Looping Round Melbourne

14/10/2018 Sunday R & R woke to another lovely morning despite the persistent strong breeze from the north north-east.  After breakfast, because Mass was not far away and not until 11:00am, RA wrote diary while RL adjusted the mirrors again and did some reading.  Shortly before 10:00am, they were packing down and heading back to Euston 12 kms then south 3kms to Robinvale again, but not before taking a photo of some trees with many burls on them.  Most of the way back into town there was cereal cropping, some so bare that the wind blew dust from their dry ploughed top soil, but the last few kms were vineyards and orchards, heralding the proximity to the river.  As RL approached Robinvale, RA noticed that the bridges spanning the Murray were extensive with Approach 1 and Approach 2, spanning the flood prone areas, proceeding the bridge which was actually over the Murray River itself.  R & R enjoyed Mass with a very wide range of ethnic backgrounds, speaking to members from the Tongan community and a woman from Fiji who was visiting relatives.  At noon, R & R were having coffee and chatting with RL’s brother, S.  It was almost 1:00pm when R & R set off for Manangatang 54kms south.  The first 20kms or so was vines and orchards being near to the river and water supply but after that R & R were seeing Mallee country that supported cereal growing and sheep.  What R & R did not know was that they were entering what is known as the MALLEE.  Mallee vegetation with sheep and cereal would dominate the vegetation and countryside for the entire 200kms drive in the afternoon.  Mallee was written on the Navigator and featured on the information bays at the Manangatang rest area.  Not that either RL or RA were concerned as, like being near lakes and rivers, being in Mallee country had a certain appeal, possibly because it was familiar.  When R & R stopped at Manangatang about 1:30pm, they had lunch before walking up and down the main street.  RA was thrilled to find that the community had created a monument to the humble Mallee.  They had built a garden which featured a beautifully stacked circular arrangement of Mallee roots surrounded by grasses and native plants.  There was also a panel on which there was information about the Mallee fowl.  They had also, after much deliberation, created two sculptures that they called Memory Shapes, containing trinkets about their past.  The objects included broken china, club badges, bits and bridles, horseshoes, taps, chain, springs.  It was delightful!  Nearby a map on a panel showed that there were lakes near the road on the way south toward Sea Lake (57kms) where R & R were headed.  After a most enjoyable hour, R & R were passing again through Mallee country supporting cereal growing.  The rail line and road followed each other closely and passed by several places that had old concrete silos, which were probably not in use any more, as well as small communities with new silos and the larger towns, like Sea Lake, which provided essential services like machinery sales and service for the cereal growing industry.  Some of the crops were faring better than others.  Some had even been harvested or baled already.  Some had sheep on them before harvesting.  It occurred to RL that although some crops looked short and not tall, like the ones he was familiar with, it could be the strain or their habit, particularly in an area where it is persistently windy.  It was 3:00pm when R & R stopped at Sea Lake and read all the information panels at the rest area where they had showers.  It was there that they learned more about Mallee.  Mallee comes from the Aboriginal word mali which means water.  The local people are Maligundidj meaning “people of the mali (Mallee)’.  Mallee have a root system that is able to store fresh water and the Aboriginals were able to “milk” the roots of Mallee when required.  Sea Lake was interesting in that being so close to Lake Tyrell, it holds an annual 4WD race around the lake called the Mallee Rally.  The lake has long had a connection with salt farming and the industry still employs 21 people.  R & R had noticed along the drive that Lake Wahpool had a pink tinge and the crystals of salt sparkled in the sunlight mid-afternoon.  RL drove a further 76kms to Wycheproof which boasts having the smallest mountain (Mt Wycheproof) in the world, only 43m above the height of the plains it sits on at just under 100m.  Further, it claims to have its own mineral, Wycheproofite, found in 1995 by Bill Burch; the only site in the world where this mineral is found.  Just before Wycheproof there was a sign with a car and caravan which read “High Wind Area Next 2km” which was interesting.  It was a short distance of 22kms further south to a suitable rest area.  R & R arrived at Teddywaddy picnic area shortly before 5:30pm and were set up within half an hour, thinking about dinner and looking at maps.  After dinner RL read and RA wrote her diary.  Though they had phone reception … nobody rang.

15/10/2018 Monday R & R woke to another lovely morning despite a good breeze of 21km/hr from the north.  Some of the crops in the paddock outside were green still but some shone golden in the early morning light.  Around the camping area and along the road verge, there were beautiful gum trees other than Mallee.  After breakfast, RA helped RL check and pump up the tires as they felt a little light.  It was 8:15am when R & R set off south on Calder Highway bound for Charlton less than 20kms away.  RL had commented as they left about the mess that travellers and campers leave behind at rest areas and said he understood why some would want a complete ban on free camping.  So, it was no surprise when RA noticed on the entry to Charlton a sign Adopt a Highway Litter Removal Next 2kms with a service club taking the honours.  All credit to the service club – shame on the public!  RL drove through Charlton on the Avoca River which had water in it.  It was a big centre for grain receival and had a weir and many businesses that supplied and serviced the agricultural industry.  R & R headed for Bendigo 104kms south east on the Calder Highway.  RL stopped when he saw a huge monument.  Turned out it was another of those “So and So” passed by here with a date.  For the most part, it was flat open sheep and crop country on light orange soil with some Mallee huge, though the farms were smaller or closer together, with only one section before Wedderburn which could have been considered more hilly.  R & R passed through Wedderburn, which had a history founded in gold and tourism based on fossicking, but stopped in Inglewood, another town with gold in its past, to pop into an op shop on its main street.  It had many lovely old buildings, one traffic light, vintage and collectables shops and a eucalyptus distillery.  They stopped again in Bridgewater on Loddon (the river and Shire’s name was Loddon).  Here again, they stopped when they saw an op shop on the main street.  It was a food bank as well as an op shop, run by one of the local churches.  Food was free for everyone, so R & R took some fruit and made a donation.  As they were driving out, they noticed several silver installations, something like the heads of windmills but could only hazard a guess at what they may have been for: astronomy, communications, weather observation?  In the area there was signs for vineyards and pea hay. Dust blew where machinery worked the dry surface of paddocks.  The last 15kms into Bendigo from Marong was building up as it passed by Maiden Gully and Kangaroo Flats and was hilly again to about 200m.  It was 10:45am when R & R parked on High Street just a block up from the information centre.  R & R delighted in walking round the CBD taking in all the lovely old building, statues, fountains (Alexandra & Vahland), quaint trams, magnificent gardens, public art and the Dai Gum San Chinese temple and precinct which they had not seen before.  R & R popped into a couple of op shops on their way to the bank for cash and change.  After a coffee they refuelled before setting a course on the Midland Hwy for Kyabram where they hoped to sleep the night.  They passed Lake Weeroona which looked like a lovely place for lunch had they realized, but they were keeping an eye out for Jayco to buy a saddle for the awning arm.  That done, RL stopped again at Huntly travellers rest to have lunch as it was about 1:30pm.  Again R & R noticed that business and suburbia extended in a radius of about 15kms from the city CBD.  While they were having lunch R & R saw two fire engines heading north and when they veered east at Elmore for the 16kms to Rochester, they could smell smoke but could not see anything.  Probably, just as well!  There was a big concern with huge hay sheds with many trucks and also a large horse stud or adjustment facility before Elmore, which was a neat small township.  Then, as R & R drove nearer to Rochester, the Navigator indicated canals and the Campaspe River running near the road and rail.  R & R stopped again, about 3:00pm, at an op shop on Rochester’s main street before continuing.  The paddocks were smaller again, water could be seen in canals and there were beef cattle as well as dairy farms.  R & R saw a sign for OvaSem which could only have been a company dealing in livestock reproduction and they were fascinated when they saw a farm with camels; not just a few, probably a hundred or more.  RA had set the Navigator and checked Wikicamps for the rest area but, when they arrived at the Fauna Park in Kyabram, things did not look promising.  R & R went into the kiosk to enquire and the guy indicated the spot where they could set up.  By 4:30pm they were having coffee.  RL read while RA wrote the diary for the day to leave the evening free for chatting and reading.  About 5:30ppm, while R & R were chatting with their daughter, S, a few drops of rain could be heard on the roof of the camper.  RA cut her short when the phone rang with a call from J, RL’s brother-in-law.  RA prepared patties for hamburgers for dinner and a batch of meatballs for the next night.  RL cooked the meat while RA prepared the salad.  After dinner, R & R looked at the maps and tried to come up with the best plan for getting to Dandenong.  S, rang back.  It began to rain so R & R went to the loo in a break before quitting.  They did not mind if it rained most of the night … as long as it was fine enough in the morning to packed the camper down.

