Broken Hill to Woomera

10 April to 17 April
The countryside is getting flatter, and the vegetation more sparse and arid looking, however there is still plenty of water about in the rivers. We'd originally planned to do the Darling River run from Wilcannia to Menindee lakes, but both sides of the Darling River were flooded, so instead we headed to Broken Hill and Silverton.

Plains Driving

Both towns owe their existence to mining, Broken Hill is still thriving and is the regional hub, whilst Silverton's mines have been worked out and they rely on their heritage of old building, galleries and pub to gain the tourist dollar.

We had a drink in the pub, which has featured in many beer tvc's over the years, and Silverton is well known as the place they made the movie 'Mad Max'. Still plenty of photo's of Mel about! The days are now hitting 30C, but the nights are a pleasant 17C.

Main weir 

Menindee lakes were dry for about 7 years and only started filling with the QLD floods in 2011. The Lake system is full, and was being reduced to 80% when we were there, as they were expecting the flood peak in 2 weeks.

We wandered around the historic Kinchega Woolshed which was part of a pastoral lease Station from 1850 to 1967, before becoming a national park. The Darling is usually over a km from the old woolshed but was lapping at the edge of the old holding paddocks on our visit.


We camped at the Broken Hill speed boat club caravan park at Copi Hollow ...  lakes edge!  It was the last of the waterfront camping with our next stops a road side pull off outside Orroroo in SA, a dusty site in Port Augusta and another bush camp outside Woomera.

camping at Menindee

Until the early 1980's you couldn't enter the Woomera township without security clearance, and it continues to be managed by the Department of Defence. It's a very interesting but military looking town still... very orderly. A lot of the surrounding lands are still a Prohibited area. If you like military history, rockets, weapons development or are a War War 2 buff it's defiantly worth a look.

Woomera Park

Next stop Coober Pedy to find an opal, then crossing into the NT for a few days at Uluru.

Sydney to Wilcannia

2 April to 9 April
We departed Sydney on the 2nd April, starting a 5 month journey across Australia. Whilst this is a camping adventure we eased ourselves into the trip by having our first stop with friends in Molong. When in Molong a 'must visit' is the Gelato Factory, they export internationally but luckily they also run a cafe for locals to consume Gelato.

Nangar National Park

Next stop was Canowindra, camping over the Easter break with 18 friends. Gorgeous little town with old world sandstone buildings and home of the Age of Fishes museum. A chance finding by a road worker in the 1950's found Devonian fish fossils dating back  350million years.

We did manage a bush walk, all uphill, in the Nangar national park. It was a roughly marked track following the old boundary  fence along the ridge line. After a challenging walk it was a must to stop at the Eugowra Hotel on the way back to town.

Two mornings we had hot air balloons either taking off, or flying over our campsite. The sound of the gas igniting is extremely loud, especially at 6am and the balloons themselves are huge. I have no idea how they navigate or land where they are supposed to!

Canowindra main street

Canowindra was host to a vintage and antique car rally on Easter Sunday, so after speeding into Cowra Saturday night to see Cronulla win a football  game, we saw motoring at a slower pace.

When talking to the exhibitors, many had the same story of locating a rusted out shell of a car and spending the next 20 years slowly resorting it to grandeur. A real labour of love and a very patient wife required.




The days are starting to turn cooler and the nights are 10C, so many layers of clothing are required. After leaving Canowindra for Broken Hill we spent a night free camping about 60km outside Cobar, stopping next day in Wilcannia for Lunch.

Darling River Wilcannia

We found Wilcannia a friendly town with wonderful examples of old sandstone buildings from the days when paddle-steamers serviced those living on the river as far up as Bourke. Matron even gave us a tour of the old hospital built 1876.

The Darling River was in flood at 10.6M when we stopped for lunch, and was expected to peak at 11M later in the day. I expect the last step of the little park were we had lunch was under water by the end of the day.


Next stop Broken Hill and hopefully, flood dependent, Menindee lakes.