White Cliffs and Paroo-Darling National Park

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As planned, we were up at 4.00am this morning, threw on some clothes and made our way up to the roof of the motel. Bernie set up the tripod and camera and pointed it towards the Milky Way. Our stop here in White Cliffs was specifically planned around the new moon so that the sky would be as dark as possible to photograph the Milky Way. We’re not sure what time moonrise and moonset were, but we could not find even a sliver of moon in the sky this morning at 4.00am. Bernie took some shots at around 16/17 seconds exposure and then we went back to bed!

This morning, when it was properly morning for normal people, we had a look around White Cliffs by navigating our way around the Heritage Driving Trail. We started at the Paroo-Darling National Park Visitor Centre where we collected some information for a visit to the park later in the day. We drove past the Bill ‘Tiger’ O’Reilly Oval, dedicated to one of Australia’s great test bowlers who was a member of the team between 1932 and 1946.

Our next point of interest was the White Cliffs Solar Power Station, Australia’s first Solar Thermal Power Station which was built in 1980. The 14 large dishes made superheated steam to drive a single phase 375KVA alternator to produce power for the town. In 1997 it was converted to water cooled photovoltaic before being decommissioned in 2005. In 2006 the site was recognized by Engineering Australia Heritage Committee as being the World’s First Commercial Solar Power Station.

The rest of the tour concentrated more on the town’s opal mining industry. We stopped at the small heritage cemetery commemorating some of the town’s significant pioneers and the graves of some children who perished in the harsh conditions experienced in the early township. We continued around through the West Field to the Lookout and Sullivan’s Hill and then back to Smith’s Hill at the south of the town.

The town’s slogan is ‘Red Earth, Blue Sky, White Cliffs’. Hmmn, we experienced the red earth and the blue sky without question BUT I wonder about the white cliffs? There are white mullock heaps as far as the eye can see, but not really any cliffs! I guess they have converted the cliffs to mullock heaps in their pursuit of opals?!

After completing the White Cliffs Tourist Drive we travelled 55 bone-jarring kilometres to Peery Lake in the Paroo-Darling National Park. Unfortunately, no visible water and no bird life! We had hoped that with water in the Menindie Lakes on the Darling River that we would find water in Peery Lake on the Paroo River. The Darling River, Australia’s third longest river, has it’s source in Northern NSW where there has been flooding and hence plenty of excess water has flowed down to the Menindie Lakes. In contrast, the Paroo River is described as a series of waterholes that only connect when there is wet weather in South West Queensland and the Far West region of NSW. This area of outback Queensland and NSW has not received the torrential rain that has fallen in the coastal areas of both states.

We ate our picnic lunch taking advantage of the relatively new picnic tables that have been installed in the day use area of the national park. After eating we completed a short, but rocky walk that took us through the dry creek bed and up to a small rise looking out over the Peery Grasslands! At present it really cannot be called Peery Lake.

We then had to drive 55 bone-jarring kilometres back to the Outback Store in White Cliffs which was, thankfully, well-stocked with ice-creams!!

The White Cliffs Underground Motel includes a restaurant and bar so we have eaten in on both nights of our stay. The Belgian chef is here because he became obsessed with the idea of opal mining watching Outback Opal Hunters! Like most miners he works for someone else to pay his bills and then he mines every spare moment that he has. At the moment he is trying to qualify for a skilled visa so that he can stay in Australia. He is experimenting with expanding the menu and his current special is croquettes … in four flavours! All of us were convinced to try his specialty for dinner tonight. They were deliciously cheesy.

After dinner a game of cards and then another go at some night photography before bed … rather than be up at 4.00am again. Bernie is happy with the photos from very early this morning so was happy to take something a bit different at a more reasonable time of the night/day?! I was happy to accompany him to the ‘roof’ - which is actually at ground level because the motel is dug into the side of a hill – because I was still chasing my exercise goal for the day. Climbing up the stairs to the roof is a pretty good workout!!



Steps for the day: 10,401 (7.06km)

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