Narrabri

Saturday 23^rd, Sunday 24^th and Monday 25th April

This morning we said farewell to LIGHTNING RIDGE and drove the 70 odd km back down to WALGETT, where we fuelled up and then headed east towards NARRABRI, pronounced NARRABRY mate, about 190 km away. With about a week to fill in to hopefully give the weather a chance to settle down and the outback roads a chance to dry out, we have decided to have a look at NARRABRI, then head north through MOREE and GOONDIWINDI, before turning back west to ST GEORGE and then on to CUNNAMULLA for one last attempt at getting CAMERON CORNER.  If at that stage the roads are still closed, we will have to admit defeat, and continue on our planned route north to CHARLEVILLE and then on out to LONGREACH.

The road from WALGETT to NARRABRI was a bit rough and fairly boring.  Huge flat paddocks which had recently held cotton crops but were now mostly ploughed up ready for whatever the farmers had to do next. In between there was rough scrubland, with the occasional sheep or cattle beast, emu and kangaroos.  In the middle of one recently ploughed paddock we saw a fox, the first live one after seeing countless killed on the side of the road.

About half way between WALGETT and NARRABRI we came across our first crop of cotton that hadn’t been harvested. 

It was just a sea of white disappearing into the distance. A sight we were to become familiar with.  We decided it would be a good place to stop for lunch. 

We also passed several Cotton Gins, huge storage sheds where they separate the cotton from the seed heads, and then store it prior to shipping it off for further production.

 The sides of the road were littered with cotton waste which had obviously blown off the trucks as it was being carted to the gins.

After setting up camp in NARRABRI we made our usual visit to the Information Centre, bought some groceries, and had a look around town.  It was a lovely town about the size of Stratford, which acts as a service centre for the surrounding cotton industry. It had a reasonably sized river running through it which promised some fishing, and Cameron was keen to give it a go. 

We found out that the main tourist attractions were the nearby MT KAPUTAR NATIONAL PARK and its sawn rocks formation, and also the CSIRO Radio Telescope Site.

Back at camp, Cameron discovered two new playmates, Holly and Caitlyn, two girls aged about 10 and 7, and that was the last we saw of him until tea time.  Meanwhile we had a look through the brochures we had, and decided on tomorrow’s timetable.  

Sunday morning Cameron was out the door before breakfast to play with the girls.  After breakfast we spent the morning trying our luck with the fishing, but came home empty handed. After lunch we drove out to the CSIRO Radio telescope site which was about 25 km west of town. CSIRO stands for Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and its main function is to monitor Radio Waves emitted from Outer Space.  It stands on a site of about 50 acres, and comprises 6 x 22 meter diameter radio telescopes mounted on railway tracks, which can be focussed anywhere in space. 

They have an aiming ability down to about several millionths of a degree, and are picking up radio waves from planets and shit, millions of light years away.  Figures that just go over your head.  They have been able to record stars being born, but whose light won’t reach earth for several million years.

As part of their display to help visitors understand how they function, they had set up two telescope dishes on the ground, facing each other, about 100 meters apart.  Each dish was about 2 meters in diameter.  You had to get one person to stand in front of each dish, facing towards it, and then talk in a normal voice.  Amazingly we could here each other as though we were standing face to face.  The purpose of this was to demonstrate how the dishes pick up our sound waves, which normally just radiate out anywhere, and focus them in to straight lines, which then bounce from one dish to the other.

As we were leaving the centre we saw several kangaroos watching us from the scrub at the side of the road, and then suddenly in front of us there was an Echidna starting to cross the road.  When he became aware of our car, he quickly turned around and headed back into the scrub.  We jumped out and headed him off which made him bury his head under the nearest log he could find.  Got some photos though.  Our first wild echidna.

Back at camp Cameron entertained the girls as only a 9 year old boy could, and we could hear fits of laughter from the girls.  We were reluctant to break up the show but had decided we would try out the Narrabri RSL for tea.  A rather ordinary Buffet Style meal set in what they called ‘The Shack’, with sound effects of a thunderstorm thrown in to add to the atmosphere.  A good idea, but somehow it just didn’t come off. 

Monday morning we headed out to MT KAPUTAR NATIONAL PARK, about 40km west of NARRABRI.  We had been told that you could drive to within about 150m of the summit, and on a clear day you could see about 10% of the state of New South Wales from the summit.  When we got to the top it was a bit cloudy and hazy but well worth the trip. 

We stopped at a camping area on the way back down and were amazed at the number of wild kangaroos hanging about looking for handouts.  Some were quite brave and would come right up to you looking for food.  Cameron was in his element.

In the afternoon we drove out to a different part of the National Park to look at what was termed ‘Sawn Rocks’.  A spectacular rock formation that formed a wall of what looked like huge lengths of 6 sided columns.  Nature never fails to amaze us with what she can do.

Tomorrow we will head north to MOREE and check it out before continuing on up to GOONDIWINDI, and then back out towards CUNNAMULLA.

Lightning Ridge

Wednesday 20^th, Thursday 21^st Friday 22^nd April.

With the weather seeming hell bent on preventing us getting to CAMERON CORNER we bit the bullet and decided that instead of heading north from BOURKE, we would go further east to WALGETT,  and then north to LIGHTNING RIDGE,  which, like WHITE CLIFFS, is a town founded on Opal mining.   We would spend some time looking around that area, and then head back out to CUNNAMULLA.  Hopefully by then things would have dried out and we could have another shot at CAMERON CORNER.  If not we would probably have to forget about CAMERON CORNER and continue north, weather permitting, to CHARLEVILLE and then on up to LONGREACH.

