Blow the layer of dust off Lightning Ridge and you will find a town as rich in colour as the precious black opal mined here.
The stone’s dark undertone is the marriage of carbon and iron oxide, brought together over millennia beneath the earth’s surface.
It brings colour to life in a way that no other precious stone can.
It is an exceptionally rare find, with more than 90 per cent of the world’s supply located beneath this outback moonscape.
Great fortunes have been made and lost here on Yuwaalaraay Country in Northern NSW, where stories have become facts and truth can be just as elusive as the black opal itself.
Among the corrugated iron shacks and the long-abandoned mine shafts that pockmark this land, the past is everywhere.
Exactly what that history is, however, depends on who's telling it.
Barb Moritz is waiting for us in front of an old miner's cottage on the main street.
Built in 1932, its warped pinewood beams and lopsided tin roof resemble an abstract painting.
It's the headquarters of the Lightning Ridge Historical Society, and the seat from which Barb holds court.
She emerges from the shadow of the verandah awning whirring with facts and directions, her dark eyes glowing.