16/10/2018 Tuesday It did rain on and off most of the night.  R & R took a while to settle as it was quite humid.  Not that R & R were restless, just that they were aware of the rain.  They woke at 6:30am and the canvas was mostly dry, and the forecast was for a break of a couple of hours, so they set about breakfast and packing down as soon as possible.  Shortly after 8:00am, R & R were parked on Kyabram’s main street Allan outside Jeff’s Shed 4x4 accessories and service.  They were early so they had coffee after which RL read and RA did a manicure and pedicure.  Shortly after 9:00am, they were inside Jeff’s Shed to take a look at the NorthStar slide on camper.  It certainly was well built and looked like good value for money.  It gave R & R lots to think about!  The guys were great and entertained R & R for about an hour and a half by which time the weather had set in again.  About 11:00am, RL set a course for Shepparton 42kms away.  It was hard to focus on the scenery with so much rain and a grey day, but it was similar to what R & R had seen the day before.  There were orchards with cold stores and packing sheds, cattle feed by crops which were being watered by overhead sprinkles or flooding from water in canals where solar panels and pumps to regulate flow.  R & R were just out of Mooroopna (5kms west of Shepparton) when their son, Z, facetimed from Mongolia.  It was fabulous to hear from him so RL parked the Ute (no need to look for a shady tree) and they had coffee and caught up on all his news.  He and his wife, B, had had an interesting weekend away with friends at the Eagle Festival, an annual event held near the border of Kazistan.  RA set the Navigator for SPC factory sales.  It was not long before the Ute was parked in the Shepparton CBD.  R & R took ages to check out the best specials in canned, bottled and dried fruit and vegetables and to settle on what to buy.  The specials were quite different from the last time they were there but, in the end, they were happy with their $43.40 of groceries.  After packing them in the Ute, they walked up and down the main streets and managed to find three op shops before returning to have lunch.  Fortified, R & R set a course, with the Navigator’s help, south on the Goulburn Valley Highway for Nagambie North rest area 41kms.  They passed the airport, oval, primary school and a delightful Dutch cottage and windmill café at Kialia, a suburb on the way out.  RA would have like to stop but it was not the right time.  Like Bendigo, RA noticed that the lights, business and suburbia extended at least 10kms before returning to farming land.  There were signs for strawberries and olives and again R & R saw cattle, canals and crops including canola.  The Freeway to Melbourne became dual carriage way with two lanes both sides.  Thereafter, the country was more open with crops and sheep.  R & R saw horse stables and poultry sheds and recently cut hay that lay sadly on the damp soil.  “Cut hay.  The last thing they want is rain!“ RL commented.  RL pulled into the rest area and decided that there was just enough time to continue to the next one, Taungurung a further 30kms.  The Goulburn Valley Railway crisscrossed under the freeway a couple of times and there were some vines and orchards again.  It was after 4:00pm when R & R stopped at the rest area.  It was on a bit of a slope so R & R were careful to search for a couple of good rocks to put in front of the wheels.  Luckily the rain held off until RA was bringing the last bits in from the Ute.  R & R had a quiet afternoon and evening, ringing E, RL’s sister, looking at maps, reading and writing and enjoying meatballs in bolognaise sauce.  It rained heavily several times with some thunder.  The quilt cover became wet where it touched the canvas but again R & R were hopeful … that the wet would abate long enough for the canvas to be dry enough to pack down in the morning.

17/10/2018 Wednesday R & R were disturbed by a shower of rain shortly before 7:00am.  The forecast was for cloudy but sunny so after breakfast they read a while in the hope that the canvasing would dry somewhat.  About 9:00am they began packing down before heading south to Seymour 5-6kms.  It was 9:45am, with a dash of sunshine, when R & R asked for information, at the tourist bureau, about a best route to Melbourne/Dandenong which did not involve coming in at the top end and having to drive virtually through the city.  The guy was really very helpful and printed maps for them before proceeding to mark a path with a highlighter.  R & R set a course for Lilydale beginning with 39kms to Yea.  As the countryside was so rocky, there was no more cropping, only sheep, cattle and horses grazing.  At first the hills were at a distance and shrouded in mist but then R & R began driving through hilly country of the Cheery Tree Range with Mt Eaglehawk at 528m and the creek lines at 150m.  Everywhere there was green pasture, water in the creeks and dams (RL spotted one that had stone walls) and puddles on the sides of the road; a far cry from some of the dry barren lands that R & R had recently driven through.  By 11:00am they were driving through Yea bound for Yarra Glen 55kms south.  The road was winding and hilly with the Navigator indicating the beginning, south western extremity, of the Great Dividing Range.  RL drove over the Yea River, where rapids splashed over the rocks below, and RA noticed that the trees were bigger and there were lots of introduced plants and trees like poplar, oak and pines growing along the road verge.  Rain fell heavily as RL drove through the Kinglake National Park with its huge forest trees on deep rich red soils and RA was not feeling comfortable at the sight of signs which indicated that the road was slippery when wet.  From the top near Mt Slide 470m, there was a section of vey bendy road with suggested speeds of 75km/hr for about 10kms as it ran towards Yarra Glen.  About half way down at Dixon’s Creek, over the road from a kennels and cattery and next to a horse agistment farm, shed and yards, R & R stopped for a cup and a break.  From there, as far as the eye could see up and down hills were vineyards, wineries and estates into Yarra Glen, where the road went over the Yarra River, and beyond to Lilydale 12kms further.  Besides the vinicultural activities, R & R saw strawberry farms, baled silage, a sign for Yarra Valley Diary, Stringy Bark Creek and undulating ploughed ground.  As R & R were arriving into Lilydale J, RL’s brother-in-law rang so they stopped and chatted long enough to find out that he would not be at home in Dandenong for a least a few days.  That meant that R & R had to rethink their plans and tour a little while, possibly along the Gippsland coast near Lakes Entrance, before going to Melbourne.  RL parked in some parklands near a river.  R & R walked up and down the main street, taking in no less than five op shops and some public art.  On returning to the Ute, they ate a late lunch and by 2:00pm they set a course for Willow Park rest area at Rosedale 184kms from Melbourne.  The path would take them on the steep and winding Warburton Highway, east, with its tall forested trees and palms, through Seville, where there were orchards under netting, hydro strawberries and lots of horses, and Woori Yallock, Launching Place, Yarra Junction, Powelltown to Noojee.  The forested winding sections, where it was cool and damp, were interspersed with agricultural communities; the drive punctuated by 40hr speed zones past schools.  Everywhere there was blossom on fruit trees, wisteria and rhododendron, a far cry from the deciduous state they were in when R & R drove through, in the opposite direction, six months ago.  At Noojee there was a switch back at the bottom of an immensely long steep hill which had the best of trucks struggling to maintain momentum.  Just short from the top, RL stopped for a cup and rang his daughter, H.  Once over the top, the country side opened up a little to cattle and sheep high in the hills and paddocks where their boundaries were marked by rows of tall trees.  RL drove south through Neerim, Neerim South to Warragul and the Princes Freeway.  Once on the freeway, the clouds of smoke from the Morwell Power Stations could be seen to the east, some 40kms ahead.  After Morwell the freeway became the Princes Highway with its minor interruptions as works progressed toward final duplication of carriage ways.  RL stopped at Traralgon for fuel as it was only 149.9c/lt before the last 24kms to Rosedale.  The country side was flat and opened up into cattle grazing on green grasses that were being supported by irrigation: overhead, sprinkler and motor driven circular sprinklers.  It was shortly after 6:00pm, when R & R arrived at Willow Park.  They had travelled just under 300kms, in challenging conditions with rain and mist most of the day, having made a quick change of plans, and it had been quite exhausting.  R & R set up under the bridge below the highway near the La Trobe River.  They knew it would be road noisy but did no calculate of setting up near a coaster that intended playing music all night.  R & R enjoyed fried rice for dinner after which they chatted with their daughter, S, before retiring.  It was damp but not too cool with a forecast of rain the next day but it did not matter … R & R intended staying a second night.

