CUTTING CORNERS 2021 - Panoramas 8 of 8

Greetings CC Fans

This is the final post bringing you back to where it all began… BROKEN HILL !!!

 

The drive from Wilcannia to Broken Hill (195km) was truly brilliant - flat classic outback under blue sky with a splash of cloud. Visited the new Desert Sculptures just outside the Hill and even met a blue-tongue lizard. Finished the day with a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service which will feature in the film. It was sad dropping off my 4WD home-away-from-home after driving it 2,724km through the best of the NSW Outback - an awesome trip with awe inspiring landscapes and down-to-earth crusty characters which you shall see in the film.

Tomorrow on the 0745 train to Orange to visit my dad’s brother Sam, his wife Maria and my cousins Peter and Steve and their families. Hoping to rest and watch SPARK TREK with my Orange relatives.

I hope you have enjoyed some of the scenery that my eyes beheld - a truly vast country !!!

CUTTING CORNERS 2021 - Panoramas 7

Greetings Outback Maniacs

This email will take you from Cobar to Wilcannia (261km) and show you the classic sandstone buildings of Wicannia which is now sadly almost a ghost town - I had to eat my camp canned food since the only tiny IGA is open only a few hours each weekday morning. I also spent the afternoon with 3 indigenous women recounting the story of Wilcannia flicking through photo albums. Wilcannia is on the Darling River and was very prosperous in the late 1800’s due to supplies coming to town on the river to service the very wealthy sheep and wheat farmers of that time. Now it is almost dead. So sad. The big highlight was White Cliffs - what a drive out there (93km) and what a place. Classic outback - flat as, red, green scrub and horizons that go for ever. Like Lightning Ridge, White Cliffs is down to 200 miners from a peak of 3000-4000 in its late 1800’s hey day and the Opal specialty of the place is the “PINEAPPLE” - a fist-sized Opal formation resembling coral that is as rare as hens teeth and commands half a million dollars a piece - you will see a photo of one live under lock and key below. The other highlight are the DUG OUTS - homes and and even hotels built underground into the sites of converted old mines. When it is 47C outside, it is 25C inside and when it is close to zero outside in winter it is 17C inside. Amazing. No aircon. No fireplace. The best dug out is called the WHITE HOUSE - made for me - I told the owner my story and he told me his - all coming in the film - What Cliffs - What a place… enjoy the O-O = Outback & Opal !!!

 

CUTTING CORNERS 2021 - Panoramas 6

Dearest NSW Outback Lovers

This post takes you from Lightning Ridge to Bourke (313km), shows you the town of Bourke and then takes you from Bourke to Cobar (161km) to show you the town of Cobar. My first and last visit to Bourke was with PARIS ANDERSON in 1990 !!! The town is COMPLETELY different - no more shops with shutters but a nice one-way shopping strip with new Darling Riverside shops. The big Bourke surprise was the grave of FRED HOLLOWS, famous eye surgeon who is buried just outside the town. The other Bourke highlight was an incredible gale force, lightning storm hitting Bourke that night with pouring rain - I was in the right place at the right time = my hotel room watching the movie MIDWAY !!! I have been lucky with weather - it has never rained during the day for me. Drove from Bourke to Cobar and filmed Cobar under cloud with no rain. Spark had to stay below 150m due to low cloud and bad wind up higher. Cobar is surrounded by a flat sea of salt bush - amazing views coming to you soon from Spark.

Enjoy more outback…