Story

Balabalaa means ‘butterfly’ . It is the name given to my daughter by my mother. The butterfly ‘balabalaa’ would often wonder about the high mountains so that she could see along way away which were covered in white. Her husband told her not to leave their home. But one day she went to have a quick look at the white on the mountain. When she arrived she could see the mountains covered in white. As she reached the high mountains snow began to fall. She fell to the ground and the snow covered her. She didn’t die, but lay quiet and went to sleep while the snow fell and buried her. She lay under the snow until spring came. As the snow melted away so did her beautiful colours. The colours just disappeared, melting into the snow. As the snows melted down the mountains and across the plains the colours ran with them to disappear into the ground near the lakes and ridges. This is how the opal came to be.