18/10/2018 Thursday RL did not sleep well, possibly the neighbour’s music.  It was 7am when they got out of bed and everything was shrouded in mist, R & R had breakfast after which RL read and RA caught up on the diary from the day before.  It was 10:00am when RL rang his brother, G, before they considered heading into Rosedale for a shower and to look around.  Rosedale was a staging post for Cobb & Co on its route from Port Albert to Sale and Walhalla and has a history steeped in pastoral and agricultural endeavours, and while that remains, there is a big focus on tourism to support its local antique and collectables industry.  R & R drove into Rosedale, went to its Community House to look at the book exchange and have a shower.  The receptionist there accepted their donation and printed an information sheet on Sherbrooke Falls which she recommended as a great place to stay closer to Melbourne if R & R returned that way.  R & R looked into the op shop near the centre before walking up and down the main street checking out the other op shop and all the antique and collectable shops.  They had no intention of buying anything but it was a great way to see the town and spend the morning.  R & R were quite interested in one shop which was actually a collaboration including 17 different stall holders, all under the one roof.  Sales were run on a volunteer basis being staffed by one of the stall holders themselves and managed to be open regularly six days per week.  Rusty’s Collectables Gallery was a standout!  It was more like a museum that had everything for sale.  R & R had never seen so many antique toys, coins, stamps, medals, books, china and tins together all in the same building.  R & R returned to the camper for a late lunch about 1:30pm and rang RL’s sister, K, before having a cat nap.  The noise from the road overhear was one thing.  The crunching and screeching of the bob cat as it worked the path in the rest area was quite another.  The Rosedale council was in the process of doing a major upgrade on the surfacing and workers were digging to lay the foundations for a new toilet block.  One of the workers actually stopped and chatted to apologise about the inconvenience.  R & R surfaced about 3:30pm, had a cup and walked downtown along the specially sealed path with its information panels.  After the floods in 1934 the bridge, under which Willow Park sits, and it approach bridges over the floodway was replaced by a new concrete and iron structure.  It proved so satisfactory that it was duplicated in 1996 when the roads were duplicated.  The path leads under the giant structure and shows a never-ending repetition of arches.  R & R stopped to look at an old hotel and the even older building just near it, just at its caretaker was coming out.  He explained that it had originally be an inn where coaches had stopped.  They all ended up chatting quite a while, so although it was only a distance of 1.2kms, R & R took well over an hour to get into town and back.  After a cup, RA did some domestic tasks while RL read.  About 5:30pm they checked a draft post before RA prepared beans to preserve some.  RL rang his sister, E, before dinner and after he read his lovely hard copy of Louis L’Amour’s “The Rustlers of West Fork” while RA published a post and wrote her diary.  It had been a lovely quiet and relaxing day … after a very hectic one.

Broken Hill & Darling River Run

9/10/2018 Tuesday R & R woke at 6:30am to a clear morning of about 12*C and a cool breeze from the south.  They had breakfast and read through a draft before selecting a few photos for it.  RL also downloaded the more recent photos off his camera onto the laptop and together they selected those for keeping and those for deleting.  A west bound Pacific National with only 27 trucks went by as they were packing down.  R & R were on their way for Broken Hill about 110kms east on Barrier Highway.  Shortly, they saw a mob of sheep at a water tank and windmill where there was fencing on both sides with the rail nearby.  On the orange red soils, vegetation ranged from virtually bare to being better covered with grey green shrubbery.  Sometimes there were taller shrubs and random trees.  Along Cutana Creek which ran along beside the highway for several kilometres, the lovely white trunks of river gums were seen.   Another Pacific National, west bound, was crossing the highway with its many flatbeds empty, so RL paused at the red flashing lights.  Near Mingary, goats grazed and R & R saw another water tower.  In the days of steam trains, these water towers were essential for trains to replenish their water supply and they were positioned every 35-40kms.  At one point, RL spotted a neat set of sheep yards on an otherwise bare plain.  The road at 200m was so flat and the plain so bare, that with the rail line built up about two metres, it was impossible to see the northern horizon.  Some old telegraph poles with loopy wire stood beside the road for a couple of kilometres before Cockburn which marks the border between SA and NSW.  RL pulled over for a couple of photos of the signs at the café just after 11:00am.  R & R were pleasantly surprised to see a couple of gimlets with their glossy brown trunks near the café.  Immediately, they noticed the better quality of the road and communications system on the NSW side of the border and it was not long before R & R were driving past Thackaringa Hill 290m and the other hills in its range including some called the Camels Humps.  They stopped at the rest area and read the memorial to the pioneers of the district before continuing.  Rocks, often white, rested on the orange soil where goats roamed and RL saw a large racehorse goanna stand its ground before darting off the road to safety.  R & R were amazed by the size of the AGL solar farm on the western outskirts of Broken Hill, then by its vast cemetery.  These were just a foretaste of Broken Hill, otherwise known as Silver City.  The city was big, everything was large and there was so much of everything.  The number of art galleries and hotels and magnificent buildings, the quantity of public art and the number of attractions and points of interest were overwhelming and left RA feeling exhausted before she began.  Just before R & R got as far as the CBD, about noon, the phone rang so RL pulled over and allowed RA the opportunity to chat.  That done, RA set the Navigator for the racecourse where camping was permitted.  RA paid up and it was not long before R & R were set up and having lunch.  They rang their son, J, as they had not spoken with him in a while.  It was 2:00pm before R & R headed back into Broken Hill CBD to seek information at the tourist bureau.  With maps in hand R & R walked up and down several streets taking in public art, monuments, buildings and signs.  A highlight was going into the Palace Hotel where almost all of the walls and half the ceiling were painted.  Mario Celotto, who owned the building, painted a classical fresco on half the ceiling in 1980, taking 144 hours to complete it.  Later he enlisted Gordon Waye, an Aboriginal painter, who worked, mostly Australian landscapes on most of the walls in the building over a period of time.  The foyer of the Palace also displays a giant silver slipper, celebrating its connection with the making of the movie “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”.  Related to that theme, the hotel celebrates an annual Broken Heel Festival over 3 days in September.  When R & R returned to the Ute near 4:00pm, they had coffee before taking a drive up to the Line of Lode Miners Memorial.  High above the CBD on a huge mullock heap, a giant iron monument stands as an icon to the city and its past.  Broken Hill was born out of the discovery and subsequent mining of lead, zinc and silver beginning in the 1880s.  But, at what a cost?   The human toll was more than 800 lives lost in mining related accidents and related health issues.  The memorial has scrolls which list the name, age and cause of death of those who died in chronical order.  The view over the city and back over the mined area are quite spectacular from the memorial platform and boardwalk.  From there, R & R went to the Coles shopping plaza for a few groceries and were back at the camper, track side, by 5:30pm putting the shopping away and having a coffee.  RL read while RA published a post. Before preparing dinner, R & R had showers.  After dinner, their daughter, S, rang and they chatted so late that RA did not get her diary done.  R & R were tired after another big day … all the new and different experiences were sometimes quite exhausting.