From BOURKE to WALGETT, it was 220 km and more of the same country side.  This time there were a few more bends, and the road was a lot less travelled.  I think we saw about 6 semi trailers, and 2 or 3 cars the whole way.  There was more wildlife, with quite a few emus, including one bunch of 9, and several red kangaroos.  This was the first time we had seen the red kangaroos in the wild, as up until now they all been greys.  It was quite sad to see them dead on the roadside as well.  Another popular road kill was foxes.  Judging by the number killed on the road, there must have been a lot of them about.

We also saw 2 or 3 live frilled lizards on the road, and had to swerve around one to avoid it.  They just seem to freeze when a car comes, and make no effort to avoid getting run over.  There were also heaps of goats, but as usual hardly any sheep or cattle.  We fuelled up at WALGETT, and then headed north for the 70 odd km to LIGHTNING RIDGE, arriving at about 2.30.  Unknown to us LIGHTNING RIDGE was having a big race day on Easter Saturday, and suddenly getting accommodation was a bit tight.

We managed to get one night at the first motor camp we saw, and decided that if we couldn’t get another night we would just move on.  After our usual visit to the information centre, we realised if we wanted to see everything we would need at least 2 nights.  Luckily the information centre told us about a brand new motor camp which had only opened a few days earlier, so we shot down there and managed to book 2 more nights in Lightning Ridge.

We also learnt about a heated swimming pool on the edge of town that was open 24 hours a day.  It was heated by bore water and entry was free, so after a bit of a look around town we went back to the van for tea, then headed down to the pool for a couple of hours relaxation under the stars.  The pool is circular, about 20 m across, and about 1.5 m deep.  The temperature is constantly at about 40 degrees.  Luckily it wasn’t too crowded and we spent a lovely couple of hours soaking and watching the stars.  A great way to end the day.

 

Next morning, Thursday, we packed up the van and moved about 3km across town to our new Camp ground.  Better still, it is across the road from the Hot Pool we enjoyed last night.

After setting up camp we took a drive to have a look at some of the mines, not that you can see much from above ground.  The whole countryside is littered with ‘mullock heaps’, which are piles of shingle that have been brought up from the mines, making the whole place look like a moonscape.

Rough tracks wander in and out of the heaps and the old mine shafts, leading to ramshackle old buildings and caravans which serve as the miners’ homes.  The whole place looks harsh and uninviting, with hardly any sign of life, yet below ground there is an army of people digging away trying to seek their fortunes.  Apparently there are about 2700 active mines in the area.  The only sign of life on the surface is in the town itself, which is probably about the size of Inglewood.  Naturally the main type of business is selling opals to the tourists, as well as mine tours and fossicking.

The town advertises what they call ‘Car Door Tours’, which are sightseeing trips around the area to see the mine workings and other points of interest.  All the ‘Car Door Tours’ are signposted by various coloured car doors.  So you can take the red car door tour, or the blue car door tour, etc.

On one of the tours, we stopped at a mine site where the lady owner runs a shop in a shed selling Opals, which she had dug up, as well as letting you have a fossick in one of her mullock heaps.  She was about 85 yrs old, and had spent a large part of her life digging her own mine, while her husband was away working at another mine.  After looking at all the opals and fossils she had on display, we went out and had a fossick.  It was easy to see why you could get ‘Gold Fever’.  We kept finding rocks containing traces of opal, and this made you keep digging, hoping to find a bigger piece.

We later spoke to one of the miners who likened it to a modern day addiction to the ‘Pokie’ machines.  You keep hoping the next spin will be big one.  Probably the same reason we buy Lotto Tickets. 

The mines themselves consist of an access shaft, which is just a vertical hole in the ground, just big enough for a man, or woman, to dig their way down, usually with a pick and shovel, and for the buckets of dirt to come up.  These usually go down for about 30 feet to where the layer of rock and earth is that contains the opal.  They then dig horizontal shafts in this layer looking for the opal.

 The opal is usually encased in dirt or rock, and by all accounts, is struck purely by luck.  It takes a very trained eye to spot it.  Add to this the fact that the miners are working in very poor lighting conditions and you can see the chances are pretty slim.  Their best chance of finding the opal is to bring everything to the surface and then start looking for it.

On Friday we did a tour which included watching the whole process starting from the raw opal, then cutting and polishing it to produce the final product ready for sale.  Following that demonstration we went down a mine to experience the atmosphere and conditions under which the miners worked.  Then we were allowed to fossick in diggings from the mine which hadn’t been worked over, which meant we had the same chances as the miners themselves at finding good opal.  Again the fever would get to you thinking the very next bit of dirt you moved might be ‘the one’. We got several chunks of rock containing traces of opal, but it will be back to our old jobs when we get back to NZ.   Great fun, but very dusty and hot work if your livelihood depended on it.

After tea we went back to the hot pool, and then drove into town as they were having a Carnival Night prior to their big Race Day on Saturday.  Our motor camp had been rapidly filling up all day with people coming from far and wide for the Races, and the town was packed.   The Carnival consisted of the usual Side Shows and rides, and Cameron conned us in to having a go on the “Twister,” which was a fast spinning merry go round thing with seats like a couch on it that also spun round.  The whole thing also went up and down, and judging by the screams coming from those already on it, we were going to be in for a ‘great ride’.

