PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Don
Well we are now into our 10th week in White Cliffs and we are loving it. Considering we were only planning to stay here for 3 or 4 days, our stay has certainly been memorable and enjoyable. So what has happened since our last report? Apart from fossicking for the elusive opal which happens practically every day, heaps of special things have happened, so here goes.
On Tuesday 29 July 2007 Brad and Hayley took us for a not so 
tourist drive around White Cliffs. Clancy's Hut was our first stop which is a mud brick hut built in the late 1800's by John Clancy. Even considering my short height, I still had to bend to get through the door. The hut itself is about 2m x 2m square with a small fireplace. Interesting to see how the residents of White Cliffs lived over 100 years ago. Our next stop was White Cliffs Tank No 3 where their main supply of town water comes from. 
Of course Brad being Brad he had to take us the 4wd way over old mine shaft mounds and through dry creek beds.
We also visited Macca, our mate who let us camp on his claim for free. Macca is the only miner in White Cliffs mining in the open cut fashion with a bull dozer and excavator. He is hoping to fill in the open cut shorly as the opal is wearing thin and he wants to discover another area of White Cliffs for opal.
As of Friday 1 August 2008 we have now been on the road for 4 months. So on Friday night we went to the local General Store come Takeaway come Restaurant for dinner to celebrate with a visit to the local pub afterwards.
On Saturday 2 August 2008, we visited Peery Lake approximately 60km out of White Cliffs via the Wannaring dirt road. Peery Lake is located within the Paroo-Darling National 
Park. Peery Lake forms part of the Paroo River overflow, the only unregulated river in the Murray-Darling Basin and sustains a diverse plant and wildlife habitat. The four of us, including baby Jessica, enjoyed our sandwich lunch beside the water's edge. On our way home we took a slight detour to try and find Mt Jack however just 5km from the mountain we come across mud and water on the road. So much water in fact that swans were swimming in the water in the middle of the rain. Good indication to not go through the sinking mud in our 4wds so we turned around and headed back into White Cliffs.Saturday night was dinner at Brad and Hayley's but not the normal dinner you would expect. Instead we had a snack dinner of potato chips, hot chips, biscuits, dip and our new invention of Snack Wraps. Snack Wraps are freshly made hot picklets wrapped around a morsel of snack block chocolate. Very bad dinner but very yummy as we have to keep up with Hayley's (the pregnant one) cravings. That night I found out that Brad plays guitar so we had a bit of a jam session. It was great to jam with a fellow lover of music.
Every Sunday morning at 8am, the locals get together for a 9 hole game of golf with coffee at the General Store afterwards. So Don joined Brad this particular Sunday as his caddy. While the boys played golf, I went to pick up some rain water from Roundy's place. Roundy has 12,000 litres of rain water at his dugout however he is only in White Cliffs a few months of the year, so never would use it. He allowed us to fill up our camper water tanks with his water. Now that we have water, we can probably stay in White Cliffs a bit longer. Thanks Roundy for the water and thanks to Barry for the lend of his ute with a 250litre drum.
Our driveway or should I say the mound of dirt at Brad's place 
where we park got bigger on the weekend as Brad shovelled more dirt from out and around their campsite.
On Monday I took a trip out to Wilcannia to do some decent groccery shopping. Wilcannia is approximately 94km away from White Cliffs via a newly built bitumen road. It is a small town with a population of approximately 800 located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales. Wilcannia has a large Aboriginal community, being the traditional home of the Barkindji people (barka meaning river). Don't be scared to go to Wilcannia like everyone says for the people there are friendly and welcoming.The rest of the week was spent fossicking for the girls and mining for the boys down Brad's mine shaft. I found a beautiful fossil of an opalised shell and another nice piece of opal probably worth cutting for jewellery.
On Wednesday night I volunteered my services at the pub to help out with a 120 people Landcare function. After serving them dinner, I ended up behind the bar and might end up scoring a job out of it.
On Saturday night, the 4wd Action magazine boys came into town doing a story on testing out some 4wds. We caught up with them
at the caravan park and I took the photographer, Tommy, out for a recce to see where he can take some good photos of the cars going through some articulation scenarios. After subsribing to 4wd Action for a number of years and although Roothy wasn't there, I was still very excited to meet the 4wd Action guys including Slav, Shaun, Tommy, Cal, Fred and CT.
