Quick trip out West
Categories: holidays, australia
Date: 18 February 2012 04:28:49
After leaving my new job, and after visiting my sister, brother-in-law and nieces in their new home, I drove out to Broken Hill, ~1,150kms from Sydney. This map gives you an idea of my driving journey, 6 days, keeping myself occupied via listening to lots of podcasts from BBC Radio 4 (thank you ferijen who told me about them got me addicted to them) and Ancient Faith Radio.
I stopped off at a number of places, including an old Phosphate (i.e. poo :) ) mine just outside Wellington; White Cliffs, an opal mining town with underground houses, where I stayed at an Underground Motel; Broken Hill, a town famous for mining; Kinchega National Park and Menindee Lakes; the 64-metre radio telescope at Parkes; and Abercrombie Caves.
There was a lot of rain. A lot. Rain which caused flooding in towns and where communities and farming families are still cut off as the rain from Queensland and northern NSW resulted in flooding downstream. My poor car was almost bogged a few times on dirt roads, so I needed to take quite a detour at one point when I realised I could not get through on the dirt roads. But that meant more of a chance to see the changing scenery, from bush to farms to hills to towering gum trees to red earth and small trees and bushes and much in between, on my travels. And if you are heading out to Broken Hill I can highly recommend the Caledonian B&B, a beautiful property with the charming and talented Barb and Hugh looking after you; and as aside a Hugh makes fine coffee and delicious ANZAC biscuits.
I could say plenty more, but I think photos, from my increasingly erratic and blurry-on-the-left camera, give you a taste of what is out there. Truly this is a beautiful country; and one of extremes -- drought or flood.
