IMPRESSIVE ANGLICAN CHURCH at CUNNAMULLA

This very modern Church building impressed me mightily in the middle 1960’s.  As mentioned previously, Duncan, Diane and I had driven to Western Australia and came back to Port Pirie on the Trans Continental train, and were driving back to Victoria when we got this good idea to drive up to Bourke along the Darling River, eventually ending up back in Kingaroy, where our Young Farmers Club from Lilydale, Vic. had visited earlier in the year.

From Wentworth we headed north to Broken Hill, then at Wilcannia we followed the Darling to Tilpa, crossed over and up to Louth.  We were convinced it was going to rain. Just then, the transmission tunnel parted company with the differential, or something like that, and the car ground to a halt. We sent Duncan walking back to get help at Louth. In the meantime, the captain of the Louth cricket team, who’d been playing in Bourke that day, drove along and seeing two young stranded females on the road, said he’d wait with us till the help arrived. [He might have been concerned about the rest of his team whom he’d left drinking in the pub in Bourke, and who came along later.]

Eventually the local mechanic arrived in his jeep, with Duncan in tow. Apparently it was an easy fix, and after talking to these helpful men, all sitting on boxes in the middle of the road, we said we thought we better get going to Bourke, as it looked like it was going to rain. It doesn’t rain here, they said. You can hit your head on the black clouds, but it won’t rain!

That night in Bourke it rained heavily. In the morning we got some supplies at the Bakery and headed for Cunnamulla. That’s when I first saw this impressive ‘star-shaped’ Anglican Church. But after having lunch by the river, we headed off towards Bollon and St. George. The roads were not paved all the way then, and the thick mud was splashing everywhere as we slipped and slid our way along. It turned dark and eventually Duncan said, I can’t see well enough to drive. I’ll have to adjust the angle of the lights to light the road better. He was an engineer and could do that sort of thing, and liked the opportunity to be dramatic and show-off his skills. Diane and I spat on some toilet paper and merely rubbed the mud off the headlights, which had a better effect.

Getting close to St. George, where the bitumen commenced, a truck was stopped on the side of the road. It was the local council workers with some ‘Road Closed’ barriers. We heard yous were comin’, they said with good humour. We’re gunna close the road now! We knew nothing about the wet season/dry season scenario in the north of Australia. I’m still amazed we didn't get stuck in the mud ... perhaps Duncan had more driving skills than we thought!

We journeyed on, and slept in the car outside the Moonie power station, now de-commissioned.

Back at Kingaroy we caught up with our new Rural Youth friends, even helping one out by singing in a concert at Nanango. A better version of Edelweiss you never heard! Our pic even featured in the local paper!

We left Kingaroy next morning and gradually we wended our way back to Victoria, arriving in time for Christmas. 

In 1997, John and I, and cousin Helen from U.K., drove down the road beside the Darling River and we camped at Louth. Over at the pub were photographs of various Louth cricket teams ... and I was able to identify the captain who’d stayed on the road with Dianne and I some thirty years previously.

WILCANNIA to COBAR, to NYNGAN to BOURKE to ......

This “new territory” fascinated us. Gradually we left behind the dry bluebush, saltbush, mulga country ... on which the stock do amazingly well. We saw no stock in poor condition. We've been told the stocking rate is one beast to 25 acres ... which is a world apart from the one beast per acre we grazed in the Waikato, N.Z.

Getting nearer to Nyngan the country changed gradually into cropping land; wheat crops were nearly ready to harvest, and looked like good yields ..... if no disasters occur.

Different species of trees and grass suddenly loomed. After hundreds of miles of desert-type terrain, it was balm to the eyesight to see green crops in paddocks. Lots of emus strutted around; not many kangaroos.

Because we don’t have a timetable, our travel is governed by the weather ... more particularly the wind, of which there has been plenty. We try to avoid travelling into it, endeavoring to achieve a reasonable fuel consumption. We don’t mind if it is blowing behind us, helping us to skim along.

Which is why we were in Nyngan for four days, instead of the initial two-night stay. But in a peaceful setting beside the Bogan River, with good company, it was no hardship.

