Extract from a Letter to Mummy & Daddy - 27 July 1972
An extract of a letter written by Christopher to his parents on arrival at Lightning Ridge explaining the risks of hunting for opals.
"We took over an old mine on the "9 Mile" were George and I slept in swags by night and started mining at dawn. We would throw dried scrub into the shaft, a quarter cup of petrol and a lit match. We would wait and watch the exodus of tiger snake and hope that poisonous insects had been burned off before heading down in our search for opal".
