Broken Hill (BH) was a fun place to visit, well set up for travellers and with lots to see and do. We made the most of our day and a half there – got a new Coopers tyre for the van, had lunch at a trendy cafe, ‘The Silly Goat’, and then hit the galleries. Broken Hill has over 20 galleries; we visited 5 in 3.5 hours. Started with the Regional Gallery, then went to the Silver City Art Centre to see “The Big Picture” – the world’s largest painting on canvas – 100 m (300 feet) long and over 12 m (40 feet) high. It was painted with 9 tonnes of paint, in acrylic, over 2 years in Peter Anderson’s highly realistic style. It features natural and man made landmarks within 300 kms of BH. I really enjoyed seeing it and its setting which was red earth, rocks, trees and scrub native to the area. From there we visited Absalom’s gallery and admired his impressive landscape paintings which capture the essence of many outback places we have visited. Jack Absalom came out and had a chat with us and signed a booklet I bought. He was nice and has had an amazing life. So sorry we didn’t get a photo with him. He is now 91 and looking good, and one of only 2 of the 5 well known Brushmen of the Bush still alive. From there we hurried to the Pro Hart Gallery where we met Pro Hart’s wife, enjoyed some of his video, his artwork and checked out the sculpture garden and his four Rolls Royce cars. Racing against sunset we dashed to The Living Desert Sculptures to see the 12 sandstone sculptures at sunset. We just caught the last of the sun going down behind the sculptures, along with lots of other people.
We camped in the Living Desert Park so I could have internet for morning phone calls. Saw the sculptures in the daylight with no people there and then stocked up with groceries, diesel and jeans for Dick before leaving at 2:45 for the 300 km drive to White Cliffs for the music festival. Our timing was not so good as Dick ended up doing the last hour or so in the dusk and the dark with lots of kangaroos around. Thankfully we were ok/lucky on that drive and didn’t hit any.
White Cliffs (popln 200) is another opal mining town, where most of the people live underground. We learned that they had a music festival in May so we decided to make that a stop on our trip. It was good fun. The night we arrived we had dinner in the Underground Motel before attending the evening concert of the festival there. We stayed until after 11pm watching three acts who were very good. That indicated to us that some talented musicians were at this festival.
We stayed in the CP, had a sleep in and catchup day before the big concert started at 4pm in the hall next to the CP. We saw two acts (Slim Dime and Baylou) before the dinner break and then four more acts (Nick Charles on guitar, Mama’s Mtn Jug Band, The Hillbilly Goats and Royden Donohue). We enjoyed all, except the last one left a bit to be desired. The Hillbilly Goats said driving into White Cliffs felt like a combination of Mad Max meets Wolfe Creek, but they thought it was great as they saw over 500 wild goats along the way.
On the Sunday we missed the Poet’s breakfast at 8:30am but we made the church service at 11:30am. Luckily we got seats as the little church was overflowing. It was a fabulous service and four of the acts from the concert sang in the service, including an Elvis Impersonator, who sang a few gospel songs with the Bishop. The sermon was about why the Bishop thought Elvis was his 2nd favorite saint. Last year he spoke about why Dolly Parton was his number one saint. A ukelele group accompanied all the hymns and lead the singing. It was a special kind of service and even included communion. After church we went to the Opal Cafe for coffee where more music was played and there was a fiddle and ukelele jam session. In the evening we joined a communal campfire in the CP. Many people had brought their instruments and a few songs were played but there was a somewhat forced round of self-introductions and/or tell a story or play a tune. Not as much singing along as we were expecting. All in all it was truly a weekend full of music and very enjoyable. Next year is their 10 year anniversary and we’re thinking of going again if anyone is interested in coming along.
Our next stop was Mutawintji NP, a 3.5 hour drive from White Cliffs on dirt roads. We did a short walk on arrival and saw heaps of kangaroos and a nanny goat with a small kid. Apparently feral goats are a major problem and last year they removed 20,000 from this park. There are a few good walks to do so we had another big walking day in Mutawintji and it was perfect weather for walking. We left our campsite at 10:30 and walked 9 kms in just over 5 hours. We picked two hard walks (Class 4) described as for the “more adventurous” & “more enthusiastic & experienced walker”. We only met one other couple doing the walk and saw lots of goats and kangaroos, as well as some aboriginal engravings. Did lots of climbing and lots of rock hopping along a dry creekbed. Fortunately the track was well signposted and even so, we both found it physically demanding and mentally challenging – working out where the track was and how to climb up or down the rocks. This one included using ropes to get down one section. We managed it all and enjoyed some great views and vistas. Could have stayed longer as there were more walks and drives to do. However, stupidly we had forgotten to fill up with diesel in White Cliffs so we had to return to Broken Hill.
