These are not quite the seven hills of Rome, but Smith's Hill and Turley's Hill, rising prominently as they do from the surrounding rocky plains, are certainly important to White Cliffs. Much of the town's permanent population live inside them, literally, and as we shall see later some of these dugout homes are nothing short of palatial.
Mind you, this may be a little hard to fathom at first glance. All that can be seen of most dugouts are the large verandahs which front the majority of them. These serve two important purposes....to provide some shade for the vehicles invariably parked under them, and to collect whatever rainwater may happen to fall.
But we'll have a closer look at all this shortly.
But we'll have a closer look at all this shortly.
One of the recognised points of interest in While Cliffs is its oval. We headed out along the road past the hotel/motel to see what we could find.
We knew that it was named the Bill O'Reilly Oval, after the famous and very skillful spinner of the Bradman era, and sure enough, here was the plaque to prove it.
But the real question remained......why? And the answer....an accident of history. 'Tiger' O'Reilly was born in White Cliffs in 1905 at a time when his father was the town's first teacher. The spin bowler, described by that cricketing bible 'Wisden' after the 1938 Ashes tour of England as "one of the greatest bowlers of all time", left the town with his family when only two, but White Cliffs still claim him as one of their own.
The local oval is a far cry from the green and grassy pitches on which O'Reilly later wove his magic,
although at the time of our visit the normally barren and pebble strewn surface was sporting patches of green after the recent rains. As can been seen here, the White Cliffs Sports Club lies on the southern side of the oval, with the dishes of the solar power station nearby.
This area of town could reasonably be described as its 'sporting hub', and I was amazed to read
of the range of sports played here over the years. 'Lawn tennis'? What a different town this must have been in the early 1900's.
Today the local tennis courts are anything but grassed,
and from what we could see of it, the nearby golf course could best be described as challenging.
But at least, with 'green' fees as low as these, any wising to bash a ball around these gibber fairways would still have the price of a refreshing beer or two in their pockets at the end of a round.
The White Cliffs Sports Club was a real surprise, as was the somewhat insignificant looking memorial stone on the roadside between the oval and the tennis courts.
I wondered how many people would know that White Cliffs can make this claim to fame? Frankly, until we visited, we had no idea, and as we learnt during Rob's tour, the challenges faced by those who settled here in the late 1890's certainly demanded both 'courage and endurance' in large measure.
The doors of the Sports Club were firmly closed as we wandered by, but this had not been the case the night before when we took full advantage of their famed 'Sunday night roast'. I have to say we approached the building with some apprehension, but this was very much a case of 'books and covers'.
The rather ramshackle exterior gave no hint as to what we were to find inside. The small bar, kitchen servery and dining tables came as no surprise,
and neither did the larger adjoining function room
nor the expected 'sporty' wall fixtures.
But the remainder of the interior decor was quite incongruous, and typical of the White Cliffs 'arts culture'. This mannequin was hardly dressed for a sporting challenge,
and the major wall decorations which included these individually painted tiles,
and a series of prints centred on the Gilbert and Sullivan opera 'The Mikado' are as far removed from the sound of leather on willow as one could imagine.
We suspect the answer lay in the person of one of the volunteers working behind the bar. She is the owner of the most magnificent dugout we had visited previously during Rob's tour (much more of this later) and is a driving force in the town's arts scene (she had actually arranged for a well known opera group to present a performance of The Mikado here in White Cliffs last year!).
And speaking of 'local volunteers', we later came across the chap who stood behind the servery dolling out the fine fare on offer here standing behind a completely different counter.......in one of the opal shops. Every one pitches in in White Cliffs
Within spitting distance of the oval stands the unmissable array of dishes which now form one of the most remarkable visual features of White Cliffs. This is its solar power station.
The solid stone walls of the building in which the generators once pulsed, like St Mary's church, form one of the few older town buildings which is entirely above ground (note the two stone figures near the path....more of these later!)
This photo, courtesy of 'Research Gate', shows the dishes in another attitude, and the size of the support building of what was a truly innovative initiative.
This modest bronze plaque succinctly tells the story of this remarkable venture, the first of its kind in the country, and, as is noted here, arguably the first commercial solar power station in the world......in White Cliffs of all places.
Rather than bang on here about all the technical details let me commend to any interested the various websites which tell the story of this venture and of the characters associated with its development and day to day running. It is truly fascinating.
Before we move on to take a closer look at Smith's Hill, which lies to the south of the power station, let me return to the two stone figures at the entrance to the main building. These are not the only odd little piles of rocks to be found around White Cliffs.
They pop up all over town, amongst the recent flush of greenery,
in the dry town creek bed (apparently, according to Rob, when the water flows down this small stream, this collection looks for all the world like a crocodile)
by the town roadsides
and high on the hills above dugouts. And they are not confined to the town itself. Examples can be seen kilometres out along the highway. Some-one clearly has far too much time on his or her hands, and these additions to the White Cliffs 'arts scene' are not always welcome.
Rob told us that many of the locals find it more than a little disconcerting when a newly established roadside pile suddenly appears in their headlights whilst wending their way home after a big night....hmmmm....only in White Cliffs!
And where else but White Cliffs would one find an underground motel, apart from in that other iconic opal town, Coober Pedy. Here it is the feature construction 'in' Smith's Hill.
But it is not alone. Before we head on up the slopes to take a look (we did this as part of Rob's tour) a few overview shots are in order, beginning with one taken from the top of the dugout through which we were shown, looking south across the caravan park (on the Saturday when it was 'chockers'). You can also see the solar power station dishes on the right of the photo.
