Day 17 April 30 2012 - Burren Junction

Once again we have had a very lazy day.  Reading our books, talking to the neighbours and enjoying a few dips in the pool.  Could get very used to this lifestyle.  We are moving on to Lightening Ridge tomorrow and I have to say that I am looking forward to a long hot shower and catching up on the laundry.

Day 16 April 29 2012 - Burren Junction

Drove to Burren Junction via Wee Waa today.  It was only about 100 kms.   We were glad that we came through Wee Waa as we saw a lot of cotton fields, we had not realised how big the cotton growing industry is in Australia and it was very interesting to see the cotton fields and the Gins.  Apparently Wee Waa is the "Cotton Capital" of Australia.  Cotton was first grown there in 1922.  The bales of cotton were amazing, some were like hay bales and then there were others that were as big if not bigger than our caravan.  We were able to stop at one point on the road and take a couple of photographs.  We are staying at Burren Junction tonight, another free camp with an Artesian Bath - we have been in the pool a couple of times, it is not as hot as Pilliga Bore but still nice to get into.  I will take some photos of the baths tomorrow.  

Cotton Field Outside of Wee Waa

Cotton Bales

Cotton Plant growing wild on the side of the road

Day 15 April 28 2012 - Pilliga Bore

We were undecided whether or not to go through to Pilliga Bore, we were recommended by Marilyn to stay there but then a couple (Ian & Candy) that we met at Terramungamine were a bit iffy about it.  Anyway we decided to go and have a look.  It was a free camp with an Artersian Bore bath. We got there just after lunch and the camp was a paddock at the side of the road, there were about 20 vans there.  We got quite a nice camp and once we had set up we had a dip in the bath.  It was about 32 degrees and quite nice, the only thing I didn't like was that it was a bit slimy underfoot.  There was free wood at the camp so we decided to light a small fire and we sat out until quite late.  I even cooked Graham a potato on the fire and then just before we went in we had a piece of toast each, cooked on the fire.  We are only staying here one night but are glad that we came and had a look.

Artesian Bath

Our Camp

Our fire

Day 14 April 27 2012 - Terramungamine

Well we were up bright and early this morning and packed up the van for our trip to Pilliga Bore, but we are still here at the free camp in Terramungamine.  When Graham went to hitch the van onto the car the battery was flat.  The guy in the van down from us tried to jump start the car with no luck.  We finished up ringing the NRMA and had to have the battery replaced.  It was still the original battery from when the car was new (five years) so we can't complain.  Anyway by the time the battery was replaced it was about 10am so we decided we may as well stay here for another night.  We have had a particularly lazy day, reading our books in the beautiful sunshine.  Graham and a couple of guys that we have met from NSW spent an hour or so this afternoon going through the Camps 6 and marking off quite a few camps that are in and around or route.  Ian one of the guys then loaded Camps 6 onto Graham's GPS which will be very useful, so the day was not wasted.   Once again we had a beautiful sunset tonight and it stayed quite mild until about 6-30pm then we could feel the night air coming in.  

Day 12 & 13 April 25 & 26 2012 - Terramungamine

We came to the Terramungamine Reserve on the recommendation of Marilyn (Colin's cousins wife).  It is a free camp about 11 kms outside of Dubbo.  We arrived here at about lunch time on Wednesday (ANZAC Day).  We have been to Dubbo before so we didn't need to do much tourist stuff here.  Anyway the camp is quite good, there have been about 18 vans here each night. We had a drive into Dubbo today - Graham needed to pick up the hands free cradle for his phone.  A nice couple next door kept an eye on the van for us.  We were only going to stay one night but seeing as the weather was much better today we decided to stay for two nights.  It was freezing here yesterday even though we had clear blue skies and it was really cold overnight.  This camp is on the side of a river and there is an Aboriginal Heritage site here.  I will add the photos with the explanation of the significance of this site.

Terramungamine Reserve - free camp - not a caravan park

Explanation of Grinding Grooves

Grinding Grooves

Day 11 April 24 2012 - Nyngan

We decided to stay here in Nyngan for another day.  The caravan park is in a lovely spot so we thought we would stay another night.  We had a look around the town this morning, not much to look at just a couple of supermarkets and a small shops all of which close between 12 and 2 for lunch.  Graham washed the car and van this afternoon whilst I finished my book and did some knitting.  Tonight we sat round a fire with a few of the other campers.  It was the coldest day we have had since we have been away - was only around 19 degrees but it was a clear blue sky.  It is a cold night tonight but the sky is very clear with lots of stars.  