10/10/18 Wednesday.  R & R had slept well, and in, til about 7:00am, disturbed only by the cluttering of hooves of a trotter practicing on the track.  It was a cool 12*C but it felt like 9*C and surprise, surprise, everything was damp and grey.  The strong cool southerly breeze about 35kms/hr cast mist as it blew.  It had not been forecast and R & R hoped it would clear.  RL read brochures and maps while RA wrote some diary.  R & R breakfasted about 8:30am.  At 9:00am RA rang the racecourse caretaker and asked if it would be possible to stay another night.  She all but begged but it was not possible as he had a bus booked for the spot.  There was nothing for it but to pack down a wet camper, in the wet.  Not a camper’s favourite thing to do!  Right on 10:00am, R & R were driving out of the racecourse entrance and to the Jack Absalom Art Gallery.  R & R were greeted at the door by the artist himself, now in his nineties, and took their time to appreciate his wonderful paintings displayed around the walls of a beautiful gallery built in 1997.  His paintings truly capture the essence of the outback which he so loves.  R & R were in awe of the magnificent opal collection displayed under glass in the centre of the room.  His personal collection, from his own digging before he married and had five children, it is regarded worldwide as the best in the southern hemisphere.  Absalom is also renowned for his books on the outback and survival in the outback as well as his forays into TV documentaries and commercials.  Together with four other artists, including Pro Hart, a group called “The Brushmen of the Bush” have raised much for charity.  It was lovely for R & R to have been there.  RL drove over the highway to refuel and get a bottle of gas filled.  As RA was paying up, RL noticed a pair of secondhand Ute mirrors that the proprietor was happy to part with for $10.  RL was happy about that!  R & R drove down town to the CBD and, like Melbourne, they noticed that Broken Hill has lanes and streets with the same name, just to be confusing!  R & R walked to two of the op shops that they missed the day before and back into the tourist information centre for a couple more brochures.  It was nearly 1:00pm when R & R headed north west to Silverton 22kms.  Silverton was born and well established on the discovery of silver and lead deposits in the 1880s.  It was a thriving township of 3000 people but as the supply of ore declined, and the lode found at broken Hill was larger and more sustainable, the township declined.  Now there are several very well restored heritage buildings, several art galleries, a Mad Max Museum and a population of about 52.  AGL is in the process of building a wind farm with 58 turbines on the many ridges of the Barrier Range.  On the way out, R & R saw the turbines, as they drove closer to the range, and noticed that about 6 were already completed to the working stage.  RL commented on one that was only partially built.  The short drive was undulating and marked by Dip signs; 39 to be precise.  One of the galleries which R & R visited was called Beyond 39 Dips.  At the welcome statement for Silverton, about 5kms out near the turn off to the historic Day Dawn Mine site, there was a sign called Silverton Common, and grids marked the beginning and end of the common area, much like the one R & R had seen at the Rubyvale and Sapphire gem fields.  It indicated Penrose Park as the only place for camping.  It sits alongside the Umberumberka Creek and not far from the cemetery where the reading of headstones would indicate the type of hardship early pioneers suffered.  Originally Penrose Park had been set up in the late 1930s as a recreation facility, with no less than six tennis courts, for the people of Silverton but since the town’s decline it had been used as a picnic area, camping facility and nature reserve with many of the trees labelled. It had a bunk house and would suit school camps. R & R chatted with the caretaker, picked a spot and had lunch. It was 2:30pm when they headed for information.  They witnessed where red earth had washed over the road, caused by last week’s storm, at Silverton and Black Hill Creeks.  Before walking round the heritage walk and all its buildings, RL drove north out of Silverton toward, over and on top of the Barrier Range to the Mundi Mundi Lookout about 8kms.  It was impressive to look out towards the north, the northeast and northwest over Mundi Mundi Station and the plains which stretched thousands of hectares back towards the Flinders Ranges and displayed the natural curvature of the earth.  A drive of a further 4kms, to the end of the sealed surface, saw the Ute go down the other side of the Barrier Range and onto the flat bare orange coloured Mundi Mundi plains and then curve quickly and steeply back into the range and to the Umberumberka Reservoir and pumping station on the Umberumberka Creek.  Work on the facility was completed in 1914 as a water supply for Broken Hill. There the water was red and feral goats roamed the slopes.  The road looped back facing the Mundi Mundi plains and then down onto them again for the return to Silverton.  RA noticed that Umberumberka Creek was about 10-15m wide with washed white pebbles in its base and the side were orange walls straight up to 2m where water had eroded to create its path.  R & R spent about an hour walking round town and reading all the signs.  They were back at the camper by 5:00pm, reading maps and writing on the Jack Absalom postcards for the grandchildren before having a shower.  R & R tried ringing their daughter but reception was so poor she could not hear them so after dinner they drove back into Silverton and sat outside the hotel where reception was perfect.  Back by 8:30pm, RL read and RA wrote some diary.  What started as damp and miserable, cleared to a lovely sunny day.  RL had driven just on 60kms and they had been to a most unusual place … where there had been a real sense of calm and peace deep within.

11/10/2018 Thursday R & R woke at 7:00am to a lovely morning.  They breakfasted and tidied up. RA wrote some diary while RL set up his new mirrors to test them out and sorted some things in the back of the Ute.  About 9:20am, having packed down and hitched up, R & R were heading back into Broken Hill. RL parked in a shady spot in the CBD, about 10:00am, so that they could mail the post cards, pop into a couple more op shops and look into the Silver City Mint and Art Centre on Chloride St.  When R & R returned to the Ute at 11:00am, E, RL’s sister rang to give an update on J, her husband, so R & R chatted while having coffee and cake.  It was 19*C and a south easterly of 23km/hr blew.  Fortified, they were ready for the drive to Menindee, 110kms south east of Broken Hill.  The road took R & R out of Broken Hill and through the back of the lode mullock which they had seen from the CBD and the Miner’s Memorial, and wound up and down through the Mt Darling Range until about 20kms south there was a long steep and winding descent.  From there on, the countryside was mostly flat, where grey green shrubbery and reeds grew on the orange soils.  Where it was extremely flat, there was less vegetation to support sheep in the station country.  While the smaller creeks supported acacia, river gums lined Stephens Creek and could be seen in the distance for quite some time before the road crossed it on a bridge.  After that there were a few sand dunes.  About that time R & R saw a sign warning of EST and suggesting that 30 minutes be add to time.   The only sign of green was on the edge of the bitumen surface and a little in the shallow of the verge.  To help pass the time R & R listened to “One Step Behind” as they now had a battery to play it.  Very few vehicles passed either way.  RA had noticed that, from the height of about 300m at Broken Hill, the metres above sea level had fallen to 80m and about the time that they drove past Sunset Strip, where there was more vegetation, it was down to 65m and lake lands could be seen.  The sign Central Darling Shire about 25kms out was a reminder that R & R had much wanted to do, at least part of, the Darling River Run which included the lake area around Menindee.  They saw many dunes hiding the lake beds most of which were dry, before passing on a bridge, over the channel between Lake Menindee and Lake Pamamaroo, where there was blue water.  It was 1:10pm (EST) when R & R stopped in Menindee at the information centre and enquired about the unsealed road south to Pooncarie which had been closed since the recent storm.  It had been opened and should be safe for R & R to drive the next day.  R & R looked through the museum there before having lunch in the Ute and chatting with their daughter, H.  Armed with a map, R & R checked out the Menindee points of interest and were thrilled again to see the waters of the Darling River and to read about its history.  R & R smelt the perfume of cape lilacs in the gardens as they walked and drove.  Menindee, gazetted in 1863, was the first town on the Darling River but the story goes that in 1854 an ex-convict called Thomas Pain set up a hotel there nearly ten years before that.  The town had a history rich with explorers, pastoralists, rail and river boat transport.  R & R drove to look at the railway and bridge nearby.  It must have been a big centre for, rather than one standard railway tank like all the sidings RL had driven through, Menindee had one standard square and two larger rectangular water tanks.  It was 3:30pm as RA set the Navigator for main Weir campgrounds on the edge of Lake Pamamaroo about 8kms back and then another 11kms on unsealed road at the turn off near the Texas Downs new shed.  There they noticed a huge vineyard venture that must have survived at least a couple of years as it had already grown up to the second wire but that must have failed after that.   The road ran alongside the lakes, was sandy in some places and corrugated in others, with acacia in bloom on the road verge and larger trees which could be seen growing beside the lake.  In the lake dead tree trunks stood in stark contrast.  No sooner had they started than, G, RL’s brother rang so they stopped for a chat.  They were only another couple of kilometres, when another of this brother’s, J, rang so again they stopped.  R & R had seen three different birds of prey, including a goshawk, as they drove out.  Finally, after 4:00pm R & R arrived at the Burke and Wills campground next to the weir over the road from Lake Pamamaroo.  After setting up, R & R went for a walk with their cameras before thinking about dinner.  RL read while RA wrote her diary.  RA was a little puzzled about the Lakes, the Darling River and their connection; the weir and outlet regulator … and wondered who she might ask about that.