On Sunday morning Don and I met up with the 4wd Action guys at the caravan park at 7:30am.
After they packed up all their gear into the test trucks, we took them slightly out of White Cliffs (near Clancy's Hut) for the photo shoot. The 5 test trucks were Toyota Landcruiser 200 series, Nissan Patrol 3L, the new Toyota Troopie, Range Rover Discovery and the Landrover Defender. 
The article will probably appear in either the November or December 2008 mag. After taking one shot of all the test trucks of the rear passenger wheel in the washout rut (and of course my truck), the 4wd Action guys headed off to Hungerford to continue their testing. Thanks for a great morning and it was a pleasure meeting all of you. Keep up the good work with the mag.
As Brad has been still trying to fix up their permanent camp in White Cliffs, I decided to take a trip to Broken Hill on Monday 11 August 2008 to buy some supplies for us and building supplies for Brad. Broken Hill is approximately 3 hours drive away from White Cliffs via Wilcannia and 
Little Topar. It is a thriving community on the edge of the NSW Outback. With a population of over 20,000 people it is the economic and cultural hub of Far Western NSW. A thriving mining and mineral industry and over 300,000 tourists per year provide an excellent basis for strong business growth and investment in the region. Broken Hill is a city that cherishes its heritage and abounds with lovingly restored historic buildings and monuments. With its well-developed infrastructure, good climate and many tourist attractions, Broken Hill is a great place to live or to visit. It is also the base for the 4wd Outback Challenge competition held every year in May.
During the first part of this week, we helped Brad and Hayley put in their shower unit and attached it to the shed. While in Broken Hill, I picked up some oil and oil filters to do the maintenance on the Patrol which the boys helped me out with.
Also this week my 3 monthly not-get-pregnant jab was due. Now, I know a lot of you are thinking, why the hell do we need to know that. Well, if you are ever out this way and you need a prescription filled, here's the go. Take it in to the hospital / clinic a week or two weeks before you need it. The Flying Doctor comes in once a week by plane to tend to any patients and pick up any prescriptions that need to be filled. The Flying Doctor then flies back to Broken Hill dropping the prescriptions off to the chemist. The chemist then fills the prescription over the next couple of days. Then the Flying Doctor picks up the prescription and flies back to White Cliffs on his weekly visit. Now if you are all wondering, this process takes approximately a week if there are no outback emergencies that the Flying Doctor needs to attend. If there are emergencies it could take 2 weeks before the medication is back in White Cliffs. So for all you city folk, it is not just a simple matter of ducking down to the chemist when you are in the outback.
Wednesday 20 August 2008 saw our last night with Brad and Hayley. They are going home to Stawell in Victoria after their 5 week mining holiday in White Cliffs. Thank you so much for making us welcome in both your house and mine. 
We will miss you guys and of course little Jessica Rose even though she is a feral. Hope all goes well with the birth of your new feral, Clay Riley, in November.On Thursday and Friday, Don and I spent time together visiting the opal shops in and around White Cliffs as well as the photography gallery. Otto Rogge Photography gallery is one of the largest permanent photographic galleries in Australia. Most of the display area is located underground for which White Cliffs is famous for and offers cool viewing of over 200 prints. All works have been photographed by Otto Rogge and printed on location on watercolour paper with high colour fidelity and archival properties to rival paintings. Study pictures of rare and beautiful opals usually only found in private collections overseas. Mineral and rough opal specimens are also on display offering great informative and educational value. Souvenirs such as postcards, coolers, fridge and frame magnets, books, picture rolls and posters are also available.
Outback Treasures is an opal store with a difference. All the opals are locally found and Barbara is a silversmith who sets all her own jewellery. Very intersting pieces and well worth a visit.
Thursday night saw us at the pub celebrating Temille's 19th birthday. Temille is a beautiful girl who works at the general store week on and lives in Broken Hill on her week off.
After my volunteer stint at the pub, on Friday 22 August 2008 while Don went out fossicking, I decided to go online for my Responsible Services of Alcohol (RSA) and Responsible Services of Gambling (RSG) certificates. After less than $200 and approximately 7 hours work, I emailed the certificates to Graeme, the publican, and on Monday 25 August 2008 I did my first shift at the pub from 5pm to midnight.
