Chris n Shirley's 2023 Winter Trip : Chapter 4

Day 13 – Sunday 4 June 2023 – Broken Hill

We were all rudely awaken around 6:15 am when the thunder seemed to bounce off the caravan – multiple times. It was a spectacular sound, light and rain show. I turned on the diesel heater and Shirley and I snuggled down under the covers.

Kay and Darryl chose to get up for morning duties and a cuppa and were on the road 30 minutes in front of us.

Shirley and I stopped in some no name place for morning tea. I found evidence of a former dwelling with a tank (or well), a concrete slab and an underground room/place with a corrugated iron roof.

We passed through Broken Hill and stopped 14 km later at the Broken Hill Outback Resort. We have a lovely grassy site not far from the highway and not far from the Port Pirie to Broken Hill railway line. We were even closer to the railway line last night.

Resort hotel/restaurant/reception/outdoor area

It was a quiet afternoon with 4:30 happy hour and 6:15 dinner of lamb shank and veggie soup.

I did get time, late afternoon, to take a few photos of some local galahs who were fiercely feeding on the grass around us.

Above and Below: One Galah admiring the late afternoon sun, one chewing its toes.

Day 14 – Monday 4 June 2023 – Broken Hill

It started raining before we went to bed (early at 9pm) and was still raining when we got up. We had decided that the washing machine would get a workout – raining or not.

So around 7:15 I loaded the washing machine, inserted $5, and pressed ‘Start’. Then I had a shower. By the time the 40-minute cycle was complete the sun was trying to break up the scattered showers.

Discretion was called for and the clothes were all hung under the caravan awning – a wise decision as a few more showers ensued.

We had breakfast and around 9:30 we headed into Broken Hill. “Home Hardware” was first, for a gas bottle refill and a couple of brackets for a towel rail.

The Information Centre was next, where we got talking to a Sydney-born man (Peter Black) who had lived in Broken Hill for over 50 years, and taught chemistry and science at the High School for over 40 years. His long-held passion is all about the rocks and the geology of the district. He kept us spellbound for over 30 minutes.

A Selection of Local Rocks from Peter Black

He showed us a piece of local “Pyrite in Quartz/Felspar” which, he claimed, contains a metal that was instrumental in the first moon landing, and it comes from Broken Hill. Without it the moon landing would have not happened or would have been delayed.

It was about this time that we found out that Broken Hill does not have a Bunnings. However the Mitre-10 store was impressive.

From there we visited “The Big Picture”, a panorama that is 100 metres long and 12 metres high. It was impressive and consumed nine tonnes of paint. The three images below show around 80% of the panorama.

Below: Three sections of the 100-metre panorama

I then took a photo for my ‘interesting signs’ collection. It brought a smile to my face.

Next on our list was the Train Museum with a huge array of rolling stock and memorabilia from the early period.

Dodge Rail Car - pre-1938

It was time to visit Coles and Liquorland and then head back to camp for a very late lunch. Mundane duties followed. The clothes came inside around 4pm, just before the rain restarted. It had been a pleasant day.

Shirley cooked a pumpkin and chickpea Thai curry for dinner, accompanied by rice. It was excellent.

Day 15 – Tuesday 6 June 2023 – Broken Hill

After a moist night the day started with a clear sky and bright sunshine. The sheets and the towels hit the washing machine. We felt sorry for a couple with a young son (who wanted me to play dominoes with him) whose tent had been completely washed out - all bedding being wet. To make things worse she did not have any pegs or coins for the washing machine and dryer. We helped out with both.

Our first major activity for the day was to visit the “Living Desert”, a sanctuary for indigenous flora, fauna and culture. Apart from heaps of bull ants and a few birds the fauna seemed to be hiding. The flora seemed to be dormant.

However we enjoyed the 4 km walk and admired the cultural items, as shown below……………

A Simulated Aboriginal Shelter - Yapara

Aboriginal Story Poles - Created by Broken Hill TAFE Art students

A typical rocky scene from our walk

A solitary bird sat long enough for me to get a photo – a Spiny-Cheeked Honeyeater. It was the second time that I have captured one on film - this trip.