12/10/2018 Friday Shortly after 7:00am, R & R woke to a pleasant 14*C and a breeze of 19km/hr and the promise of another lovely day.  Before leaving, R & R dove around the lake a little, to the weir and walked around taking photos.  Kites, pelicans, ducks, swallows, gannets, plovers and galahs were all seen on, in or near the water of the lakes, river and weir.  Blackbox, rather than River Red Gum was the most predominant tree species with lots of sheoak and plantings of cape lilac, in bloom.  At 9:30am, RL drove back into Menindee.  RL pointed out a beware of horse crossing the road sign which had white wings on it like a Pegasus.  R & R saw the rail, powerlines and water pipe crisscrossing the orange sand dunes and grey clay floodplains.  It was just before 10:00am when RL stopped at the information centre and RA took the opportunity to ask the volunteer a few questions.  The weirs and regulation systems were built in the 1960s, largely to control the flooding of the township of Menindee and to conserve water, particularly as a supply for Broken Hill.  Although the one particular vineyard that R & R had seen had failed several years ago, there were still vineyards that produced table grapes, though nothing like as many as the times when 100s were employed to do the picking.  The storm Menindee had the week before, that had seen road closures, was two inches and the highest recording in the area.  Just after 11:00am, RL drove over the Darling River where a sign requested Wait Here If Horses On Bridge and then turned towards Pooncarie about 122kms south.  Immediately, R & R saw more abandoned vines, several horses and water on the ground and sides of the road in the white soils of the river’s floodplains.  After eight kilometres of bitumen the seal ran out so RL stopped to let down his tires before proceeding in 4WD on the next 64kms of unsealed road.  There was evidence where it had been wet and, in some sections, water remained on the side of the road but, for the most part, the surface was firm and neither too sandy, boggy or corrugated.  RL was able to maintain a good speed of 40-50kms/hr.  The most remarkable feature of the countryside was that the road ran on a grey and white clay floodplain with Blackbox close by the Darling River right next to orange sand dunes with its wattles.  The road at 50m skirted, drove round, over or through the dunes up to 70m.  RA counted that they had driven through no less than  20 of the sand ridges.  It was sheep station country and some of the properties could be seen from the road along with their sheds and yards.  Generally, there appeared to be little vegetation but in parts there was a green tinge or even pickings for sheep and puddles of water to attract kangaroos and birds.  RL saw a large race horse goanna pause before it charged across the road.  R & R stopped at Karoola Reach, on the Darling, near Karoola Station, where conservation and restocking of fish is an ongoing program.  Shortly after noon, R & R passed signs noting the end of the Central Darling Shire and the beginning of the Shire of Two Rivers.  With that came sealed road through a larger series of dunes up to about 90m with sheoak and a pine that had not been seen on the smaller sand ridges.  RL stopped for lunch and allowed the tires to cool so that he could pump them up again.  At least a couple of cars stopped to ask if R & R were OK.  After pumping the tires, about 1:15pm, R & R were on their way covering 20kms of bitumen in good time.  There the sand ridges became even taller to 100m with bigger trees but little or no ground cover and then steadily down again to about 60m.  In some places, all looked hopeless, so bare and dry with so little feed, and in others, a glimmer of hope, with a tinge of green and a chance that rain soon might sustain growth.  The seal ran out and the road was unsealed for a further 27kms before returning to a good surface.  The ridges were not so orange and varied in height between 50-70m and always nearby the grey clay of the floodplains could be seen in between.  It was a warm 26*C at 2:00pm when R & R stopped at Pooncarie.  They had thought they might sleep there but felt that there was plenty daylight yet to drive to Wentworth.  R & R went to look at the old wharf on the Darling.  Interestingly, the Darling was first named Salt River by Charles Sturt because it was salty where he attempted to water his horses.  It is a natural phenomenon that salty water flows from underground into the Darling at several points.  Pooncarie is nicknamed The Port from its early days as a paddle steamer port where wool and other goods and supplies were moved along the river to and from Adelaide.  R & R had a shower before coffee and biscuit and headed south, on fully sealed road, to Wentworth about 115kms.  What marked that section of the journey was that the sand dunes were lighter and lower and that about 30kms south, farming became more intensive with cropping rather that stations.  Closer to Wentworth, there were paddocks of crops some dry stalks from previous years but others green from recent planting.  R & R saw more crops, silos, vineyards, orchards and bee hives.  R & R listened to a little more of “One Step Behind” to help pass the time.  When R & R arrived in Wentworth at 4:15pm, they had travelled just under 250kms in five hours, driven over 21 grids and seen only six vehicles travelling south while 12 drove north.  At 40m above sea level, Wentworth is the junction where the Darling joins the Murray on its journey south, and though R & R had been to look at the confluence/junction the last time they were there, they were keen to go again.  It was still 24*C with a light breeze and very pleasant to climb the tower to see if at that point it was possible to see the two different colours of water, in particular the clay white colour of the Darling.  But alas, since the Darling was not flowing from lack of rain, the spectacle alluded R & R.  Shortly after 5:00pm, they headed north up Silver City Highway 26kms to the Milpara rest area.  To the east, near the river, vineyards could be seen for a while but to the west, there was only sheep station country.  Along the road, the entire way to Broken Hill, was the evidence of where the new multi-million-dollar pipeline for water to Broken Hill, had been laid.  A path had been smooth, the pipe laid, and the tree and shrub debris drawn back onto it.  R & R passed over a bridge over the Great Darling Annabranch.  An anabranch is a creek that diverts from the main river only to join back to it at another point, unlike a tributary which only joins the river at only one point.  On arriving at Milpara, R & R set up immediately so that RA could prepare dinner as well as sort out all the fruit and vegetables before entering the fruit fly excursion zone in earnest.  Apples were pulped for breakfast, oranges peeled and frozen, and the vegetables steamed or soaked in a marinade of vinegar.  Meanwhile, RL was on the phone all evening to C, RA’s brother, E, RL’s sister, followed by calls to their children S and S.  RA participated while preparing food.  They sky was cloudy and it was windy but … R & R did not really expect it to rain.