On Saturday 30 August 2008 while I worked at the pub from 11am to 8pm, Don went up to PJ's Bed and Breakfast for a look. PJ's is another underground motel with spectacular rooms, antique furniture and unusual art pieces.
On Sunday as we were driving past the caravan park and into town, we noticed a tourist in the caravan park with the same camper trailer as ours so of course, we had to stop and have a chat with them. They had just come from Tibooburra after the rain and their cars as well as the front of the camper were stacked with inches of red mud. Good to talk to fellow Australian Off Road Campers owners.
On Monday 1 September 2008 Cookie (the local everything) and I went down to the Sports Club to try and organise the sound system for Father's Day. I was asked to provide the "light entertainment" for the night after Bingo, of course. As I don't have my own sound system with me, we used Cookie's speakers, mics, mixer and amplifier with my back up music on my laptop. 
After fiddling around with the sound for a few hours before we got it right, I met back up with Don at the pub were we met Tonchi. Tonchi is a musician from Victoria visiting White Cliffs for a few days to help the local kids at school write some White Cliffs songs. Fortunately, he had a better mixer and amplifier on board which he said we could use for Father's Day. Thanks for the lend, Tonchi. My couple of hours gig sounded terrific. For his generosity, Don and I invited him over for dinner. Thanks also to Cookie for the lend of his equipment.
After fiddling around with the sound for a few hours before we got it right, I met back up with Don at the pub were we met Tonchi. Tonchi is a musician from Victoria visiting White Cliffs for a few days to help the local kids at school write some White Cliffs songs. Fortunately, he had a better mixer and amplifier on board which he said we could use for Father's Day. Thanks for the lend, Tonchi. My couple of hours gig sounded terrific. For his generosity, Don and I invited him over for dinner. Thanks also to Cookie for the lend of his equipment.
On Wednesday 3 September 2008, Macca was drilling over on Barry's 
claim so Don decided to join them. Don learnt more about trying to find the elusive opal by drilling a hole 30 feet down before you dig. Unfortunately, they only found potch with no traces of opal.
claim so Don decided to join them. Don learnt more about trying to find the elusive opal by drilling a hole 30 feet down before you dig. Unfortunately, they only found potch with no traces of opal.
On Monday 15 September 2008 a huge dust storm with strong winds hit While Cliffs. After 9 weeks of camping on Macca's claim on the west side of the fields, we and the camper have endure a lot of strong winds. However, this day was the worse. The annexe
zipper ended up coming off and the annex went flying. While Don tried to hold on to the canvas, I managed to let all the poles down and get the annexe canvas flat on the ground. So with no annex and the wind continuing, we decided to pack up and move to a more sheltered spot while the annex is repaired in Broken Hill. Thanks to Smiley for the loan of his ute so I didn't have to pack everything away in its proper spot. In the meantime, we have settled under Roundy's shed in a lovely sheltered spot with the sunrise view instead of the sunset view of the west field. Thanks again Roundy, for letting us camp somewhere sheltered while our annex is being fixed.
On Tuesday 16 Septemer 2008, Don started his new job of 
"sheeping" out on a property 25km out from White Cliffs. "Rousting" is the usual term for "sheeping". That is, bringing the sheep in from the pens and urging the sheep to move up the ramp ready for the shearers or crutches. Shearers obviously shear the whole sheep while crutches only shear the forehead and bum. Crutching is done once or twice a year inbetween shearing to prevent blow flies occuring around the head and bum areas.
"sheeping" out on a property 25km out from White Cliffs. "Rousting" is the usual term for "sheeping". That is, bringing the sheep in from the pens and urging the sheep to move up the ramp ready for the shearers or crutches. Shearers obviously shear the whole sheep while crutches only shear the forehead and bum. Crutching is done once or twice a year inbetween shearing to prevent blow flies occuring around the head and bum areas.To end, White Cliffs is certainly a unique town with a tight knit community who help each other out whenever needed. If you get the chance to come here, get to know the locals, visit the pub and general store and try your luck to find that elusive opal. You certainly won't regret it. As a matter of fact, no matter what small town you visit, make sure you meet the locals at the pub even if you don't drink like me.
Until next time, take care and make the most of life.