Spiny-Cheeked Honeyeater

In the same area are “The Broken Hill Sculptures”, a collection of 12 sandstone sculptures, from artists all around the world. The project started in 1993. Three statues are provided below.

A Broken Hill Sandstone Sculpture - "The Moon Goddess"

Another Two Broken Hill Sandstone Sculptures
"Under the Jaguar Sun" & "The Motherhood"

On the way back to camp I took a photo of a magnificent gum tree at the ‘Stephens Creek Reservoir’.

Stephens Creek Reservoir

We chilled out for a while then cooked sausages, mash and veggies for dinner.

Gentle rain started around 7:40 pm and stopped soon after.

Day 16 – Wednesday 7 June 2023 – Broken Hill

The rain restarted before midnight and the rest of the night seemed to alternate between gentle rain, wind and calm - punctuated by the occasional road-train or rail-train.

As I walked to the shower just after 7 am the grass was not all that wet so I guess that we had more wind than rain.

The sunrise justified the early walk to the shower.

Cloud dominating the sun at Broken Hill

Around 8:30 the rain started in a serious fashion and continued for most of the time until 12:30 give or take.

We visited the 'Albert Kersten Mining & Minerals Museum' and again had it stressed to us the huge variety of minerals that can be (and were) found in the Broken Hill region. Some of those minerals can only be found here, and some of those rare minerals have already been completely mined.

The minerals can be attractive and very useful. I took photos of some of the better (looking) pieces.

Galena & 42 kg silver nugget on the right

Apophyllite, Pyrite over pink magnesium, Azurite

Lead Manganese & Pyromorphite

The Silver Tree - 8.5 kg of pure silver

We visited the tourist information centre and found out that virtually all unsealed roads within cooee are closed.

Then we took time to check out 'Bells Cafe', an institution about great syrup and milkshakes since 1892. I had a chocolate milkshake (with malt) and Shirley had a mango milkshake. The 1950's jukebox, signs and music were a key part of the experience.

Jukebox, vintage a long time ago

We head east tomorrow, so we stocked up on fruit and veggies, then diesel.

The afternoon was mostly sunny, allowing us to pack things that we would prefer are not wet tomorrow morning - when we depart. My phone indicated that it was 20 degrees at 3:30.

Knitting, reading and chatting filled in the latter part of the afternoon before we headed to the park restaurant for a pizza. Watching 'new-grey-nomads' was also entertaining.

The Mt Gipps Hotel (a part of the 'resort') is a lovely old building, part of which was built in 1871. It has a huge history and the pizzas were superb. We enjoyed chatting to the young Scottish waiter/barman/gopher who is travelling Australia with his partner and hoping to settle here. His greatest issue is trying to understand the rules of 'Aussie Rules' football.

Meatlovers Pizza

The pizza was washed down by various drinks from the four corners of the table. Mine was local shiraz.

Supper was "Cherry Ripes" that came free from buying 130 litres of diesel.

Day 17 – Thursday 8 June 2023 – Wilcannia

The wet weather was replaced by clear skies and bright sunlight, as we headed east around 8:30 am - into the sun.

The incoming glare was forgiven as we had a handy tail wind, that made the driving conditions the best so far this trip.

By 11:30 am we had covered the 190 km and were camped at Warrawong on the Darling. It was around 18 degrees. The water is not drinkable, thanks to the recent floods. You may have seen the recent story about thousands of dead fish in the Darling river. We are camped near the Darling and some of those dead fish are within 100 metres of us. A sad story.

After lunch Shirley and I went for a walk and tried to avoid the mud. However, we were about one centimeter taller by the time we returned.

A Scene from our Walk

Straw Necked Ibis

Apart from cleaning two pair of sneakers, of mud, we chilled out for a while.

Shirley cooked some chicken and veggies for dinner.

Day 18 – Friday 9 June 2023 – Wilcannia

We are staying at Wilcannia so that we could have a day trip to White Cliffs – an opal mining town about 95 km north. We have been there before and it was unimpressive – but we gave it a second chance. Sadly, it has not improved.