13/10/2018 Saturday R & R slept well and woke at 7:30am, still adjusting to the daylight savings and EST, to a pleasant morning.  A chance of rain was forecast for later in the day.  R & R set about packing down after breakfast before heading back down into Wentworth and passed the fruit fly disposal bin as they had already binned their rubbish back up the road.  By 9:30am, R & R were at the information centre enquiring about Thegoa Lagoon which is a site of great Aboriginal significance.  There, the lady told R & R that visitors would not see the colours in the confluence because the Darling had not run since 2016, and what can actually be seen is, the backwash of the Murray going up the Darling, hence no variation in colour.  R & R then popped into two op shops and took a photo of St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, the first church on the Darling River, built in 1871 and now heritage listed. It was beautiful.  RL then drove to the Lagoon which was beyond the confluence and turned into the reserve.  He had been warned that the track was a bit over grown but it had recently been graded, so in 4WD, the Hum proceeded with caution.  R & R were particularly keen to see one of the three known boundary marker trees.  These trees are thought to have had their branches grafted or twisted to create a circle or ring, marking a place of offering or a boundary.  Eventually, after following several tracks, they found one, which was a definite photo stop.  The lagoon had water in it and there were other points of interest like scar trees and middens.  After about an hour, the Hum disengaged four wheel and headed for Junction Island.  It was noon.  R & R had coffee and a biscuit before walking over the bridge and taking the 1.2km walk to the other end of the island.  It was a delightful path to walk with signs about the flora and fauna.  RL paused to look at a group of little blue wrens in the rushes.  At one point the bamboo and reeds were quite close, the path so winding and everything so quiet except for bird calls, that they were startled by a couple heading back.  After lunch, R & R crossed the two river bridges and headed for Mildura 34kms south in Victoria.  All along the road there were vineyards and orchards along the River Murray.  A sign read Welcome to Sultana Country – Sunbeam.  RL crossed the border at Curlwaa on the Calder Hwy where a single lane bridge was managed by a set of lights.  It was not long before he drove through Merbein and into Mildura city.  There R & R sought information about the address for a fuel station which the navigator did not recognize.  After refuelling, R & R made a direct line for the bridge to cross back into NSW to head for Euston 76kms east on the Sturt Highway.  The soils were orange and supported the growth of olives, grapes and fruit some of the way up to 25kms out.  In mallee country where there were, or had been cereal crops (some with a green tinge)  to the north, the road moved a distance from the river.  To the south there was the Gol Gol State Forest and a little further again the Mallee Cliffs State Forest.  Then it opened up into flat sheep station country with orange soils at 50m.  A few kilometres west of Euston, there were again vineyards and RL crossed the river/border into Robinvale where R & R had a shower at the information centre.  About 4:30pm, they were heading back over into Euston to drive the last 12kms to their chosen rest area on the banks of Lake Benanee.  It was a lovely surprise to find such a big lake with a huge camping area between it and the road.  There was a boat ramp and facilities like those seen at beaches, but R & R did not see anyone swimming.  It was still 23*C and the weather app indicated no chance of rain despite the fact that there had been dark threatening clouds all day particularly near Mildura.  By 5:00pm, R & R were set up, had coffee, cheese and biscuits and went for a walk.  On the rise, fenced off behind the camping area, R & R saw the best example of a midden.  They had seen one on Junction Island earlier in the afternoon but it was being eroded by the river and not as good as the one on the ridge above the lake.  FYI - A midden is a place where Aboriginal people discard their food scraps, particularly mussel shells, which remain today.  The evidence was spread over quite an area and it was clear why it had been cordoned off.  After dinner, RL read and RA wrote some diary.  It seemed that R & R would probably head back to Melbourne by the end of the week … that meant they needed to come up with a plan for heading south.

Port Augusta & Southern Flinders

4/10/2018 Thursday Both R & R slept well despite the windy cool night.  They woke at 5:00am, again at 6:00am and then again at 7:00am when they finally got out.  After breakfast, R & R felt a sense of urgency to get the camper down as it really did look like it might rain.  It was just before 8:30am when RL pulled south onto the North Stirling/Rangeview Road for the last 25km or so to Port Augusta.  Much like the afternoon before the road and rail ran closely together with the rail going over or under the road a couple of times.  The road was winding and marked by suggested speed limits of as low as 40km/hr.  The rail line cut through the hills in places while at other times it ran part way up a hillside and yet others at the bottom of cliff faces.  It was easy to see how interesting and exciting it would be for a rail enthusiast to journey on the Pitchi Ritchi rail.  Mallee and larger shrubbery grew along with saltbush on the orange soil.  About 15 kms from Port Augusta the road came down to the coastal flats through the small township of Stirling North.  A sign welcomes the traveller with the warning that the area is a Total Dry Zone.  RL had to turn west toward Port Augusta, for the last 5kms, past the prison, Bird Lake and the salt flats, which were both dry, and over a bridge, under which the Pitchi Ritchi rail line ran.  RA could smell the salt in the air.  Just before 9:00am R & R were at the Waldata information centre seeking information.  The morning was still cloudy and an icy wind blasted from the south.  From there, they walked down Commercial St in the CBD to look into the op shops, where they found a hardback copy of “Tommo & Hawk” by Bryce Courtenay, and on to Coles and Woolies for some groceries.  Shortly before noon, R & R arrived at the caravan park along the foreshore and were setting up.  About 1:00pm, they had lunch and a cat nap.  Though the sun had come through, the wind was still blasting icy cold from the south at about 37km/hr and R & R were slow to be motivated to do anything.  With coffee, they considered their options for the next few days and, ended up agreeing to pay for a second night and not be in too much of a hurry to get going.  That done, they just sat and read for an hour in the camper out of the wind.  After 4:30pm R & R took turns at cutting each other’s hair before having showers.  They helped each other prepare dinner, after which RL helped RA read through a draft.  RL read and RA wrote the diary for the day which was not that much … since they hadn’t done much.

