The great opal hunt of 2018 (part 1)
The closest I've ever been to a real, live opal was in the Fortune of War Hotel in Sydney. The Fortune of War Hotel a few years back. That's me in the hat. For those who don't know of it, the Fortune of War is an 'early opener' in The Rocks, and one of just 143 pubs claiming to be the oldest in the colonies. In happier times Way back in the 1980s, I was a regular. The placed reeked of history, stale beer and Winnie Reds. There was the period-correct squishing and squelching underfoot as you walked to the bar, where you were called 'Darl'. It was a glorious place. Armed with a schooner of Toohey's Old and dressed in my best New Balance shirt, I'd sit facing the street and watch hordes of Japanese tourists trying to cram into the souvenir shop over the road. But this story isn't about the Fortune of War. It's about opals. Choose life My glory days at the Fortune of War were in the leadup to the 1987 sharemarket crash,