don’t do it justice. And when you’re standing there, looking at the sheer size of some of these trees — I mean, I couldn’t even guess how old or big they are. That sort of scale just doesn’t translate through a lens. But I did stand and try to guess the size of one from a distance — it was surrounded by thick undergrowth, so I didn’t go in — but I reckon it would take six to eight people, arms outstretched, just to circle it.

Anyway, we kept going. The path dipped back under the canopy and everything went a bit darker, cooler. The air changes under there — smells like wet bark, dirt, and damp leaves in the best way. Spike slowed down. Not sure if he was pondering something deeply or just a bit puffed out. Could’ve been either.

Then there’s this bend in the trail where you reach a sandy patch by the water. I stopped there for a while, just sat and listened to the symphony of nature while Spike pottered around, nose-first in the underbrush.

By that point the sun had dropped a bit more, turning everything golden. The river was completely still — like glass, even though it was clearly flowing along.

I watched the sun reflecting off it, completely mesmerised. Felt like the world paused for a minute. Everything just... held its breath, including me, breathing in the fresh air.

The birds, the breeze rustling the treetops, the water trickling past old fallen trees, and the soft squish of Spike’s paws in the dirt, I really didn't want to leave, but eventually, we headed back — a bit slower this time, coming full circle back to the car park.

And I still didn’t want to leave. Had things to do, but it felt wrong rushing, so we sat on the bench for 5 minutes before talking myself into getting in the cra.. Even Spike had mellowed, just sitting alongside me instead of darting off.

There’s something about that walk that makes everything quieter — not in a lonely way, but in a good, grounding way. Like things make sense again. At least for a while.

Anyway. That was our wild, stunning, and sometimes stumbling Wednesday walk.

Hope you enjoyed this seriously sensational and delicious little escape as much as Spike and I did.

As we walked towards the rainforest, you’ll see from the video the elusive Lyre Bird that woke me up and then run away as I tried to photograph it.

Lucky I have previous footage of the elusive Lyre Bird from another Wednesday Walk here https://peakd.com/hive-106444/@chocolatescorpi/yrvutgtm

So as wonderful and incredible and unique and unusual as the walk-through the Bell Bird Hotel Motel was here https://peakd.com/hive-155530/@chocolatescorpi/the-absolutey-gorgeous-bellbird-creek-hotel-motel-wednesday-walk-and-camping-part-1 here is the other side of that just as unique gorgeous wild and wonderful too

After many months of anticipation (and paying off the cost $$$ of the tickets) and after many MANY years of wanting to, I finally saw one of my favourite musicians and the living legend that she is, live in concert at the historic and stylish Forum theatre last night!

And it was freakin AWESOME!

So my best friend Cath, traveled 3.5hrs South from her home town on the NSW/Victorian border by train to Melbourne for the night and we joined about a 1000 other long term, dedicated fans of Melissa Rtheridge and squashed ourselves in, shoulder to shoulder to all sing and dance with Melissa and what a night it was!

What a powerhouse she is!

Such an amazing guitarist- all round musician actually, playing not only the guitar, but also the Harmonica and the drums too!

OMG and her voice! 😱

It is soooo powerful and full of emotion as she sings the lyrics to each of her songs- songs that were written by her from certain events that have influenced and shaped her life so far.

So ladies and gentlemen, girls, boys and others, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the magnificent Melissa Etheridge and the brilliant band of musicians backing her!

Here I have captured only the first verse to the chorus of each song, plus her very entertaining onstage conversation and stories.

https://melissaetheridge.com/

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Thank you so much for reading my post, I really hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to your comments and thoughts.

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And unless otherwise stated- ALL photographs, all media, material and writings, are all my originals taken by me sometime in the past few decades or so somewhere in my travels and as such, ofcourse they are subject to all international IP and copyright laws and I may have already used them for my own commercial purposes here https://www.redbubble.com/people/CHOCOLATESCORPI/shop And here https://fineartamerica.com/art/chocolatescorpi, So please ask first if you want to use any of them as we wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Thank you 😊

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Please feel free to checkout my other work on

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ChocolateScorpi is so incredibly grateful to the the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of this beautiful land that I call home and I thank you for caring for it for so long.

I pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging and offer our hand to all first nations hands in order to help heal all of our relationships to the earth on this truly magical and extraordinary island nation that we now all call home.

🐠🐃🐌🕷🐍🐓🦆🐸🐁🐿🦋🐢🐞🦍🐈🦆🐥🐜😊❤️🙏💛🙏💚🙏💙🙏💜😊🦑🐛🐄🦇🐪🦏🐳🐊🦀🦌🐖🐢🐏🐋🐝

All information contained in this video with thanks to
https://www.batalukculturaltrail.com.au/buchan_caves.php

https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/buchan-caves-reserve/things-to-do/cultural-heritage

https://ackma.org/journal/67/A%20Caving%20Pioneer%20Frank%20Moon%20-%20Dr%20Robert%20Haldane.pdf

https://gunaikurnai.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GKJMP_02_Buchan_Caves.pdf

https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/do-and-see/nature-and-wildlife/parks-and-reserves/buchan-caves

ChocolateScorpi is so incredibly grateful to the the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of this beautiful land that I call home and I thank you for caring for it for so long.

