Back to Wally

After a big breakfast, Bob drove us down to the gate and backed our car and van out onto the road for us...the road was pretty muddy and backing through gates is not one of our favourite things!

We had a pretty good drive across to Wallangarra...it rained on and off but we made pretty good time, arriving at Wally about 6.45pm. It was great to sit by the warm fire and relax and read. After dinner Dave went outside and fed one of the possums in a tree near the back door.

Coonamble

Today was still wet. We packed up Rosie and headed for Coonamble where we spent the night with Bob and Bev. It was a huge drive, through Wilcannia and Cobar...the roads were prettty good so we made good time. Bev cooked a delicious curry with a yummy fruit pudding and custard for dessert. Because of all the rain, the road into their farm was very muddy, so Bob picked us up at the front gate in the 4 wheel drive and took us up to the house....accompanied by their cute little dog Misty.

Broken Hill

This was the only Sturt's Desert Pea we saw, as it was the wrong time of year. It was in a pot in Pro Hart's front yard.

Today was our last day in Broken Hill. It was a pretty cold, wet and windy day. Being Saturday we went and had a look at some garage sales, where we got a couple of good bargains. In the afternoon we went to the movies and saw Beneath Hill 60. It's pretty horrible and ugly, being a WW1 movie, but nonetheless a must see. We went and had pizza for tea which was delicious!

The houses in Broken Hill are quite different from anywhere else. It's a mining town, and I don't think home maintenance and gardens are a high priority generally. The majority of the houses are clad with corrugated iron, even the new ones.

Silverton

Before returning the key, we went for another look at the statues on the hill outside Broken Hill. It had been pretty cold and was getting dark last night when we went.

We then drove out to Silverton. It is about 12 kms out of town. it was originally the major mining town until Broken Hill was discovered, so they moved most of the buildings from Silverton into Broken Hill, Some were towed on trailers pulled by camels!

There are only a few remaining buildings which are made of stone. There is a pub which has been used in a lot of ads and for a few movies, the most famous being Mad Max. The black car is parked outside the pub. There are a couple of pretty good art galleries and a museum as well.

When we arrived back in Broken Hill, we went to the main public art gallery, which also had some pretty great works.

Broken Hill

This morning we did a bit of shopping, then after lunch we went to a couple of the major art galleries in town....Jack Absolem and Pro Hart. They had some pretty amazing works. At Pro Hart's gallery, there were 4 Rolls Royces parked in the front yard, in garages. One of them had been painted all over...even ants painted around the hub caps.

We picked up a key from the Information centre which gave us access to The Sculpture Symposium. It was done by a group of artists from all over the world. The sculptures are on a hill overlooking Broken Hill...they're pretty awesome.

Hawker to Broken Hill

Before we left Hawker, we went to have a look at the Aboriginal paintings at Yourambulla Caves. It was quite a walk up the rocky hills to the caves, but well worth the trip. It took us about an hour and a half to go up and back down.

We then went down the R M Williams highway through Peterborough to Broken Hill. We booked into the Lake View Caravan Park, set up Rosie, then went into town for a delicious Chinese meal.

Strezlecki Track

This morning we went into Hawker to see the Wilpena panorama. It is a huge painting done by a local artist, plus 3 more huge paintings of local scenes.

We then drove up the western side of the Flinder's Ranges, through Parachilna to Lyndhurst...the end of the sealed road. The Strezlecki track begins here, so we drove a short way onto the track and had a picnic lunch in the car...it was too windy and cold to eat outside.