Now we are staying in Bourke for some extra days ... no, not because of the excellent bee-stings at the Bourke Bakery .... because the wind is blowing, very hot, from the wrong quarter. And again we are in a beautiful, peaceful camp. We can actually smell the roses. On Tuesday we may head back into Queensland, to Cunnamulla if the wind turns south-west, as predicted.

But will I see the property with the TY1 cattle-brand, which was significant to the world-breaking cattle drive I’m writing about?

We have identified a road we haven’t traveled previously; between St. George and Mitchell! Care Outreach operates in this region. We must go and see.

At St. George and Roma we hope to engage with some graduates from The Pines. And at Miles we may connect with some people we know there. Which means we are getting very close to home!

BOURKE CATHEDRAL

Cornerstone Community is well known to many Sunshine Coast-ites, as several students associated with Goodlife Church studied there, and worked on the associated cotton farms. We first visited Cornerstone one Easter. We’d been there only a short time when someone asked us to help mix up a big batch of batter for pancakes!

Eventually we found the reason: Easter Sunrise Service at the Bourke Cathedral. “Where’s that”, we enquired. “Down the road; turn right at the third grid. You can go on the school’s bus, if you like.” 

We took that option at 5.00 am on Easter Day.

The scene greeting us is indelibly etched in my memory. Three huge bonfires were lighting up the area, acting like beacons. A cross was discernible in the morning miasma; a pulpit alongside for Paul Roe, the service leader. But, looking out over the landscape, vehicles raising plumes of dust could be seen converging from many directions. Were they all coming to this venue, in the cotton-field, homing in on the fires? Yes, they were. 300 residents from the area arrived.

Chairs had been set up. We snuggled into place, glad of our parkas and boots in the cool, and of the fires radiating warmth. Then as Paul started leading the service, the sun began to rise in the eastern sky, its early morning rays signalling a new dawn. Wanting to contribute, a flock of corellas flew over the scene, squawking their agreement.

The Buster Family had hosted this event on their property many, many times, and the men very soon had pancakes sizzling on the large hot-plates sitting over the hot gidgee coals which had burned down from the bonfires. Everyone added their own butter and preferred syrup.

What a scene. What a morning! What a start to a new year!

But nothing on earth lasts forever. A few years ago the Cornerstone Community had to rationalize and move to other campus. The Buster property has now been sold.

I’ll always remember that Easter Dawn service in the Bourke Cathedral. We’ll never know what legacy was left there.

THE WHITE CLIFFS ..... of OPAL

About 11 years ago, Louise & Immo took 23 of us to Lightning Ridge, in a variety of tents, motor homes, caravans, camper-trailers and wizz-bangs.  We seemed to morph into the scenery quite well and have been fascinated with opal diggings, and the associated accoutrements, ever since.

So we went to White Cliffs, after visiting Coober Pedy and Andamooka.

Yes ... similar to the other sites. Each place has its own peculiarities. White Cliffs is basically on two hills, each with its own quirkiness.

Red Rock café, which is also a mine, had great coffee and apple-cake. The very personable young man explained he had nothing else to offer, as the local women had all met there that morning, and had eaten everything else. [They were still there laughing uproariously!] He said he’d been there for 30 years, and the café keeps him going in between finds of opal.

Toilet at Red Rock Cafe, dug into hill

Now we only have to visit Yowah.

MAP FREAK

Eighteen years ago I bought a map of Australia ... not just any sort of map. This one had white lines on it! The idea was to colour in those lines when you had traveled on that road. It’s been an ongoing fun exercise to use different colours to fill-in the roads traversed.

That’s why we are in Nyngan! We’ve been here before, but have never traveled the long, straight road north-west between Nyngan and Bourke. It was a gap on the map! We’ve travelled the Kidman Way from Jerilderie to Bourke, which would have been a shorter route from Cobar. But on this [rare] occasion, I opted for the ‘long-cut’ so that when we return home we can fill-in this road. Also, we’d never traveled the road from Wilcannia to Cobar to Nyngan. So that can be added to the map, too. Back in May in Queensland, we drove NEW TERRITORY for us from Winton to Hughenden – more lines to fill in.