Bar at the Nygan Caravan Park (not used too often)

This is what the bar is built overt

Weekender (don't think it has been used in a long while)

Our camp fire

Day 10 April 23 2012 - Nyngan

We left the roadside stop around 9am and drove through to Cobar.  It took a couple of hours.  We parked the van outside the pub and went into the pub for a coffee.  Well you wouldn't believe it but they had Fox Sports on and the Manchester United/Everton game was on, it had 35 minutes to go so of course we had to wait and see the end of the match.  Well when Graham started to watch it the score was 3 - 1 and at the end of the game it was 4 all.  Needless to say he was not very pleased as this puts pressure on Manchester United for the premiership.  They are now only 3 points clear of Manchester City, who they play next week.  

After this we drove through to Nyngan.  We are staying at the Nygan Riverside Caravan Park.  It is right on the Bogan River and it is a lovely spot.  We arrived here at about 2pm and haven't really done anything since.  We had a walk around the park tonight and spoke to a few of the other campers.  On the park there are a few unusual sights, one being a bar which is built over a truck and also there is what looks like a weekender which is also built over a truck.  I will get a couple of photographs of them tomorrow.  We were only going to stay here one night but we have decided to stay for two and have a look around.

Bogan River 

Bogan River

Day 9 April 22 2012 - Bulla Park Rest Area

We drove from Broken Hill to Bulla Rest Area which was about 340 kms.  Once again there was not much to look at on the drive, just a very dry arid landscape.  I spent the drive reading my new book that Shaz got me for my birthday.  We arrived at the rest area at about 2-30pm and spent the afternoon lazing around the van.  It was warm but overcast.  There were about five other vans in there by nightfall.  Lots of mosquitoes so of course I got lots of bites.  The area was very dry and dusty - once again lots of red dust.  We had a beautiful sunset as you can see below.  We are driving through to Nygan tomorrow. 

Day 8 April 21 2012 - Broken Hill

We had a busy day today - up early and got the washing up to date.  Then we had to get a few groceries.  After lunch we went on a tourist drive -

1. Pro Hart Gallery.  Pro Hart (Kevin Charles Hart) was born in Broken Hill on the 30th May 1928.  His work was quite incredible.  There were lots of his paintings in the gallery most of which were not for sale.  Outside he had four Rolls Royce cars - one of which he had painted with Australiana scenes.   Pro Hart died in 2006 and the car has not been registered since then.  We were surprised with a lot of his work, I associated him with more abstract work but a lot of his work Australian scenery.  It was well worth a visit to the Gallery.
2. We drove to the Living Desert and Sculpture Symposium site. There are 12 massive sandstone sculptures which were done by Broken Hill miners of various nationalities.  It is a wonderful site in the middle of a very arid landscape with views of Broken Hill in the distance.  Each sculpture has a story including one that is dedicated to Fred Hollows.  
3. We then drove back into Broken Hill and went to the Broken Earth Cafe & Restaurant - this cafe sits on top of the now dormant Line of Lode, or ore body that runs through the middle of town.  There is a memorial to the miners.   It was amazing reading some of the reasons for death, falling down ladders, electrocuted etc.  and some of the miners were very young - some as young as 12 years old.  At the site there is a massive seat - we both sat on it and were fortunate enough to have our picture taken by one of the passing tourists. 
4. We then went to the National Geograph centre to have a look at the Silver Tree.  The tree stands almost 1 metre high and contains approximately 8.5kg of silver.  We were not allowed to take photographs of it but I will try and download one.  

We had to smile today as we were driving through Broken Hill a lot of the street names are named after minerals resources and chemicals which helped forge the town.  The names include Gypsum, Bromide, Oxide, Silver, Chloride, Iodide, Sulphide, Cobalt and one even called "Beryl" which is a form of quartz.  The town is certainly very proud of its history.

Just two of the four Rolls Royce Cars at the Pro Hart Gallery

Painted Rolls Royce

Horses Head Sculpture

Motherhood sculpture

Garden Seat ? 

