There’s been quite a bit of rain in the area over the last few days which is great for the area, but not so great for us.

All the rain has brought out the wildlife. On the road between Broken Hill and Cobar we saw so many birds and animals –eagles, kites, hawks, kangaroos, emus, cattle and sheep, and lots of feral goats. I must admit, when I saw the goats my mind turned to thoughts of Nepalese Goat Curry, and roasted leg of kid the way Maggie Beer cooked it on The Cook and The Chef the other night. Hmmm, I must have been hungry .

We stopped overnight at Cobar and visited the Great Western Hotel which claims to have the longest lace work verandah in the State, or the Southern Hemisphere, depending on who you believe . This is a great hotel to have a drink in, especially at happy hour, between 5pm and 6pm – everyone talks to you. We met a lovely old guy who seems to have a mysterious past, some sort of government job – James Bond comes to mind! I guess it depends on whether you believe what you are told, but he was a lot of fun to talk to. The locals were also full of information about work in the area etc so it was good talking to them.

There isn’t any work around the Cobar area, so we headed off to Bourke. With all the rain, the area is really green.

We’ve been told there isn’t too much work around this area either, but we’ve booked in for 3 nights to give us a chance to check out the area.

We’re staying at the Kidman Rest Caravan Park which is a lovely park near the banks of the Darling River. It’s really pretty, the amenities are fantastic and the people are very friendly.

When we checked out the pool, there were quite a few frogs having a swim, including this really strange looking one – not sure what sort it is, but it’s quite cute in an ugly sort of way.

They have a good campfire area where they host camp oven dinners on Wednesday and Friday nights for $15/head, including entertainment. We didn’t eat there but we did go along to listen to the music for a while and it wasn’t too bad.

The following morning we went for a long walk down to the river and then into town to check out the sites. There are quite a few historical buildings

The old wharf has been reconstructed, but I think the river must have been a lot higher in the days of the original wharf. There are some huge river gums next to the wharf which are home to the large flocks of cockatoos in the area.

Later in the afternoon we dropped in to the Northy – the Back to Bourke Hotel for a drink. It’s a very basic pub, but friendly. The pub doesn’t do meals, but the roadhouse next door does, and you can take them into the pub to have with your drink. Mel behind the bar is really nice – her uncle owns the pub and she’s currently managing it for him. We met a group of young guys in town for some shearing work. Unfortunately due to all the rain the area has had, they hadn’t been able to start work – they were hoping it would start the following day.

On Sunday morning we went for another long walk, this time to a different part of the river then in the afternoon we went on the paddle steamer tour down the river which was quite pleasant. Too many people though – we should have done it on Saturday when only about half a dozen people went on the boat trip. Never mind.

We really like this area, but since there’s no work we’ll move on.

The Silverton Hotel has been used in lots movies and advertisements. They have a fair amount of film memorabilia inside and plenty of beer which of course we had to taste. There were a lot of people around town – not sure if this is the norm, but I had the feeling it was partly because it was mother’s day. A lot of family groups were at the pub and café for lunch.

Day Dream Mine

We wanted to have a look at the old Day Dream Mine near Silverton. Not that we wanted to go down the mine, neither of us are keen on going into mine shafts these days , but we still like to look at mine sites. Mining first started here in 1882, before Broken Hill was discovered, and continued until 1983. Boys as young as 8 years old used to work in the mine. To get to the mine, after turning off the highway there’s a 20 minute drive on a well graded dirt road.

About 10km from Silverton is the Umberumberka Reservoir which has a lovely picnic spot. The landscape around Silverton and Broken Hill looks pretty dry,

Over the next couple of days we’ll be visiting some of the art galleries.

We’re now in Broken Hill. We’ve been here before, but probably 25 years or so ago and neither of us remember much about the town. We were surprised at how big the place is – it’s very spread out. On the way in, one thing that caught my eye was the size of the cemetery – it’s massive! I’ve always thought Melbourne cemetery was huge, but this one just seemed to go on for ever. The other thing about BH is the colours – it reminds me of Alice Springs in that the air is so clear all the colours are more vivid. No wonder so many artists have lived/are living here.