That was one reason we opted for the inland route in Western Australia. Travelling south from Newman to Kalgoorlie, via Mt. Magnet and Leinster was mainly new ... we’d only covered a few short stretches previously ... sometimes in the opposite direction.

But after Bourke I don’t think we can find any new roads home to the Sunshine Coast. We've been to Bourke lots of times. A friend’s daughter studied there. So all the route options have been utilized.

Last time we travelled north through New South Wales to Queensland on the Kidman Way, we were astonished north of Cobar to suddenly be driving through high, lush, green grass. Rain had fallen which we hadn’t heard about. What a different landscape to what we remembered of the area – dry and grassless. However, we’re not expecting to have that experience on this trip as we near the Queensland border.

Speaking of which, we’re not too far off that border [could make it in a couple of days if we tried] but it will be good to wake up with the clocks showing the time which relates to the level of the sun above the horizon!!!

THIS IS “RISSOLE”

Our site on the bank of a Darling River billabong at Wilcannia was superb. Previously Wilcannia did not have a good reputation, but the town has had a rejuvenation. So much history here from when the paddle steamers plied the river, taking enormous loads of wool to eventually to be packed off to England where it fetched good prices. The old buildings constructed from sandstone are beautiful.

WARRAWONG, the new caravan park had an excellent reputation on the Grey Nomads network, so we decided to stay there for a few nights. After being in a city park, it was manna to the soul to sit and watch the pelicans, ducks and egrets swim around catching yabbies and fish on the billabong. The 2 metre long goanna added to the atmosphere.

There was a big bird too; an emu, walking around the park, poking her beak in anywhere she fancied. “She just walked in, three weeks ago” said the young daughter of the owners in Reception. “She’s quiet”.

“Why is she called ‘Rissole’?” I asked. “To remind her to behave” was the unambiguous reply

.

Rissole took great delight in inspecting the bikes of four bikers who arrived. She helped them remove the contents of their saddle-bags, and after they pitched their tents, she chose to sleep among them, keeping all awake by ‘honking’ most of the night.

When they left next morning Rissole was heart-broken. She trotted with them as they departed the Park, but when they sped up near the Highway, she dejectedly turned and plodded the 1km back. However her spirits lifted when the Road Gang workers arrived to spend two nights in the cabins! What will they give her?

Obviously a hand-reared bird, the thought is that she walked down from the Caravan Park in town, which had closed recently. The owners at Warrawong are not sure whether they should allow her to stay .... but we in the caravans felt she was a great attraction ... and so far she hasn’t bitten anyone!

 

RISSOLE!

 

View from our caravan of Darling Billabong

MARTINBOROUGH MEMORIES

As we returned from our evening walk to the Darling River, two people called us over for a chat. They live in Nanango, and we Queenslanders like to stick together!!!

In chatting, we discovered that Anne was born in New Zealand, but had shifted to Australia in 1971. Further discussion revealed she had lived in Martinborough, and had attended primary school there. That’s where John did his primary schooling ... a long time ago.

Anne and he were there at the same time, she two years after him. They remembered the same teachers and knew many of the same town identities. And this was discovered on the bank of the Darling River in Wilcannia!

But wait, there’s more! Five years ago when we were in Northampton, W.A. by chance John also met up with two guys he’d attended school with in Martinborough, and had even played in the same cricket team with one of them.

 It’s not as though Martinborough is a big town; population about 1500! Is it just that so many have left it?

BROKEN HILL

Reminisces:

• ·         Clear light ... good for the artists, and there are lots of them with galleries
• ·         Beautiful museums and art galleries
• ·         Roses blooming everywhere
• ·         Art Deco buildings ... genuine back in time
• ·         Genuine 1950’s Milk Bar
• ·         The number of pubs and boarding houses
• ·         History
• ·         Drastic change of weather
• ·         Rough streets
• ·         Desert colours – red earth, stunted blue and salt bush, mulga
• ·         White-trunked eucalypts in dry red river beds
• ·         Lots of goats and emus

Being in a City caravan park, we didn’t find the other travellers were friendly. Are we too ‘down-market’? We find our type in a rural environment more easily!

MAJOR CHANGE OF WEATHER!

33º top temperature yesterday. Overnight a strong cold wind blew in. Top temperature today 19º.

