NSW Outback Tour - Days 9-11

Saturday 29 August

It was hard to get up this morning! With the noise of the bar downstairs Barbara had not slept well. I had my earplugs so at least I didn't find it quite as bad. Anyway, we did get our bags to the bus on time and went bleary-eyed to breakfast.

Soon we were on our way heading east towards Griffith.

Our morning tea stop was at Balranald where the usual toilet queue formed. Luckily this time I was first!

We saw a few emus this morning and drove through lush green ground cover over the flat Hay plain. It is always amazing to drive for such distances being able to see 360 degrees of flat horizon.

At Hay we pulled into a riverside park and met the BCA workers from the Hay area, Peter and Lee Caspersonn. The park had some awesome river red gums, a lovely sandy beach and thick green grass.

From Hay we drove north to Booligal to have a drink at the pub. I do not remember being to Booligal before and it was good to see the tiny remote village. As the roads east towards Griffith were all closed with the recent rains we had to retrace our steps to Hay and rejoin the highway. During the afternoon the emus were replaced by galahs, rice, cotton and sheep.

Because we'd had to backtrack we got into the motel just in time for dinner. We had excellent food but by the time dessert came we were all very tired and sick of waiting.

After dinner Barbara had the idea to see if there was a laundry so while she organised that I wrote up the diary and contacted Geoff and Leslie to see if we could meet up tomorrow evening. Eventually we got to bed well after 10pm.

Sunday 30 August

This morning we headed to Hillston to attend church there with BCA workers Lindsay and Carolyn Whybrow. As the congregation numbered five we inundated the place with our 48 people. We arrived to our own morning tea in the “hall” and followed the service by providing lunch for the rest of the congregation, not hard considering the numbers.

After a short question and answer session with the lay minister Lindsay and his wife Carolyn they joined us on the bus for a quick tour of Hillston.

On the way back to Griffith we had a short stop at Merriwagga for a group photo then up to a lookout over Griffith.

We were home again in time to ring Geoff and Leslie to plan to meet up at dinner then spent an hour or so catching up on charging various batteries and typing up the diary.

Tonight we had dinner at the Leagues Club, a short walk from the motel, where we were served a delicious meal. Geoff and Leslie came so I spent a while out in the lounge with them chatting about life, old times, kids and the state of the environment. It was great to have a little time to catch up as I hadn't seen them for quite a few years.

After a walk home again we busied ourselves sorting and packing ready to move on again tomorrow.

Monday 31 August

On the road again today heading south then east. Our morning tea stop was at Jerilderie (Ned Kelly country) where we parked by a large lake. It was quite cold so a cuppa was most welcome. We are all getting quite cynical about all the toilet blocks as we travel that have only one mens and one ladies toilet. We've started making the men queue up and are treating all toilets as unisex. As long as someone stands guard for incoming locals it works reasonably well. It really does take a long time to get 40-odd women through a toilet break if there is only one!

On again to have our lunch with Cheryl and Michael Hallinan in their beautiful home on 100 acres of irrigated land - “Lynwood”. Cheryl is a quilter but as her BCA job takes her travelling for 3 out of 4 weeks each month she no longer belongs to the Deniliquin Quilter's Group so does not know Heather who belongs to our Rainbow group. I had not taken Heather's contact details as Deniliquin was not on the original itinerary.

After a lazy lunch we continued on with a tiny tour of Deni township then east towards Albury.

We stopped for another single toilet stop at Berrigan. On wandering past the few shops I was impressed by the work of a local artist – Jan Barnett – a beautiful dead gum tree with three crimson rosellas on it.

East of Berrigan there was a lot of standing water beside the road and in the paddocks. They must have had quite a bit of rain in the last few days.

On then to Albury where we booked into our motel for the night – a palacial room with two double beds and a single bed as well as separate kitchenette, toilet and bathroom - Econolodge Pallesteamer Motel.

NSW Outback Tour - Days 6-8

Wednesday 26 August

A more leisurely rising today with breakfast at 7:30. I was able to gather together few tiny loads of washing from various people and do a load in the washing machine and drier. This did mean our unit was a chinese laundry for the day drying out the last bits but at least we'll all leave with clean clothes.

We then had a free morning so Barbara, Dianne and I strolled through town visiting the patchwork shop (Ferry's), camera shop (Shutterbug) and the Geologicaland Mining Museum and admiring all sorts of things along the way. We had morning tea at the Astra cafe, a beautifully restored old hotel building, and lunch at Subway.

After lunch we boarded our bus for a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service base where we had a talk and a tour of the maintenance hangar.

Then off to the DesertFlora and Fauna Sanctuary to stroll amongst the flora and see a few wallabies. The views across the countryside were fabulous and being away from crowds meant I could listen to the silent sound of the distance. There were bird calls I did not know too.

Another short drive to the desert statues and to watch the sunset over the magnificent landscape. As we arrived I heard a voice call out “Betty” and turned to see Kathy Cartwright from St Cuthberts getting out of a car. We had a catch up chat and watched a great sunset together before I was summoned back on the bus and heading for town.

Dinner was again delicious and small enough to enjoy. After a bit of diary, photo and email updates we went up to Dianne's unit for a quick chat then came down again to fall into bed.

