9/11/25 Wilcannia

     Finally we drive away from Broken Hill , stopping to check the brakes again , with one wheel overheating - a quick adjust and away we go again , all good for several hours driving , happy days .

   We stopped at Wilcannia for lunch , and checked out the Darling River and the old lifting bridge .

    There's some great buildings in Wilcannia .

    The Police Station

     The Courthouse .

      The Post Office

     We carry on toward Cobar and find a free camp for the night . Thousands of goats inhabit all the areas we've driven through - some are actually being farmed , but there's lots that are feral as well .

 

8/11/25 Broken Hill Racecourse

 

      A short one for you .

             Here's a photo of an interesting building / old pub probably - one of the many .

This mural adorns a wall in the shopping centre , and has many features found in Broken Hill.

Here's the racecourse where we were camping , and two old grandstands .

There's a functions building that has a great rose garden .

There we are in the background .

     Beautiful scented roses as well . That's it short & sweet .

7/11/25 Silverton

     Our destination today was Silverton , the weather was trying its hardest to deter us , but we continued on . The road out is one of the worst roads around here , lots of dips in the road and certainly not the smoothest piece of tarmac we've driven on . We arrived , driving around the caravan park to check it out - it was empty - one camper trailer only , and they were packing to go . I think we must have beaten everyone else to get here as it was quiet everywhere - not even a car at the pub .

     We proceeded to drive around the old ruins of houses near town , storm clouds threatening .

    There's plenty to look at and marvel at what people used to live in , most were miners at the nearby mines .

     The house walls were generally well built and still standing , roofs however .

     Interesting the way bricks were used at the base of the walls - lack of bricks ???? certainly plenty of rocks , and well constructed .

     We headed down the road and spotted a track going off to the left and turned off , following this track up toward the tip - nothing like going to the best bits 😃 . There was another track , so we continued on , it turned out to be the old railway line , and led us down to one of the old silver mines . There was plenty of old bits& pieces lying around the place - steel cables laying on the ground running over to the old poppet head .

    Always on the lookout for, I spotted another track leading up the ridge on the other side of the gully , so that's where we went - the top of the range was calling us .

The track ended with a short very steep section that we couldn't see over , so time for a walk . It was steep and rough , but up the top was a very small flattish area that we would have had to do a 10 point turn to turn around , so just as well we didn't go up there .

    Views from up the top were out to the west over Mundi Mundi Plains and went forever . 

  

      The wind blew me back down to the ute and we made our way back into town , time for some lunch at the hotel . Everybody had the same idea and whilst we were out driving , they all arrived and ordered lunch before us , so we had to wait a little , but it was worth it . 

    And that's another day done , Cheers 

4/11/25 Lake Pamamaroo & Lake Minindee

      The ute's been serviced , so we headed out to Menindee for a couple of days . We stopped several times on the way out to check brake temperatures , finding that a couple were heating up again . Arriving in Menindee , we had some lunch before driving around a bit , then out to Lake Pamamaroo , where we will stay the night . The lake was a murky light brown colour , typical of inland lakes & rivers . There are thousands of tree stumps in the lake , which shows how the levels fluctuate so much .

     As you would expect , there's plenty of birdlife with so much water about . Pelicans , ducks , darters , we even had a fox wander past . There were also plenty of other campers tucked into positions beside the lake , some with boats and going fishing, others just camping like us .

    Sunset was pretty cool .

    Next morning , I decided to remove the wheel and check the bearings in the wheel that was heating up , finding it did need to have some more grease added to it . After putting it all back together again we headed around to Lake Menindee . We found the canal between Copi Hollow and Lake Menindee , the railway line to Broken Hill also passes beside the lake . 

     Leaving here , we headed around to Sunset Strip - a small community built beside Lake Menindee - then we headed back toward Broken Hill . We stopped for the night at the site of an old roadhouse , and were treated to another fine sunset . The wheels didn't overheat - another bonus !!

     We ordered a fan for the fridge in the van as the old one was getting rather noisy , it hadn't arrived , so we headed back out to the racecourse for a few more days .

  

 

1/11/25 Pro Hart Gallery

       Leaving Peterborough , travelling toward Broken Hill , we had a camp beside a dry creek about 300m away from the road . It was about 120klm from Broken Hill , and meant we could have an easy drive in the next day . The wind was behind us for the drive , so that made it easier as well . Our brakes seemed to behave today so that was a real bonus !! Next day we headed into town and made our way to the racecourse , where we stayed for 4 nights . The ute was in for a service on Friday , so we had some time to go for a look around town .

    Time for some culture , a visit to Pro Harts Gallery . To our surprise , the entry fee was $3 each for seniors . The gallery is actually an old garage that was converted to Pro's studio , where he created his masterpieces . It's now a 3 level gallery that the family keeps open for anyone that wants to have a look . Before we wander around looking , we sat and watched a video of his carpet ads , then some history of his life and family . It gave us a real insight into his life and the inspiration for some of his paintings . One of his famous creations was done on carpet for the tv ads we all seem to remember . This is a smaller version of it , also painted on carpet . Dragon flies feature in lots of his paintings . 

