White cliffs to Broken Hill

Well it would appear that I have been very slack but in all truth we have had little exposure to the internet out in the corner country.  Have been in Broken Hill since Monday but have had to have things done to the van but will explain all that as I type this update J

We last wrote to you on the 8^th of April – wow so long ago….

What has happened since then ????!!!!

9^th April Today we left White Cliffs at about 8.30am and headed on the dirt road to Tibooburra.  We took it nice and easy and after about 80km and two hours we stopped for morning tea on the upper side of the road.  We were having a great time and discussing the different countryside. 

 a range near our MT Stop

 Panoramic shot of MT stop

our van and Ian's Camper

 We then took off again and had to go down a slight embankment to get back onto the road.  We stopped at the intersection of the road from White Cliffs and the Silver City Highway to check out the “Tool Tree’. 

 It is a sculpture made out of different tools and farming implements. 

 Tool Tree

 a closer shot

Wires for Andersen plug and trailer plug

 It was here that we noticed the wires hanging from under the front of the van.  Ohhh Shite!!!!!  Yep – the trailer plug (controlling brake lights, blinkers etc) and the Andersen plug (getting power to the fridge whilst travelling) were completely shredded and of no use what so ever. We secured what we could and continued on our way to Tibooburra.  There was lots of water around and some really big lakes on both sides of the road.  The Silver City Highway is one of the roughest stretches of road that we have travelled on so far.  

  Bullea Lake on the left of road

and Salt Lake on the right of road

They are asphalting 6km stretches at a time and they say it should be finished (as far as Tibooburra from Broken Hill) by 2020. 

We arrived in Tibooburra and booked into the local park for 2 nights. This was to give us the opportunity to get some washing done and then go for a look see around Tibooburra. We were lucky to get a spot as there were over 27 vehicles from the Rotary Club of East Toowoomba booked in and they were doing a tag-a-long around the area.  We also got a new Trailer plug and some more wire and then Ian and Darryl got in and repaired the damage to that plug.  The Andersen plug will have to wait until we get to Broken Hill.    

Also in Tibooburra are a couple that we met at White Cliffs, who are travelling in a 1925 Oakland car and towing a camper-trailer.  Their maximum speed is 25 miles an hour or 40kms per hour.

10^th April We went for a walk up to the local park – which is in honour of Sturt and his team and there is a replica of the whaling boat that they lugged into the centre of Australia in the hope of finding the inland sea.  

We then had lunch at the Family Hotel and there is some very interesting artwork in this pub by artists Clifton Pugh, Edward Car, Roxanne Minchin to name a few.

  Clifton Pugh

 unsure who painted this one

  Roxanne Minchin

Clifton Pugh

We then went back to the park and went for a drive out to the replica of a gold mining settlement and then out to Olive Downs – a station that has a camping area managed by the Parks and Wildlife Services.  We then travelled back to Tibooburra via the Loop Track and through the ‘jump-ups’.

11^th April Today we left Tibooburra and headed out toward Cameron Corner. 

  Buster having a break :)

 A big Kangaroo

 On the way we stopped at ‘Fort Grey’ Station and Pinnaroo Lake.  It is full of water and we saw the ruins of the original homestead that was destroyed by waves in the 1974 floods.  I would not have liked to be here then because there would not have been much dry land about.  From the ruins to the current level of the Lake it is about a three metre depth.

 Emu's

 a Clay Pan

 Panorama of Clay pan

Fort Grey sign

 Pinnaroo Lake

 again

Cameron Corner is where three states meet – SA, NSW and QLD.  We have seen lots of Emus and Kangaroos this trip.  We went through some lovely sand dune country and reached the ‘dog fence’ at Cameron Corner without and problems.  We had our photos taken at the marker of the corner and then went and had a refreshing ale at the ‘Corner Store’ which is just over the Qld border.

  Dingo Fence at Cameron Corner

 State borders

 Holly, Rosey, Ian, Barb and Darryl at Cameron Corner

 Corner Store, Cameron Corner

 Sand dunes and the road

 dingo

 a closer look

   Here we were talking to some fisherman and they were telling us that the Cooper Creek was flowing very fast over the weir at Innamincka at about 3 metres high.  We continued on our way and stopped for the night at ‘Merty Merty’ Station (SA) on the corner of the Old Strzelecki Track and the road from the corner. 