Miners Memorial

Silver tree (downloaded)

Day 7 April 20 2012 - Broken Hill

Woke up again today to another beautiful day.  Packed up a picnic lunch and headed for Silverton, an old mining town about 32 kilometres from Broken Hill.  Silverton was first settled in 1885 the population at that time was around 3000.  It now boasts of population of about 37 and is enjoying a new lease of life as a tourist attraction with quite a few art galleries and a pub.  Silverton has been featured in a number of films and commercials, including Mad Max.  One of the Mad Max cars is a permanent fixture outside the hotel.  We had a walk around all the ruins and around the galleries.  Graham had a beer in the pub.  Then we went to the lookout, you will see from the pictures there was not much to see from the lookout the landscape is very arid.  We then drove to the Umberumerka Reservoir which was built in 1911 to supply water to the Broken Hill mines. 

When we got back to Broken Hill we had a drive around the CBD.  We went to the Silver City Art Centre .  This is the home of the worlds largest painting on canvas "The Big Picture".  This picture is 100 metres long and over 12 metres high and painted with nine tonne of paint.  It took over 2 years to complete.  The painting features natural and man made landmarks within 300km of Broken Hill.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to use the camera but even if we had of I don't think we would have done the picture justice.  It was quite incredible.    

Part of The Big Picture - Downloaded of the Internet

One of  the cars from the Mad Max Movie

Silverton Hotel

"Scenic Lookout"

Catholic Church

VW parked outside of one of the houses nice paintwork

School House

Day 6 April 19 - Broken Hill

Arrived in Broken Hill around lunch time.  It was a boring drive from Mildura - the road in parts was dead straight and the scenery was very bland.  Very few trees in part and very flat.  Anyway, not to sound repetitive but the weather is still holding and it was quite warm again.  We didn't do much this afternoon just read our books and did a few jobs around the van.  Made a few phone calls  tonight and we are going to catch up on some TV programmes that we have recorded over the past few days.  Will be do some exploring around Broken Hill tomorrow starting off with Silverton.  We are staying at Broken Hill Tourist Park, which seems to be a nice park.  Have booked in for three nights.   It is very busy at the moment.  

Day 4 & 5 April 17 & 18

We decided to stay four nights in Mildura.  Just as well as we had a few problems with Telstra.  Graham changed over his phone to an IPhone and whilst there the upgraded our Wireless Internet.  They did not tell us that they changed our email address so we couldn't log on.  We had to go back to the Telstra shop and they sorted it out but we have to wait 15 days to get our old email address back.  

Anyway we have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Mildura, the weather has been fantastic, around the 30 degree mark each day and the nights have been quite warm.  During the day we sat out watching the house boats and paddle steamers go by and  each night we had a fire with our neighbours.   Apart from a few long walks we didn't do very much at all.    




We are moving on to Broken Hill tomorrow.  

The Murray -View from the back of the van

The Murray - Early Morning Reflections

The Murray

Day 2 & 3 April 15 & 16

We arrived in Mildura around lunchtime on Monday.  It was very hot.  We are staying at the Buronga Caravan Park which is situated on the Murray River.  We have stayed here a couple of times before and really like this park.  We have a river view site but this time unfortunately the back of the van faces the river.  We have been able to sit out each day reading our books and at night we have been out by the fire with two couples, one from Horsham and one from Ballarat.    The nights  have been absolutely beautiful with clear skies and lots of stars.  The reflections on the river are something to be seen.  We haven't done very much whilst we have been here, I have been for a couple of long walks, and this afternoon we sat by the pool for a while.  The water was freezing - Graham did get it but only lasted for about a minute.  We are here until Wednesday morning when we will be heading towards Broken Hill.  

Day 1 - April 14

We left home at about 9 am and drove through to Bendigo.  For those of you who are confused, we decided not to do the South Australian Peninsulas this trip ( Bev and Paul from Sydney were unable to meet us.  They have sold their house and are waiting for the cooling off period etc).  Instead we are going to Mildura from here then onto Broken Hill and through the centre of New South Wales. 

We arrived in Bendigo around 1pm and saw that the Grace Kelly Exhibition was on here at the Art Centre. We decided that it would be nice to go and see and booked tickets.    We could only get in for the 3-30pm session and the exhibition closed at 5pm.  It was well worth going.  The dresses and story were incredible.  There were lots of original dresses including her wedding dress.  Unfortunately we were unable to take photographs inside the exhibition but I will copy some off the internet. 

We are staying at the Central City Caravan Park.