Monday 11th 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 12th 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 13th 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.
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