White Cliffs (we did not see any cliffs) is pock-marked by hundreds of mine shafts. Just picture a beehive.

We did get an excellent coffee and took some photos. However, we were back in Wilcannia in time to eat our sandwich for lunch.

Tom's Shack

There are 3 toilets to be seen - Nobody's, Somebody's and Everybody's

A White Cliffs Landscape

After lunch it was time to relax with a sudoku. I heard some occasional splashes in the water near me so I went to investigate with camera. The splashes came from carp coming out of the water – maybe seeking oxygen. No photo there.

I did get some bird photos as I patiently stood at the water’s edge.

Apostlebird looking for lunch crumbs

Not sure. Maybe a Quail or a Partridge

I need to research what sort of parrot.

Great Eastern Egret

The views across the water were impressive. Both of the following were taken within 20 metres of our caravan.

For dinner we had some great (defrosted) beef stew from home.

Tomorrow we head to Cobar.

Day 19 – Saturday 9 June 2023 – Cobar

Today was a near mirror image of two days ago. Casual start, chilly morning (9 degrees today), bright sunshine, glare through the windscreen as we headed due east, great road (maybe 30 km of new-without-lines surface) and a slight tail wind. Today the terrain was more undulating. The distance was about the same. There were more trees, and taller - and lots of wild goats.

Heading East to Cobar

We caught Darryl and Kay at the half-way coffee stop, and then stopped at our favourite Cobar bakery at 12:20 for a pie for lunch (mushroom for me, steak Diane for Shirley).

We had a walk around town, filled up with diesel, then headed out to the ‘Old Cobar Reservoir’ for some free camping (as recommended by friends Trudy and David). Kay & Darryl chose to stay in Cobar.

It was a superb spot. We sat outside and read with 17 degree sunny weather around us. The views were great.

Above & Below: Old Cobar Reservoir

Acoustics were provided by the local gun club and three youngsters on dirt bikes.

Birds were plentiful and not keen to be snapped by my camera. But I got a few.

Some form of Cormorant

Some form of Duck taking to the air

Red Kneed Dotterel

It was just after 5pm as I found a spot to get a sunset photo. There was guitar music crossing the reservoir, and smoke from the campfires lingered. There were maybe 12 caravans around the lake and happy hour seemed to be in full swing at most (that I could see). Dogs sat at attention wishing they could get loose and say hello to the many birds around the water. Shirley had a preference for diesel heater over campfire. Who am I to argue?

The following is what I saw around 5:20 pm. There are around five caravans and two camper buses in the photo.

Sunset at Old Cobar Reservoir

Shirley warmed up some left overs and we dined in style, with the colours of the sky changing every few minutes.

Day 20 – Sunday 10 June 2023 – Bourke

I opened my eyes to a great surprise - seeing the sunrise out of the same window that the sun had set last evening. I have not worked that out yet, but no sunrise photo over the water.

Another casual start with a 9am departure. Bright sunshine, no cloud, and a great road - this time north towards Bourke.

Our stop for coffee allowed me to get my first wild goat photo of the trip.

Wild Goat

It was an easy 160 km drive and camp was established at Kidman's Camp at Bourke by noon.

Bourke is the final resting place of renowned eye specialist Fred Hollows. His grave is marked by a large local rock.

Another famous local was Percy Hobson - the first indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. This was achieved in 1962 in Perth with the High Jump gold medal. Percy is featured on the painted water tower.

I first included this photo two years ago - during COVID. I include it again as Percy died six months after I took the photo.

Percy Hobson on the Water Tower at Bourke

Shirley and I wandered down to the Darling River and had a chat to the Captain of the Yandra - the paddle-boat about to take 70 passengers for a ride for two hours.

I spent most of the time trying to catch the following birds.

White Necked Heron

White Necked Heron. Kite in flight. Magpie

I had some time, so I cooked scones in the Weber. The troops said that they passed muster. By this time we had met friends of Darryl & Kay - Ray & Gill - who were to travel with us for some time. So now we were a group of six.