There was a sprinkle of rain this morning, but it passed. We had planned to have breakfast at Trouble & Strife, but it was too crowded. Breakfast at Gingers was fine and we took home a selection of pastries from the Boulangerie.
I took Bluey for a run on the main arena. He sits attentively waiting for me to throw his ball.
As the rain had gone I suggested a trip to the Small Dog Park with Bluey and little Leo. This is a great park for dogs under 15kgs. The fence is high, solid and well secured into the ground so there is no risk little dogs could escape. The adjacent park is for All Dogs so there is no reason big dogs should be in the small dog park. When we first arrived there was a 6 month old puppy to play with, and a 3 year old on epilepsy medication.
Tilly has enjoyed spending most of the day outside in the critters’ playpen or on her lead. She is happy to come inside for a rest.
The plants in the skip bins have started blooming with white flowers out of the purple flowers.
I cleaned fans inside and outside the van. We had a fan installed to remove steam from the bathroom. On our last trip dust ended up being sucked into the bathroom from outside the van! I removed two parts and washed them, but the ladder is not tall enough for me to take out the fan itself. That job will have to be done at home. The flexible rangehood ducting will need replacing as dust has settled inside.
We caught up with friends at the General Havelock Hotel. The hotel was built in 1873 but the interior has been transformed into a series of modern bars and dining areas.
The 4WD and boat show is on this weekend at the Showground. I walked across to see if there were any new inventions or tips useful for our travels.
Dozens of caravans and camper trailers were on display. I checked out the two Bushtrackers, but can see no reason for upgrading, especially since there is a 2 year waiting list for new orders!
Bluey loves fruit – tomatoes, apples, oranges, mandarins, berries, kiwi fruit and especially mangoes. He would like grapes but they are strictly kept away from him, to the extent of making sure none are ever dropped on the floor because he would pounce on them. I put him in the critters’ playpen and gave him the rest of my mango after cutting off the cheeks. It kept him entertained and he removed all the fruit from the seed.
We took Bluey for a walk to Drakes to top up essentials. Two security guards were patrolling the carpark to stop people from parking there if they were not customers. Apparently visitors to events at the Showground try to park at Drakes, because it is across the road and there is very little parking in the area.
This mural is at the rear of the shopping area. There is very little graffiti in this area, but I doubt murals deter such vandalism.
Our caravan park is quite busy, but we have very large sites close to the centre of Adelaide. If this facility had not been created within the Showground, we would not be able to park cars let alone RVs anywhere else in the area,
We walked along Goodwood Rd surveying the dining options. This is the first time we have walked late in the day and noticed different buildings, such as the Greek Orthodox Church of Saints Constantine and Helen. This building was constructed in 1884 as a Bible Christian Church, a Methodist denomination, but was converted in the orthodox tradition. The Church website quotes the cost of weddings, christenings and funerals as $250 each. The first photo is a stock flikr photo of the church.
We settled on the nearby Lemongrass Thai for our dinner, which has Vietnamese influences. The food was OK but not exceptional.
We walked Bluey to Gingers for breakfast. Anita went to the butcher while I waited with Blue, who sat fixedly looking in the direction Anita had gone. On the way back to our van we walked past a seat and Bluey jumped up on it and sat down – no idea why.
Bluey, Leo and Kia had a limited play on the main arena. I can let Blue off his lead but Leo is still a puppy.
Tilly jumped more than a metre up into the flower bed. These large bins would normally be used as skip bins for transporting rubbish, but they are filled with soil to grow small trees and flowers. They also separate sites and can be used to tie down awnings. I took her for a walk around the empty stables. She keeps close to walls for protection.
We caught the tram into town to have lunch at Lucia’s at the Adelaide Central Markets. Other treats came home with us – cheesecake, panacotta, baklava, cheese and fruit.