I won’t try to describe it in too much detail, suffice to say that the bloody seat would spin at 2597 revs per minute in one direction, then suddenly stop and spin at the same revs in the opposite direction.  At the same time of course you were also going up and down. After about three minutes of this, we were all a funny green shade, and it was only the huge centrifugal force ramming us back in the seat that stopped us chucking up all over each others’ feet.   Even Cameron was abusing the operator each time the spinning stopped and he was able to get some words out.

After all that fun it was time for the Dodgems.  Cameron and I did this while Christel tried to find her boobs which were last seen sticking out of her back.  Cameron mastered driving the dodgems very well, and thoroughly enjoyed getting bashed and banged from all directions.  After that he had a ride on a vertical bungy, where he was strapped into a bungy harness and then he bounced on a trampoline and shot about 5 meters up into the air.  Just what you need after the twister.  Then it was home to bed with a bag full of Candy Floss to help settle the tummy!!!

Bourke

Monday 18^th April. Tuesday 19^th April.

 We were on the road again by 9.00am, and after cresting the first small rise, there in front of us was the road dead straight ahead as far as the eye could see.  We quickly took the speedometer reading, set the cruise control to about 95 kph, and then sat back and watched fascinated, as the kilometres ticked over, and the road just kept on appearing dead straight ahead until it disappeared over the horizon, and then reappearing each time we crested a small rise. 

It was almost like sitting in an aeroplane with the drone of the motor and the gentle rocking of the car.  Finally a bend came in sight, and the speedometer showed we had travelled 53.1 km without turning the steering wheel.  Another record for us, and the third in two days.

It took about an hour to get to COBAR where we fuelled up and had a bite to eat.  From COBAR we would start north on the next stretch of our journey up through the outback of New South Wales and Queensland. After fuelling up we headed for BOURKE, about 160 km away, and our next stop.  More of the same country side and long straight roads. We stopped for a cuppa and lunch about half way along, and rolled into BOURKE at about 2.00 o’clock.

As we came into BOURKE, we saw lots of white fluffy stuff that looked like bits of wool on the sides of the road.  We had also seen what looked like lines of railway carriages away out in the paddocks, with white loads covered with blue tarpaulins.  It took us a while to realise we were looking at cotton on the sides of the roads, and what we could see out in the paddocks was in fact stacks of cotton covered with tarps, waiting to be trucked to the mills.  We found out later that BOURKE was known as one of the main cotton growing centres for Australia, and their harvesting season had just finished.  Unfortunately as we found out later, there were no tours and very little information available about the cotton industry.

After setting up camp we headed to the visitors centre to find out what BOURKE and its surrounding areas had to offer.  We had heard that their ‘Back Of Bourke’ Exhibition Centre was well worth a visit.  It apparently gave an insight to life in the outback. BOURKE has always been regarded as being on the edge of the Australian Outback, and people living in the outback beyond BOURKE were described as living ‘Out the Back Of Bourke’, hence the name of the centre.

Apart from the Back of Bourke centre there was also the Fred Hollows Grave and the Weir built on the Darling River.  Not a lot to get enthusiastic about.  Fred Hollows was a well know Eye Doctor who spent a lot of his time living at BOURKE helping the Aboriginal People, and treating their eye problems.  He also spent time in Nepal and Tibet I think treating the locals for eye problems.  Anyhow he is a local hero and is buried in the BOURKE Cemetery.

We also asked for an update on the road conditions for getting to CAMERON CORNER. The lady told us there was a road from BOURKE to TIBOOBURRA that was open, but was fairly rough and would take about 5 hours.  When we asked about access from THARGOMINDAH and NOCCUNDRA, which was our original intended route, she offered to ring CAMERON CORNER for us.  They told her access from that end was now open, so we left with thoughts that maybe we could still get there.

Having found out everything there was to see and do, we went into town to find the supermarket and have a look around.  One peculiar thing we noticed was that all the cars were angle parked backwards into the curb.  We saw notices instructing that that was the way to park.  Work that one out. 

 

There were quite a few aborigines about, and when we got to the supermarket, found that to buy booze, you had to go into a glass cage arrangement where you could see all the booze for sale and the prices.  After deciding what you wanted, you went to the serving hatch and told the attendant what you wanted.  He then went and got it, took your money, then gave you the booze through the hatch.  Obviously a system they have had to put in place to help curb the alcohol problem among the locals.

Back at camp we cooked tea and planned the following day’s itinerary.  Christel checked the internet and found severe weather warnings in place for sourthern and central/eastern  Queensland with flood warnings for many areas.  From past experience, we knew heavy rain in these areas usually meant flooding on the roads we needed to travel to get to CAMERON CORNER.  It was starting to look less and less likely we would ever get there, and the time had come to look at alternative plans.

Tuesday morning saw us at the ‘Back O Bourke’ Centre.  A very impressive building from the outside, but a very disappointing exhibition on the inside.  We came out not knowing anything more about life in the outback than we did before we went in.  Another Aussie ‘well over advertised’, tourist attraction. Our next planned stop was the cemetery to see the Fred Hollows grave.

The first thing we noticed as we entered the cemetery was signs showing CATHOLIC, ANGLICAN, PRESBYTERIAN, and GENERAL.   Never before seen a Cemetery divided up according to religion.  Didn’t think it mattered that much once you were dead.  We found the Fred Hollows grave, marked by a dirty great rock, and a notice board listing his life history.  Much more interesting for all of us, and especially Cameron, was a small Sand Goanna, which was also visiting the late Fred. 

He was about 60 cm long, and immediately became the focus of Cameron’s burgeoning photographic career.  Adult Sand Goannas can grow up to 1.6 m.

