August 13th 2017

We have enjoyed our R&R day at Lake Pamamaroo which is part of the Menindee Lake system. Being Sunday morning we opted for a slow start. About 10.00 am our faithful friends who can always find us, no matter where, John & Beth arrived along with the excuse to return the hot water bottle we had lent to Beth for her very stiff and sore shoulder. She seems recovered and ready for the last few days of their trip to Lake Tyers in Victoria.

Darling River in Kinchega NP

A luncheon picnic excursion seemed the best way to spend our Sunday. Off we went to explore Kinchega National Park. We camped there years ago in a tent..probably last century! The little that I remembered seemed to be the very grey landscape...soil, trees and river banks. This aspect has not changed but the river is now a soft green colour instead of looking like chocolate milk.

The wonderful old River Red Gum trees along the Darling R. are huge. The branches and trunks are twisted by floods and weather...some trees must be 500 to 1000 years old. They rely on floods as their life blood and in latter years the floods have not been so regular because of the upstream usage of the water. The Darling Channel is steep and deep. I find it hard to imagine a flood which would have to escape this channel before it could spread out onto the flats where many trees exist. There were some flood height markers which seemed very high to me but I am sure they would be accurate..eg 1976 & 2007.

The NP was once known as Kinchega Station. Much of this has been noted and preserved especially the old Shearing Shed..the only thing missing from this was the smell of sheep (that I don't really care for!) We spent quite some time wandering around the Shearing Shed, Shearers Quarters and various memorabilia. At the peak of wool production and with 64 shearers using blades, it is said that 72, 000 sheep were shorn....what an undertaking to organise the whole process.

 The stories about the Homestead and River Boats were interesting. Late 1800s the boats served to transport mail, wool and general supplies as well as people, up the river from Wentworth. The Station Communities suffered very hard lives with difficult working and living conditions.

The day has been warm with a clear sky but cool air is creeping in now that the evening is settling. Again we enjoyed a walk along the shore of the lake. Kangaroo and emu marks were evident in the sandy waters edge. We returned to camp along the road and John even spied the winding   track left by a snake..

August 12th 2017

Beautiful wattle near the water's edge

Evening view from pour van 

We said good-bye to Broken Hill soon after 9.00 am. The morning was clear after a mild frost. It only took us a short  while to drive east to Menindee Lakes where we have camped on the west side of the lake quite close to the water. The country in this area is quite barren with undulating sand dunes. Emus were the only creatures we saw apart from a Kangaroo that crossed the road in front of us. Unexpectedly her joey jumped from her pouch in the middle of the road. We slowed to a stop. Mother kangaroo came to a halt and young joey jumped back into his rightful place. The joey was small with gangly legs and would have found it difficult to jump the remaining few metres across the road.

Spring is coming as many daisy bushes bloom

After lunch we drove around the lake but there are few campers..a pity really as the weekend is warm. We walked for 30 minutes along the edge of the lake, enjoying the few birds that were enjoying the water. Late in the afternoon a message came through from Beth & John to say they were also camped on the lake. We were unaware that their plans had changed as ours had!

August 11th 2017

During the night John had the good idea for us to spend another day in Broken Hill. Years ago we spent time in this mining city but there are many new developments since we visited.

Outback Dunny 

Firstly we visited the Super Market in order to cater for the last few meals before we return to Milawa. I had packed our lunch ready for a trip out to Silverton. Off we went, travelling west for about 25 km. We visited two Art Galleries which proved to be very entertaining....some artists have the ability to weave a great sense of humour  into their work. One item was an Outback Dunny which had a brightly painted door with a sign which said 'NO ENTRY FEE' and a second sign saying DANGER - OPEN HOLE'. If you look carefully you can see under the door there are 2 strategically placed feet with boots on!

 Lunch time was upon us so we drove another 10 km to the Umberumberka Reservoir where we sat in a small picnic area looking over the water which was really very low. This lake was initially made to service the mining industry in the area. The country is undulating and very barren. The road curves through low hills and advertising for Silverton and the Reservoir features this statement..beyond 39 dips. It was rather like a 'switch-back' railway.

After returning to Broken Hill I went to the Regional Art gallery for 40 minutes or so while John spent time in the local ARB store. The exhibition featured at the Gallery was the '2017 Pro Hart Outback Exhibition' It was an exciting display which I really enjoyed. The winning entry was superb! The Regional Gallery is housed in a beautifully restored old Emporium which was opened as a gallery about 10 years ago.

The evening has become quite cool after a warm and sunny day. Tomorrow we plan to travel a short distance south to Kinchega National Park with the hope that the warm weather continues.

August 10th 2017

A warm and very windy day. It was hard to leave our sheltered camp spot. Yes, we did see and hear trains on the line, mostly freight trains but one passenger train..The Indian Pacific..what fun those passengers will have all the way to Perth.

Corrugated building which houses the Museum of Radium Hill

John was hopeful of visiting the site of the Radium Hill Mine where radium was first found in 1906. However we were unable to make phone contact with the landowner where the site is. John did speak to the owner of Tikalina Station which we needed to drive through, and she was most helpful and allowed us to go as far as the Homestead where the Museum for Radium Hill is housed. It is quite a well kept display of historical reports of activities within the mining township as well as the mine and the men and women who worked there. This visit gave us more information and will encourage us to begin our arrangements earlier,  and hopefully gain permission for entry, before we plan a trip up/down the Barrier Highway.

The last kms to Broken Hill were easy driving on a very good bitumen road. The landscape is mostly flat and arid with some hills and trees.