The main reason we are staying in Adelaide was the first of many Beccy Cole shows celebrating her 50th birthday. More than a dozen Roadies were staying at the Adelaide Showgrounds, and more turned up at the show at the Wheatsheaf Hotel. Thanks to Beccy we all had advance notice of the show which sold out in 8 minutes. She is doing another show at the Wheaty next week.
Beccy had her mum Carole Sturtzel up on stage, and her son Ricky Albeck. The Hussy Hicks flew across to Adelaide, but their flight was delayed and they arrived late. Ricky asked Jules Parker to join him playing guitar and singing, and she was fantastic despite just having arrived at the Wheaty, and playing someone else’s guitar!
It was a fabulous evening and Beccy announced she will be doing fortnightly shows at the Wheaty – almost a reason to move to Adelaide!
Before we left the Clare caravan park, I took Blue for a run on the grass behind the cabins. He loves chasing his ball or other toys. Fortunately all the exercise he has been doing leaves him tired in the evenings.
When I bought our coffees and another loaf of bread from the bakery, the server remembered I was from the caravan park and hadn’t used the 10% discount offered to CP visitors. I hadn’t even taken the discount voucher.
The site to the left of our van was vacant making it easier for us to drive out than it had been to park when we first arrived. In Clare it was cloudy but not raining when we left.
Our only stop was at Mallala where there is an eight ways intersection. There is a very unusual war memorial in front of the Mallala Hotel. Mallala has a motor sport track for racing a variety of vehicles, which is why the Stobie pole near the Bushtracker is painted with black and white checks symbolising the winner’s flag.
At the Adelaide Showground Caravan Park we set up on our large site. Several other Roadies are staying here, as we are all going to a Beccy show tomorrow night. Blue was delighted to see his friend Leo.
We went for a walk along Goodwood Rd checking out the cafes and food shops, and wonderful buildings. The Art Deco Capri Theatre has a large mural along one wall.
An old church is being used as an oriental rug shop named Shiraz Gallery. The building is an interesting mix of brickwork and different types of stone, with elaborate limestone features around the arches and on the buttresses. Even the hedge has been trimmed to reflect the oriental style.
The Goodwood Bookshop is in an old shop with its original tile frontage and window framing. The interior decorations are attractive.
For dinner we went to the Goodwood Hotel with two of our Roadie friends. There is a pedestrian gate giving us access to Goodwood Rd using our access.
Late last night a gust of wind caused me to jump out of bed to put down the awning. It was raining lightly, but later was constant heavy rain until this morning when it eased.
We had a late start so I was lucky to buy the last loaf of white sourdough from Clare Rise Bakery when I went for coffees. As I was driving out I spotted these two kangaroos grazing less than 2m from the Main South Rd. I left by a different driveway to avoid spooking them.
We spent time catching up with administrative matters, including setting up both phones so they can chromecast Britbox to our TV.
Our neighbour had recommended lunch at the Mr Mick tapas bar and cellars in Clare. It was a lovely setting even though damp. Bluey had to stay in the car as it was too cold and windy to eat outside.
We enjoyed some of our dishes but found both meat dishes to be fatty. The wine must have been OK as Anita bought a couple of bottles. We had a 10% discount voucher from the caravan park for our meal, and another 10% voucher from our neighbour for cellar door purchases.
The heritage listed building once served as a distillery and a large copper still remains as a feature.
The tower is impressive when viewed from below. The red pipes supply water to fire fighting sprinklers.
While our housekeeper was at our house this afternoon, a security camera caught this visiting cat.
Today was probably our last rain free day for the next few days. We walked around the retail area of Clare, noting several special historic buildings. The Town Hall has intricate Corinthian columns.
The ANZ and NAB bank buildings are impressive.
Clare has lots of interesting murals painted in different styles.
We drove south to Sevenhill which has a bakery, hotel with several dining awards, and cellar doors.
We drove on to the Watervale Hotel for lunch. My kingfish cerviche was delightful and the panacotta colourful!
Mintaro is a State heritage listed historic town, largely unchanged since the 1800s. Anita bought some wine from Reilly’s Wines Cellar Door.