Leaving Fred to continue Resting In Peace, and the young Goanna paying his respects, we headed for the weir, which was just a couple of km out of town down a side road.  As we left town we came across a couple of wild pig carcasses on the side of the road.  This was not surprising as we knew we were in an area where wild pigs were quite numerous, and had been told to be wary of them while driving, especially at night.  A bit further down the road we came to what appeared to be a rubbish tip under a few trees, littered with thousands of bottles, piles of broken glass, smashed shopping trolleys, the remains of old bikes, and scraps of blue tarpaulins, not to mention several more pig carcasses.  It gradually dawned on us that we were in fact looking at a recently abandoned Aboriginal Camp.  Our first insight to how some of them live, and a sad indictment on these people. 

We got down to the weir which was quite spectacular with water pouring over it. 

The river is still running between 10 and 15 feet above normal, and we could see mud and debris showing how high it had got during the January floods.  We saw about a dozen Aboriginal boys playing on the rocks at the edge of the weir, and after watching them for a while realised they were actually fishing for yabbies, by reaching under the rocks and feeling for them, and then pulling them out chucking them up on the bank where their mates would grab them and put them in a bucket.  A couple of older aborigines were a bit further on using hand lines to fish.

The sides of the bank were absolutely covered by literally thousands of dead perch.  We had seen this at other places along the river and wondered what had caused their deaths.  You can imagine the aroma.  We were quite fascinated by the boys’ method of catching yabbies, and went down to watch them and ask about it.  They very enthusiastically showed us their method, and several showed us the scars on their fingers where the yabbies had struck first.  Their buckets were half full of yabbies, averaging in size from 10cm to 15 cm. 

About the same size as the ones Cameron had caught in his net.  No wonder they had scars, those yabbies had huge pincers.  There’s no way we were going to have a go.

After watching the boys for a while, we left Cameron playing with them and went and spoke to the older guys. 

They told us they were fishing for yellow bellies, but all they were catching were perch which they just chucked up on the bank and left. We asked what had killed all the other fish lying about and they told us that during the January floods, some ‘black water’ had come down and killed the fish.  Black water is apparently water with very little oxygen in it, and was obviously not an unusual occurrence during floods.

Leaving the fishermen we returned to town and drove down a side street to have a look around.  It was soon apparent we were in the aborigine part of town. Streets covered with rubbish and houses surrounded by rubbish and bottles.  A general look of destitution and poverty.  That night we were lulled to sleep by the sound of several lots of arguments and shouting coming from somewhere in town.  We had been told to expect this as the Aborigines got stocked up on booze.  We have heard a lot of bad press about the aborigines from the various people we had spoken to, but are determined to keep an open mind about it. Unfortunately, everything we had seen so far has done nothing to help their cause.

Towards Cobar

Sunday 17^th April

The road from BROKEN HILL to WILCANNIA is dead flat with lots of long straights. You may remember our little game of keeping a record of the longest straights we had been on. To date our best was 21.8km near WARRACKNABEAL on the road between HORSHAM and SWAN HILL.  By the look of our camp 5 Map, we could well break our record today.  Not far out of BROKEN HILL we hit our first big one, 32.1km, a new record, then just after WILCANNIA that was broken by a 34.2 km beauty. 

The country side was just rough scrub and harsh looking grasses, but all very green.  Trying to be the first to spot wildlife became a good game to help pass the time.  We saw the occasional sheep, cattle beast, emu and kangaroo, but more goats than anything.  No wonder, as it looked like perfect goat habitat.

Christel had another stint at driving while towing the van, and after cautiously pulling out of our caravan park in BROKEN HILL, soon settled into the rhythm, and happily drove for the next two hours.

After 200 odd km, we got to WILCANNIA where we stopped for fuel and a look around.  There was nothing to see except a few aboriginal kids wandering about.  The guy at the garage told us that the road to WHITE CLIFFS was open, but any other road that wasn’t  sealed,  was closed, so that put a stop to our plans of getting from WHITE CLIFFS to CAMERON CORNER.  On the strength of that we decided we would also give WHITE CLIFFS a miss, as we had always intended to go to COOBER PEDY anyhow, and they both had similar attractions.

So it was on towards COBAR, a further 260 km to the east.  It was going to be a long day’s travel.  At least the road was good, and with the long flat straights, it meant we could set the cruise control to about 95 kph, and sit back and enjoy the ride.  As we left WILCANNIA we crossed over the Darling River which looked like the Waitara in flood.  A cacky brown sludge with mud for about 10 meters up the banks as a result of the recent floods up near its’ headwaters in Queensland.

At about 3.00 pm we pulled in to a roadside rest area, intending to have a cuppa before doing the last 70 odd km to COBAR.  There was quite a large area under the trees beside the rest area, and there were about half a dozen other vans already stopped there obviously intending to camp for the night.  Cameron suggested we do the same.  I suspect he had had enough of travelling for the day, so that’s what we did.

We were soon comfortably set up under the trees, enjoying a beer and cooking tea on our slide out BBQ.  This is what life on the road is all about.  Stop where you want to as you don’t have to be anywhere at any time.   We had travelled 408 km for the day, the longest so far with the van, and with Christel now happily sharing the driving, it had been a breeze.  By nightfall we had been joined by about another 6 vans, so there were at least a dozen of us camped for the night at the rest area. 

Cameron Corner or Bust

Saturday 16^th April.

Happy Birthday Bruce.  We hope to be in TIBOOBURRA by tonight on our way to CAMERON CORNER, so we will have a drink for you then.  Well that was the plans this morning.