We have camped in the Broken Hill Tourist Park which, is thankfully, very clean. We visited the Information Centre so we can plan our trip home through NSW.

Me with my lovely daughter

Cynthia and David have come up to Broken Hill as part of a short trip in Outback NSW while Cynthia is recuperating. We met them late in the day for a long 'catch-up' and enjoyed a delightful meal together at the Royal Exchange Hotel where they are staying. It was so good to see Cynthia well on the way to recovery. It also gave us the opportunity to thank David for all the care he gave Cynthia during her rescue and transport to the Alice Springs Hospital.

August 9th 2017

I felt sad to be leaving Beth and John this morning, but they chose to enjoy another night at Quorn. The town has delightful old buildings which have been restored or kept in good condition. Last night we had our evening meal at Emily's Bistro which has been operating for 7 years but prior to that it was an Emporium for many many years. This would have been a large shop which catered for many needs, ranging from clothes, shoes, kitchen equipment and food...'you name it'. An important shop in such a remote rown. Today's decorations were quaint with many old boxes and tins displayed with old fashioned labeling.

Our main aim for the day was to reach the Barrier H'way and travel toward Broken Hill. John was keen to go 'across country' and drive through the hills and farmland areas. We actually saw many deserted farms, old dilapidated homes and dry country with acres of salt bush growing. Eventually we came into cropping country where wheat was showing green in the paddocks...presumably wheat and presumably there had been some rain. We found several ideal sites for camping on the Boolcunda and Yanyarrie Creeks. There were a few cattle and sheep but what a tough life for them.

Golden wattle

We drove over a high pass and stopped to walk up to the Black Rock Lookout. There were Mallee Gums which are large and strong mallee trees. The other bush was a very highly perfumed Golden Wattle bush. Apart from many hawks hovering over the fields we only recognised two types of birds..the very striking Lincoln Ringneck parrot and the Mulga parrot with its many colours.

Tonight we are camped along the Barrier Highway between Olary and Manna Hill. We have settled in a dry creek bed in between the rail line bridge and the highway bridge. The rail takes trains from Broken Hill to Port Augusta including the Indian Pacific Train. Both the rail line and highway are the main connecting links between Sydney, Broken Hill and Perth with southern connections to Adelaide from Port Augusta....You wont believe this but just as I am typing a very long freight train went over the bridge with a long whistle toot for us camped down below on the creek bed. We are probably in for a noisy night with trains and trucks.

Our van between the rail line and an old and new bridge

August 8th 2017

Lake Hart showing white salt and blue water

We drove by many salt lakes today, but Hart Lake was the most spectacular with the edges bright white with salt. It is a large lake as many are. One other salt lake fascinated us as lumps of salt had formed on the water and appeared like ice-bergs in the Antarctic.

Yes, the morning was cold as expected..0.7 deg. We do not look forward to the frosts of NE Victoria but heating should be better in 'Kyamba' than in our Jayco.

The sky was blue with only a few clouds and the sun quickly warmed us up as we travelled SE to Port Augusta. The bitumen road makes for easy driving and travelling. The scenery along this section of the Stuart Highway is remarkably flat with a treeless horizon. It is hard to credit after we have driven through so many trees and rocky hills.

Sadly there were many dead kangaroos lying on the roadside or worse still in the middle of the road. We did not see one live kangaroos so maybe these deaths happen in the evening, early morning or at night with the animals being dazzled by the lights of huge Road Trains which cannot afford to swerve for a kangaroo.

The latter part of the journey to Port Augusta  found me watching the curving trail of a water pipe, a railway line and of course our road...what lovely stitching lines! The pipe delivers water from our Murray River to Coober Pedy which is a long, long way. Maybe people in Coober Pedy use water that has fallen in the Ovens and King Valleys.

There was not one train to be seen which disappointed us because we have seen wonderful long trains on the line when we have travelled this road before. The Ghan Train goes from Darwin to Port Augusta. The Indian Pacific travels from Sydney to Perth going through Port Augusta .There are mining trains and fright trains as well. We heard a whistle blow once, but no trains!

We have continued on to Quorn this evening. What a pretty drive though the Pichi Richi Pass. We are camped in a small park at Quorn which will satisfy all our requirements.

August 7th 2017 

The 4 of us left Marla by 9.00 am and headed south down the Stuart H’way. It was fun to travel with Beth and John again. Generally speaking the country is flat with only a few hills. Often the vegetation was sparse, but the  all plants growing, looked healthy. There must have been a shower of rain during the last few months. Mulga trees were the most common but other plants such as yellow cassias, red hop bush, blue/green of the salt bush and green of the mulga bushes made a delightful garden show. We are fascinated that all the new bitumen has been surfaced with crushed 'red rock'. It blends with the scenery so very well.

Red Red Road..taken through Toyota windscreen.

Closer to Coober Pedy the colour in the mullock heaps is, of course, the colour of the earth..white to pale cream and many variations of tan, orange and rust all toning together. There are hundreds of mullock heaps so there must be many miners still digging this earth in search for opals.

After finding a very well stocked IGA Super Market and doing my shopping, we had lunch and continued on our way arriving at a roadside camping area that we have camped in before. It is 30 or 40 kms north of Glendambo. So here we are under a clear blue sky amongst the Western Myall trees. It feels as though we could have quite a cold night. Our fire is alight with camp oven roast lamb cooking. Yum!

Later...Yes the lamb was delicious and we all enjoyed it with a glass of red wine!