Before any more time goes by, I shall attempt to get the return part of our trip to The Corner posted. I need to start on another custom quilt tomorrow, which is already loaded. So today is the day to write this post. I am glad I do write notes each day while we are away, just to refresh my memory!!
We left Tibooburra for the return journey on Day 6 of our trip. So we are at the half way point of our 12 days. Here is the map from the Part 1 post, just to remind you. The dotted lines are unsealed roads and we did the one from Tibooburra to Cameron Corner in the car, without the van. We mostly stay away from unsealed with the van, except for one bit which I will mention further on.
On the return journey we took the little side trip into the "town" of Milparinka.
Set on the banks of Evelyn Creek (named after Captain Charles Sturt’s brother), Milparinka may be small but it’s big on country swagger. Once a bustling gold mining capital, the historic settlement is now home to just a handful of people and a single pub.
When gold was discovered in this part of Corner Country in the 1880s, Milparinka sprang to life, nourished by water from Evelyn Creek. You can step back in time and relive this history at the Milparinka Heritage Precinct, a collection of restored colonial buildings including the former police station, which now serves as an art gallery, souvenir shop and tourist information centre.
On the road into Milparinka is this cairn..... which is a tribute to the men of Charles Sturts expedition.......
"In 1845 Sturt's Inland Expedition found themselves trapped by drought. They spent 6 months camped at Depot Glen and during that time they constructed a Cairn on top of Mount Poole."
As we did not go off the beaten track to see Mount Poole, I have googled and found a picture of the original cairn........
I find it hard to imagine how men, back in 1845 could travel this country........without roads, great distances from any habitation, carrying all their food, and water and supplies...........no maps, no phones or any of the modern things we take for granted??!! They must have been very brave, adventurous to risk so much!
The following photos are mine taken around the town of Milparinka.
This is the road into the town,.......
and the creek crossing, which means that access in and out is not possible in the wet.
We were soon back onto the highway again, heading south. The road was fairly quiet, with not much traffic. We got fuel at Packsaddle, and ate our lunch in the car while travelling. It is very convenient to have a fridge in between the 2 front seats and I usually pack our lunches for travel days.
There were more emus and their babies..............
.......and I found this info about the emus................
We arrived back at Broken Hill about 4pm and set up at the caravan park. It was time to get some washing done so that occupied the rest of the day until tea time and a quiet evening with a book, and plans to be tourists tomorrow.
After a late start the next day we headed out of town to check out Silverton.
Silverton is a small village at the far west of New South Wales, Australia, 26 kilometres (16 mi) north-west of Broken Hill. At the 2016 census, Silverton had a population of 50.
The town sprang up after the discovery of rich silver deposits, although it was soon eclipsed by an even richer silver-lead-zinc ore body at nearby Broken Hill. The town is often referred to as a ghost town; however, there remains a small permanent population and mainly tourist-related businesses.
This is the Mad Max museum, and a big tourist feature of the town, as the Mad Max movie was filmed at Silverton. (I do need to admit here that I have never seen the movie).
......donkeys roaming the streets.............
The next stop was the Mundi Mundi Plains, where they often have a big music festival with many caravans parked on the plain.
......Want to get a real sense of the vastness of the outback? Head up to the Mundi Mundi Lookout for a view over the seemingly endless Mundi Mundi Plains.
The Umberumberka Reservoir project began in January 1911 and employed up to 500 men over the next 4 years during the construction stage, eventually completing the reservoir and commissioning it to supply water to the Silver City in 1915, and has remained critical to the supply of water to the Broken Hill and Silverton Communities until the development and commissioning of the Wentworth to Broken Hill pipeline in 2018.
We headed back to Broken Hill next and a visit to the Line of Lode Miners Memorial, overlooking the city.
This pays tribute to the miners who lost their lives working in the mines here. There are more than 800 men named on the walls..................
.........with the cause of death mentioned for each one.
The view of the city from the top of the hill.
Our next port of call was to the Silver City Art Centre to view "The Big Picture". This was amazing!! The photos really don't do it justice. There are sounds of the bush playing as you look at the painting, and it feels as though you are actually standing out in the bush. We were blown away by the size of the painting and how realistic it was.
Ando, a Broken Hill local completed the 12m x 100m canvas over a two-year period which features a striking scene of lightning strikes, dust storms, mountains and a saltbush landscape. An incredible feat for an artist who is completely self-taught. You will be speechless as you enter the room housing the painting, which is described as an immersive experience of walking into a painting.
The buildings of Broken Hill are amazing too, and you can see the history in this town.
There was a lot more we could have seen in Broken Hill, but our time was limited and so maybe there could be another trip 'one day' ??
The next morning we were set to head further south, this time detouring on a different road back to Mildura. It turned out to be an interesting day.............While Barry was packing up the cords and hoses outside the van, I was finishing off the dishes and packing things for travel inside......
