The drive to White Cliff from Dubbo was nearly 8 hours west…pretty much a straight shot towards the middle of Australia. The scenery went from big trees and rivers, to dry dusty terrain. Stan almost ran over a family of emu’s…a couple of times! We probably saw over 20 Emu’s during this drive. I was surprised how big their family groups were, I think I saw up to 6 baby emu’s with a mother emu. We also saw a few wallabies, tons of goats, cows, and of course rabbits!
If you click on the picture to zoom in you can see all the baby emu's crossing the road!
The pictures do not due the outback justice. It was HOT!
See the wallabie jumping across the road? Hard not to hit them!
And we made it to White Cliff! White cliff is famous for mining Australian opals...hence the opal mining truck!
Opals are fossilized shells or bones from the Jurassic period. White Cliff's is famous for finding an entire opalized dinosaur skeletal system, which is now in a museum in Sydney! Australia mines 85% of the world’s opals and white cliff is basically sitting on one giant opal mine. There are less than 60 people who live there and the town is 2 hours away from the closest grocery store. The houses, hotels and shops are underground. This keeps them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We got in around 7:00pm and stayed in an underground hotel. I have to admit, it was such a cool experience!
Inside the hotel!
A frog in our shower!
Getting ready for bed
A little skylight, we were almost two stories underground!
I was excited to find opals and keep them until I realized the abandoned mine shafts were not filled in and that there were holes everywhere...Thomas likes to run and jump so I was freaking out!
Case and point...
See bits of opal in the corner? We are still picking away the rock but it is all together!
It should be noted that we were out digging for opals in heat over 100 F....
Some of the holes....they just kept going...
Taking a break from the heat!
After our treasure hunt, we toured the white cliff grave yard….pretty amazing, and kind of creepy how many children die out here! It's like a perfect ghost town!
The town cemetery....
Here we are touring a local’s house (Jock), which is open for tourists to see for a $2.00 donation.
The kids and Jock
his house
Tunnels to the other rooms
and the bathroom
Stan bought me my first piece of jewellery since my wedding ring, an opal necklace! It is beautiful and since the store was underground in the middle of Australia, I will cherish this opal necklace forever! The store owners were so happy we bought something that they let the girls dig around in their rock pile and keep whatever they could find. The girls found some more opals—opals really are all over the ground—you just have to look and get used to recognizing them as they are mixed in white and red rock!
Thank you Stan, I love it!
9 comments:
You guys are so brave! I love all of your adventures. That necklace is beautiful! Enjoy your new beginning.
I love that you are so adventurous and taking advantage of all there is to see and do. Thanks for sharing with me. That necklace will look beautiful on you Eisha. Love you all!
I love that picture of the emus crossing the road!! And your necklace is gorgeous!! My grandma loves opals, and has several, I never realized they were fossilized bone or shells.
That underground town looks awesome! You would think they would have figured out that out in Texas by now! I am impressed you were willing to hunt for opals in that barren place when it was so hot, I might have just watched from the air-conditioned car!
WOW! All so exciting and educational. We simply love logging onto your blog. You are one of a few who keeps it up and keeps us informed. Thank you!
Haha- our AC was broken :)
gorgeous necklace! looks like a lot of fun!
I love the sweaty Thomas! I can't believe your AC was broken!! You are a trooper not to complain!! Cool hotel!!
OK- that is the coolest thing ever! Your necklace is beautiful & what a cool experience to stay in a hotel underground! Bill visited Australia when he graduated from HS. He bought an opal there that he later had set in a beautiful ring. I rarely wear it b/c it's so soft. This post makes me appreciate it so much more!
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