You may recall we had been in touch with the Information Centre at TIBOOBURRA, and they had assured us the roads we needed to travel were all open.  So this morning we finished loading the car with our camping gear, packed up the van and moved it into storage at our camping ground.  It cost $30 for the 3 or 4 nights we were going to be away. 

All packed up, we fuelled up and headed out of town.  About 5 km out we came across a big road conditions sign, and yes, you guessed it, the road from BROKEN HILL to TIBOOBURRA was closed. Shit.  The car’s all packed up with our gear, the caravan’s in storage, and we’ve just paid $30 to leave it there for 3 or 4 nights.  What do we do now? 

Thinking that maybe the sign wasn’t right up to date, (Sometimes it takes a couple of days for the information to get through from some of the more remote towns), we decided to check with the local police, so back into town we go. We explained that on Thursday we had rung TIBOOBURRA and had been reassured the road was open.  They were more than helpful, with the information they had, which was also about a day old, but yes according to them the road was closed.

The cop we spoke to also gave us a friendly reminder of the fines we faced should we choose to travel along a closed road.  I’ll put them down here just for your information.  It is $1000 per wheel, including any spare wheels carried on the vehicle, for every kilometre travelled, past the Road Closed sign.  So let’s say you are a smart arsed bastard who thinks you are a good enough driver to overcome a few hazards on the closed road, and head off past the sign.  50 km down the road you get bogged and have to call for help.  Not only will the tow truck smack you for about $600, your real troubles start once the cops hear about it.  Let’s say you are one of the average Toyota 4 wheel drivers around here, and carry your standard 2 spare wheels. That’s $6000 per km x 50 km = $300,000.  Ouch.   We decided we would forfeit our $30 storage fee instead, and go and pick up our caravan.

Back at our campground, the friendly manager was quite surprised by our quick return, and after Christel sobbed out our story, and turned on her charm, he refunded our $30.  We thanked him by saying we didn’t want to stay in his campground any more.  This was mainly because our site was under a gum tree which 3000 Corellas roosted in every night, and consequently we had the odd bird dropping on the van and awning, as well as the deafening racket just on dark every night and then again at daylight each morning as they came and went.

We moved to another camp ground and set up again.  We then went into town to have a birthday drink for Bruce.  See Bruce, even through all our troubles, we still remembered your birthday, and to plan our next move.  We decided that tomorrow we would head towards WILCANNIA, and possibly up to WHITE CLIFFS.  WHITE CLIFFS is an Opal Mining town, and like COOBER PEDY, the locals live underground. We had heard mixed reports about how safe it was to stay at WILCANNIA and decided we would only stay there if we felt OK about the place.  Also, there was a road of sorts running from WHITE CLIFFS across to TIBOOBURRA, so it was possible we could get to CAMERON CORNER from there. Tomorrow we would know.

Broken Hill

Friday 15^th April

After the morning chores were done, we headed into town for some sightseeing.  Our first stop was at what was called the ‘Line of Lode’.  BROKEN HILL is named after a range of hills that border the town, and are basically full of the ores which are being mined, and for which the town is famous. 

The ‘Line of Lode’, refers to the layers of the different ores buried deep within the hills.  The tops of the hills have been levelled off, and a museum and information centre built on top.

 There is also a monument building, listing the names of all the miners who have died there, since the mines first opened together with their age and how they died.  Quite sad reading about 14 and 15 year old boys, killed by falling down shafts, or crushed by machinery etc.  A reminder of the high price to pay for our precious gems and metals.

Our next visit was to a Mineral Museum which had a brilliant display of the hundreds of different minerals, ores, gems and crystals discovered in the mines.  There was one nugget of pure silver weighing 42 kg, and another lump of some ore about the size of a rugby ball which weighed 45 kg.  Some of the colours of the various gems and crystals were absolutely brilliant.  There was also what they called  ‘The Silver Tree’, a solid silver sculpture of a tree  about half a metre tall, that was sculpted out of a single silver nugget.  

After this it was back to the van for the rest of the afternoon which was spent organising and packing the car ready for our trip up to CAMERON CORNER.  We expected to be away about three days, so there was quite a bit of organisation to do.  One day travelling from BROKEN HILL to TIBOOBURRA, one day to go from TIBOOBURRA across to CAMERON CORNER and return, and then the third day to return back down to BROKEN HILL.  The roads would be too rough for the caravan, so we were going to tent the trip like we did around Tasmania.  We had arranged with the Camp Managers to store the van in their camp while we were away. Little did we know what was in store for us.  Watch this space.

Silverton

Thursday 14^th April.

An important day for Cameron and Christel as it is their last day of School.  They are right up to schedule, and as the Correspondence School was closing for the school holidays, it made sense for Cameron and Christel to have a break too. Christel had sent some tests that Cameron had sat back to NZ and we had got the results back.  He was above average, or exceeding expectations in reading and maths, and at the expected level for writing, so that was very satisfying for both teacher and pupil. 

It has been our long time plan to get out to CAMERON CORNER (for obvious reasons), which is the point where the boundaries of South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland meet.  We had always planned to do this from CUNNAMULLA, out through THARGOMINDAH and NOCCUNDRA and then down to CAMERON CORNER, as a side trip on our way north, from BOURKE to LONGREACH.  However, because of the January floods, all the roads from this end were closed.  That left our only other option, to go from BROKEN HILL, north through MILPARINKA to TIBOOBURRA, and then across to CAMERON CORNER.

