Broken Hill To The Qld Border
Thursday 21st march, Time to be on the road again. Could of spent another couple of nights at Broken Hill but Malanda is calling and we have to be home for Mum and Dads 60th Wedding Anniversary on April 4th.
We travelled 400kms east today on The Barrier Highway, a lot of it was as straight as the eyes could see. Went through Wilcannia where we were told not to stay due to the local indigenous people. All the shops were boarded up with mesh and a lot of the old buildings were now empty and derelict .
We stopped at a rest area out of Wilcannia and met a lovely couple, John and Tania O'Malley who are doing the same as us. We decided that we would spend a night parked on a freedom park and swap areas where it is best to stay etc. .This we took on board and travelled until we found a large freedom park suitable for large rigs and caravans. A great stop over 63kms west of Cobar. When we arrived, there was no one else there but by the time we had set up our vans another 5 rigs had arrived for the night. Out came the chippies and drinks and off we went to met the neighbours. We had a wonderful evening, even had a couple of truck drivers stopping for a break. They left Perth Wednesday lunchtime and arrive in Brisbane on Friday. They have a day off and then drive back to Perth. Each driver drives for 5 hours and 5 hours off so the truck only stops for fuel and driver changes.
 |
| Overnight at Cobar |
The road today through Cobar to Bourke on highway 87 is a very long straight stretch of road heading due north. We came across many Emu's grazing along the side of the road. These you have to be very careful when passing as they are liable to run out in front of your vehicle or take fright and go in the opposite direction. Plenty of wild goats also. John spotted a wild pig that was a road kill, also saw a fox run across in front of us. and don’t forget the kangaroo's many of them too. There was a thunder storm with a good showing of lightning, the rain sure came down for a good half hour .But it soon dried out once it passed over and the sun dried the road very quickly.
We are very pleased that we got a CB radio installed before we left. 3 times on this road, we had pilot vehicles ask us to pull over due to the wide loads they were carrying. Each one came on the CB and thanked us for pulling over and wished us a safe journey.
 |
| Lunchtime at Walgett |
 |
| Grain storage at Walgett |
 |
| Cotton fields |
Tina and John, John and I decided to travel together until we get into Queensland border.
We found another freedom camp just outside Brewarrina beside the Barwon river for the night. Another thunder storm decided to go over. It is still very warm even with the rain and the thunder. We were hoping that the thunder may have cleared the air and cooled it down but it is still warm. We are going to make our way to Lightning Ridge where we will stay at a caravan park for the night and then have a look around Lightning Ridge which is a Opal town, Many books have been written about Lighting Ridge and the surrounding area. Looking forward to this.
23rd March 2013,
Arrived in Lightning Ridge around midday . Stayed at Opal Caravan Park at Lightning Ride. A brand new park. Very nice. Even has a lovely swimming pool. Wonderful and refreshing. We were very luck to be able to join a tour guide down the Chambers of the Black Hand Opal Mine. This mine is over 100 years old. The mine goes 12 metres underground . Down here you can see how opal is mined and what to look for when doing it if you wish. A local artist Ron Canlin has carved 500 plus carvings in sandstone around the mine tunnels. Once a mine is open to the public it can no longer be mined. To get a mining permit cost $700. a year and you must mark out your area you wish to mine and hand this into the powers to be in the area to get your license. You have to renew your license every year at a cost of $280.00 to keep your claim.
Many thousands of beautiful opals have come out of this mine and each opal is different in colour and size . Tina and John were with us on this tour . Tina did her best to get the prices down on several lovely rings but without any success. A good try though Tina.
We looked at opals in the value of $15,000. and of course under. All very beautiful. If you every get to this area it is a must to go and visit Chambers of the Black Hand Opal Mine.
 |
| Opal in the ceiling of mine |
 |
| Underground Opal Shop |
 |
| Maori Warrior |
Artist Ron Canlin the carver who did the sculptures
 |
| Carved emu eggs |
Camping ground at Lightning Ridge
John, Marg, with Tina and John O'Malley
Sculpture of old mining things
The evening of the 23rd March there was a great lightning display over the valley which brought a lot of rain around St George. This area is now flood and will be for a few days. So we have had to change our travel plans and are now staying here a extra night. After contacting the local highway boys we have been told it would be safer to travel to Queensland back via Moree. This we will do.
John and I had a lovely soak in the Artesian Hot pools 200 meters from the camping ground. It was lovely . The pool temperature is around 40 deg all the time , the children’s one is around 37degs. This one we sat in for some time .
 |
| Hot Pools |
Around 5.30pm we were invited to a hour or so of singing from a Australian country singer named Alan Luscombe. He sang many song written by his friends, Slim Dusty being one of them. He has also written quite a few. A very pleasant evening. Yes we brought a cd.
 |
| Alan Luscombe with Margaret |
After spending two nights at Lightning Ridge due to the roads being flooded on the way to St George. We decided to go the long way around to Moree and north. Arriving into Moree we heard a noise coming from the exhaust. Stopping and checking this out we found that tow bar under the Nissan had dropped and the exhaust was hitting the tow bar. Fortunately a Nissan agent was right across the road from when we stopped. They recommended a engineer, after a quick phone call by Nissans we had a appointment for 7.30am at a local engineer to get it repaired. Great service Nissan Moree.
John was at the engineers at 7.30am so we could get it repaired and get on the road to John and Kay Cummings' home at Rockhampton.
No comments:
Post a Comment