Conversation in camp:

She:       Turn yesterday back on!

He:         It’s that bloomin’ wind farm, blowing this cold air at us.

Me:        And all those solar panels are leaching the heat out of the sun.

Another He:       And daylight saving! Someone must be stashing it all under their bed.

How much could be achieved for the Country if only these ‘brains’ were in power?

MAD MAX MECCA

 Not being film watchers, a lot of venues can be lost on us. [Well, in the past twenty years we have seen RED DOG and CHARLIE ‘N’ BOOTS, probably because we knew where they were shot!] Silverton, however, had been in existence for a long time prior to Mad Max.

Silver, of course, was its claim to fame. Even before the Line of Lode was discovered in Broken Hill, an extremely rich Lode was discovered in 1879 at Day Dream, adjacent to Silverton. A town of sorts was soon established.  Half-round houses were created by piling rocks on top of each other, eventually finishing it off with a hessian roof propped up by mulga poles. How hot would they be?

We toured this mine this morning and sampled the excellent scones, jam and cream!

The Mundi Mundi plain is known to some as Nicole Kidman did something out there, apparently. It was so flat that from the lookout, I swear we could see into South Australia.

And Silverton itself was great: excellent museums and good food at the Café. The iconic pub was too busy for us to have lunch there as there’d been a kids’ cycle race in the late morning.

 

  

You can’t help but wonder what will happen to our Queensland towns which have been invaded by mining. Will they suffer a similar fate to these ghost towns when either the coal or gas runs out, or the economics of mining it becomes unprofitable?

Notables in Broken Hill

Our one previous visit to Broken Hill had been very brief. We were going to Opera in the Outback in 1997. Kiri Te Kanawa was singing at an amphitheatre up in the Flinders Ranges. Cousin Helen from Sheffield, UK, had come to go too. We’d arranged for our New Zealand car, a Toyota Cressida, to be transported over from NZ where it hadn’t sold. Of course, it had to be verified that it was fit to be driven on Australian roads; there was a lot of bureaucratic bungling and we were three days late leaving home. Then the camper-trailer we’d hired lost one of its wheels 50 kms past Moonie, and had to be recovered and re-welded ... so we were battling against it to get there on time.

We visited the Information Centre in Broken Hill, grabbed some lunch, had a very brief look around, and continued on to Peterborough.

What a contrast this visit is. We’ve got oodles of time and can choose what we do each day ... instead of having to cram everything into a very short time.

Art Galleries! We visited Jack Absolom’s first, and met Jack and his wife. This is a beautiful gallery. Jack was 8 when his father died, and he had to go out to work to put food on the table. He became stronger and useful, and one day someone advised him to go noodling for opals. He did, and very soon found some excellent specimens. His family finances thereafter changed for the better.

One day he was hired to take some artists into the ‘real outback’ so they could paint. He looked at their efforts, borrowed a canvas and some paints from them ... and proceeded to become an artist. With his outback experiences, he wrote several books on how to cope out there.

Pro Hart’s well-known Gallery also beckoned. Again, it was beautifully presented. Julie Truscott was envious of my being there, and asked for some photos. None were allowed inside, as recently someone had taken good photos of Pro’s work, and placed them for sale on E-bay!!! But when no-one else was in the gallery, the curator said I could take a pic of Pro’s studio for my friend.

The day was made even better when we found Bell’s Milk Bar – genuine 1950’s style, complete with juke box et el. Lime milkshake for me; strawberry spider for John .... and an over indulgence of beautiful apple pie and ice-cream for both of us. Lunch, it was called!

INDIAN PACIFIC

“I wonder if we’ll see the Indian Pacific streak through Peterborough”, John said. Well, it didn't happen while we were there. BUT. When we were having our smoko break on the way to Broken Hill – what came along?

BEARINGS BROTHERHOOD

It was Labor Day Public Holiday. “You wouldn't happen to have some grease to pack bearings in, would ya”. The guy in the van adjacent to us had felt uneasy about the performance of a wheel on his van. We all produced some, but when he jacked his van up, he found the bad bearing had disintegrated.