I also want to extend my gratitude to the Gunaikurnai people, who are the Traditional Owners of much of Gippsland, including the Krauatungalung, Tatungalung, Brabralung, Brayakaulung, Brataualung clans, their elders, past, present, future and emerging as they too seek to take care of the Magnificent area that they have called home for tens of thousands of years.

I pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging and offer our hand to all first nations hands in order to help heal all of our relationships to the earth on this truly magical and extraordinary island nation that we now all call home.

with nervous anticipation, I followed the group of strangers, as we carefully made our way down into the DARK DEPTHS of the earth.

I was truly utterly exhausted from the emotional and traumatic rollercoaster that I had been through for the past few months with the illness and death of my dad, and I desperately wanted to go somewhere and have a couple of days' worth of peace, rest, and relaxation before getting back into the grind in Melbourne.

As I had driven past the turnoff to Buck caves 100 times over the last few years, each time desperately wanting to go in there but not having enough time, I decided that this was finally the time.

I was so tired there were even a few moments before I bought the ticket and even after I bought the ticket that I wanted to back out, but I forced myself to go, and I’m so glad I did.

So please excuse the heavy breathing during the video; not only was I exhausted after sitting in our hospital room with my dad every day for a good couple of months, but I wasn’t at my fittest, and it was actually really hot and humid in there too, even though it was so cold outside.

Salah is the co-Founder & Director of Growth for Training & Development (GTD), fostering the growth of start-ups by equipping them with essential business skills for long-term sustainability and the National Host of Global Entrepreneurship Week in Palestine, a yearly celebration of entrepreneurship, held globally each November. As the Palestine host, Salah leads a week-long series of events organized by dozens of partners and targeting thousands of participants throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

This interview that I conducted at the 2023 GEC- Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Melbourne in September with the facilitation of the GEC https://genaustralia.org/ ,is part of a much larger project that I have created around disadvantaged entrepreneurs, but because of the persecution that the innocent Palestinians are facing from the mainstream media and many of the global leaders, I thought that it was pertinent to publish the entire interview now so people can see that the innocent Palestinians are not the terrorists that they are being painted as.

So I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Salah, who is a successful entrepreneur and a devoted family man.

Much like all of us, he enjoys socialising, uplifting others and cherishing life's moments, especially with his young family, including his wife and two young children, along with both of their elderly parents.

Salah is also Palestinian.

But it's essential to clarify right from the outset that Salah is not a terrorist and certainly neither are his 2 young children, his wife or their elderly parents.

Infact Salah is a staunch advocate for peace and dedicates his life to empowering underprivileged female entrepreneurs, helping them launch and grow their businesses.

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Salah to interview him for the pilot of my new series in early September at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Melbourne, after he was the host for the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in Palestine with his non-pofit- GrowthPalestine

In essence, Salah represents a family, much like any Australian, American, British, or Israeli - and Palestinian family.

They live their lives to the fullest, despite the decades-long and illegal Israeli occupation, However, they have been thrust into an unjust reality that no one should endure, especially not the children, not the innocent- and that’s most of them.

There is absolutely no justification for the reprehensible act of violence carried out by Hamas militants against innocent Israelis and I do support Israels pursuit of justice for the victims, but not at the cost of numerous innocent civilian lives who have already suffered for decades as second-class citizens under Israeli domination.

I do not support Israel's retaliatory actions, which have well and truly already exceeded the bounds of self-defense and I'm deeply disturbed by Israel's willingness to escalate the damage they've already caused.

I am also deeply concerned at the willingness by so many other world leaders to blindly support Israel going into war to cause more bloodshed instead of brokering peace.

This story involves innocent people facing persecution, not only from Israel but also from global media, painting them all as terrorists, but we know that they’re not.

They’re just people like you and me, trying to live their lives as best as they can.

Here is Salah’s Facebook page. Please check it out so you can see that they are not terrorists- far from it.
https://www.facebook.com/salah.amleh

Here is his Linked in page. Please feel free to check it out too so you can see the good that he does for the disadvantaged. https://www.linkedin.com/in/salah1980/

So when the Australian Prime Minister declared that all Australians stand with Israel, I vehemently disagree with him- and all of the other leaders of the western world, as I believe that standing with an oppressor and endorsing the persecution of innocent people is something that I cannot do.

I am Australian. I am not a religious person. I have no ties to any religion whatsoever, infact, call me an athiest. I don't believe in any religion, but I certainly do believe in equality and I certainly believe in peace.

And I believe that we can have each- if the powers that be, can lose their egos.

And at this stage in time, we all must take a stand for peace, regardless of what religion you are, after all who wants to see a repeat of the first and second world wars when millions of our ancestors died agonising deaths.

We should openly declare our support for peace and encourage our leaders to work towards reconciliation in this region.

So, I encourage you to say hello to Salah and his family.

Keep them in your thoughts and prayers- and all the innocent people of both Palestine and Israel.

Their safety and the return of rationale and reason in Israel are vital not only for them but for the entire world.

Haven't we already witnessed enough war and conflict, death and destruction from Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, to the struggles faced by people around the globe from other dictators?

It's time to advocate for peace.

I implore you to help raise awareness about the irrationality and injustice of retaliating against innocent Palestinians- especially with such outrageous force.

Let's all stand for peace before it's too late.