I left Lightning Ridge and headed South on the main road to Walgett. From there, I headed South West across country to Nyngan, where the Mitchell Highway meets the Barrier Highway, the main route West towards Broken Hilll. I was expecting some gravel but it turned out to be all sealed roads, but mostly quite narrow with a lot of road edge damage due to large cattle trucks using the route.
I spent the night at the Nyngan Riverside Tourist Park, which is a well run country park with pleasant surrounds on the banks of the Bogan River on the edge of town. On Tuesday morning I headed West on the Barrier Highway.
First stop was Cobar, another fair sized rural town, with a long history of copper, gold, lead, zinc and silver mining.
I spent the night at Warawong on the Darling, just to the East of Wilcannia. The park was small and friendly with nice grassed areas on the edge of a few stranded Billabongs which appears to be all that is left of the Darling River at moment. The river bed was also dry in the town.
Wednesday 25 April 2018.
The 200 odd kilometres into Broken Hill was a pleasant drive. I checked into the Broken Hill Tourist Park on the Western edge of the City. Quite a large park and busy, still with a lot of transit traffic on the road. Apparently it gets much quieter in the Winter time and very cold as well. I booked in for a morning tour on Thursday to get a bit of a picture of the place and meantime took a drive up to the Miners Memorial and Lookout above the City on the Hill containing the original main lode of many of the early mines.
The Lookout includes a Cafe, that has previously been a number of Restaurant variants that have all failed.
The Miners Memorial is a jagged structure with amazing views over the City and surrounding countryside.
It has a series of plaques inside that list the names of the hundreds who have died in the many mines in the area.
The tour on Thursday morning was well worth while and gave a good overview of the City and some of its rich and varied history.
The lobby of the Palace featured in the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert and is most impressive.
It also features a large slipper advertising the annual "Broken Heel Festival" in the City.
The old Junction Mine still has the wooden headframe intact.
The dual level, "lifts" were used to pack in groups of miners for transport to various underground levels. The Tour Guide also told us that pit ponies were squeezed into the lifts sitting back on their haunches as the only way they could be fitted in. Not a good life for horses or miners, as water was always tight, so the miners washing was rudimentary, meaning they took the lead contamination home to their families.
Trades Hall is just one of many impressive buildings in the City. The Unions had a major role in the development of the mines and also a significant influence in the establishment of a forty hour working week for Australians.
The interior of the Trades Hall is also beautifully decorated.
Slightly strangely, the morning tour also included a stop off at the airport for a "coffee break" at the kiosk there. Whilst there, I saw the large facility operated by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and returned later for a more detailed look around.
On Friday 27 April I took a drive out to Silverton, about 25km to the North West of the City. It was the site of original silver mining in the area and also the home to another "Australian Icon"
The Silverton Hotel is one of the remaining tourist attractions.
The donkeys sheltering in the shade across the road from the pub were a bit of a surprise as they did not appear to be restrained at all.
Only a few of the original modest buildings of the town survive, including the original Municipal Offices and a couple of museums.
Up near the high point of town is the Mad Max Museum.
The interior is full of relics collected from the movie film sites and many mock-ups of various vehicles used in the films.
Inside, the museum is full of memorabilia plus photos and items from cast members. Worth a visit, particularly if you were a fan of the movies.
On Saturday 28 April, I did a morning shop at Coles then headed out of town to the South West back on the Barrier Highway. Foolishly I had forgotten about Quarantine into South Australia and soon after stopped at the Oodla Wirra Station, where I surrendered most of the fresh fruit and veges I had recently bought. Although I understand the need for Quarantine, it is likely that Coles in Broken Hill (NSW) is most likely supplied by a distribution station near Adelaide in South Australia.
The Barrier Highway traverses a lot of bare country not unlike parts of the scenery from the Nullarbor into Western Australia. Of note were the many recently dead kangaroos along the side of the road. A hazard of a such a major truck route from the East to Northern South, and Western Australia.
I continued on to Burra, about 350km from Broken Hill. I had made a booking at the local caravan park, next to the Burra Creek that runs through town. A really nice park and a very pleasant historical mining town for a visit.
A pretty town built primarily with local stone.
There was a cultural festival on that weekend highlighting a number of galleries and museums around the town.
The Tourist information service had a local "passport key" on sale which gave entrance to many of the local historic buildings and mine buildings.
The remnants of a number of mining machine houses and steam engine enclosures remain.
Also included were the extensive cellars of the Unicorn Brewery. The above ground buildings are now long gone.
On Sunday (29 April) I continued on to the Barossa Valley, this time opting to stay at the Discovery Park on the outskirts of Tanunda, right in the heart of the valley. It was a good choice as I arrived on the last day of School holidays and the park emptied out, leaving lots of open space and easy access to the park facilities. The park also allowed walking access to the town which was excellent after my last visit to the Valley when I stayed at Kapunda quite some distance to the North.
On Ric & Ann's recommendation I visited the Cheese Shop in Angaston, which sells quite a range of excellent local product.
I bought a selection from the newly extended shop to take on to the Adelaide Hills.
I also visited the nearby Saltrams Winery, where a bought a number wines.
The old winery building is pictured at left.
I also enjoyed an excellent pulled lamb, fetta, olive and rosemary pizza at the Restaurant.
On Monday, I revisited Rockford and Langmeil wineries to buy a few more bottles for the rest of my trip.
On Tuesday (2 May), I also returned to Seppeltsfield. A much nicer (& as a result busier) day than my last visit a couple of years ago.
The historic Seppeltsfield is such a beautiful place.
The old Adminstration Building is a great example of the impressive architecture.
It was also an opportunity to revisit Fino Restaurant in the old Bottling Hall, which also houses the Cellar door.
The restaurant bakes its own bread and the wholegrain soughdough with local butter was just superb.
The rich slow cooked lamb casserole with beans, salad and flatbread was also excellent.
After a recovery afternoon nap I enjoyed a walk around Tunada and was impressed by the Tin Man decorating a power pole.
The forecast for Wed (3 May) was for a wet day, so I hitched up the van and rolled up the water hoses before going to bed. I was happy in the morning as it was indeed very rainy. I finished packing up and continued my journey South.
I stopped at the Lyndock Bakery (photo taken the day before when the sky was still blue).
I had an excellent breakfast of Eggs Benedict and a a mug of coffee before heading off to the Adelaide Hills to catch up with Ric and Ann again.........
A very impressive personal travelogue of what ordinary and extraordinary country Australia has to offer the caravanning traveller to delight the senses. It'll make a fine book* one day.
ReplyDeleteFrank
*Book (buk) n: 1. A collection of printed pages bound together along one side not requiring batteries to be operated or read.