To this end, we rang the Information Centre at TIBOOBURRA yesterday to find out if we could get to CAMERON CORNER from BROKEN HILL.  They happily assured us all the roads we would need were open, however, they were expecting some rain on Thursday or Friday.  We checked the weather forecast for CAMERON CORNER, and TIBOOBURRA, and found they had a 60% chance of rain, but it would be very light.  After checking the weather report again this morning, it reported only 2.4mm of rain had fallen, so decided it would be safe to head that way.  Consequently we started to make plans to head to TIBOOBURRA on Saturday

In the meantime we wanted to visit the nearby old mining town of SILVERTON.  In its day it was a poor cousin to BROKEN HILL, with silver, lead and zinc all being mined there before the huge deposits at BROKEN HILL were discovered.  As a town, it was abandoned at about 1900.

SILVERTON is about 30 km west of BROKEN HILL, and our drive out there was made interesting by the amount of ‘floodways’ and ‘dips’ in the roadway.  These had been purposefully built along the road to allow runoff for floodwater when it rained. Judging by the amount of erosion and scouring at the edges of the road, they were obviously needed.  We also came across half a dozen wild horses wandering about in the scrub, and down a dirt side road, a place advertising camel rides, with half a dozen camels tied up waiting to be ridden. At $15 each for a 15 minute ride, I think they are still waiting.

Driving into SILVERTON was like driving into an 1800s American Western movie set.  Old abandoned stone buildings sticking out of the scrub,

 and red dirt roads overgrown with scrub and weeds.  The place really had an atmosphere.

 It’s no wonder it has been chosen as a location for films.  

After having a look around and taking a few photos we headed to the pub, about the only building that still functioned, for a couple of beers. 

We also had a look at a nearby animal park, and visited the SILVERTON Cemetery.  Talk about Boot Hill.  Old graves marked with steel fences placed randomly out in the scrub, again, just like you see in the old Western Movies.

After our refreshments in the pub, we drove about 6 km further out to Mundi Mundi Lookout, where from a parking area on a hill, you can look out over a huge flat expanse of land across the border into South Australia.  The land is so flat you can actually see the curvature of the earth on the horizon.  Fascinating stuff.

Back at camp, we found we had new neighbours.  As we walked past, the guy was outside doing something to his van.  I should mention here, that we have a NZ silver fern flag that we hang outside the van each time we set up camp.  It not only upsets the Aussies, but also generates quite a bit of interest, and people often wander over to talk and ask us about our travels.  Anyhow, this guy had obviously seen our flag, and as we walked past he said, “What part of New Zealand are you from?”  Usually if we say “Taranaki”, we just get a blank stare, so we said North Island.  “What part?  he asks. Taranaki we say. “I’m from Timaru originally, but been over here for about 20 years. I’ve got a brother who used to live in Taranaki though, in Waitara.  His name’s Andy Kennedy. He used to have a trucking business in Waitara, but he chucked that in and is living in Perth now”. “Did he used to be a cop in Waitara before he took up the trucking business?” I asked.  “Yeah” he says, “He was a cop for a long time in Waitara.”

Well what a small world.  Andy Kennedy worked in Waitara for about the whole time I worked in New Plymouth.  To make it even more of a coincidence, our caravan park caters for about 150 to 200 vans, and Andys’ brother and his wife just happen to set up right next to us. We had a good chat, and now we’ve got Andy’s phone number, and will ring him when we get closer to Perth.  Apparently Andy is employed by a mining company and works up at Tom Price in Central Western Australia, doing 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, and gets flown to and from Perth for each shift.

Tomorrow, Friday we will do some washing, have a look at a couple of the mines and other things in BROKEN HILL, and then pack the car ready for our trip up to CAMERON CORNER.

To Broken Hill

Monday 11^th April

Nothing much to report today.  Took car into town for its 60,000km service at8.15am.  Got told to allow them until about 4.00pm before it would be ready.  Either its’ going to be a bloody good service, or they work fairly slowly.  Seeing as the day was quite overcast, windy and cold, 15 degrees, we decided school work, housekeeping, cards, and monopoly would be the order of the day. Finally, at 4.15 they rang to say the car was ready and someone would be out to pick me up.  Back at the car yard, they wouldn’t let me leave with the car until they had $923.00 of our money safely tucked into their cash register.  They also had great pleasure in telling us our auxiliary battery was virtually stuffed and we would need a new one before very long. Great!!  At least we know the car has had a good going over, and that everything is OK for the long roads ahead through the outback.

Remember the Yabbie net?  Cameron has been having great difficulty not being able to lift it about every 10 minutes to check if we have caught anything.  We keep telling him he should leave it for the whole day to give the yabbies a chance to find their way into the net. Sunday night he lifted it and to his delight there was one very big yabbie flapping around inside.  There was also a small carp which was quickly disposed of.  We took the yabbie back to the van, and with much ceremony, a very proud boy helped cook and then eat his first yabbie.  Yummy!  Needless to say the net was promptly thrown back in.

Tuesday 12^th April

Another nothing much happening day.  Went into town and found an auto electrician who verified our battery was very near the end of its life.  We told them we were heading for BROKEN HILL tomorrow, so they suggested we get it checked again their after it had had a good charge. They also assured us we could get a new one in BROKEN HILL if need be.  Also had to go shopping for a new kettle, as the $10.00 one we had bought at the start of our travels had sprung a leak.  After that, we stocked up on some more groceries as we knew once we started north from here, food would be a lot more expensive.  Another scungy day weather wise, so it was more cards and monopoly. Cameron was breaking his neck all day to lift the yabbie net again, and just before tea he lifted it to find another slightly smaller yabbie in it.  This time it was left up to mum to cook it.

