Well the tyre seems to have held. The general consensus is to have the better tyre on the front and sus one on the back. Thankfully I’ve got two jacks so I swap the two tyres around.
As I’ve arranged to get the tyre repaired at 9am, I feel compelled to go. I’d be annoyed if I was a no-show. I would mind getting a 2nd opinion on the repair job, not that I’ve got tons of confidence in their opinion either.
So at 9am I turn up, I ask the old lady there if Damien (can’t call him Grumpy) is around. “Oh he doesn’t work here” she says. I explain the situation and also add, that I’d repaired it myself and if he wasn’t here then that OK we’ll just be on our way. Well seems he was still at home, so I guess I saved myself the cost of a puncture repair!.
They’ve got a similar sculpture to the one of the animals out in the park, so I can’t miss a photo opp.
Fueled up and tyre pressure raised for highway conditions, While waiting for the guys Greg and I take a look at the National Parks office, out at the corner they mentioned the original corner post was on display here and sure enough it is.
We have a quick coffee at the general store and we walk up to the Pioneer Park at the far end of town.
I’d been teasing George about an item Sturt took on his last expedition that came this way. Sturt was so convinced he’d find an inland see, the hauled a boat the whole way from Adelaide. Not a small one either. It’s only a replica, but it certainly is an eye opener. Actually, while in the Parks office, they had a model made out of toys of all the stuff Sturt took!!! Wow. Then again, I look at the back of our cars and maybe I can’t be too critical!
On tar again for the first time in what seems weeks. We head 40 odd Ks south to the old ruin town of Milparinka. I guess a bit like Farina. From last time I know they have at least two or three building pretty much completely restored. This is the old Court house and Police station/lockup. There is some other cottage that seems restored too. Last time we were here the old post office was just a shell. I’m shocked to see it with a roof and veranda on. I’m more pleasantly shock to see how they’ve done it. The roof is just lightly sitting on the old building, not really restored, just preserved. The floor too, just comes short of the stone. A really light touch and so well done.
I have a chat the old bloke who’s volunteering in the visitor centre, who explains some of the changes since we were last here. They have full powered caravan sites here now.
There was a Sturt exhibition on in one of the building and this had another model of all the stuff he took. The wall signage had a great timeline of his journey too. So George and I spend a bit more time here than expected.
I was thinking this stop would be more for the other guys to have a look, but I probably got more out of it.
We discuss maybe getting a motel room tomorrow night, around Dubbo, as we don’t need to setup and packup it will make then next 1000ks of driving a bit easier. It means we can get home a little earlier in the day.
Another 70 odd K’s we turn off the Silver City Highway and hit the dirt towards White Cliffs, tyre pressures down, the next 140ks of road ends up pretty good only the later section near the town starts getting dodgy,. The dust does means we need to keep our distance though. Along the road here there are a few sculptures, but the “think tank” is still my Favorite.
We finally arrive in White Cliffs. We drive to a freecamp site at the north end of town call Potch Gully, but it a bit too rustic for George and Nick. I think the Luna landscape, particularly up this north end of town is really interesting. I think George is concerned about being shot by a local overnight.
We do a loop around the three hill that make up White Cliffs. The other two hills are much nice and seem there seems to be more money here.
There’s a lot of work being done on upgrading the roads on these hills. It’s becoming quite gentrified.
Before heading back we make a last stop at the old Solar Power Station. Seems you can no longer go into the control room, but at least I get my own photo this time.
We settle on camping at the caravan park, bonus here is it is only a short walk to the pub. The pub seems to have had a bit of work done on it. A lot of the central area is concreted and they’ve got a huge steel undercover area too.
Along this trip I’ve been buying souvenir numberplates. A habit that started at Cameron Corner on the first trip out here. I’ve got to say, White Cliffs have the cutest ones, I nearly missed it.
I spot check what might be available in Dubbo tomorrow night, the first 3 or 4 I check are all booked out? What the? A quick check shows some Caravan, Camping etc Expo, it seem everything is booked out. Surely we’ll find something.