On the show this week we have arrived in White Cliffs. We have driven past the sign many times but not taken the detour and had a visit, so when we organised our itinerary we made sure we made a visit.

White Cliffs is 93 Km’s of the highway just out of Wilcannia, and the land is amazingly flat. White Cliffs is know for Opals, so people go there with the hope of finding some.

Australia’s oldest commercial opal field, White Cliffs is one of the only places in the world where white opal is found. It is also famous for its rare ‘pineapple’ opals with distinctive spiky shapes.

White Cliffs is the site of Australia’s first solar power station, built in 1981. Visit the station, just outside the town, and see the mirror-plated collector discs that look more like spectacular science fiction props. Some underground houses are also open for tours and you can marvel at the airy white rooms and cool temperatures.

We stop in to visit Dick Wagner at Aussie Southern Cross Opals and have a chat to him about what brought him to White Cliffs, how long he has been there and also about opals and had he managed to find any. Of course he has and he goes out early each morning digging for opals.

Dick is a real character and enjoys a good yarn and gladly takes the time to chat with us.

We hear about Doug Torpey, from the local caravan park, his whole front yard is full of characters that he makes from old railway dogs. What is a railway dog you may ask.

Dog Spike is a fastening which is used for fixing rails with wooden sleepers. The number of Dog Spikes to be used depends on the locations. Its look like Dog shape and so named as Dog Spike. The Head and point of all sizes of Dog Spikes are identical and the shank is uniform having 16 mm square section.