Day 8 - Back to Merbein

Final morning in Broken Hill after 3 nights. Another sunny day and a cloud-less sky. We had the solar shower all ready for the previous day but the water went cold before we got around to organising a shower. So we boiled some water in the morning and rigged up the shower. I'm very proud of our Racecourse shower. And I think our fellow campers were quite jealous of us (even though they had showers and toilets inside their $300,000 Winebagos).

Formerly the Punters Club Hut - but now the Koops' Shower Hut

Inside the Shower Hut
(of course we moved the chair and TV out of the way)

The next town (260kms south) after leaving Broken Hill is Wentworth which is on the NSW side of the Murray River and where the Darling and Murray Rivers come together. There are some fascinating sand hills just outside Wentworth - a lovely spot to stop for an afternoon coffee.

The Perry Sand Hills at Wentworth NSW

We all enjoyed some excersize after several hours driving



Princess just loved running up the hills



Spike finally made it up the hill but was absolutely buggered



Ruby, this one's  for you. Check out Spike's ears in the breeze!

 We looked for the meeting point of the Murray and Darling Rivers, but due to recent flooding the road was closed. We walked through the area and took this photo of the Wentworth picnic grounds.

We decided to go back to Merbein (near Mildura) again. We were able to set up camp on the same site that we were on a few days earlier. A few of the same people were still there and our previous neighbours had just left that morning. It really is a lovely spot. I couldn't help myself and took some more photos of the Murray at dusk.

The view up river from our camp site at Merbein

From Merbein, we have come back home to Talbot for a quick pit stop. We need to add a few things and get rid of a few things so we'll be just right for the big trip!

Day 7 Silverton and more Broken Hill

We went for a day trip to Silverton, which is an historic mining town that only exists for its museums. It is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. If you have seen the movie Mad Max 2 or 3, then you will know what the Silverton area looks like as this is where the filming was done. Apparently, once upon a time Silverton was a thriving town with thousands of people, 10 pubs and even 3 breweries. Now almost a ghost town - 1 pub and only 60 people (although I think 60 exaggerated).

The main street of Silverton

Judith & the dogs going to church

One of the main attractions of Silverton is the Mad Max museum. Perhaps a bit over-rated, but worth a visit since we've come out this far and there's not much else to see. It does make me want to see the movie again, if only to check out the background scenery.

Spike checks out the Mad Max hotrods

Inside the Mad Max museum
(Not sure if the dust is for authenticity or just a day after cleaning)

We also did some more sight-seeing around Broken Hill in the afternoon. There are a few nice parks and quite a lot of art work and sculptures around town.

Now we will head back to Victoria. Probably stay somewhere around Mildura again.

Day 5-6 Broken Hill

So we ended up staying another night in Merbein on the shores of the Murray River. We were very impressed with this spot. But we finally decided to move on and travelled the 300km on to Broken Hill, arriving yesterday (Monday) afternoon. Someone camping close by at Merbein gave us the tip about a cheap and good place to camp at Broken Hill - the race course. We found it and its great!




That's our van right opposite the winning post

The racecourse has quite extensive facilities. Grandstands and toilets everywhere. There's one race day per year - March 19 - and the rest of the time the course and facilities aren't used. And this year the races were cancelled because of the rains. What a shame and what a waste. So such a good idea to let caravans use it. Only thing lacking is showers. However, we have the solar shower that I rigged up in a punting shed for privacy. So we're quite comfortable and have decided to stay 3 nights here.

We did some site-seeing around town. Saw the Pro Hart gallery, complete with his collection of 4 Rolls Royces, one of which he couldn't help himself and painted.

We went to see the Miners Memorial at the old mine site. Some nice views of the town and the mines close by.

Bit tiring doing all that walking around so I sat for a while with the dogs.

The dogs had a bit of fun playing around on the old mining machinery that was left lying around. Here they are posing for a couple of photos.