We went out and wandered the town – there are some beautiful Victorian and Federation style buildings here and it appears that there is a strong effort in preserving them.

There are also some great miner’s cottages, but I haven’t taken any photos of them yet. Hopefully I’ll get some in the next couple of days.
There’s a good view of the town from the Broken Earth Café Restaurant, located on the highest point of the Line of Lode mullock dumps which cross the city. This is also where you can access the Miner’s Memorial, which records the deaths of over 816 miners in Broken Hill mines.

Berri

After Mildura we spent a couple of weeks in Berri just relaxing, fishing, walking and stuff. Berri is in the riverland area of South Australia and there are numerous wineries and orange groves. There is a great farmer’s market in Berri where local producers bring cured meats, fantastic fruit and veg and cakes and biscuits. It was a really enjoyable couple of weeks.

While in Berri, we visited the Cobdogla Irrigation and Steam Museum, a very interesting place. They say they have the only working Humphreys Pump in the world and it is only started 4 times a year, today was one of the 4. It is a pump that was used to draw water from the Murray for irrigation of surrounding properties. For the technically minded this is a very quick explanation as I understood it, it is an internal combustion engine of sorts that uses water as the piston, the incoming water is pumped into the cylinder, as the water level rises and falls the inlet and exhaust valves control the air into the combustion chamber, at the correct time residual fuel from a wood fired engine (see photo of stacks and startup pump) is mixed above the water (combustion chamber) and is fired electrically, forcing the water out into large tanks and then into the irrigation channels. Apparently using residual fuel from the wood fired engine makes for a very slow burn which moves the water rather than blowing the head of the Humphrey Pump. If I heard the guys correctly it can pump up to 40,000 litres per minute. This is a great place to visit with a man’s shed with all sorts of stationary engines, a steam train, steam tractor and many other exhibits. Whilst at first it seems to be a blokes place, Maggie said that she had a great time as well so it must have been good.

Mildura

Well, we’ve been in Mildura for nearly 2 weeks now. We’ve been doing some tourist stuff, but not a lot. It’s just been nice hanging out in the park, reading, watching tv etc. Nothing very exciting I guess, but just, nice.

We went to Mungo National Park yesterday – it’s nice, but I think our expectations were too high, so we were a little disappointed. We had seen photographs of the park in a magazine which were just stunning, but I think the time the photos were taken as well as the lens used made the photo’s much more dramatic than it really is. The main feature in the park is The Walls of China which is a lunette formed by the wind into an almost lunar type landscape on the western side and sand dunes on the eastern side, and is worth seeing. The rest of the park is mainly made up of saltbush, blue bush, rosewood trees and belah’s (causarina trees). The area used to be a series of lakes which dried up approximately 18,000 years ago, then Europeans moved in with their sheep and cattle for a while before it was declared a national park in 1979. To get to the park you have to drive over 100km on dirt roads. The road is maintained very well so the drive wasn’t too rough although I’m glad we didn’t take the van in, I think we would have had a few broken dishes!

Cowra

After our week with Marg and Terry we started heading towards Lake Mungo National Park which we wanted to see, deciding to stop at Cowra on the way there. We drove to Cowra via Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (beautiful views) and Bathurst. David has been to Bathurst a few times for the car racing but I’ve never been there so David took me (and the van) around the track. While I’d heard that it was really steep in parts I didn’t realise how steep some of the track was until we went round it. I also found it interesting that for people who live in the area the race track is the main road to their property. I’ve got a photo of David tearing round the track with the van at an incredible speed of 40 km/h! We spent 3 nights in Cowra visiting the Japanese Garden and the POW Camp. I really like Cowra – it’s a really pleasant town and the people are really friendly. For those interested in the craft side of things, there are 2 patchwork shops and a patchwork ‘lesson centre’ here – very impressive for a small town. I spent probably an hour in each today and the owners in each of them are lovely ladies. I had a great morning and now have some more fabric to find projects for! We went looking for a good fishing spot (we’re pretty determined!) and ended up at the Wyangala Dam – unfortunately, as you can see by the photo there’s not much chance of finding fish here! The dam capacity is down to something like 5% at the moment. They need rain up here desperately.