Thursday 27 August

Today we said our goodbyes to Dianne after breakfast for her to go to her train and for us to travel south on the Silver City Highway. Morning tea was at a roadside stop where the road crosses the Great Darling Anabranch. Only one toilet again so I resorted to disappearing into the bush as the queue was so long and slow. The creek bed was dry and cracked so I guess they'd like a bit more rain out that way. The most common wildlife we've seen today has been feral goats with an occasional pair of emus and one or two kangaroos.

We called in briefly to the park at Wentworth to see the confluence of the Darling and theMurray Rivers then on to get lost in Mildura and eventually finding Woodsies Gem Cave for lunch well after 2pm. They have a huge collection of jewellery and raw gems and rocks. I was able to buy some blank clip on earrings so I can wear some of the other earrings I have at home.

We checked in at the Mildura Grand Hotel at about 4pm which gave us time to sit and think, something we've not had a lot of this trip. I rang Maree and we've arranged for her to join us for breakfast at the hotel tomorrow morning as it is the only time we can actually get together.

Dinner was delightful but Barbara and I were pleased to escape to our room and just wind down. As I shut down my computer at about 9pm Windows decided to do 64 updates which meant it stayed on for hours. At 1:00am I woke to find it was still going but up to number 54. It was off this morning when I woke but I think my little computer worked hard most of the night.

Friday 28 August

Maree joined us for breakfast at the hotel today. She came bearing a box of fresh seconds mandarins from the packing shed. It was great to see her and have time for a catch up even though it was short. As she had to work we only had time for a short walk together to the Mall then we said our goodbyes.

Off on the bus to visit the Anglican church at Red Cliffs where Dale and Rachel Barclay who is sponsored by BCA, gave us a talk about his work there.

Dale then came with us to a nearby viewing spot on the river.

Back to Mildura for morning tea which ended up being a buy-your-own at 12:30pm. We were dropped in Mildura to sample one of the many cafes of our own choosing, far too late for my constitution.

On them to the wharf where we boarded the Paddle Steamer Mundoo for a sandwich lunch before heading on our afternoon cruise up river.

It was a most relaxing time on a very peaceful river. There were lots of birds to watch – pelicans, swallows, darters, cormorants, whistling kites and more.

The wind was quite cold so Barbara and I retreated inside for the return journey.

Once back on land I wandered down to the new water play park. This looked quite fun and would be especially enjoyable in summer, though some kids were even enjoying it now.

Before dinner I was able to complete a two day update on the blog. Again dinner wasvery enjoyable but it was good to return to our room and sort ourselves ready to move on tomorrow.

Outback NSW Tour - Days 4 & 5 - towards Broken Hill

Monday 24 August 2015

We had thunderstorms overnight and during breakfast, much to the delight of the locals I am sure.

Happy birthday to Nancie! Our stay at Lightning Ridge ended with breakfast after which we headed south west for Cobar.

Morning tea break was at Brewarrina where Barbara and I made a quick dash to see the Brewarrina fish traps. These are such impresssive aboriginal constructions over 40000 years old and still maintained by the aborigines. They looked fantastic in the swiftly flowing water. There has been rain in the whole area this winter so the rivers are flowing and the ground cover is thick.

Our mad dash meant we missed morning tea and almost missed a desparate toilet stop. The wildlife sighted today included emus and red-tailed black cockatoos.

We had a picnic lunch at the Bourke Information Centre before heading for the P.V. Jandra, a paddle vessel, and a one hour cruise of this top end of the Darling River. There were quite a few pelicans on the river, some whistling kites, a tern and some swallows. It was interesting to cruise under both the old lifting bridge and its more modern replacement.

Back into Bourke to the Port of Bourke and the modern day replica of its magnificent wharf. It has multiple levels to cope with the rise and fall of the river.

Back into the bus again to drive on to Cobar where we booked into the Town and Country MotorInn with only a little confusion. Dinner was another huge three course meal then off to diaries and to collapse into bed.

Tuesday 25 August

We left Cobar after breakfast and drove west towards Broken Hill. The countryside was lush and green (in a green-grey sort of way) compared to other times I've seen it. There were pools of standing water after the rain of the last few days. We saw lots of emus, a dingo and hundreds of feral goats. I don't remember seeing quite so many goats so close to the road on other visits to the area. The road was long and mostly straight with the occasional kink to skirt low dunes or cross occasional creeks.

We stopped for morning tea at one of the roadside pulloffs and were greeted by a bitterly cold wind. Luckily I had kept my parka out today, just in case.

At Wilcannia we stopped at a park off the main highway to have lunch. Barb and I had a wander and saw lots of beautiful old buildings, some of which are being renovated. I took a walk with Joan to try to work out how the (now unused) centre lift bridge actually worked as we noted that it looked slightly different to the one at Bourke.

Because we misheard the time to be back at the bus Barbara and I were late but only by a few minutes.

On then to Broken Hill where our first stop was the BCA House to meet Neville and Kathryn Naden . Neville gave us a talk about his work there and we examined the garden, a work-for-the-dole project.

It was then time to check in to the Ibis Styles motel, our home for the next two nights.

With a bit of time before dinner Barb and I walked downtown finding a camera card for her and having a chat to the owner of a camera shop about Surrey's many cameras and what to do with them.

On then to the station where we became more and more frozen waiting for Dianne's train to arrive. She had come up from Adelaide on the Indian Pacific to stay with us for two days.

We raced back to the motel to enjoy our three course dinner but this time the helpings were of a much more acceptable size. More chat followed in Dianne's room until I excused myself and again collapsed into bed.