“I've got the ones I replaced before we left home” John said. “You can have those. They should get you to Port Augusta”.

We were all staying another day in the gale-force conditions, so it was only after we’d looked around town that John searched for them. He couldn't find them ... hunted everywhere. Had he decided not to bring them?

Feeling really bad, he went to tell the guy that we didn't have them.

“Yer not going to believe this”, he said. “I took the dog for a walk down town, got talking to a guy there and told him about the bearings. This guy says ‘I've got some. I wrecked my camper-trailer recently but kept the useful bits. You can have them’. So, I've got a nearly brand-new set”. 


P.S. By chance we saw this Apollo Bay couple again in a back street in Peterborough, walking their dog Bruce, as we were returning from the lookout. The bearings had been checked in Port Augusta and were performing very well.

WOOMERA WONDERS

Reluctantly we hitched up the caravan and proceeded south from Coober Pedy, where we’d traveled north a few days ago. Because of the gale-force winds  which blow especially in spring, we have to keep abreast of the weather forecast – which predicts they’ll be really bad again next Monday.

Needing to be off the road then, we booked for three nights at Woomera Caravan Park, just up the road from Pimba where we free-camped going north. Another dry and dusty camp, but there’s nothing else in outback South Australia. That’s how it is. 

But there’s a ‘calm wind day’ on Sunday, so we set off to visit Roxby Downs. This place has never featured on my radar, as the rich mineral deposits weren't discovered until 1975 when I was living in New Zealand. What a lovely town for the miners to live in: good shopping centre, sports amenities and schools. Green grass and shady trees. We ate our morning tea at a picnic table in the shade, not far from the Information office.  The seagulls arrived to be fed – seagulls? What are they doing here? I suppose it’s only 250 kms from Port Augusta. Usually pigeons arrive.

Then ANDAMOOKA! Another opal field. I’d never been too sure of its’ exact location; great that we could visit it too. “That’s where Immo and I met”, Louise had commented on Facebook. So we did some detection work and discovered it was at the Tuckabox, when Immo was noodling for opal and Louise and her sister arrived to join their mother in Andamooka ...so I posted that pic on Facebook. They are generous supporters of Care Outreach, having a great affinity with situations beyond the coastal fringe of Australia. In 1988 they began their business, Opals Downunder, near Ettamogah Pub on the Sunshine Coast. My mother happened to buy an opal ring from them that year, when we all holidayed on the Coast, we coming over from New Zealand and Mum and Aunty Muriel flying up from Melbourne.

WOOMERA town was launched in 1947 when it became the headquarters for British testing of rockets and other scientific stuff. It’s a neat town, only been open to the public since 1982; prior to that the Defence Department were in charge. Many rockets and spaceships are on display in the town square, with interpretive boards. Some ‘junk’ is there too, having been recovered from the Simpson Desert. Did they really mean to shoot rockets in that direction?

Speaking of the Simpson Desert, on the way to Roxby Downs and Andamooka we passed through some red sand hills. Are these the precursor to the Desert dunes? Do they extend all the way to Birdsville, where the famous “Big Red” is situated? From the Birdsville side, we found ourselves atop ‘Big Red’ once – unintentionally!

COOBER PEDY or 'Whitefeller in a hole'!

What an amazing place! I love Coober Pedy. I could live here ... well, perhaps not now, but 40 years ago it would have been just different enough to appeal to my unconventional side. 

The people are friendly, it’s not too big, and there’s an amazing array of services. Yet it still retains a quirky, off-beat sense of humour; where else does a boot adorn a street sign indicating the cemetery is up the hill? It doesn't take itself TOO seriously. Is that because of the mix of nationalities? Or the poor today: rich tomorrow attitude? Or the mesmerizing addictive nature of noodling for opal? Or because living underground sends you zany?

It was 1962 when I first traveled, by train, to Alice Springs in the centre of Australia. At that time the railway, and the Stuart Highway took different routes to those they take today. Towns like Woomera and Coober Pedy were way off the line to the west. Although I always wanted to return to Alice, it didn’t work out and I eventually found myself in Perth, then Fitzroy Crossing in 1969 – when IT still had its frontier trappings.