Port Stephens

We had arranged to meet up with David’s sister Margaret and her husband Terry for a week and we all decided that Nelson Bay at Port Stephens would be a good place for that to happen. We couldn’t get into the park we originally wanted to and had to find another one to go to and we are really pleased that it happened that way – the park we stayed in was great, right on the beach and within walking distance to shops, cafes etc. We had a lovely week with them, walking on the beach every morning then balancing things out by having a nice morning tea at one of the café’s, fishing (again, the fished just about jumped out of the water laughing at us!) winery tours in the upper Hunter Valley and generally having a great time. One of the highlights was a dolphin watch boat tour which was fantastic – the dolphins come into the bay and the boat is surrounded by dozens of these beautiful creatures. The hard part was taking their photo – they move very quickly. There were quite a few with a young one and they seem to dive in tandem. The water in the bay is crystal clear so you could see them under the water too. There were also a couple of huge manta rays in the area that day. It was a really good tour and the Daniel the skipper was really good to talk to and passed on lots of information about the area and the dolphins.

Casino again

After we left Hervey Bay we headed back down to Casino where we caught up with some friends we met in Tamworth. We had a lovely week with them before they headed off north. We will be catching up with them later in the year in WA. The second week at Casino was really quiet. Just caught up with routine domestic chores etc. I also got an opportunity to join in the craft groups at the village which was really nice – they are a lovely bunch of ladies and I always enjoy meeting up with people with similar interests as me.

Maryborough

Now this is a tree! This tree is in Queens Park (Botanic gardens) in Maryborough and is absolutely stunning – in fact the whole of the parks are stunning. While we were in the park (Valentines Day) there was a memorial service being held at the War Memorial and while there weren’t a lot of people there, a number of them were quite young and obviously were there in respect to their parents/grandparents. It was really moving to watch.

All up we spent 5 nights in Hervey Bay. It’s a beautiful area – I really love Queensland country towns – they’re different from towns in Victoria and NSW, and while we also really like the places we’ve seen in those states, there’s something about Queensland that’s unique! Not sure what it is yet, but will let you know once I work it out. While Hervey Bay is a large town, with all the shops, café’s and restaurants you find in our cities, it still has the atmosphere of a small town – we’ve found people to be really friendly and welcoming. So far we’ve visited Childers and Maryborough – both gorgeous towns, very historic and with beautiful buildings and parks. Another moving experience is in Childers at the memorial to the 15 backpackers who died when the Palace Hotel in Childers was (deliberately) burnt down. We’ve also been to a few of the beachside towns that are still unspoilt (like Burrum Heads) and next time we’re up here we plan on spending a lot of time in the area. David and I also bought ourselves some fishing rods – we like the idea of catching our dinner. Unfortunately the fish just laughed at us and ate our bait! The guy who sold us our fishing rods told us it was really easy, anyone can do it. I thought at the time, if it’s so easy how come there are so many books and dvd’s on how to do it!! I probably should have listened to that little voice. It’s fun though and we’re planning on practising a lot more as we travel around.

We’re currently in Hervey Bay, 30 something kms north of Maryborough in Queensland.  We found a lovely park and we’ll probably stay for a few days.  Not sure where we are heading next.  The first thing we did after setting up the van was get in the pool!  It’s really warm and humid here and it’s going to stay like that for a while I think.  While we’re here we plan on visiting Maryborough and Bundaburg.  So I’ll update in a couple of days and let you know what we’ve been up to.  We’ve got pretty good internet access here too which is a bonus!

Monday morning we got up early to meet Graeme and Marie for breakfast, then when Dennis and Megan joined us we all caught the bus into Hastings St, where we walked the shopping strip, went to the yacht club for a drink then walked along the boardwalk watching sun worshippers and swimmers . That afternoon we went for a drive into the hills and stopped for a late lunch in Montville, a lovely town with some interesting shops and cafés and the drive getting there is really pretty. A BBQ at Michelle and Gary’s place that night rounded out the day really well. The next couple of days were just as busy as the first day. It was Michelle’s birthday on Tuesday and we had a great seafood dinner at Trio’s on the marina. We also went to North Shore and Rainbow Beach. It was fairly quiet in Noosa while we were there, but I believe in the high season you can’t move it’s so busy. I’m glad we went in the quiet time – don’t think I’d like it when it’s busy. It was great catching up with everyone and we were really pleased we were able to be in the same area when they were here. So if any of you reading this are going somewhere for a holiday, let us know and if we can, then we’d love to catch up with you.

