Sun, 2nd June, 2024 Bush camp at Potch Gully, White Cliffs, NSW (exploring White Cliffs & mine tour)

6 degrees in the camper before we got the heater going. BOM says 5 degrees but feels like 2.2 - not going out to check! Max of 14 today!! We are definitely warm weather travellers, this cold stuff is not nice.

Clear blue sky again. Still hasn’t warmed up much so not going to do any noodling. We think we will come make when it’s warmer to go opal hunting!

Back into town and parked near the pub where the Big Morning Tea will be happening from 10am. Nice mural on the side of the General Store.

We went for a wander up the street and found some history (same as what we read in the motel) and interesting sculptures in Doug’s yard.

A few friendly locals wandering about.

The others we met yesterday at the motel are parked in the van park so we had a quick chat then wandered up to the old cemetery. A chap was there with his dog and Steve recognised the dog. It was the couple we met at Walgett that I gave Di’s Opal Lake book to. His sister had bought a dug out here. They are going to the morning tea so will catch up with them there. 

Certainly was a hard life for the families.

The dugouts have changed over the years.

Back to the pub. The wind is still cold but we are a bit sheltered about the back of the pub. Chatted with the owner who has only been here 2 years. Paid our donation and got a cuppa while others started arriving. The other group from Hay arrived so chatted with them for a while. The other couple arrived and introduced us to Ann, his sister, but I can’t remember their names! Lots of yummy things to eat and we chatted away with a few of the locals. Rosie invited us to her dugout where she has a ‘garage’ full of things, opal jewellery and fossils. I am seeing a lot of things that Di wove into her story from the characters and places around here.

Great mural on the side of the pub. Rang up and booked the 3pm mine tour at Red Earth Opal.

The NP Centre was open, just doesn’t look like it, so we went in for a look. Will have to come back so we can visit the lake etc.

Walked back to the Federation Park.

Back to the truck for a late light lunch as we had eaten too many yummy things at the morning tea.

We drove around to Rosie’s Garage on Turley’s Hill. A big of machinery waiting to bring up the opal!

She inherited these displays from the previous owner. There were rocks and fossils from all over.

Inside she had all kinds of things she and others have collected - like a 2^nd hand shop and lovely opal and jewellery she makes and also on consignment from her neighbours. The crystal white opals are amazing and the colours seem to change as they move. I think I like these better than the black opal.

Another couple came in who have a lease and we chatted about the damage they all suffered from the 125mm of rain at the beginning of the year. They lost a lot of equipment when their shaft got flooded. The change in the rules because of a native title claim has caused a lot of problems here and there aren’t too many people left mining at the moment.

Drove around to The Blocks and followed the track carved into the hill and into Red Earth Opal. There was a drill rig and excavator parked on the other side.

Great aerial photos.

We met Graeme and his wife, Sacha. The rarest gem mineral on earth is the White Cliffs Opal Pineapples and the best ‘pineapple’ opals have been found on their leases. The cafe has a very good reputation too which we agreed with after we had our cuppa and cake. 

Chatted with Graeme while we waited for other people to arrive. I mentioned Di’s book and he said this was the cafe she talked about - sat here and chatted away. She wanted to buy a unique jewellery piece he has on display from another jeweller but it wasn’t for sale. She had wanted to use it for the front cover of the book. Certainly is an amazing piece - I refrained from taking a photo!

He said that The Blocks was the original opal area. They opened up the area in ‘blocks’ in the beginning and the people who took them up then leased out small areas for the many opal miners that were arrived to look for the gem crystal opal - guess who made the most money! Graeme’s dad was a hobby miner so he spent a lot of holidays out here so it became natural to him to keep hunting opals. They came here and have slowly been digging out their home and creating this business venture to great success. The walls of the cafe are lined with straw-bales which can be seen through the glass on the wall.

His son, Jay, is part of the ‘Young Guns’ on the Outback Opal Hunter show. He normally demonstrates opal cutting etc and takes people out on the blacklight tours but because of the change in the ‘rules’ from the mining department due to a native title claim they can’t mine here so they have now moved to Lightning Ridge. Graeme has a few leases so he is still able to look for his ‘pineapples’. Certainly an interesting and easy to chat to guy. 

I asked if I could take some photos and he said, ‘no worries’. The inside when cut certainly looks like pineapple segments. Lots of beautiful stones, jewellery etc for sale too. My photos don’t do justice to the colours. I didn’t ask the prices!

These photos from their brochure and the town booklet.

Once the 3 other couples had arrived we sat in the coffee shop and he talked about opals, the history and mining and selling them. Very interesting and he showed us different pieces.  

We headed outside and put on our heavier coats as it is colder down in the mine (10 to 12 degrees). The toilet is outside the cafe of course.

We followed him in our cars through the cut away and up over the hill. We didn’t go far then parked on top of the hill - hope we don’t collapse the mine’s roof! He said we can keep whatever we find on the top but anything in the mine is his! We had a scratch about and he circled a couple of spots that he said had opal chips in - very hard to see. He did the practice joke on us when I picked up a rock and after getting Steve to suck on it to clean it up he said it was ‘Leveright’ - ha ha, leave it right there!!

He explained about the machinery and he is a good joker as he offered us ladies a quick ride down in the bucket! He issued out our hard hats and gave us the safety talk. The ‘lunar’ landscape that has become the tourist attraction too for White Cliffs is now preserved when outsiders were coming in to open cut the mines. People can still open cut but it is on the outer edges of the opal field.

Instead he took us down the incline and into the mine. An old timer section as we head down the incline. He has 6 leases and they are all joined now by the tunnels.

He brings the ore here with the little machine and sends it up the bucket that we saw on the surface and into the truck. The rubbish rock either back fills some of the tunnels or goes down to an open cut area the miners are filling in. Graeme is a great guide with lots of great information explaining what he was doing in each section and how long it all takes. He explained where the crystal opal seam was and where the pineapples had come from on a different level. The old timers just missed them by feet in some places. He showed us where he had found some of his famous ‘pineapples’ and then showed us pictures on his phone of pieces cleaned up ready to sell.

There were some tall stories and of course the quick wit but we all enjoyed the casual nature of his chatting. He said that Home & Away filmed a murder here at one stage and of course the Young Guns were filmed here for the series. He answered all our questions and we meandered along without any rush. One lady, Wendy, was celebrating her birthday today so he got her to try and find a pineapple in this pocket with the screwdriver. No luck so I had a go - none for me either. 

At the end he said how the old timer’s worked by candle light which he had on a shelf so he got Wendy to blow it out and we all sang happy birthday.

Eventually we went back to the surface at 5.30 and realised the sun had set. Very pretty. Said goodbye and thanked Graeme again. He said if anyone want to noodle for the opal try the small mounds as they are the old timer ones and just stay away from any machinery etc. Definitely a tour worth doing.

We drove down the hill and around to Potch Gully for the night. We decided we will definitely come back and have a go on the old mounds but when it is a bit warmer!