{"id":1279,"date":"2024-09-03T09:27:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T09:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/cr\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2024-09-03T09:31:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T09:31:02","slug":"mon-2nd-sep-white-cliffs-broken-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/?p=1279","title":{"rendered":"Mon 2nd Sep – White Cliffs -> Broken Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is a three hour driving day from White Cliffs to Broken Hill. The pace of the day is a bit slower which was a welcome change to yesterday’s marathon of driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cave hotel had a bit of an unusual energy to it, which I guess is unsurprising for a cave hotel. It had the melancholy of a cave museum, as opposed to a hotel. When we were leaving, it felt like leaving a retirement home, where you know lives continue in the rearview, but an underlying guilt permeates the drive home. Why didn’t any of the other guests smile over dinner? What happens to the young Columbian hostess when we leave? She seemed so sad. I tried to order a coffee but she just sighed and said there was a power outage earlier in the morning and it broke a third of the appliances. Her total resignation made me feel like that was it – the cave motel will never get coffee again – and having lost so much already, she didn’t even mourn this particular loss. Why was she there? Am I too doomed to loop my days inside a cave? At the time it felt that this was the new reality I was assigned to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We (James and I) noodle around for a bit and then hop in the car and farewell White Cliffs. If I return here ever again, my life will have taken an unexpected turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drive today was a more joyful affair thanks to the smaller duration and lack of a deadline. We spend an hour over lunch familiarising ourselves with our accommodation rules for the evening and reviews of guests he has hosted (https:\/\/www.livesteammodels.co.uk\/dhmg\/bluecot\/dirtaged\/dirtaged.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am constantly lost in cave hotel. I spend the entire nights roaming the warren trying to find the dining hall, our room, or the communal bathrooms (which are totally cool, no stress at all, all part of the experience haha). CR. Caitlin is making poor progress on her redemption arc towards respecting country hospitality. DW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Paul Reulein wouldn’t be able to sleep here – not enough waking hours to describe how it fails to be built to code. CR. I am particularly concerned about the near complete lack of emergency exit signage. Given how easy it is to get lost and the frequent blackouts, it seems blatantly illegal and my keen desire for regulatory compliance is evident to all at the dinner table. DW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Named the ‘Stairway to Heaven’, there is no door at the top, just an empty space. I suspect this is where they dispose of nuisance guests. I best stay on trip leader’s good side. CR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Two words here give me a moment of pause before purchasing. CR. I also like that this is obviously written on a typewriter. I imagine the person owning the shack last invested in a technology upgrade in the 70’s. DW. Why is the price handwritten? JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As leader of the group I assume my natural position as mine manager. It’s thirsty work. DW. Caitlin and I both stashed rocks in our pocket to avoid the mine manager’s 50% cut. JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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No bottom in sight. There are hundreds of these; almost all hand-dug. JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Typical manager. Never leaves their ivory tower while the real workers noodle away. CR. Bad news for workers, we failed to meet the opal quota and you all have to buy me scones and coffee from the local caf\u00e9. DW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Red Earth Opal Cafe – a hub for excellent scones, incredible apple cake, piping hot coffee, updates on local domestic violence incidents and balanced discourse on native title. CR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At the late age of 18, Wobby (the Rav4) finally takes his first steps into adulthood. The aircon cranked to 4. This lasts for 30 seconds before Declan cracks down. Given this car was a handmedown from energy conscious Paul Reulein, it’s entirely possible this is the first time the aircon has ever been on 4. CR. I felt cool for the first time. JRT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’ve never been this fast before. It wasn’t Dek’s first time. JRT. This was done under controlled conditions on a closed track. DW. Dek has requested the speed is not publicly disclosed. Call James to find out. JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A nourishing lunch is called for in Broken Hill. A chili con carne dog and a mars bar milkshake (malt added). Happy driver, happy holiday. CR. We had to take this photo 3 times until I was deemed to be smiling enough. DW. It was the first photo. JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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James has managed to pack absymally for the trip. He decided to bring neither any trackpants or long sleeve shirts. Thankfully, Dimmeys at Broken Hill has come to the rescue. DW. My new favourite store. JRT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Common discussion points across the desert: is it a mobile phone camera or a speed camera; overtaking strategies (this one gets heavy airtime, mainly because it very quickly turns competitive); when the static on the local radio will clear;  changing landscapes; where does the train line lead; if the expense SharePoint is up to date; whether a crashed car on the side of the road was caused by an animal; whether the leader is being respected enough. CR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Broken Hill has an artsy community, lots of murals and sculptures. We went to a local art gallery and it turned out the couple that ran it only moved there recently, and prior to that lived for 20 years in Blackheath down the road from us. We spent 15 minutes giving her the T on the new businesses in Blackheath. CR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Horsey. JRT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The serenity of sunset at the solemn living sculpture garden just outside of Broken Hill was undercut by the persistent warnings that “Gate Closes at 6:30” and our tardy arrival. We made it, with minutes to spare. DW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pauline, this one is for you. You better have figured out how to access the blog by now… DW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1332,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/1332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}