Glen Innes is a town that is very proud of its Celtic heritage and there are lots of references to their Celtic ties. There’s the Australian Standing Stones which were erected about 20 years ago. These came about when the town needed some sort of monument and a group of residents came up with the idea of the standing stones, inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland’s Orkney Isles. The Standing Stones comprise a circle of 24 stones, 4 cardinal stones (representing true north, south, east and west), and 7 stones marking summer and winter solstices. The site is also the venue for the Australian Celtic Festival (being held this year April 27 to May 1) and the winter and summer solstices (taking place June 21 and December 22). It’s an interesting place to have a look at in a nice location and much better than just a pillar or statue as a monument. There is also a café on the site called the Crofter’s Cottage which is based on an 18th century crofter’s cottage in Scotland. They sell Scottish food and do light meals. Glen Innes also has its own tartan which is really nice. It consists of light, royal and dark blues with a bit of red and white, and each of the colours represent connections to Glen Innes, such as, pale blue for the sapphires found in the area, red for the Celtic connection and so on. You can buy a number of items made up in the tartan at the Visitor Information Centre.

Glen Innes is also known for its sapphires, found in the clay in the surrounding areas. Fossicking is a really popular activity here, so of course David and I decided we had to have a go. We found a few small (very, very small!) sapphires, not worth terribly much, but nice to have, and I found a red zircon which is valued at approximately $100 and we had it cut and polished at the sapphire shop. It’s a beautiful stone. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, might just keep it as it is, as a memento of my first find! I think we’ll be doing a lot more fossicking though, it’s fun and can be rewarding and I think (for me anyway) addictive! If you find yourself up this way, one place that is really worth looking at, is the Land of the Beardies History House and Research Centre. This is a great folk museum located in the heritage listed old hospital. There are 26 rooms of displays and the contents really tell the history of the area and the families that settled here. The (mainly volunteer) staff have done a terrific job setting up the displays and every room is interesting. Its easy to spend 2-3 hours here. The museum is open 10am -12 noon, and 1-4pm. We’ve also spent time checking out the surrounding areas – Ben Lomond, Emmaville, Glencoe – good roads and very pretty scenery. Lovely spot, hope to get back again.

We went to 2 concerts while in Tamworth (as in, we paid to go!) – both of them showcasing young people. The first one was the Young Guns Concert which was performances by mainly 16-18 year olds who have attended the country music college, and the second was the Telstra Road to Tamworth grand final featuring the finalists from the Australia wide country music talent search. Both of these were excellent and there are some very talented young singer/songwriters coming up – I think the country music industry is in safe hands. There were heaps of free stuff going on too – all the pubs/clubs had free entertainment with some excellent performers and of course there were buskers everywhere. There were Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton tributes, quite a few doing Johnny Cash, yodellers (a few really great one’s), bush poets, and every type of country music you could think of. There are a lot of talented people out there. Of course there are also some really bad ones who think they are good! 

We left Tamworth on the Friday (Australia Day) as we were a bit Tamworth’d out! Plus we needed some sleep!  Where we stayed was really busy with lots of traffic coming and going and on the Wednesday and Thursday the crowd coming in the for long weekend started arriving so it got even worse! It was also really hot in Tamworth so we decided to leave early and head for Glen Innes, 200km north of Tamworth, which, being at a higher altitude, is a cooler climate.

When we left Dubbo we went to the Warrumbungles National Park for a few nights. The campground we stayed at had powered sites and lots of room. It’s a lovely campground, and there are heaps of kangaroos and wallabies as well as plenty of birds (don’t know what sorts though. I’m trying to learn about the birds and animals we see on our trips). It was nice and quiet and a good chance to recover after all the drinking, eating and late nights with Peter and Irene!