Fast facts
- Opal mining town where residents mainly live underground
- Semi-desert landscape dotted with thousands of disused mine diggings
- 1,061 km north-west of Sydney, population 225
Why go there
Ninety-eight km from Wilcannia is the bizarre moonscape-like landscape, comprised of thousands of hillocks of earth dug and discarded in the quest for opals.
White Cliffs has a last-frontier kind of appeal. Its quirky, laconic residents have many stories to tell of wealth won and lost. The miners work, live and breathe their unusual underground existence.
History
Opals were found in the area as early as 1884 but the harsh conditions kept development at a snail’s pace. When workers at a local station took samples to Adelaide, a promoter by the name of Tullie Cornthwaite Wollaston realised their worth and began selling the semi-precious stones in Europe. The first store and hotel opened in 1892 and miners soon arrived to dig their fortune out of the ground.
By the turn of the century, the population had risen to 1,000 people. To beat the summer heat, miners turned disused shafts into homes, stores and even hotels, a tradition that continues today.
Things to do
- Inspect White Cliffs Solar Power Station.
- Sleep underground at PJ’s Underground Bed and Breakfast or the infamous Whitecliffs Underground Motel.
- Buy an opal keepsake from one of the world’s most unusual towns.
Don’t miss
- The Pioneer Children’s Cemetery documents the harsh early history.
- Jock’s Place, an underground home, museum and mine.
- Self-guided heritage trail.
- Seeing the light crystal opal considered the finest in the world.
- Nearby Mutawintji and Paroo-Darling National Parks.