 Sunset at Merty Merty

 Night coming in at Merty Merty

 We had a lovely night with the flies and the mosquitoes J but enjoyed sitting out and looking at the very bright stars and our lovely campfire.  Our fridge is warming up fast but there is nothing we can do about it.  Gas will still not light it and the Andersen plug is not there L

12^th April Today we headed out at about 8.30am and continued on our way up the Old Strzelecki Track.  There are no signs to say that it is closed.  It is a dirt track but very good in most places.  We had five lots of water over the road to go around but there were some well-defined tracks made by the vehicles from the mining companies.  Lots of oil and gas derricks out this track.  We did not see emus and kangaroos here but did see dingoes.  Our dog Buster seems to be really enjoying the trip.  He loves getting out and investigating the country-side (even if he is attached to his lead).  Holly’s dog – Rosey – is keeping him company.

 A oil  Derrick on the old Strzelecki

 cars on the old Strzelecki

 Old Strzelecki Track

 again

 the RED sand dunes

 Panorama

Reached the development Road and turned to head into Innamincka.  There was a dingo leisurely walking up the road in front of the cars. 

Coming into Innamincka

 Public Showers in Innamincka

 at Innamincka

 The Development road has been the most corrugated road that we have driven on.  The workers were in the process of grading it to try and get the corrugations out of it.  I always thought that the corrugations were caused by the effect of the breeze across the sand but I have been told that they are actually caused by the shock absorbers in the vehicles and the up and down motion to try and keep the vehicles steady.  So there you go – you learn something new every day :D

We stopped in at Innamincka for a refreshing ale (J) and then went down and saw the water rushing over the weir.   We also met up with Margaret and John in their 1925 Oakland again.  They are staying on the common and heading out to ‘Dig Tree’ tomorrow. 

 Heading out to the 'Dig Tree'

 Cooper creek South

 Cooper creek north

 We then continued on our way back into Qld and onto ‘Nappa Merrie’ Station to the site of the ‘Dig Tree’.  To get into the area we had to cross a small section of the Cooper creek – our first water crossing this trip.  Ian and Wendy got out to photograph us coming through. We will stay here for 2 nights. 

 our first water crossing at Cooper creek into the 'Dig Tree'

 Us coming through the water of Cooper Creek into the 'Dig Tree'

 Darryl fishing at the dig tree

 The area around the dig tree is cordoned off but you can walk up to the tree.  They have built a walkway around the tree to try and prevent the compression of the soil and the possible death of the tree.
Unfortunately two of the carvings in the tree are no longer visible but the old Ranger (Bomber Johnson) at the gate has inscribed a piece of timber with what he believes is in the tree.  He is trying to get the Heritage Society to come out and either x-ray or ultrasound the tree to see what is under the new bark on the tree.  They do have photos of the engravings from 1898 but they are not very clear.
13^th April Today we rose later and went on an investigation of the camp area on the station and along the Cooper Creek.  The water here is flowing really quickly. And it is slowly rising.  We put the dogs into the creek for a swim which they seemed to enjoy.  We then went for another walk up to the Dig Tree to have a look at it in the good light.  The carving of Burke is still in good nick but the bark on the tree is slowly engulfing it.  This engraving was made in 1898 so for it to last 114 years is good.  The engraving identifying the site as ‘base camp 65’ is still reasonably clear after 142 years.

 The carving of Burke

 B LXV (Basecamp 65)

A photo of the tree from 1898

The tree now - you can see where the bark had been removed for the engravings to be made

We went back to the camp and had lunch and then in the afternoon we went for another walk whilst Darryl was doing some fishing.  Over the past couple of days people have caught 8lb yellow belly fish.  Maybe we will have fish for dinner.  Ian, Wendy and Holly all braved the cold water and went for a swim.  They said that once you were in the water it was fine.  Unfortunately Darryl did not have much luck with the fish.  He got one but it was very small and had to go back.

 Holly with the BIG fish that Darryl caught

The Menz family in the Cooper Creek

14^th April Up and on the road by 9am and heading out toward Thargomindah.  This is mainly an asphalted road but there was one section across the Coopers Creek plains where fellow travellers had to drive through 40cm water for 14 kilometres five days prior.  When we arrived the creek had dropped and the water was lapping the edges of the road – there were a couple of little patches of water that we had to drive through though.

 Sign showing that the next 14 kms is likely to flood

 bridge over the Cooper Creek and some of the damage by the water

 some water over the road

 a road off to our right

 water rushing through the culvert

 turning to Noccundra

We turned right at ‘Nockatunga’ Station and headed down to Noccundra.  We stopped here to get fuel and lunch BUT unfortunately the cook left the day before with only 5 minutes’ notice L and we were unable to get anything to eat.  So we continued on our way and stopped for lunch further down the track.  

