Road Trip 2016 - Day 10/11 (17th/18th July) - Into Broken Hill !!!

GWe left Wilcannia this morning - a quite nice (not too cold) sunny morning - deciding to head into Broken Hill for a couple of days.

After another pack up from a heavy dew -this morning - we have decided that we need to make sure that wherever possible we have the rear of the tvan (the end with the canvas tent area) facing East so that it has a chance of drying a bit when the sun riises over it.

Going to Broken Hill meant we would be skipping the Wilcannia to Menindee stint of the Darling River Run. We decided to do this as our outside LED camping light had given up the ghost on us last night. 

The damm thing I believed had a dodgy/ loose connection for some time now and I should have purchased a new one before leaving on our trip - but - there you go - we did not.

It was approx 200km on the tar highway from Wilcannia into Broken Hill - a road we have travelled a couple of times now over the past few years.

The only thing of note on this drive - was the amount of army vehicles we were passing - going the opposite direction towards Wilcannia.

Arriving in "The Hill" we decide to seek out the location of the racecourse - as this is a good camping spot in Broken Hill we have been told and it's relatively close to the centre of town.

Luck was on our side and we were able to get into the racecourse - and at $15 per night - with showers and toilets - we thought it was a bargain. It did fill up pretty quickly later in the day and you would not t want to be coming in trying to get in here with a caravan much after about 3pm.

The caretaker informed us that they had been hosting about 200 army personnel over the last week and they would be back, tonight, for another few nights yet.

Guess that explains all the vehicles we had seen all day - as they have been using the racecourse as a base and going out daily on "excercises" at various locations.

Being Sunday we advised that the Camping Shop would not be open - so tomorrow we could go source our new light.

We took ourselves into the centre of town for a nice and then we were off to the supermarket to stock up on basic supplies. 

It had been reasonably since arriving in "The Hill" today and we were in t-shirts and no sleeve parka/vests pretty much right up until dinner time.

It was an interesting evening - hearing and watching the army boys (and some girls) arriving back at their base - the racecourse over several hours - and they were still coming in well after dark.

They all a had swags - some sleeping inside a couple of huge buildings at the racecourse and some outdoors.  They had rigged up showers for them - seperate to the campers shower facilities - down in barn area at the horse stables. Lucky them!!!

We were awoken the following morning by the sound of horses on the race track.  Yes horses came trotting past us in the early morning!!!!  ---  a few guys doing track work with some trotters.

They would go around a few times then be gone and back shortly after with another couple of horses.

It was definitely a campground with a difference!!!

All showered up and breakfasted - we went in search of our new light. "Search" being the true description of our morning - as it took us visits to 4 different businesses before we were able to eventually purchase a light we were looking for that we could plug into the plugs on our camper trailer. 

We had no problem buying a light in Brissie!!! - we could only get a limited choice here and they were all 12 volt cigarette lighter plugs. We eventually found we could get an adaptor - 12 volt to merit plug. Merit plug being the type we need on the camper trailer.

Now we definitely needed a coffee to settle the frustrations - and then we were off to do some sightseeing.

A bill poster we had seen led us to the Broken Hill Regional Gallery to an exhibition that looked interesting. 

We enjoyed an hour there browsing the exhibits and then headed off to the "Line of Lode" miners memorial on the hilltop above the city centre. You had a view of the whole of the centre of Broken Hill from this high vantage point above the city streets.

The "Line of Lode" memorial is a wonderful is just a stunning piece of architecture and is a memorial to some 800+ miners who lost there their lives over the years of mining in Broken Hill.

After lunch we sought out the Royal Flying Doctor Service base where there is a visitor centre - and enjoyed a tour of this major base for the RFDS and a browse through the small museum there.

Back at the racecourse - we decided a walk was in order. So we took ourselves off on a walk around the racetrack. I think the couple camped next to us thought we were a bit cooks - actually walking the race track.

Then I was caught here doing a spot of "sponge cleaning" of my "camp jumper" that had not yet had a wash since leaving home. I have lived in it pretty constantly around camp as it is such a warm jumper.

I don't look to happy do I - being caught doing my cleaning!!!

Sunset this evening provided this unusual photo - where the hill behind the racecourse was in the "spotlight" it seemed - it was just an amazing sight.

We were again entertained by the 'comings and goings' of the army personnel and vehicles over the course of the evening.

Next morning we would be heading out to Menindee Lakes - to stay a night or two in the Kinchega National Park.