Back at the caravan park we have new neighbours beside and behind us. A six year old Burmese cat is travelling for the first time with her owners in a small caravan. She is called Lily, the same name we initially gave our Tilly, until we decided she is no Lily!
Our drive along the Barrier Hwy was slow, because there are many kilometres of roadwork where the speed was reduced to 40/60/80 kph. I took photos of each settlement, village and small town we drove through.
There are few remaining buildings at Cockburn, literally just over the NSW/SA border. In the late 1800s the NSW Government refused to allow SA Railways to operate in NSW. In 1970 the 3ft 6ins railway was converted to 4ft 8.5ins solving the problem, and removing the need for so many workers to live in the town. The population was once 2000 but is now about 50.
The next small settlement is Olary which was established in the 1880s to service the railway and road transport. Only a couple of people live in Olary and the pub does not regularly open.
Manna Hill Railway Station is an elaborate structure built when the SA Government optimistically experimented with wheat farming in the late 1800s. Insufficient rain cruelled that idea. Only 6 people live in the settlement.
We crossed several creeks which unusually had water in them. My favourite creek name is the Winnininnie Creek near Yunta. There are two service stations, a pub, a post office and a school at Yunta.
The SA Quarantine Station is located at Oodla Wirra, 210 kms from the NSW/SA border. We thought we had eaten or frozen all fruit, but the Inspector confiscated an avocado from our fridge. There are hundreds of roadside flowers at Oodla Wirra, but not much else.
We stopped for fuel and lunch at the BP service station near the historic town of Terowie. We have previously explored the well preserved mostly empty buildings of Terowie, but the motel murals caught my interest. The pioneering Hollywood director JP McGowan was born in Terowie and served in the Second Boer War as a special dispatch rider. He is the only Australian to be made a life member of the Screen Directors Guild.
We drove through Hallett with its sheep statues and historic buildings; then onto Burra and Farrell Flat before passing through Clare.
Our caravan park is outside Clare. We have stayed here before but never been allocated such a small site. It took us half an hour to put the 7m long Bushtracker on the 8m site, because posts on the other side of the narrow road limited the turning options for the Toyota. We should have gone back to the office and demanded a bigger site. Our parking problems were aggravated by a small one-eyed dog wandering up and down the road without a lead or any owner.
We needed a change from pub food so ate at the Indii, the number 1 rated restaurant for this area. Most of our choices were excellent, especially the breads. As we drove home the sun was still shining on this unusual sandstone building. Bluey was lunatic when we opened the door to the Bushtracker. I will have to take him for a run tomorrow.
We had breakfast at The Silly Goat, one of our favourite cafes. Unfortunately Anita’s eggs were not very good, but the coffees were great. Outdoor seating is basic so we shared a large table with a baby, mum and grandma. We had parked in front of this Art Deco shop with its interesting pattern of alternating horizontal and vertical corrugated iron panels. A nearby shop has several curved glass windows and chrome handles from the same era.
We did some odd jobs around the van and had a quiet afternoon. Dinner at the renovated Broken Hill Pub (known as BHP) was passable, but the menu was limited while the building is expansive. We passed some impressive buildings on our way back to the caravan park, Trades Hall being my favourite.
The rain continued into the night, but there were no further issues with water on the roads in this part of the Outback. We stopped at the dump site then drove along the Barrier Hwy headed for Wilcannia, the only town between Cobar and Broken Hill.
When I put Tilly in the crate she behaved herself and didn’t hiss at Bluey. I have had to be firm with her to stop her behaving badly to Bluey.
At Wilcannia we stopped beside the road to walk Bluey and have lunch in the van. Police cars moved onto the highway to stop the traffic to allow a funeral procession to drive through town. Dozens of cars followed the hearse to the cemetery.
A caravan in front of us was travelling at 90-95kph, but when I moved out to overtake, the driver sped up to 110kph. I saw a small car ahead travelling slowly so had to move back behind the lunatic driver. Fortunately the caravan stopped at a rest area and we passed without seeing it again.
