It was a beautiful warm morning and it didn’t take long to pack up the camper. We were on the road by 8:45 am, headed towards Mildura and Broken Hill. We stopped in Red Cliffs to look at Big Lizzie, a huge old oil powered machine that was used to clear land in the area nearly 100 years ago. There was also a market (Red Cliffs Country Market) that we browsed, buying a huge tub of locally grown cherries for $10. Yum! Toby’s face was stained with cherry juice for the rest of the day!
The wheat in the paddocks was left behind, and instead there were rows and rows of grapes. We crossed the River Murray on our way into Wentworth and the Darling River before we left Wentworth. Then we left the grapes behind and drove through a dry, scrubby landscape on a burnt orange coloured soil for the next 200 km. We saw many emus and goats on the side of the road, and also a lot of falcon-type birds soaring in the air while we drove.
We had lunch at a stop called Popilta Roadside Stop where we met a nice couple who ate lunch with us at the table we chose that was in the shade. It was about 37 degrees, so shade was a prerequisite! We were also visited by numerous apostle birds that were very noisily eyeing off our food, but they weren’t brave enough to try to steal it. The lake was fenced off, so we couldn’t walk down to the water.
We finally make it to Broken Hill and went to the Tourist Information Centre to try to work out where we should go. First we went to a Cafe built on the highest part of the Line of Lode remnant mullock (skimp) dumps which transverse the City of Broken Hill. There was a great view of the town and a Miners Memorial that was built in dedication to the miners who have lost their lives in the mines.
From there we went to a playground where Nathan was excited by the flying fox in particular. Then we drove to Silverton where we paid for a campsite for two nights. It is beside a dry riverbed and is quite bushy and nice.
It was still over 30 degrees even at bed time, and more than once today I was thankful for our fridge where the biggest treat was having a nice cold bottle of water out of the fridge!
Big Lizzie
One of many emus we saw beside the road.
Our lunch spot.
We made it to Broken Hill!
Nathan showing how thick the cables on an old mine shaft were.
Nathan driving some machinery in front of the cafe (called Broken Earth)
View from Broken Earth lookout
Miners Memorial
Toby at the playground