Wednesday 13^th April

Back on the road at last.  We headed west from MILDURA for 30km to WENTWORTH, where we turned north for the long haul to BROKEN HILL.  We were looking forward to this trip as at last we would be heading into the outback.  During the next 280 km we saw one building. The COOMBAH Road House, which was roughly half way along, and where we stopped for fuel.  Prior to that we had two stops, one for toilet and to make Cameron a sandwich, and then another to make ourselves lunch.

  This was when we discovered we had done something most caravaners do at least once during their travels.  We had left our step sitting on the side of the road at our last stop. Now I’m not going to embarrass anyone by saying whose job it was to put the step away, but let’s just say that it has evened up the score a bit for my getting us lost in Melbourne, and which Cameron still proudly tells everyone about.  Maybe the little bugger will give me a break now, and start telling everyone about how Mum left the caravan step on the side of the road.

We met about 20 large trucks and about half a dozen cars during the trip.  Four of the trucks were Road Trains, our first experience with these monsters of the road.  We had been warned to expect quite a bit of turbulence to the van as they roared past, but had no problems at all.  No different to meeting any other truck. Just a bit of a rock and that was it.

The countryside was all very green but absolute shit vegetation.  Rough scrubby shrubs, mixed with clumps of harsh looking grass that was all spines and prickles.  No wonder we didn’t see any stock, they wouldn’t have been able to eat the stuff. 

We did see a few Emu’s, but that was all.  While we were getting fuel at the COOMBAH Road House, I got talking to the lady who owned it.  She said this was the greenest it had been in over 10 years.  She was a real hard case, and we had quite a long chat.  While we were talking a couple of other customers pulled in, but she just ignored them.  Well not quite, she just said, “Oh bugger them. They can wait.  What are they going to do if they don’t like it?  There’s nowhere else to go!”  She was right about that.  The pumps were all padlocked up and you had to go inside and pay her in cash before she would come out and fill the car up.

We got to BROKEN HILL at about 3.00pm, and after setting up camp, went into the Information Centre to find out what there was to do and see.  BROKEN HILL is a mining town, and the skyline is littered with huge piles of the diggings and the frameworks of the various mine heads.  Silver, Lead, and Zinc are all mined in the area so it’s not overly attractive as far as towns go.  There is a Flying Doctor Base here, as well as a School of the Air Base.  Hopefully we will be able to visit them.      

Nearby is the abandoned town of SILVERTON, which was also a mining town, but has since become largely derelict.  It has a pub and a few artists living there.  However its’ main  claim to fame is that was where the movie Mad Max 2 was filmed, and also used in the movies A Town Like Alice, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  We decided we would have a look at Silverton tomorrow.

Wentworth

Sunday 10^th April

Today we decided to head 30 km west to the small town of WENTWORTH, most famous for being at the junction of the Murray and the Darling Rivers.  For those of you who lack a better understanding of the geography of Australia, the Murray is Australia’s largest river, while the Darling is Australia’s longest.  The Murray also has the distinction of being the third largest navigable river in the world after the Amazon and the Nile.  So where the two rivers meet is of course quite a significant place for Australia.

On the way to WENTWORTH, we called in at ‘Orange World’. Another well advertised ‘Tourist Attraction’.  Basically it was just a Large Citrus Orchard offering free tasting, and a $30 tractor ride around the property.  By the time we left, we knew enough about bloody oranges and how to grow them, to keep us from eating them for the rest of our lives.  Another well over advertised so called attraction. Never mind, we did come away with some very nice Orange Blossom Honey.

On arrival in WENTWORTH we went down to the river junction.  Unfortunately the recent floods had left a lot of the riverside a muddy bog, and access to the lookouts and good photo spots was impossible.  However we did manage to see this rather important part of Australia, and enjoyed our lunch in a nearby park.  There was a pole showing the height of the highest recorded flood, which occurred in 1956.  At its peak the river was 13 feet above normal, and apparently the whole town of Wentworth was in serious danger of being literally, swept away.

This is where the Fergie 24 tractor became famous. Apparently there were several in use on nearby farms and they were called in to help.  Mounted with a rear scoop, they were used to help build stop banks and fill sand bags.  The locals were so impressed with their performance, they erected a statue of one mounted on a pole, in the park.

After lunch we drove out to the PERRY SAND DUNES, a sort of wilderness area where for some unknown reason a series of red coloured sand hills has accumulated.  During the war the Air Force used them for bombing practice, but nowadays it’s just a great place for kids to run, jump and explore.

Back in WENTWORTH we called into the local Sports club for a beer and chips.  From the street their building looked pretty impressive and we were more curious to have a look at it than the need for a beer.  For a small town this was a huge facility.  Walking into the dining room come lounge bar area, was a bit like walking into the Auckland Casino.  It just seemed so out of place to have such a huge upmarket facility in a small town, but their beer was cold, and their chips absolutely delicious.

It is from WENTWORTH that we will head north to BROKEN HILL, a distance of 265 km, with nothing in between.  This will be our first experience of the outback.  While we were in HORSHAM, we had rung the Mitsubishi Dealer in MILDURA and booked the Pajero in for its 60,000 km service.  Although we are only on 55,000 km, we thought it best to get the service done before we ‘go outback’, so tomorrow we will be carless for at least half a day, but at least we will have the peace of mind of knowing our wheels are all in good working order.

Travelling to Mildura

Friday 8^th April.