 Noccundra Hotel

 watch your head!

doorways are short

We arrived at the ‘Warri Gate’ at the Dingo fence at 3 in the afternoon and decided to keep going to Tibooburra (55km away).

 on the road at Warri Gate near the dingo fence

Warri Gate

   When we arrived at Tibooburra it was to find that one of the shelves in the door of the fridge had cracked and was no good L. It was a shelf that had all the lighter stuff on it to L.  We booked in for the night and put our fridge onto electricity to cool it down and we then all headed to the amenities for a well-earned hot shower J.

15^th April We headed out today for Milparinka.  One of the first gold mining towns on the downs.  A very interesting – almost ghost - town.  The pub is no longer operating and there is only one person who lives in town permanently.  There are visiting volunteers who come out to man the information centre for a month at a time.  Looking through the old Court House and Police Station and around the ruins of the Post Office was amazing.  We then went up and had a look at the school ruins and the National Emblem that the school children made out of white stones back in the late 1890’s.  Most of it is still visible.  We then drove the 14 km to Depot Glen and Poole’s Grave.  We had lunch here and were surprised at how cool it was in under the trees.  The water in the creek was brackish but we saw lots of fish swimming around.

 The man on his bike at the corner to Milparinka

a panoramic of Milparinka

 James Poole's tree

 the tree

 water hole where Sturt and his men camped at Depot Glen

 We then drove further on to Sturt’s Cairn on Mount Poole.  We had to leave the van near a creek because the crossing was too narrow for us to manoeuvre the caravan through it.  We piled into Ian’s car and travelled the next 7km together.  We all climbed the mount to see the Cairn and take photos from the summit.  A tiring walk to the top with an interesting one coming back down the rocky slope

 Climbing Mt Poole  The photo really doesn't show HOW STEEP the climb was :(

Panorama from the tip

 looking back to where our caravan is parked.  (It is the white thing in the middle of the photo :)

 Ian coming through the sharp twist with his camper

 Buster checking it out

We then went back and got the van and continued on our way toward Broken Hill.  We decided on the way that we would stop at Packsaddle for the night.  As we neared the station we were being passed (in the opposite direction) by participants in the ‘Shitbox Rally’ raising money for cancer – www.shitboxrally.com.au .  They were taking a week to travel from Melbourne to Cairns via the outback in vehicles that had over 200,000 kms on the clock and had to cost less than $1000 to buy.   The drivers then went out to do up the cars and get sponsorship for the trip.

We met up with about 100 of the vehicles at Packsaddle where we had another refreshing ale and then headed back 500 metres for the rest stop where we set up camp for the night. The last cars of the rally passed us at about 7.30 that night.  Apparently they started out with about 180 vehicles.  When we got into the van to set up for the night we found that another of the shelves in the door of the fridge had broken and was not usable L L  Will have to see if we can get some in Broken Hill.

 entrants in the ShitboxRally

more entrants

and another

 Sunset at Packsaddle

Our camp at Packsaddle

16^th April Today we left at about 8am and drove the 130km to Broken Hill.  As we pulled into the van park we got a flat tyre on the caravan, so Ian and Darryl set too and changed the tyre.  We booked into the van park and got set up.  We then went for a drive into the information centre and a look around town, and then called into one of the cafés for lunch.

Back to the van and camper and had a pleasant afternoon and evening.  We didn’t need much dinner as we had had such a late – and very filling - lunch.  We all enjoyed another refreshing ale or two J :D and then an early evening.
17^th April Today we went out to Silverton and went exploring.  We went past Penrose Park and up onto the hill where there are the ruins of a mud-brick house/building. 

We presumed it was the original station homestead.  A new one is about a kilometre away.  Quite an impressive structure.   We then showed Ian, Wendy and Holly around Penrose Park.  Darryl used to go here as a youngster and he was impressed in the changes made since last year.  It really looks cared for now.

We parked the cars near the pub and went walking around the old town and checking out galleries and cafés and old buildings.

 an old cottage

Ian on his mode of transport

 a garden!

a ruin

bottle display in the window of the cafe

 teapot display

 self-explanatory

a penny-farthing

old church

 We had a great time checking out the display in the old school.  The school was in operation until 1974, then closed and was reopened a couple of years ago as a museum to education from all the states.  We had lunch at the pub and then made our way back into Broken Hill so that IWH could see the ‘Big Picture’ in the one of the galleries.  It is 12 feet high and 100 feet long and took 9 tons of paint to complete.  They thoroughly enjoyed it.  From here we went out to the Pro Hart Gallery and took it in turns to go in and look at the exhibit.  Ian and I sat outside in the shade with the two dogs whilst the others went in.  There are 3 Rolls Royce’s and an old Bentley in the garages at the front of the gallery.  None of them have been registered or driven since Pro Hart died in 2006.  We then went up to the ‘Line of Lode’ and sat on the ‘Big Bench’ and checked out the town in the sunset.