Here we can see some of the typically cluttered above ground infrastructure along the northern face of the hill
and with a bit of a further tweak of the lens I could focus in on the two holes in the side of the hill face which will eventually be the front doors of two more underground homes.
Of all the aerial photos of White Cliffs I was able to dredge up from the Internet, this has to be one of my favourites, showing the southern face of Smith's Hill, with the solar array a white spec in the middle distance, then the 'CBD' and beyond that the mining area, 'The Blocks', in the far distance.
With thanks to the 'Daily Telegraph', this aerial focuses on the exterior structure of the motel complex with its green verandahs, whilst on either side we have great examples of the large roofs over the front entrances of a number of dugouts on this side of Smith's Hill.
Our visit to the motel was the last stop on Rob's tour. Once the bus had come to a halt in the front car park area, we all trouped inside,
past the pool under the shade netting
and the outdoor garden setting which greets all visitors. Rob did comment that during the hot summer months, when there are very few guests here, many of the townsfolk take full advantage of these facilities, congregating in and around the pool
and breasting the adjacent outdoor bar.
Just beyond the outdoor bar and the check in desk, we came to the first of several dining areas, some of which are much larger
than others.
It does not take long to realise that this a place of passages, nooks and crannies, of varying size and function, such as this small drinks area
or this quaint little book exchange.
This passageway
opens out into a large quite formal dining area, where the walls feature photos and the histories of prominent locals who have contributed much to the development of the town over the years.
And for those with a yen (and yen of the other kind...I rather suspect plenty of them!) an intimate underground dining experience can be theirs in this cosy little candle lit corner (thanks to 'The Telegraph' for this shot)
Beyond the 'general' areas, yet more passages lead to the bedrooms,
of which these are but two
examples of the many different sizes and configurations.
I have to comment that one of the the first requirements for any guest who makes one of these 'dugouts' their temporary home away from home, would have to be to learn their way around the twists and turns of the many corridors which lead to the various rooms. And for me, here's the rub. As this sign clearly shows, bathrooms here are shared. Not one room comes with its own en suite facilities.
Given the circumstances this is not entirely surprising (we had learnt by now just how difficult the construction and operation of a dugout domestic water supply can be), but frankly, for us, the thought of having to roam along a corridor to visit the heads in the middle of the night, and paying just under $200 per day for the privilege, was a far from attractive deal!
As we exited the complex through a rear section, this escape stairway to the surface of the hill gave us a very good idea of just how far underground we now were.
And never let it be said that the dogs of White Cliffs are ignored when it comes to their comfort, well here at the motel at least. Just past what we assumed to be a staff relaxation area,
I was tickled to see that 'Lois' had the luxury of her own little dugout!
I must confess I have made a bit of a welter of the White Cliffs underground motel, but it does share a unique place in the hospitality industry of Australia, and the amount of work which has gone into establishing the facilities here is quite something.
Turley's Hill, on the eastern side of town (seen here looking across the cricket pitch on the Bill O'Reilly oval), is riddled with dugouts like its southern counterpart, but here the standout feature is the twin communications towers which are visible from all over town.
As this aerial photo shows (thanks to the 'abc') a curved roadway around the base of the hill provides access to the many driveways leading up to the dugouts.
We decided that this was a tad beyond a jaunt on foot, so we drove out to the eastern end of Keraro Road to the junction where the roadway on the left leads up to the hill,
whilst those taking the other track will find themselves heading out east to the Paroo-Darling National Park.
As we drove around the base of the hill, the rubble ridge on which the some of the rock 'statues' could be seen, also features what looks like a conservatory type structure.
This is in fact the 'upstairs outdoor area' of one of the Turley's Hill dugouts, pictured here in a long shot from Johnson Street.
Apart from a quick look at Turley's Hill, we had decided we should visit at least one of the town's many opal outlets,
so we duly drove up the steep inclined driveway to Southern Cross opals
and joined the clutter of utes, trucks and machinery in the shop car park.
Set into the side of the hill, this was certainly a store with a difference. Its outward appearance was a far cry from the very smart sign at the bottom of the driveway.
Inside it was a veritable Aladdin's Cave.
Inside it was a veritable Aladdin's Cave.
I was a bit worried when Liz tarried in front of the shelves of high class opal jewellery but soon remembered that this is a stone which holds little appeal for her.
In this, and the many other opal stores dotted around White Cliffs, cut and set stones form but a part of the goods on offer. Pieces of opal bearing rock
In this, and the many other opal stores dotted around White Cliffs, cut and set stones form but a part of the goods on offer. Pieces of opal bearing rock
and art works
of all sorts (I've never quite worked out the attraction of a painted saw!) could be found strewn in no logical order throughout the shop.
As we were wandering around the shop I thought I recognised the owner and knew I'd met him before. As I mentioned earlier It did not take too long to work out he had served us our meals at the Sports Club the previous evening. Small town, White Cliffs!
the plains east of the town were spread out before us, where the presence of a vehicle speeding along the Paroo-Darling road was more than evident.
On our way back to camp we did pass another local opal shop, but the coloured flags advertising its presence did not sway us to alter course,
What a fascinating town this is. As all the tourist blurb says, there is much more to White Cliffs than just a tiny opal town in the hot and barren NSW outback.
All that now remained to do was to have a good look at the opal mining and fossicking fields north of the main township, where, unlike all other opal fields in the country, visitors are free to roam at will and scour the ground for precious stones, except, of course, on marked claims.
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