Wayne's story from the time he and Judy visited Yowah
Yowah is situated between Cunnamulla and Thargomindah QLD
Judy and Wayne visited a friend and his wife in this outback town; the tin shed's long table was centred in the dimly lit room.
A plane could be heard in the distance; several moments later, the door flung open, and in came a man in a dark, crumpled suit with a black case in his hand; having flown for several hours across the rugged dessert, he was tired but had a job to do, looking at opals and choosing the best ones was hard work, the Yowah Nut was special, this southern cross mine was the home of the now most famous Yowah Nut, a precious opal found in ironstone, often reaching up to 20 cms in size. It is believed that the Yowah nut was formed by silica gel seeping into cracks and fissures inside the nodules of sandstone; today, the chap was to inspect the friend's stash. The friend took out his glass jar, and the opals filled to the brim could be worthwhile. He spread them out on the table like a card deck, picking through the gems, discarding the ones he didn’t want, swiftly and confidently, knowing exactly what he wanted. The friend collected the rejects, the chap scooping the best selection into a white bag; he opened the case and took out the agreed sum, shaking hands, then saying now let’s see the best ones, again they did the same; the chap picking through the scattered opals, selecting a few, popping them into his bag, shaking hands, the deal was done and was gone, leaving the friend with a wad of notes several minutes later, the aircraft could be heard taking off, going to the following site, some days it was worth fossicking, but now the friend needed a cup of tea or something a little more substantial, he already thought of which opal would be great to show at the next Opal Festival, maybe the one hidden in his sock drawer.