 Darryl and I on THE seat

Wendy, Holly, Rosey and Ian on the bench

Back to the van park and showered before heading into the ‘Musicians Club’ for a bistro dinner as it was to be our last night with Ian Wendy and Holly.  Unfortunately the food was not as nice as we hoped but we had a good evening together anyway.

18^th April Wendy, Ian, Holly and Rosey headed off this morning on their return journey to Condobolin L  It was sad to see them go as we had been having such a companionable time together.  (We are staying in Broken Hill and waiting for friends of ours from the ‘Aussie Baby Boomers’ forum to join us at the end of the week).  I went and completed 5 loads of washing – getting all the linen as well as clothes washed and then set to getting the van clean – on the inside at least J.  Darryl relented and helped me do the windows also.  We contacted an Auto-electrician to come out and work on the van to fix the Andersen plug (he hopes to be late today or on Friday) and then also booked the van in for tomorrow to get repairs done to the gas and parts for the fridge, and repairs to the sullage hose that had fallen off at some point.

We heard from Wendy, Ian and Holly about lunch time to say that they were 60km out of Ivanhoe (after travelling nearly 150km of dirt road) and they had broken the 5 leaves of the springs on one side of their camper – ohhh no!!!!  Apparently 7 vehicles had passed them without stopping – even though they were obviously in difficulties.  Ian managed to get it repaired – he just happened to have a spare spring set in the back of his car J - and they limped on to 40km out of Hillston.

19^th April Up early and packed up the van and took it in to the ONLY caravan repair centre in Broken Hill to have work done to it – we were told that it would be ready by lunch time all being well.  The guys there said that they would to the Andersen Plug as well – so rang and cancelled the other Auto-electrician.  We went into town and did some shopping and made our way back to the van park waiting for a call to say that the van was ready.  By 2.30 we had not heard anything and my phone died and so we went to the centre to enquire into progress.  A way off yet as they cannot get 8mm wiring in Broken Hill to repair the Andersen Plug – Bugger!!!!  They had even tried the fellow that was going to come out and fix it with no luck.

Got a call from Wendy, Ian and Holly to say that they had had rain ALL night and that they would have liked to have a dry night so that they had a dry camper – but that was not to be.  They had reached home safely but now had no power at the house due to a rain storm last night and the wires to the house blowing in the storm L  Essential Energy were at the house repairing the line.

We finally got the van back at 4.30pm – gas hot water now working BUT the electric side of it has shat itself and the switch will no longer work.  The gas fridge is now working – YAY – so now when on a bush camp we will be able to keep things cold.

Back to the van park and re-set up and get dinner ready.

Heard from our friends, who we were to meet us at the end of the week, they are now at Maude in NSW and will be going to Buronga and then on to Renmark due to all the rain and water lying around.  We will now leave here on Monday and go down to meet up with them there.  There is prediction that we will have rain here in Broken Hill tomorrow and Sunday.

20^th April Got up early and copied some of the photos of Darryl and Shirley at School in Broken Hill, photos of the boys club and Dad Walker in his uniform onto a flash drive to take to the Historical Society.  Unfortunately the photos that I thought I had scanned of Neville’s classes could not be found.  Will have to get him to scan them and send to us – what do you say Nev?

We went into town early and dropped off the tyre at Bridgestone to get it repaired or replaced.  Were told to come back this afternoon.  We went into the Family History Centre which is located in the old Trades Hall and had a great discussion with the ladies in there.  One lady in particular is doing the schools and the Police History of the area so she was very glad that we had thought to bring in the photos.

We then went to the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and Darryl made enquiries about the works of Charles ‘Hoppy’ Hopgood.  Unfortunately no gallery in town is exhibiting any of his works L and Darryl was very disappointed in that information.  We went and had lunch and then Darryl had his INR done and we went to visit our friends Nora and Dave.  They had just returned to Broken Hill from a trip to Adelaide and a cruise to New Zealand.  We are going to join them again tomorrow for a BBQ tea.

Darryl went back to get the tyre and we got a new one as the other could not be repaired.  We then had dinner and got ready to have a video call via messenger with Beckie, Matt and the Children.

It was so good to SEE them and chat with them.  We were on line for just on an hour and it was soo good to do it.

21^st April A lazy day today – up late J. It is our 33^rd wedding Anniversary today and Darryl got me the most gorgeous earrings with a Sturt’s rose in them and a silver Bracelet from the Broken Hill Silver Mint.  I am truly spoiled. J J

 I have been catching up with this blog and Darryl went and did a little shopping.