Sat, 1st June, 2024 Cobar Rest Area, Cobar to Bush camp at Potch Gully, White Cliffs, NSW (exploring White Cliffs)

8 degrees clear sky. A truck had come in through the night and ran his generator till 5 this morning but it was a constant noise so not too bad.

Into town to top up the diesel. Prices haven’t been too bad, $2.10 here. Mostly we have been finding diesel for just under $2.

Heading westward to Wilcannia on the Barrier Highway. Straight road, rolling up and down the low rises. Spotted a bustard - wildlife spotting passes the time. Found some more goats and then had to dodge a few on the road. Then a pair of emus tried to play chicken!

More trucks on this road with longer road trains. Clouds are coming over.

Rolling up and down the hills that are part of Maccullocks Range. Stopped for lunch at the rest area (160m elevation). Overcast and the wind is cold so lunch in the camper. Forecast for top of 16 in Wilcannia with 4 degree minimum!

Continued on and dropped down off the range and back to 70m in elevation. Passed the road that does down the east side of the Darling River to Menindee Lakes and the turn off to the north that goes up to Bourke. Nearly 40 years ago we came down from Bourke heading to Adelaide on the Darling River road and hit a big storm. It was a slow slog along the track and into Wilcannia and then we had to find accommodation as we only had the ute with the race car in the back and to top it all off it was my birthday! Some memories you never forget.

Across the wide Darling River floodplain.

Over the Darling River which is flowing at the moment and into Wilcannia. The old bridge had a lift up section.

We pulled up just over the bridge to work out what we were going to do when Pat Callinan’s 4x4 Adventures group drove passed us and around the corner. They must be doing another episode. I googled it up and they are, but it is mostly about the Canning Stock Route and the Kimberleys. Certainly is a lot of them in the group.

We decided to continue on to White Cliffs (opal mining township) and check out Wilcannia on our way back. We are hoping to go down the dirt road by the river to Menindee Lakes but with the rain it might need a few more days to dry out. Continued through town then turned off onto the Opal Miners Way for about 90km to White Cliffs. Di Morrissey had set her book Opal Lake around here.

Only a few goats around here. Spotted two light pink galahs in a tree. Lots of roadkill on the road so more hawks and crows about too. Found some cattle at last - black so not good to see at night.

Travelling through Tarella Station - open country. Nice view as we roll over a rise.

A lonesome emu is meandering along.

The hills of White Cliffs came into view. Turleys Hill then Smiths Hills. Not very high hills but enough to tunnel back into to create their dugout homes.

The Welcome sign.

Into the township - all quiet. The wind is cold outside when we stopped to check out the bottle house but unfortunately it was closed. Great dinosaur.

Drove around the pub and on to the sporting oval. They even have a golf course.

Across the road was an old solar power station. It appears to be based on what the one at Lake Cargelligo is. Shame it isn’t open any more. Ground still wet so had to watch where walked as others have just driven in and mushed up the ground.

We came to a t-intersection so followed the bitumen road to and around Smith’s Hill. A family of emus wandered by.

We drove slowly along looking out for the dugout homes cut into the hillside. We found the Underground Motel so drove up the drive and stopped for a look.

Bit dear for us to stay for the night but you can pay $10 each to have a look through the rooms and the conference room has heaps of displays. Self service tea/coffee is available when we finished too. The chap gave us a map and off we wandered. The white walls make it nice and bright so it feels very comfortable. Quite cool - should have brought another coat. The inside temperature varies from 16 to 26 degrees whereas outside can go from 0 in winter and 50 in summer so the dugouts are a great idea.

So much information to read. Originally Smith’s hill was called ‘Poor Man’s Hill’ as it didn’t produce very good opal so there is no point digging into the walls! Fascinating story how a family bought the old miner’s dugout and made it into their home. Then it just continued to grow. Some walls have been left unpainted, just lacquered to show the difference.

Into the Conference Room and it was full of information on the whole history of opals, the township etc so it took me a long while to get through it all.

Interesting read about the newspaper and the ‘True Story of White Cliffs’.

The owner’s story of creating their home and then the motel. Great aerial view showing the skylights/ventilation and viewing area at the top.

A few ‘treasures’. One of the ventilation shafts.

Lots of photos too. This is the one that has made the area iconic - the lunar landscape. When other miners started coming in with earth-moving equipment the townspeople decided to protect this landscape as it is also the tourist drawcard for the town. As much as the miners want to find opals it is the tourist trade that helps also keep the town alive.

There was another whole section on the locals and their lives here. Very interesting reading but I only photographed a few.

White Cliffs is known for the white crystal opal seams and the rare ‘pineapple’ opals, named because of their shape.

Any room with the door open we were allowed to look into. They all look nice. Only set back is the toilets and bathrooms are out the front - plumbing issues of course. Still holes in the walls from the jackhammers etc.

We climbed up the 43 steps to the viewing room at the top of the hill. I saw it from the carpark earlier. There are lots of skylight/ventilation covers across the area of the motel. You can just see the edge of the camper behind the green tree on the right. Down the steps we go.

Continued meandering about - not very busy at the moment. Found the original area that was the two family homes with a big open patio area and one of the amenities off to the side. These rooms have a door to the outside so they can get some natural light as well.

Looks like others has made it their home too. Walked through the access tunnel - not as high as inside.

Out to another patio/games room.

Our map of the motel.

So glad we called in - definitely worth the visit. We had a coffee and chatted with some people from Hay up for a weekend getaway. They aren’t staying here but they said the meals here are fabulous. They asked if we were going to the Big Morning Tea tomorrow (fundraiser for cancer) so we said we would meet them there. They also said there is a bus tour run by Rob that is fabulous and to definitely do the Red Earth Opal mining tour.

Back outside and we continued around the hill. From the road you can only see sheds and equipment and a glimpse of a patio that would be the front of the dugouts. Some are more elaborate than others.

The road to Peery Lake and the national park is closed so we won’t be going there. Back through town and out to the opal fields to find the free camp area at Potch Gully.

Pottered along the dirt road through the lunar-like landscape though you only get the real effect from looking down from above like in the photos. Spotted some little signs - Visitor Trail so we are only the right road. Saw a sign for Potch Gully. A couple of mine camps nearby. There are all kinds of ‘vehicles’ out here.

Checked out a couple of ‘holes’. Old timer shafts. The newer ones are much higher.

The track got too wet so we turned around and went back to Potch Gully and set up for the night. Looking back to Turley’s Hill. 9 degrees outside so we got the heater going in time for drinks! Much better.

Great map in the tourist pamphlet and there is an app about here, Wilcannia and Menindee Lakes with old photos, stories and driving tour maps. Will have to download it.

Very quiet out here. Steve went for a wander with our UV light (bought it to find the uranium glass in WA) but he didn’t come back with any opal. Red Earth Opal has night tours looking for opal in the old timer’s rubble using Black lights.