Day 5:
We had been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, as there was mentioned that there was a chance of rain. Well rain it did, from 0400h on, which meant a nice and wet packup of the swag and awning. Talking of awning, we took a gamble on the one we have from Anaconda, as it was on sale for $99 (yes I do know better!). However it has survived quite a few trips now, and even through some decent rain and wind it has stood up ok. Not sure how I’m going to be able to justify a new Darche 270 degree one that I like 🙂
I had a video conference commitment from 0900h, so Loryn and Ellie decided to explore around Bourke, starting with a river cruise on the PV Jandra.
I finished my video conference at around lunchtime (thanks to the Bourke office for hosting me), so we headed to have a look at the Back O’ Bourke Exhibition Centre.
Our original plan was to continue following the Darling River down through Louth, spend the night at Tilpa Station and then continue through Wilcannia to Menindee Lakes. However the rain negated that plan as all non-sealed roads in the area closed automatically. As such we had a bit more of a look around Bourke and decided to head down to Cobar for the night.
We also took the opportunity to catch up with the dirty washing pile and Ellie found another park to play in. The rain stopped not long after we arrived in Cobar, but it was still a wet night in the swag. I cannot talk highly enough about how good the swag has been – although it is basically half a tent 🙂
Day 6:
The road from Wilcannia to Menindee is dirt, so thereby closed due to the wet weather. We decided to head for Broken Hill instead, which wasn’t part of our original plan. The run across can be considered boring to some, but we actually enjoyed pottering along (well at 100km/h) and finding little bits and pieces to explore. And yes, some of the rest stops have playgrounds, which we were explicitly informed about each time 🙂
We stopped in Wilcannia and fuelled up, then Ellie had a play whilst I explored around town taking some photos. I was just about to start making lunch when I saw a sign asking us not to stop in town due to COVID (oops). So we continued up the road…..
Arriving in Broken Hill we checked into the accommodation and relaxed for an hour. Felt weird not setting up the swag etc, but it was a nice change. We decided to wander out to The Living Desert and Sculptures for sunset.
Day 7:
With roads still closed and most likely would be for another 4-5 days yet, we decided to go out to Silverton for the morning, explore a bit more around Broken Hill though the middle of the day, and then knock a couple of hours heading south late in the day – with a view to pull up stumps wherever we felt like it.
Silverton was everything we expected, and then some. The surprise was the very first place we went to – Silverton Gaol and Historical Museum. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, and you think it will be a quick stop. Well it goes on and on and on – it is amazing what they have.
We enjoyed a lazy lunch at the Silverton Hotel, having a crack at their ‘hotdog’ they reckon is pretty good. Have to say I’m not going to argue loudly – it went down real nice with a cold drink.
Heading back into Broken Hill we continued looking around before heading to the RFDS Information Centre.
By now time was slowly starting to get away from us, so we had a quick play at a local park (Ellie had been great all day), then headed south down the Silver City Highway. We overtook our first quad road-train today – I have to keep reminding myself that whilst I’ve been lucky to drive and work on them, for Loryn it’s a whole new world
We did a quick stop at the Coombah Truckstop which is approximately halfway between Broken Hill and Wentworth – basically it is the only place for 300km’s so well worth dropping in for a coffee, or in Ellie’s case a chocolate freddo frog.
We pulled up stumps at the Popiltah Rest Area which is quite a good rest stop – flushing toilets, under cover eating areas, lights in the toilets etc. Worked out quite well for us.
Day 8:
I had been saying how surprised I was that the gas cannister lasts for so long – the cannister had been used for our previous trip and so far for this one. Well…..I found out this morning that the cannister I had been using this trip was the new one, and the one I thought was new was basically empty. Just a tad embarrassing.
Anyway I managed to squeeze enough out to cook the toast and have a relatively warmish coffee each. Oops 🙂
We made good time heading down to Wentworth, so we went exploring
We turned east and stayed north of the Murray River. Actually a shame as there are some great spots on both sides of the river, as well as a couple of mates I would have loved to have caught up with. Oh well, gives us another reason to come back – maybe a Murray River run in the future.
Talking of changed plans, we were still unable to visit Mungo National Park due to the wet weather closing roads, so it still stays on the ‘to do’ list.
Arriving at Balranald we pulled up stumps for the night, and spent some time exploring around town