It’s no wonder lots of mad-cap films have been made in Coober Pedy. The scenery is like no other – flat with no trees, just heaps of dry, multi-coloured pyramid-shaped mullock heaps everywhere ... along with the strangely beautiful Breakaways scenery not far out of town. Props and sets from some of those films adorn the town – rockets and spaceships and other unidentifiable objects. There must be a famous coach parked somewhere!

Next year is Coober Pedy’s 100^th birthday ... it’s very tempting to return for it.

PA to PI and on to CP

Heading north from Port Augusta to Pimba ...... this was all NEW TERRITORY for us. Again the softly coloured harmonious landscape intrigued us. We could see mauve-pink coloured mesas [flat-topped hills] in the distance, but we've been confused by these since driving through mining areas and seeing piles of overburden the same size. Are these ones God-made or man-made ones?

With the sunlight behind us, the brown-red sandy soil merged with the grey-green foliage and dark trunks of the mulga. We've left the white and coloured trunks of the trees behind in W.A. Mauve, white and pink wildflowers make an appearance at times, studded with the blue-grey saltbush. The desert acacias were in flower – their yellow flowers brightening the scene. Then quandongs, some of them with bright red/orange fruit, made an appearance.

Although we’ve travelled thousands of kilometres, we haven’t seen many livestock; just a few cattle in places. But now there are some sheep! And then a ewe with twins, about 10 days old! Are we still sheep-breeders at heart? The newer meat-only breeds confuse us. Were these the Dorper breed? They were shedding their wool, not needing to be shorn.

The weather forecast was for the north-west winds to increase in strength, so we opted to stay at the free stop alongside Spuds Roadhouse at Pimba. Next morning, with the wind turned round to the south-west, we headed for Coober Pedy, using it to reduce our fuel consumption. Pimba, and nearby Woomera, are on a plateau 240 metres above sea-level – now wonder it’s windy! As we set off all the landscape was flat ... flat for the 360º around us, with not a tree in sight, just low grey stunted bushes. But soon we descended to a lower level with the more attractive scenery predominating.

Proceeding on to Coober Pedy, salt-lakes made an attractive distraction. What amazing countryside.

Friends at Longreach

While thinking of meeting up with people, way back at Longreach in May we were walking in the evening, not too far from the free caravan stop just out of town, and crossed the river by walking over the railway bridge.

Just then the river-boat taking people for an evening dinner cruise pulled out from the bank and proceeded upstream. Next day we discovered Ian and Jill Ezzy and their friends were on that boat.
[Not too long later, friend Helen from Nambour was on it.]

You just don't know who's taking pictures of you, these days!

Riverboat cruise on Thompson River, Longreach

[It's taken this long to learn how to get the pics off my phone onto the computer.]

Port Augusta meeting

It happens, but what are the odds of walking past a café, thousands of kilometres from home, and seeing someone you know inside? That is, walking on the same side of the street, and looking into the café, each not knowing each other was in that town, yet being there at the same time!

It happened this morning. We drove into Port Augusta to do some shopping. We hadn’t parked near the shop where we wanted to go – we were a bit disorientated – but a cheerful young woman who thought we looked lost directed us to the area where we needed to be. It was 8.45 and we just happened to walk past a café, and John just happened to look in, where people were eating breakfast.

As we walked on John’s brain engaged its gears, and he said: That looked like Andrew and Kylie having breakfast. By then we were outside the shop we wanted, but it wasn’t open, so I suggested we go back and check.

Sure enough. It was Andrew and Kylie and their three-year-old. They live in Adelaide, 350 kms. away, which they had left at 5.00 am to travel to Port Lincoln. The café Andrew had intended going to for breakfast wasn’t open. Hence, they were eating in the one we walked past.

We walked in, and were greeted with disbelief! Kylie kept repeating: I’m in shock!

We've know Andrew ALL his life but we hadn't caught up with each other for about nine years. Andrew is the son of our friend Robyn who we met in Broome in July, along with Andrew’s sister, Vanessa. Although Andrew & Kylie knew we’d met up in Broome, they had no idea where or when we were on our travels.

We’ll always remember that café in Port Augusta for meeting up with Andrew and Kylie and meeting little Sweetie-pie.