12TH MARCH 2013 – DUBBO TO BROKEN HILL

Another free rest area night called ‘Mac’s Reserve’ which is quite large & further from the road. There is only one other van when we arrive so we get the chance to choose a good spot. By early evening there are 7 vans. Some of them light small fires which we can’t understand being in such a dry area surrounded by scrub & trees, but there is evidence that it is the common thing to do. Who needs it anyway when it is so hot.

We have travelled the Mitchell Highway through the small towns of Narromine, then another 115kms to Nyngen, & and onto the Barrier Highway. It is still agricultural country, very flat, probably wheat country judging by the bleached stubble in the paddocks. There is huge grain storage by the railway lines ready for transport. The highway is quiet so I begin to look at road signs as we go along. The funny ones today are “Bumblebox Lane’ & a place called ‘Nevertire’. Another sign also informs us that we are now officially in the outback. Driving is a bit harder for Stu as we have a head wind which is no doubt increasing our diesel useage as well. It is very obvious the lack of speeding drivers here & because the roads are so long & flat it must be quite tempting. The only wildlife we see are groups of feral goats which farmers tried to eradicate many years ago. However today they are allowed to breed as goat meat is low in fat & cholesterol so they are mustered & sent to abbatoirs. . Even though the surroundings are becoming quite a bore there is a real sense of freedom being so far out in the backblocks & away from the hustle & bustle. Incidentally there are occasional emergency phones by the highway which is quite reassuring.

Gold Mine at Cobar

Onward to Broken Hill

Our lunchstop is 120kms before the township of Cobar, a town rich in mining history. Copper was discovered here in 1869 & became a magnet for Cornish miners so even today there are many Cornish surnames in the area. Large deposits of gold, silver, zinc & lead were later found & mining continues today despite many closures over the decades. We took the time to go to a lookout to view the large opencast gold mine not unlike Waihi. It has recently started underground mining again. There are many lovely old heritage listed buildings dating back to the 1860’s & 70’s.

Next township will be Wilcannia in another 300kms . For the first time we have a kangaroo leap out in front of us – there are the occasional signs reminding motorists to watch for this occurrence but it is still a surprise. Thanks to the quick reactions of  me calling 'whoa' & Stu  reacting too, we managed to avoid it. 

 

We are now in the Central Darling Shire named from the Darling River which flows from Bourke all the way to Wentworth in lower NSW near the Victorian border. Someone with a quirky sense of humour has decorated some trees by the roadside, one with caps & hats, one with shoes & socks, & one with underwear. Does break the boredom a little & give one a smile. We finally see some hills, the McCulloch Ranges. There are now lots of road kill (roos), probably caused by the large trucks thundering through during the night. Several we saw today held HUGE mining equipment. Lots of emus now evident in groups of 10 or more. We finally reach Wilcannia & have to stop for fuel – price now $1.73. It’s only a small place, mostly aboriginals I would say, & has certainly seen better days. A group of them were sitting on the roadside shouting at each other & it makes me feel rather sad seeing the children & wondering what sort of future they have. There are lots of large ‘station' properties but all it’s possible to see are the letterboxes – the houses could be many, many kms away out of sight down the red dirt roads. Yet again a free rest area for the night & the hottest night of all – 32deg at 10pm! We didn’t think we’d sleep but after a nice cold shower to refresh us we managed to drop off. We leave at 8.45am for our last leg to Broken Hill which we reach at 3pm to seek out a caravan park for two nights. The first one we approach is weird with a sign saying ' no-one is here due to a bereavement so just choose a site & call a phone number.'   Upon driving in we site the ‘swimming pool’ – more like a sludge tank- & the whole thing is totally run down. Naturally we drive off. It’s not too difficult to find another one close by which is fine. Once again we are in quite early but the park fills up consideringly by the end of the day. One of our ‘neighbours’ sees our QLD number plate & figuring that’s where we are from strikes up conversation. A nice couple about our age, similar circumstances, who have sold up & living permanently on the road. Like many others have left QLD to get away from the wet.