Goodbye Broken Hill…Again!
We spent another three nights at the Racecourse in Broken Hill, I know I said we wanted to leave, but hey…it was nice and relaxing. Peter repaired the damage to the water tank, washed the dirt off Chunky Bum and Big Ears, and we re-assessed our travel plans. There was still a lot of rain heading our way and we wanted to keep off the dirt. Even if we had wanted to risk it, most of the dirt roads were closed anyway, but we could still get to White Cliffs on the black, via Wilcannia.
So, was White Cliffs worth the effort? Yes, it was.
It’s a typical opal mining town, except about 40% of the buildings are underground, to help the locals cope with the heat.
I think I had pictured the buildings being all dug vertically underground, but instead they seem to be built into the hill side, a bit like Hobbiton, a Lord of the Rings reference for all you Tolkienite’s out there.
It gets incredibly hot out there and being at the end of spring, we were expecting a little bit of sweat. Instead, we had to dig our winter woollies out and use the heater! It was freezing, and yes…it rained.
Like most other places we have been to, it was very quiet. In fact, we had the caravan park all to ourselves for a couple of days. It’s a friendly little town, with a few touristy things to do. Mine tours, underground home tours etc. Some were not operating, but we don’t tend to do the usual touristy things anyway.
We had planned a day trip out to the Paroo-Darling National Park and Lake Peery, the idea being we would check out the camping area for a potential one week stay. I did mention it had been raining and yes, we had to drive dirt roads to get there but we decided to give it a go. We didn’t make it to Lake Peery but we did nearly get bogged, so I suppose that sign ‘ROAD CLOSED’ actually meant something. The car is once more covered in a thick coat of ochre muck.
I’m sure he does it on purpose
We should buy some shares in car wash liquid.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Some people never learn, I guess. Not you two, of course. 🙂
Have never been to Whitecliff so nice to know some folk who have.
🙂