As we were leaving we realized that we had an electrical problem, and with some phone help from the manufacturer of the van, we worked out that the solar panels weren’t working well. Another job to do in BH. As well as getting fuel we got water, a gas bottle refill, groceries and new portable solar panels. Overnighted about 250 kms north of BH at a free camp at Lake Cobham (no water) south of Tibooburra. Lots of kangaroos on the road and we narrowly missed hitting three at different times. Treated to a lovely sunset and then a beautiful sunrise, before we drove to Tibooburra where we got fuel and water. Trying hard to stay topped up as we are getting into more remote areas. Admired the murals inside the Family Hotel (painted by a group of famous artists some years ago) and let the tyre pressure down as we are now permanently on dirt roads. Did a couple of scenic loop drives in Sturt NP (not very exciting, rough roads and very dry countryside) before camping at Olive Downs campgrounds. Sturt NP was named after Charles Sturt, an early explorer. Finished the day with a 40 minute walk on the Jump Up track.
The next day a 2 hour drive across the top of Sturt NP went through gibber (weather worn pebbles) and Saltbrush plains, where temperatures vary from over 50C in summer to below freezing in winter. We’ve seen three types of kangaroos in the NP; reds, greys and euros plus lots and lots of dead ones (apparently due to the drought). At Fort Grey (an empty and dry looking campground) we did a 4 km walk into Lake Pinaroo which is dry but fills during floods and takes 7 years to empty. This was where Charles Sturt planned to make his base camp in 1844, until the water drained from the lake. We put the fly nets to good use here.
Next stop was Cameron Corner, where New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia (SA) meet. As we were leaving NSW we saw the famous dog fence, the longest fence in the world at 5614 kms (longer than the Great Wall of China). Initially built in 1887 to prevent rabbits spreading into SA, but when that failed in 1914 the height was increased to keep wild dogs (dingos) out of NSW. Today boundary riders still patrol and maintain the fence and vehicles are banned from driving along it (offence liable for prosecution). We opened the gate in the dog fence to cross over into South Australia and then turned to go to Camerons Corner store in Queensland to get diesel, covering three states in three minutes! The store was low on fuel as the truck was 3 days late so we didn’t take any as we still had 80 litres in our tank.
I spent the afternoon yelling “Red Flag” as the road crossed over an endless number of steep sandhills/dunes and most were marked with red flags at the top to warn drivers to stop as you couldn’t see the major potholes on the other side. That lasted for two hours. We met one couple with a broken suspension on their caravan (trailer) and have since heard that they were stuck on that road for two days. Another couple were waiting two days for a tow truck to come and tow their camper over 500 kms to Port Augusta, where they could get it repaired. It was a very bad road! We ended up in a free camp overlooking a gas refinery at Moomba in the middle of nowhere, where we had the fastest internet Dick had ever seen. The fly nets have become our latest fashion statement or ‘can’t be without’ accessory. Too many flies to risk getting out of the van.
Unusually for us, we have seen a few sunrises as we are in training (6am alarms so we get longer driving days). The Moomba sunrise was so lovely it inspired me to write a poem (copy at the end of this blog). After I got my internet/communication fix and Dick did his list of maintenance jobs (fixing leaks and missing screws); we drove 1.5 hours on more rough roads to Innamincka. Lunch at the hotel was nice and they had the best toilet I have seen since Sydney (funny what excites one after days in the bush). We camped in the NP at Ski camp on Coopers Creek. Saw a dingo and lots of signs warning to leave them alone and not leave things outside in your camp. And had lots of flies.
After the fill up, dump, wifi and showering jobs were done, we headed for Coongie Lakes. On the way we saw an empty stockyard so we parked by the stock loading ramp which was high enough to give us access to clean our rooftop solar panels. Then it was another rough road for 2 hours, and then some very steep sand dunes with deep soft sand to cross over before we found a campsite by the lake. Did a walk along the lake wearing our fly nets. Battled thousands of flies whenever we went outside. In the last two days I have already killed well over a hundred with my trusty fly swatter or my bare hands in the van, where we have been known to also wear our nets.
Again we had a nice sunset and a brillant sunrise. Up early to do more repair jobs (these rough roads take their toll daily), and then managed getting back over those soft sand dunes again. Thankfully the Toyota did well in low range 4WD. Flies still bad in the morning. Went back to Innamincka for more topping up before we started the drive to Birdsville via Walkers Crossing. Took advice on which road to take and lucky we did, as this one was good and saved 100 kms. We saw virtually no traffic and no animals on the four hour drive. Pulled over for the night at the side of the road near a sand dune on a gibber plain in the Sturt Stony Desert (as named by Charles Sturt). Had fun climbing the dune to watch the sunset. I have been thinking I should invent a ‘fly net onesie’ for these places. Flies also very bad here.
For my morning heart starter I ran back up the sand dune, and missed the sunrise but did enjoy that soft light it brings. Had an easy drive to Birdsville, even meeting another Explorer Motor Home on the road where we stopped for a chat. Will now end this post on arrival in Birdsville and with my poem.
Sunrise
Sunrise is my new friend
Not one I know too well
It brings promise of joy and wonder
with hues of red, pink and orange
first tentatively peeking out, spreading
and then bursting forth magnificently.
Before soon passing away as if to say
be quick or you’ll miss me forever
or at least for a day.