       There's plenty of his paintings to look at and shop also selling souvenirs as well as prints and paintings

        This compilation adorns 2 walls in the gallery beside where he used to paint & create .

     This is his studio .

    Another dragon fly , this one being reclaimed by ants .

    He enjoyed his cars , there are 3 Rolls Royces and 1 Bentley on display . This is the one he painted , right down to the hub caps .

    We spent a couple of hours checking the gallery out , it was a really interesting afternoon .

26/10/25 Jamestown & around Peterborough

 

    With some adjustments made on the brakes , we headed down the highway toward Port Pirie , then to Jamestown . Things seemed to be working okay for the moment . Stopping in at Jamestown , had lunch in the RV park after being told the caravan park was booked out , Hmmmm. 

   On the side of one shop was a large mural from times gone by .

    The main street was quiet - it was Sunday after all - so we could park nearly anywhere with the van . Verandahs in front of most shops made for a nice streetscape . 

    The chemist had a lot of old products they used to sell - lots of memories there .

     Continuing on to Yongala , we stopped for the night in the RV Park beside the tennis courts . Yongala is a small village with not too many houses and even less shops . The pub closed down a few years ago as well . We mainly stopped to get out of the howling winds that were getting stronger & stronger . After a cold night , we headed into Peterborough - 12 kms away - stopping again at the RV park for a night . We headed out for a drive around the district . Peterborough is an old railway town and was a major stop on the railway system . There is also a lot of wheat grown here as well . Many smaller old farms have been swallowed up , making larger properties , but the downside is all these old houses & buildings falling into disrepair - the valley we drove through was littered with old stone buildings .

    The old tank stand had seen better days , the windmill has also fallen down .

     Another older one .

     Just for a splash of colour , some canola & Pattersons Curse .

    We found Black Rock Lookout , which gave a great view of this vast valley NW of Peterborough .

     After we'd had a look around we went to get in the ute , but this Shingleback lizard decided it liked the shade under the ute , we had to start up and hopefully help it make a decision to move out of the way - it did .

     With that done , we headed back to Peterborough via as many back roads as we could find . Another cold night , but we survived again , then made the short drive down the street & up to Frank & Margarets place ( they have a van the same as ours ) . We drove in & set up , waiting for them to arrive home from some time away . We made some tea for us all , so they didn't have to worry about cooking after driving home from Adelaide . They arrived home & after unpacking some of their fridge items , we settled in to some chatting and a few of Franks home brews before dinner . 

    We managed to get the ute booked in for a service at Broken Hill , so unfortunately we only had one night with Frank & Margaret , before heading toward Broken Hill tomorrow . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=11NqL1aQ_3dlVOHwGouANYHmvQr0Awzg&usp=sharing

22-24/10/25 Port Augusta & Quorn

 

      We drove to Port Augusta and stayed at the Motorhome Park so we were close to the service place for tomorrow . 

     We put the van in and set it up over the pit , then left them to it . Heading out to the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens for a look and some lunch . This is the Red Cliffs Lookout .

     From the same lookout - back toward Port Augusta .

     Lunch at the cafe was excellent and before long we'd made our way back to the van , just in time to get ready to hitch up and take for a test drive . We were over the moon that we could get it done in a week from when we arrived . They had the parts and did the brakes & bearings . We went for a drive to bed the brakes in , and came back with brakes getting very hot . Things were checked and adjusted and we headed off , but only 5klms away at Stirling North , so we could go for another test drive in the morning . Going for a test drive we covered about 40klms and came back , more adjustments , and away we go . Heading to Port Pirie we got about 60klms down the road and things weren't going well , I rang and they told me what to adjust and we came back to the workshop again . More head scratching and adjustments , so we stayed at Stirling North again  for the weekend . 

    For some relief , we headed over to Quorn , about 40klms away , home of the Pichi Richi Railway . This is some of the country on the way over the ranges .

    It's classified as Arid Lands - it certainly is that , this goes all the way down to the Spencer Gulf .

      This is the Lattice Girder Bridge for the railway , and was built in England and transported out here and rebuilt , the 3 sections below were built in Australia when the weight of the trains increased . It is near Tickle Belly Hill - I kid you not 😆

     The old water tank at the Quorn Railway Station .

      Quorn Railway Station , the Ghan Railway used to stop here before the main line from Sydney bypassed Quorn .

     Murals adorn the public toilet building , these are Qandongs and coincidentally the Quandong Festival is on tomorrow .

     The Anzac Memorial was a great display , the detail in these wire mesh sculptures is amazing !!

     Something else SA does really well are roses , they must love the climate , they thrive .

     The main road in to town .

    

     Further up the street .

     The weather wasn't looking great for the weekend - another reason for us to stay and see it out .

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1rWqf62wk3SWWM_gf-K-DPuSggU9doEI&usp=sharing