5/10/2018 Friday The wind had calmed to almost still at some point during the night.  R & R slept well and woke about 7:00am to a cool 8*C but with a promise of a lovely sunny day.  After breakfast, RL went for his shower while RA did some cleaning to get the worst of the dust out of the camper. RL’s brother, S, rang in response to RL’s message.  RL chatted a while.  RA went for her shower while RL filled the water tanks.  At 9:00am, the wash was in the machine so RA paid a couple of accounts online and published a post, and half an hour later R & R were hanging the wash out in the sunshine with a light breeze.  Shortly after 10:00am, R & R were standing above the orange cliffs at Matthew Flinders Lookout.  Flinders stood there in 1802 and named many of the peaks of the Flinders Ranges at the time.  The view of the ranges and the top of Spencer Gulf, where many set off in search of the inland sea, is picturesque with the deep aqua blue of the water, the orange sand dunes and cliffs and an array of green and grey arid coastal plants.  From there, it was only a couple of minutes to the Australian Arid Lands Botanical Garden where R & R spent a couple of hours wandering round all the different landscapes with specific focus.  There was a section which had Gawler Ranges specific vegetation and another Flinders Ranges specific, etc.  A lookout over the coastal dune area was worth the walk and everywhere specific plants and trees were labelled with other signs along the way.  R & R were particularly impressed with the Arid Smart Display Gardens, much like walking through a series of display homes, where plants and features were brought together in most attractive combinations.  Each panel had several water wise tips on it.  There was a sense of “I like that.” and “I reckon I could do that.” Look up aalbg.sa.gov.au - The Garden – AridSmart Display Gardens.  The children’s garden was a fairly recent development with bridges, paths, natural climbing frames, a cubby that was a bird hide, teepees made from branches and … get this … a sandpit with orange sand!  What else?  All that walking and fresh air and experiential overload, R & R were ready for lunch back at the camper about 12:30pm.  They brought the washing in and had a cat nap.  It was 13*C and the breeze about 13km/hr.  At 2:40pm, RL drove down town.  R & R had a list of things to do: they filled a gas bottle at Mitre 10, popped into the Salvos op shop, went to a caravan repairers who had just sold the last pair of saddles (the part that steadies the brace over the bed awning), dropped a script at a chemist, selected a notebook for RA (She was getting desperate!) at Big W, picked up the script, went to look at the Railway Station Murals which depict the Indigenous and European history of Port Augusta and the mural on the wall called “Our Story Our Pride” which featured 2500 hand painted tiles wrapped around the wall on the corner of Flinders Tce and Augusta Hwy, popped into Foodland looking for coffee, and, last but not least, climbed 78 steps of the water tower  at Apex Park for a fantastic view over the city, the waters of the Gulf, the salt flats and the ranges beyond.  R & R were just returning to the caravan park, about 5:30pm, when R, RL’s sister, rang so RA made coffee and they chatted.  RL rang their son, S, as was the habit for a Friday about that time, before helping RA prepare dinner.  After dinner, R & R sat together proofing a draft.  RA rang S, their daughter, and they chatted for a while.  It was too late for RA to do the day’s diary so they just quit.  R & R were really glad to have taken the time to do some sightseeing in Port Augusta.  They had already been through Port Augusta at least seven times without actually stopping to look around.  Slim Dusty sings a song about Port Augusta remaining the same.  Not so any more.  R & R found it to be attractive, impressive … progressive.

6/10/2018 Saturday.  R & R slept well and woke to 13*C at 6:00am.  RA got out early to write the diary from the night before. After breakfast RL showered while RA published a post and paid another account online.  By 9:50am, R & R were exiting the caravan park and heading for Puma to refuel.  It suited R & R to refuel with them as they seemed happy to honour the RAC WA card for a 4c/lt discount almost everywhere.  They parked down the back of the service station and rung their friend, N, while having a cup of coffee.  It was about 10:30am as RL pulled out of the service station and headed south for about 18kms before turning east towards Wilmington another 20kms.  At first there was low flat coastal scenery with small grey green salt resistant shrubbery on orange soil with only an occasional tree. The pipeline which brings water to Port Augusta from the south, possibly the Murray, ran close to the highway.  Having turned east towards the Flinders Ranges, the road began to increase from just above sea level to 600m within a few kilimetres.  Horrocks Pass was a particularly winding section with suggested speeds limits of 35-45km/hr and rose steadily for about 5kms before descending for the next 5kms.  The ranges were well wooded.  On the eastern side of the pass, R & R saw sheep, green pastures and some barley cropping that was already turning yellow.  It was 11:00am when R & R walked up and down the main street of Wilmington before popping into the information centre and the local op shop.  In both, the ladies had plenty of information about going to Alligator Gorge in the Mt Remarkable National Park and both were sure that taking the camper was not a good idea.  As a consequence, R & R unhitched the camper in the main street and left it with a padlock in the tow ball.  Just before noon, they headed south a couple of kilometres before turning east toward the National Park.  On the flat R & R saw sheep, pastures and crops growing.  After another couple of kilometres of flat road, it became extremely winding and steep after entering the park for about 5kms mostly up and then again for the next mostly down.  The road ran along the top of the ridges at times and often the view down the side of the Ute was nearly a sheer drop.  The last kilometre had drains and dips which required near walking speed.  The park was well wooded but R & R wondered that so much of the vegetation looked tired, fatigued, or even diseased, rather than healthy. About 12:20pm, R & R had coffee and cake in the car park at the top of Alligator Gorge to fortify themselves for the hike down the 300 stairs into the gorge, to the terraces and ripples and then back through the narrowest part of the gorge toward Blue Gum Flat and back up to the rear of the car park.  The walk took about 1.5 hours as it was quite steep and very rocky over the stones on the bed of the Wilochra River.  In the shaded bottom of the gorge, it was cool and smelled damp while in the drier areas, it was warm and the perfume of plants in bloom was delightful.  R & R saw native pine, river gums, weeping sheoak, blackboy, many native wild blossoms as well as the domestic snowdrop that has a garlic smell and some Patterson curse, which is a weed. They saw many little lizards and a rainbow bee eater and could hear the calls of many birds despite not seeing them.  R & R were well and truly ready for lunch before taking the two shorter walks, one right and one left, to the two lookouts.  As RL drove out, just before 3:00pm, several kangaroos were already out in their afternoon feeding pattern.  At 3:15pm, R & R hitched up the camper and set off south towards Crystal Brook where they intended to sleep at the free camp at Jubilee Park.  It was simply a matter of hopping from town to town along the way, each only a few kilometres apart, for the most part, following the Horrocks Highway.  It was 21kms to Melrose, a pretty little town with massive silos lying at the base of Mt Remarkable at 953m.  R & R stopped out of curiosity when they saw a sign about a swing bridge.  They could not resist walking on it which enabled them to see the number of families staying there on holiday enjoying all the cycling tracks.  RL drove on through the community of Murray Town 15kms south and then through Wirraburra a further 12kms.  RL passed a complex called Stone Hut where there was accommodation, animal petting, an aviary and a bakery.  It all looked pretty new and impressive.  It was 17kms to Laura where R & R stopped to take a photo of a derelict seed processing mill and its chimney.  Laura looked like a nice little town with lots of interesting statues.  For the most part the road had not been the best but the open farming country with sheep (even one mob of ewes with lambs) and cropping was a welcome change from the outback dryness that R & R had seen so much of … and further it reminded them, very much of the south west and home.  From Laura the 24km journey to Crystal Brook took an easterly turn toward the coast following the scenic drive.  Indeed, it was scenic, back through some hilly country with more cropping, a vineyard and some cattle.  The road rose up to and over Hughs Gap.  At the top there were at least four tanks of a huge complex with a Water Station and a view directly to the sea in the Spencer Gulf near Port Pirie.  RL also noted the wind turbines, to the south west, which on previous trips to Melbourne, R & R had only seen from the western side of the range. The Navigator helped R & R to locate the rest area and by 5:30pm, the camper was set up next to the railway line on Railway Tce.  R & R chatted rang their daughter H and chatted with her, and R, their grandson and S, their other daughter as she was with them for D’s birthday party.  R & R prepared dinner together before reading and writing.  Over the course of the evening three trains had passed heading north and one south.  Three of them were marked Australian Rail Group moving freight from Adelaide to Darwin and one of them was a passenger train. R & R knew it was change over day for daylight savings in South Australia so they set their watches forward one hour before retiring.  It had been a long day but delightful … to see green fields again.

