Sunrise on our last morning at White Cliffs was beautiful. We had really had an interesting time in this opal mining town which had its own unique flavour….

Last night we had been checking the road to our next destination and realised that due to a lot of rain over the Darling Paroo area all the roads in and out to Rose Isle Station were closed… we had booked a one-night station stay there which looked fantastic but now not possible, so we had to rethink the next few days travel to the coast. Our best option was to drive as far as Cobar and then head north to Bourke instead of Rose Isle Station.

So, this meant we could all travel together as far as Cobar where Klaus and Beryl would then leave us for home….

We packed up and left White Cliffs on the sealed road to Wilcannia – a nice change from the dirt and mud coming into town!! The countryside around as we drove to Wilcannia became greener with large cattle stations – and a lot of cattle on the road….

A quick fuel and coffee stop at Wilcannia – the Cooee for Coffee café had a really great coffee and lemon slice!!

Rosie had tried to make friends with a mini guard dog near the fuel stop but he was very feisty and would not have a bar of her….

Wilcannia had some lovely old buildings some of which had been restored but others that needed a lot of work.

As we left Wilcannia we crossed the Darling River – looking very full!

Along the roadside were multitudes of feral goats….

Reaching Cobar, we stopped for lunch and then fare-welled Klaus and Beryl- we had really enjoyed their company on the trip and hoped that they had too! Another farewell group shot – this time under the mining sign at Cobar….

Heading north out of Cobar the road was good, but we got stuck behind a huge hay road train for a while – swaying everywhere with such a large load!!

The landscape changed again to very red dirt and arid areas – still cattle farming but quite different from the areas earlier in the day.

We arrived at Bourke and found the caravan park – an oasis in the desert on the Darling! It had lovely green grass and gardens – the owners were a young couple from Engadine of all places who had moved there due to affordability of the business venture and housing…. Big and challenging move!

Bourke not unexpectedly had lovely historic buildings a lot of which were boarded up and security was tight with all shopfronts barred etc… sad to see.

We cooked dinner and planned the next day – to Moree for the night as we make our way across to the coast….