The first 'drama' was when I pulled the plug after washing the dishes, and whoopsie, the dishcloth disappeared!! It went down the sink drain with the rush of water......which resulted in a half hour delay of departure as Barry had to get under the van and disconnect the drain pipes to find the dishcloth!! (I have since purchased a crochet cotton dish cloth, that definitely won't fit down the drain hole!!)
We took the 'inside' road back to Mildura. On the way up we travelled on the Silver City highway. We had heard that the road back through Menindee and Pooncarie was now a sealed road.
The scenery was a bit different, although mostly barren, with few stock to be seen as we left Broken Hill. Further down towards Menindee we saw more productive country with some irrigation from the lakes.
This map gives you some idea of the magnitude of the water system, which feeds into Menindee......with the Darling river the black line on the map.
We had been told to check out Copi Hollow for a camping spot by the river and so detoured off the main road to look at it. We almost stopped there, but Barry remembered visiting the Main Weir years ago and wanted to see it again. But this meant driving on an unsealed road..........???
We eventually found the end of this road and ......
.......and where the Darling river was............
..............and then the Main Wier. It was while we were turning into a spot to park and look around that there was a 'clunk' and then Barry checked, 'something' at the drawbar had come loose and hit the ground and bent!! This was drama number 2............and meant that we probably would not be unhitching the van until it was repaired. (And one of the reasons to stay on sealed roads, as this part had shook loose on the corrugated road).
We continued further on and found a campsite at Menindee Lakes Caravan Park for the night.
It was almost time to eat again, and I headed to the Engel Freezer in the back of the car to find some meat to cook.......... It is a bit high for me to see easily in the freezer, so I was 'feeling' for the package I wanted and my hand came out with brown, sticky, gunk all over it.??? It seems that 'someone' had put a can of coke in the freezer to cool down, and forgot about it......result it froze and the can split!! What a mess! The contents of the freezer were taken out to enable a cleanup. That was Drama number 3.
I headed back to the van then and opened one of the cupboards and what did I find?? The lid had come off the coffee and there was coffee granules everywhere!! (It worked loose while we were driving on that corrugated road!) Another mess to clean up and the van smelt like a coffee shop. That was drama number 4, and thankfully the last for the day.
We enjoyed an evening meal, and was rewarded with this lovely sunset at the end of our day.
Next morning we were off further south along the new road, towards Pooncarie.
This was a nice well kept little town,..............alongside the Darling river.............
I thought it was cute that I was enjoying lunch, with my darling, alongside the Darling!?
The normally quiet little town was very busy that day as it was the Annual Race day. There were cars, caravans and people everywhere!! This truck was parked outside the local hotel, and I laughed at the sign on the side.
After we left Pooncarie, it was south towards Wentworth and into Mildura.
We headed straight for a Bunnings store to buy what we needed to repair the van. It was getting late in the afternoon, and it took going to 3 shops before Barry found what he needed.
We had booked ahead this time, and went back to Gol Gol for the next 2 nights. Again the parks were very busy so we were fortunate to get a site. Barry was able to repair the damage and we could now unhitch the van.
I cooked tea, trying to use up the vegies in the van, as I knew we would be going over the border soon, and not able to take them into South Australia.
The next morning we were up and ready to head to the hospital again to visit Tony. This was followed by lunch at the Hogs Breath Cafe. Next stop was a car wash, ...........................
......................... and then we ventured to the nearby town of Irimple where Jo's quilting group had an "airing of the quilts'.
We enjoyed coffee and scones with Jo................
..............and following the show we drove around the area some more. We decided to book in for another night and planned to leave Tuesday morning for the last day and to home.
Next morning was a late start and a very relaxing day. It was a lovely 26deg and we sat under the awning outside. I read a book, and Barry did some little jobs on the van and car.
We went for another drive, further up the river on the NSW side and found a lovely camp spot at Bottle Bend, which we have filed away in our minds for one day. We love being beside the river, as it is so peaceful.
I had to laugh at this sign..... I've not seen an ad for vasectomy before!!
Next morning we left Mildura.............
and drove back to South Australia via the riverland...........this was Lake Culluleraine...........
............and this is the fruit fly check as we headed back into South Australia........ this was the most thorough check we have been through yet..........
We went over the ferry at Lyrup............
.....and you can see where the level of the water was on these trees during the flood.........
.......we enjoyed a stop for lunch by the birds............
..and an icecream for dessert.................
before heading south again and a stop at Pinnarroo at Demi's kitchen for a snack.............
.......before arriving back home about 5pm. We noticed a big difference in the countryside back home after driving through some very barren country. Even though our area is much drier than normal, it was so green and gold (the canola crops) compared to where we had been.
It was time to unpack, and get back to reality.
Blessings, From Jude