7/10/2018 Sunday Neither RA nor RL slept well.  It was not the trains passing that was the issue.  The rest area was close to a hotel so as the patrons left in varying stages, they walked home past the rest area talking and laughing loudly in several groups before closing time.  R & R’s restlessness may well have been sparked by the time change which meant that they felt alert so as not to be up late for Mass at 8:30am.  They were aware that it had tried to rain overnight.  Anyway, R & R were out of bed about 6:30am to a pleasant 14*C and were breakfasted, packed up and parked outside the church well before 8:30am.  After Mass, R & R parked back at the rest area so they could walk up and down Crystal Brook’s main street and take in the explorer sculptures which focused, not on specific explorers, but on methods of transport used for exploration, from walking to space craft.  The town was quite large and had several big machinery sales and service centres.  There were many very attractive and well-kept buildings, both domestic and commercial, which reflected the stone work of days past.  Several of the buildings in the main street were antique or memorabilia outlets and others had vines growing along their verandahs.  It was relatively quiet being early on a Sunday morning, but one café was already busy and shoppers were popping into Foodland.  About 10:30am, RL headed back through Hughes Gap to Gladstone 20 or so kilometres away.  The area boasts being home to the Lace Monitor (a reptile) and the Peregrine Falcon.  R & R saw a falcon, hovering above the green cereal and lupin crops, shortly after setting out.  The countryside was flat to undulating and everywhere as far as the eye could see, there were sections of different crops, in different stages of green with different textural quality depending on the direction they had been sown.  When R & R arrived in Galdstone about 11:00am, they rang RL’s sister, E, to see how things were going.  They chatted for ages in the shade of a willow tree while they had coffee and cake.  After that, R & R walked up and down the main street and enjoyed reading about Gladstone rail history.  It was a point in the railway system in South Australia where trains of all three different rail gauges came together.  Nearby, there was a very impressive Anzac memorial.  Many items of significance were displayed in a mausoleum made of only one solid wall and three of glass.  It was most unusual!  Gladstone had many silos, a witness to the fact that it was the state’s biggest point of grain receival.  R & R were just about to leave Gladstone when G, RL’s brother rang to give an account of his week.  It was 1:20pm when RL drove the next 12kms to Georgetown where they intended to sleep at the rest area.  The temperature was near 30*C and energy levels were seriously flagging.  The rest area looked great with a toilet and some shade so R & R had lunch before even contemplating setting up.  As soon as the camper was set up, they had a rest for at least an hour.  The difference between cat nap and resting is the difference between 20 and 60 minutes.  When they surfaced about 3:30pm, it was still so hot and uncomfortable that R & R just looked over maps to come up with a plan for the next few days.  About 5:00pm, R & R had a shower before reading through a draft post and selecting some photos for it.  RA prepared dinner while RL chatted with his other sister, K, for a while.  At 7:30pm it was still 27*C and not a puff of breeze but shortly after is cooled a little, for which RA was grateful.  R & R were just about to retire when S, their daughter, rang.  She was unaware that R & R were on SA daylight savings time and would be ready for bed.  RA suggested she make it short and talk quickly so that R & R could quit on time.  The rest area was quiet despite there being a couple of others in it … and all looked hopeful for a better night’s sleep.

8/10/2018 Monday R & R were out of bed just after 6:30am having slept well.  It was very still and a pleasant 19*C.  RA was attracted to the lovely old buildings backed by a delightful pink morning sky.  For a while RL read and RA published a post and paid an account online.  At 8:30am, they breakfasted and within the hour were packed down and at the local store to make a donation for their sleep in the rest area.  RL drove back the 12kms north to Gladstone which they had driven through the afternoon before.  As with yesterday, RA noticed the delightful pine smell emanating from the pine nature strip at the entrance to Gladstone.  R & R saw the massive Viterra grain silos, some Hereford bulls and drove past Gladstone’s historic stone goal, built in 1881, which was last used as a prison in 1975.  RL drove through Caltowie which was a neat little town featuring grain silos and on to Jamestown about 30kms in a north easterly direction.  The rail followed the road closely at some stages and again there were delightful green crops including canola with the wind turbines on the range to the west and to the north east.  R & R saw a kangaroo but the crop was so tall that only the shoulders and head of the kangaroo could be seen.  It was 9:30am when R & R arrived in Jamestown.  As they drove in they saw the Morgan saw mill, which is an industry other than agriculture in the area.  The Bundaleer State Forrest while being a tourist attraction provided timber for the industry and is considered the birthplace of forestry in Australia with trial plantings beginning in 1876.  Jamestown was a big centre providing services to support agriculture as well as tourism.  It had several coffee and antique style shops and several pieces of interesting public art.  R & R took a long walk around the town and were delighted with the spring blossoms, and perfumes like the pittosporum, in well-kept gardens.  It was 21*C and quite a strong breeze had blown up.  They ended up at the fountain and Digger’s Walk before driving out, about an hour later, on RM William’s Way.  RM Williams grew up on the family farm near Jamestown and went on to become one of Australia’s most famous businessmen.  RL headed for Peterborough first north about 20kms, then turning north east for another 24kms.  There was more cropping with sheep and cattle.  The road ran near the rail and up to and through the ranges with the wind turbines and massive power lines which drew a line NE – SE.  “That’s a lovely tank!” RL exclaimed when he passed a square tank, a couple of metres tall, made from stone just inside a paddock.  After about 10kms, the road took a long slow incline up for several kilometres up from 500m to 600m before making a similar decline for several kilometres, before the turn off.  After the turn off the road ran up to a ridge and ran along it at the top for about 10kms.  Then suddenly!  There was no more cropping!  There was bare orange soil with little or no feed for the stock that was running on it.  Sheep feed on a partially green crop, so low, that it would never be harvested.  Near Yongala, a tired little town with silos, R & R saw many horses. At the southern entrance to Peterborough there was a solar farm and one of the four different ‘train themed’ welcome signs.  It was just after 11:00am when R & R went into the information centre before driving up the hill to the lookout and then parking the Ute in the main street.  R & R enjoyed the next couple of hours wandering around, taking in, and taking photos of, all things train.  Their favourite was the museum in a passenger train carriage which had a seating compartment.  It was fitted with looped audio, visual and motion to give the visitor a virtual ride from Peterborough to Broken Hill. Totally awesome!  RA was taking photos of RL riding in the carriage with different scenery and rail platforms even though he wasn’t really going anywhere.  Then they swapped places.  R & R returned to the Ute for lunch about 1:30pm and were away shortly before 2:00pm on the Barrier Hwy heading for Broken Hill.  RA checked the weather as the sky had darkened and it looked like it might rain.  True, there would be a chance of rain towards the east in the afternoon and overnight but it should clear early the next morning.  Anyway, there was little R & R could do about it.  R & R planned to sleep at a rest area called Olray (170kms east, about 110kms short of Broken Hill), one of the many small settlements along the highway.  Each of the settlements had a water tank for the old steamed railway or a disused station or platform, remnant of days long gone.  Nothing remained at some station stops while Yunta had a roadhouse which claimed to be half way.  RA figured it would have meant half way between Broken Hill and Port Augusta. For the most part the road was flat to undulating with mountains more or less close by, with The Cone at 661m most notable for its shape while the others were rolling or round in appearance.  The vegetation, on orange soil, was mostly grey green shrubbery with some taller trees in creek lines and a few sections of mallee early on and also some prickly pear and acacia.  At one point, R & R though that it looked much like the scrubby country near Dundas north of Esperance in WA.  It was sheep station country but R & R saw that the sheep had to compete with goats, emus and kangaroos for feed.  It was not long out of Peterborough before the first few drops of water fell on the windscreen and then not much longer before RL need to use his wipers.  It continued to mist and, at one point, RL was driving through some sort of flying insects.  H, R & R’s eldest daughter, rang so they were able to chat as they drove.  It was 4:15pm and still misting when RL pulled into the rest area behind the toilet block and next to the railway line and the disused tank and old tin shed of a station.  R & R set up quickly, within half an hour, and were not too damp when they sat for coffee and rang their other daughter, S.  A Pacific National freight train with about 40 carriages rolled east while RA was preparing dinner but, for the most part, and despite being just off the highway, all was quiet.  After dinner, RL read for a while before ringing S, his brother.  RA wrote her diary.  Despite the cool and mild dampness, RA felt comfortable … much better than the exhaustion caused by heat