Broken Hill then home.

After last nights burnt potato drama (chef Darryl got too immersed in talking about Murrabit's Grand Final wins!), chef Greenwood took over tonight and on the menu is lemon chicken and it's looking and smelling great :

     

There's nothing you can't cook whilst camping is Dennis's mantra!! We are living like kings that's for sure.

Today we toured Broken Hill and gave Dennis and Tops a trip down memory lane starting with a coffee at Bells cafe in South Broken Hill, where Aunty Lina used to take Darryl for a spider treat. It was like walking back in time with the place set up as a 1950's museum. Here's Darryl and I watching  the Astor TV on the old lounge suite. 

      

We then managed to find the unsigned road to the miners memorial up on the hill and what a sad thing it is to see how so many miners died from horrific accidents. Each flower marks a plaque with the miners age and cause of death. What a shame though the restaurant is closed - seems such a waste.

        

We also found the spot where the first terrorist attack was made in 1915 by 2 Afghans on a train taking  people to a picnic at Silverton Penrose Park. Four innocent people died plus the two attackers. We couldn't believe more wasn't made of this significant event - there was no signpost there and only a deteriorating train carriage with a sign! 

We strolled up the Main Street and admired the beautiful old buildings then found a cafe for lunch. We drove around to show Dennis and Tops where the aunties lived then called into Pro Harts gallery before having a drink at the Silverton Hotel. 

         Pro Harts decorated Rolls!

     Outside the Silverton Pub.

    And trust Dennis to find a Ford - at the Silverton Pub.

And so we have had a brief overview of Broken Hill and Silverton - quite iconic places.

We are now at the Apex Park by the river in Mildura for our last night! We are dining out with Tim and Di Wren tonight - we called at their Merbein Club to say hello  and look forward to catching up tonight. 

So our Farina trip has ended - it's been a lovely trip - a bit shorter than we originally thought seeing we didn't get to go to Innaminka. We are a little nostalgic tonight as its the last time we'll be sleeping in our current campers as we are both upgrading. So anyone who wants an excellent Ultimate camper it's for sale!! Until our next trip - which will be to pick up the new campers, goodbye from the travellers. 

xxxxxxxx 😃😃😃😃

      

Silverton.

We left Peterborough and travelled along the Barrier Highway to Cockburn where we stopped for lunch  outside the bustling caravan park (ha ha!) and took Darryl's photo at the school where Murray attended when his Dad was station master.

     

 Then through Broken Hill we went and onto Penrose Park at Silverton. The park was pretty busy but we found a good spot and set up nicely positioned to get the most out of the solar power. (Very important consideration!) It's encouraging to see the park has a few new amenities - a lovely camp kitchen, an undercover BBQ area, a great undercover playground and even a new laundry! There's also some newish picnic, BBQ and campfire areas and there's even someone playing tennis on the court by us. The last time we were here it was looking a bit neglected - though there are still bindiis, apostle birds and some run down facilities. It's a great spot to stay and suits us as we can be by ourselves and enjoy a camp fire and we aren't regimented. 

        Camp Bray / Greenwood.

This morning was very frosty but the day has been lovely and sunny and we've been lapping that up 🌞🌞. We toured Silverton and gee it was busy - the pub had a motorcycle group roll up as well as the car club and other visitors. We'll pick a quieter time to pop in and have a drink. We visited the school where Murray attended in his first year at school and saw photos from the past - his Dad was train Station Master here before transferring to Cockburn. 

           Here we are at the Silverton School.

    

    These donkeys roam the common and are quite tame. Horses and cows also roam and we had to stop on the  way here yesterday as the horses were crossing the road.

Tops and I had been led to believe that we'd be taken out for lunch but with the pub full and the cafe very busy as well, we ended back in camp for leftovers and soup. Maybe tomorrow?? As it turned out, it was just as well we were here as Brad and Bubs Hein and boys called in then Pete McDonald and boys. They are all staying in Broken Hill. 

       Some of the crowd at the Silverton Pub - more arrived after this was taken.

We are now at the Mundi Mundi lookout to enjoy the sunset with a wine and beer.

      

Tomorrow we hit Broken Hill so more reminiscing. Trust all's well with our readers. From Mundi Mundi, love from us. 

❌❌⭕️⭕️⭕️

Peterborough SA

What terrible news we awoke to thismorning and like everyone, we are stunned to hear of the tragedy. How sad we are for the Walsh family and the football community who knew him so well.

We packed up from Farina in beautiful sunny conditions - it's so much easier than in the wet! We stopped at the Farina bakery to say goodbye to Laurie and came out with fresh bread, rolls, apple turnovers, cream buns and a vegetable pasty for me! We didn't go hungry yesterday that's for sure!! As we headed south, I think half of SA and Victoria were headed north as there was a constant stream of 4wd Utes and cars, campers and caravans - all headed to the camel races at Maree or the concert at Big Red at Birdsville we deduce. Also heading north were a large number of oversized trucks carrying huge pieces of machinery that looked like it was going to the gas fields. Luckily for us, no one was heading south so we had an easy drive.

