Friday 2nd May, 2014: A day in Wilcannia

The morning brings another forecast of rain for this area - which does not help our plans much as we are still trying to get onto part of the Darling River Run from here to Bourke.

The day initially starts off a bit cool but nice and sunny - so we get the washing done early and out on the line. We enjoy another walk along the Darling River that bounds this property 

--  even onto a small red sand dune as we are now back into the red dirt country of the NSW a Outback.

I love this fenced yard - it is just a perfect example of ingenuity and recycling in the bush - so much scrap from used to piece together this barrier.

The washing is dry and we head into Wilcannia for a quick look around and to get a couple of supplies at the merger general store there.

We are told the town is cleaning itself up these days and trying to shake off the reputation it has had - and trying to lure tourists back to the township.

There are a couple of coffee shops in town now - apparently only come to town in the last couple years. They have a chemist open again - for the 1st time in 17 years and the Post Office has been re-opened in its original historic site. Australia Post had closed the post office as the place was so dangerous - and locals had to collect there mail from the local servo.

Wandering around the heritage trail we see the beautiful historic buildings that still exist here. 

The historic old bridge

The court house

The police station

Post Office

Made from local sandstone - these buildings are beautiful and the grandeur of them puts into context what an important port Wilcannia once was - when the riverboats were the main mode of transport up the Darling.

The Hospital

Apparently in their hey day there was 90 boats working the river and the port of a Wilcannia could have upto 30 boats at the docks at any one time.

It's a real shame that nothing remains of the docks here.

Moores wants to by a bottle of wine - so in she walks to the only derelict dodgy looking pub in town - to be informed that you can only buy cask wine and not until 2pm.

We head back to camp for late lunch - with plans to do a camp oven in the communal fire pit at the camp kitchen. A fresh load of wood has been piled up in readiness for us.

But - the weather again impacts our plans and the heavens open up - with a solid blisteringly cold wind to boot. Four hours later the rain stops and the sun comes out just in time for sunset. 

Our prize for the day was the beautiful sight after the as the sun was about to set - the light was just magic!!

Even though some of the guys in camp manage to get a fire going (using a gas burner - I might add) - there would be no camp oven for us tonight as it is now too late.

We do however enjoy a chat around the campfire with some people from Newcastle who are on their way home from the Vintage Caravan get- together in Broken Hill.

Thursday 1st May, 2014: Braving a stay in Wilcannia!,

We are disappointed this morning to find that the roads south from Menindee are open (on the Darling River Run to Pooncarrie) - but the both roads north are still closed to Wilcannia. 

This means we need to drive back through Broken Hill to Wilcannia.

Before leaving Menindee we checkout the weir lookout. 

When we walked further beyonfpd the lookout we found on the other side of the weir the mist pelicans I have ever seen in one location before.

They were working together in groups to herd the fish - I have heard of them doing this but never seen it in the wild before myself.

And we all dip together now!!!!

We arrived late afternoon and camped at "Warrawong on the Darling" - a great new caravan park on a property 3km out Wilcannia on the Cobar Rd.

Great little spot - with great new amenities and we had a site overlooking the billabong - watching some old guys catching yellow belly in the billabong.

We enjoyed an afternoon walk around part of the property - and there are lots of beautiful Parrots in the trees here. We think they are Ring Neck or possibly Mulga Parrots.

Wednesday 30th April, 2014: Silverton & Menindee Lakes

Thankfully the rain stopped overnight and we were able to leave the tvan set up to dry this morning whilst we wandered around checking out Silverton.

This bakery van reminded me if the baker coming around delivering bread when I was a kid - it was exactly the same type of truck

And here we have the bottle top car!! - it's covered in bottle caps

Here is the ride-on lawnmower!!

The Silverton Hotel by daylight

It was about 11am when we went back through Broken Hill to do some grocery stock up and then to check out the Sculptures at the Living Desert Park on the hill about 10km out of town.

It was freezing cold today when we were checking out the sculptures - but it was well worth a look.

It would be lovely to visit this park in spring when the wildflowers are in bloom as there are some walks you can do through the arid plants desert park. 

They are also in the process of building a campground out at this site. It would be great to check this out and stay here when it is completed.

Our plan after visiting the sculptures is to drive out to Menindee Lakes (about 110km) from Broken Hill and stay the night in the National Park campground.

Unfortunately when we get out to Menindee we find that access to the the NP campgrounds is closed - due to recent rains in the area- 

So we go back 14 km, out of Menindee, to a caravan park at Copi Hollow on one of the other lakes. 

This is a great tittle park and we have a very enjoyable evening and morning camping here on the lake.

Tuesday 29th April, 2014: Broken Hill

We made it to Broken Hill about 4.30pm yesterday afternoon. Because it was late afternoon we were looking to stay in Broken Hill and not head out to my preferred campground at Silverton. 

However with a national event for the Vintage Caravan Clubs of Australia being held in Broken Hill we had to make the 30km drive out to Silverton anyway.

Not a good time of day to be on the road but we had no issues with wildlife and we arrived at Penrose Park at The tiny historic village of Silverton in good time to set up before dark.

This morning we awoke early to the most magnificent sunrise we have seen anywhere else on our trip so far. The colours are stunning!!

Today we planned to wander around Broken Hill taking in the sights whilst we waited for the ute to be serviced. We had rung ahead from Rawnsley station and booked in for a general check, wheel alignment and cleaniut of the brakes after all the mud and such forth we have been through on our journey so far.

About 10am the rain started in Broken Hill and it just got heavy and the temperature plummeted as the day went on.

We ended up having to wait most of the day for the car and so lunched at a local pub, sorted out a SIM card for the iPad and checked out the regional art gallery as well as several cafés and all the points of interest we could easily walk to in the rain.

The Palace Hotel is a particular highlight if you like "Priscella Queen if the Desert"

And these paintings are a feature inside this hotel - they were painted by an aboriginal artist - they continue all the way up and over and under this huge stairwell.

This is also an interesting story

So we ended up driving back to Silverton I'm the very late afternoon again and this time also in the rain.

It seemed like a good idea to try out the small Silverton Hotel for dinner tonight - as did a handful of other patrons we encountered there.  It's a very interesting little pub - mainly because it has been the location (as has Silverton village) for quite a few movie sets over the years - the best known being Mad Max movies.