[.ca] Opal Adventures (ISBN 0962531138)

Chatty but very enjoyable:
After reading lots of book written by journalists, I was almost floored by the impersonal way this book was written. At first, I was a little reserved, thinking it read more like a letter than a book, but in the end, Downings love for opals - and the enormous amount of information and entertaining stories in this book just suck you in and win you over! There is no doubt Downing knows his stuff when it comes to opals. In this book, Downing starts by giving a bit of history about opals (prompted wisely by his wife, Bobbi), before delving into his adventures in the Australian outback. In fact, that would probably be the only complaint about this book - it focuses (apart from the history) exclusively on Australia and there is a smidgin of opal mining done in other parts of the world (Mexico, Nevada, Central Europe...). However, that aside, Downing coveres the journey from beginning to end with opal - from getting down with miners, cutting, valuing and selling opals. And all of this 'insider' information is wrapped up in entertaining stories written by someone who has clearly fallen head over heels for opals and made a life-long commitment to this beautiful gem. What makes the book even more interesting is its a snap shot of Australia, before sealed roads connected the major tourist destinations of Australia Well worth the read if you are even remotely interested in opals or thinking of visiting Australia for opals. You will learn more reading this book than anyone out there is probably going to be able to tell you.