We enjoyed morning tea at Leigh Creek and had a look around there - it's a shame it's all sort of closing down as the mine closes next year. We noticed along the railway line some small pieces of old sleepers so we stopped and replenished the wood supplies! I even fossicked and picked up some old spikes and bits and pieces that I'm sure Darryl will be able to use to create something useful 😏  Our lunch break was at Hawker and our phones went crazy with messages as we came into mobile phone range!! It was good to catch up with everyone. We arrived at Peterborough and decided to try another farm stay at 'Willangi Bush Retreats' . It's 15kms out of town and we are very happy - we are by ourselves - not a soul in sight - wood is supplied and we are in a pretty setting. Our toilet is unique and the best long drop we've seen - inside this funny shed are all sorts of conveniences - hand steriliser, magazines, ash & deodoriser, material slips to keep flies out ...... and not an odour to be smelt!! 

              

And thismorning we enjoyed the best shower since we left home - in the tin shed, bath mats,shampoo, and soap are provided and there are hooks aplenty for clothes. Best of all the pressure was great and it was nice and warm. 

        

We came into town to pay for another night for our farm stay (the 'office' was an interesting experience too!) Then we found a coffee shop which was also very different - it's in the old picture theatre set up with all memorabilia - very interesting and coffee was lovely! 

             

Then Darryl and Dennis went off to the train museum - Peterborough is a great train town as they had 3 gauges meet here! But Tops and I were the lucky ones as we got to visit the laudrymat and the supermarket 😄😀. We lucky ones are now back at camp sitting in the feeble sun and waiting for the train enthusiasts to return. No doubt they will share lots of information and photos with us.

Tomorrow we head to Broken Hill and Silverton so Darryl can reminisce again about his memories of this area. 

We have no service here at the camp site (seems to be the case for us) but I think if I climb a hill, I might be able to eek enough service to post this. We hope all weekend sports are successful and will continue sharing our travel experiences at Silverton. xxxxxoooooo from us 4. 

            Here are the train buffs - Dennis  playing the piano in the parlour car and Darryl driving the    

             train!! 

    

       

     

       

Farina.

Well our goal has been reached and here we are camped at Farina. We are bathed in glorious sunshine and we're all lapping up the warmth after some rather cold miserable days. Tops and I did a load of washing at Arkaroola but there were no dryers so we hung them on the line up at the caravan park then before we set off on our afternoon tour, we hang them in Dennis's wash house!! A pointless exercise as overnight nothing dried at all! 

    

Our Ridge Top tour at Arkaroola was great but pretty darn cold and no sunshine to show off the beautiful colours of the rugged ranges. The trip hasn't gotten any easier and up that last bit I had to close my eyes a bit! The views are spectacular though and we could clearly see Lake Frome with some water in it. Just as well we booked in for dinner that evening as we didn't get back till 5.30pm and it was cold and wet - so it was lovely to warm up in their lounge enjoying a drink then we enjoyed a yummy meal - and we didn't have to prepare it or do dishes. We also saved our firewood as we went straight to bed when we got back to camp. 

     Look how cold we look - and stuffing our faces with lamingtons!!

Unfortunately it rained in the night and next morning it continued to drizzle so it was rather tricky packing up and trying to keep clean and dry. However, we set off and travelled across to Copley where we had lunch and then onto Lyndhurst where we fuelled up and unsuccessfully looked for the Safeway supermarket and Bunnings (haha)  However, we came across a group of vechiles just  off the Strezlecki Track! The track is closed after some rain but these people (about a dozen cars, campers and even a caravan) were part along and struggled to get out and boy oh boy, everything was covered in red mud!! They'd take a lot of pressure washing to get things clean.

            We were going to travel on the Strezlecki Track but not now!! 

             

We then only had to travel  26kms from Lyndhurst to Farina - the place we've heard so much about and couldn't really grasp what it would be like. It has amazed us - the number of visitors, the restoration program, the picturesque and well facilitated campground and the bakery - all in the middle of no where!  We arrived mid afternoon, found our spot and immediately hung out our clothes to dry in the sunshine!  Just across the way were Lyn and Kevin Sambrooks and Tony and Rosie Laughlin so it was quite a Kerang reunion - especially when Laurie and Marion Grey came across. We all shared the huge fire to cook our camp oven roasts and had a lovely evening together.

    

Today we've had a rest day looking around the ruins and catching up with the Greys in the bakery. The town was settled where the narrow and standard gauge lines crossed over - plus the early settlers and SA government thought this would be the future food bowl for SA!! How they ever thought that is unbelievable as the landscape is just stones  and not much grass. 

         

         You can see us set up in the background. The campground is pretty, has showers and flush toilets, rubbish bins and bbqs - far more than we expected! There would have been over 50 camps set up here last night. 

    The program, run by volunteers, takes buildings looking like this and restores the stone work to save them falling down completely.

This old Post Offce has had its stone work restored.

        

      

 Here is  Laurie baking his bread in the underground bake house. Also on the menu are rolls, scones, buns, pies, pasties, sausage rolls ....... You only have to beat the rush to get them! We had to line up for a loaf of bread at 8 am!

Tomorrow we'll head towards Peterborough with Broken Hill and Silverton our objective. It will be good to be in touch with everyone - we've missed that. Trust everyone is well - as soon as we get some service I'll post this blog.

So till later, love from the 4 travellers xxxxooooo 😘😘