I sent a text to my nephew and niece to see if they were available for a catch up while we are in Broken Hill. Steve is an freight train driver and could not continue with his journey because of the floods. He drove from Condoblin to Nyngan, and passed us just outside Broken Hill. On two earlier trips we have passed Steve when he was driving very long trains. One time he didn’t know we were going to be in the area, but he spotted the Bushtracker from the train as we were driving along the highway.
We went to the Palace Hotel for dinner with Steve, Sarah and 2 year old Ivy. I was envious of Ivy’s pink Doc Martin boots – Sarah manages two shoe shops in Broken Hill.
The Palace featured in the Priscilla movie, and there is a very large high heel shoe in the foyer which fascinated Ivy.
We will spend another night in Broken Hill before moving on towards the Clare Valley.
The dog in the next van was not on a lead any time we saw her. This morning we complained at the office and were pleased to see an employee come to talk to the recalcitrant dog owners.
We live in such a large country but it sometimes seems small – other Roadies were staying in our caravan park! This is the second time this has happened in a couple of months.
A young girl was using a telephoto lens to take a photo of Tilly on her lead. I invited her to come closer and ended up chatting with her mum Mary Ann who operates a farm on the Eyre Penninsular based on regenerative principles – Korinya Farm Gate. She was travelling with three daughters to meet women who share her views on regenerative farming. She has not met any of these women before face to face, and hopes her daughters will mind toddlers belonging to other women. They are travelling in a farm ute with their swags, but had a treat last night staying in a discounted glamping tent.
Our drive through the town of Trangie created a different first impression than Coonamble had. These two pubs are well preserved and there are attractive roadside garden beds.
In the small village of Nevertire on the Barrier Hwy, this cafe caught my attention. We will remember it for next time.
We stopped for lunch at Nyngang. In total we drove an extra 300kms to reach Nyngan after not being able to get there from Walgett yesterday. I found a side street without deep gutters so the van was level for boiling the kettle for tea.
Leaving Nyngan we crossed the Bogan River and stopped to see the extent of river flooding. Park facilities and fences were underwater, and there was only about half a metre between the railway bridge and river. BOM recorded the height as 3.75m and it is expected to peak at 4m over the weekend.
We turned onto the Barrier Hwy and chuckled at this sign for the Riverside Tourist Park. Photos on FB show large areas of the park covered by water. We have stayed at that park a couple of times when in drought.
We had decided to stay in a free camp behind the RSL. Entry to that area was a bit muddy so we moved to the sealed carpark the other side of the fence. We took Bluey for a walk around town. My favourite building is this private house with its original roof.
Unfortunately most of the historic buildings have not been well preserved. The 1898 Great Western Hotel is spoiled by the midline yellow band advertising a certain beer, and the 1960s Great Western Motel sign. The cast iron veranda panels need attention.
The tower of the St Laurence O’Toole Catholic Church can be seen from many places around town. The 1910 building used as a butcher’s shop has many original features, but other shops along the main street in historic buildings could be improved with a coat of paint in heritage colours.
We are camped opposite an old copper mine. I took the second photo through the fence and it looks like an attractive lake. The RSL has placed acrylic red poppies on section of the fence.
On the outside wall of the RSL there are commemorative plaques and posters. This 1917 article from the SMH is salutory as we are sending iron ore and high grade coal to China which can be used to manufacture military weapons.
I walked to the nearby Great Cobar Heritage Centre located in the 1910 former administration building for the Great Cobar Copper Mine. The NSW Government has funded restorations to the building which also houses the Visitors Centre.
The Cobar Miners Memorial is across the road from the heritage centre. The copper colour is evident in the rock walls.
There is a lot to see in and around Cobar, but we are normally passing through without spending time here. It is also normally hot but today was a pleasant 24°.
We had dinner in the van and spent the rest of the evening listening to rain and distant thunder.
Committed Travellers 