Hello again.  We have decided to include the dates as we go so if you want you can see what we have been up to on any day.  Also it will help us when we want to look back on where we were at any given time.  So, today we travelled from SWAN HILL to MILDURA. Nothing at all very exciting about the trip.  Lots of vineyards and orchards, separated by miles of flat, useless looking, mallee scrub land.  A lot of the land must be prone to flooding by the look of it as there was still a fair bit of flood water lying about.

Mallee scrub is the name given to a small gum tree that grows to about 3m.  In the early days it apparently covered most of the land for hundreds of miles around this area, and had to be cleared before any farming could be done.  The roots are particularly hardy to the point that the root clumps were often used for fences around houses.  At the Swan Hill Pioneer Village, there was even a stable where the walls were built of mallee roots stacked together.  Sput, the Horse and buggy man, who had spent most of his life farming in the mallee country, told us one root clump about the size of a rugby ball, would burn white hot all night, and was very popular in the old days for house fires.  We were to come across more about the mallee scrub later.

After we left SWAN HILL we travelled along the Murray Valley Highway, which in itself basically follows the Murray River.  We stopped for lunch beside the river, at a place called BOUNDARY BEND, which was nothing more than a garage and a shop, and then continued on to ROBINVALE where we crossed over the Murray into New South Wales.  We were now on the STURT HIGHWAY, and 80 odd km later reached MILDURA.  Between ROBINVALE and MILDURA there was very little to see, just Mallee Scrub as far as the eye could see.

While we were in SWAN HILL we had been enjoying beautiful sunny days with temperatures in the high 20s.  As we travelled north towards MILDURA, the temperature gradually rose and by the time we got to MILDURA it was sitting on 30.

MILDURA straddles both sides of the Murray River, with the main part of the town on the Victoria side.  It is well known for its Paddle Steamers and House Boats. Our camp ground was right on the river on the New South Wales side, and we look straight across the river into the main shopping centre of MILDURA.

After we set up camp, we decided to make the most of the lovely weather, so took our camp chairs and a glass or two of Aldi’s $2.49 bottles of wine, (Eat your heart out Joe), down to the river’s edge, and enjoyed watching the paddle steamers and house boats slowly chugging past.  Later we joined Cameron and a couple of mates he had found, while they fished for the Mighty Murray Cod.  God only knows what would have happened if they caught one, as we had seen one stuffed specimen which weighed in at 140 pounds.

Saturday 10^th April.

This morning we decided to go about 10 km south to the township of REDCLIFF to see ‘Big Lizzie’.  We had read about and seen pictures of her in several brochures and decided she would be well worth a visit.  We also wanted to see the Red Cliffs themselves, and the Psyche Pumps, which were also well advertised in the local brochures.  However before that, we had to throw Cameron’s Yabbie net in the river hoping for some fresh yabbies for tea.

Big Lizzie is not a local woman badly in need of some advice from Jenny Craig; rather she is a ginormous tractor. 

She was built in Melbourne in 1915 to overcome the problems of hauling heavy equipment over the sand which covered much of inland Australia.  She weighs in at 45 tons, is 34 feet long and 18 feet high.  Her most peculiar feature are the ‘feet’ which were attached to her wheels to enable her to negotiate soft sand. 

Unfortunately they were never put to the test, as after taking two years to travel from MELBOURNE to MILDURA, (she couldn’t go very fast), and she couldn’t cross the Murray because of floodwaters. 

Luckily for the owners of Big Lizzie, at about this time the Australian Government decided to ‘open up’ a lot of the Mallee country around MILDURA for farms for soldiers returning from the war.  The town of RED CLIFFS was actually settled as a result of this decision.  This is where big Lizzie really made her name, clearing huge areas of mallee in about a 10th of the time it would have taken with horses. They would hook up about 6 or 8 mallee trees to Big Lizzie and she would pull them out.

She was later used for all sorts of cartage jobs, moving loads far in access of anything else available.  We saw photos of her with two traction engines loaded on her trailers, chugging along the road.  Bet you never expected to get a lesson on Australian History, did you?  She now stands proudly on display in RED CLIFFS town.  You actually have to stand beside her to get the full impression of her massive size.  You can read more about her by googling Big Lizzie on the internet where there is a lovely photo of her posing beside a Series 1 Land Rover. (I bet you can’t resist that Sid).

From Big Lizzie we drove out to the Murray River to view the Red Cliffs, another attraction we had seen in a brochure, and supposed to be the area after which the township got its name.  We finally found the spot, hidden in the scrub, but were quite disappointed with what there was to see. Just some fairly insignificant red coloured banks along the side of the Murray.  After that we drove to the ‘Psyche Pumps’, about which a huge amount of information had been available.

MILDURA and its’ surrounding areas are known as the ‘Fruit Bowl’ of Australia, largely due to the irrigation system established in the area in the mid 1800s. (More History lessons).  Water is pumped out of the Murray River and is then channelled for hundreds of miles for irrigation.  The Psyche Pumps were the original pumps used for this purpose.  Driven by steam, they pumped huge amounts of water into the irrigation canals for over a hundred years.  Without them MILDURA and her surrounding areas would never have developed, so for the locals they are a vital part of their history. The size of these pumps was enormous and the sheer size of the whole undertaking was quite staggering, but to an outsider not something you would rush off to see. 

As we drove back towards MILDURA we could see rain clouds gathering in the distance and the wind was getting up as well.  We had lunch in town then hurried back to the caravan just as the rain arrived.  We checked the yabbie net only to find something had had a real go at the bait, but nothing caught.  We chucked it back in. The wet windy weather set in, and the temperature suddenly plunged to 14 degrees, so for the rest of the day it was Monopoly and cards and then bed.