We leave the beauty of Alpana Station (A) in Flinders Ranges, and take the gravel roads, heading towards Broken Hill (B). After about 7 hours of gravel, we reach Yunta and carry on to Manna Hill where we stay the night camped out next to the pub – as you do….
We reach Broken Hill the next day. Broken Hill is another one of those iconic mining towns in Australia. Founded by Charles Rasp, a German born boundary rider who in 1883 found what he thought to be tin, later discovered it was a massive body of ore – the largest and richest one of its kind in the world.
We also visit the town of Silverton, 20 kms north of Broken Hill. The town popped up after the discovery of rich silver deposits, although it was soon eclipsed by the even richer silver-lead-zinc ore deposits. It also has quite a lot of history, but its main claim to fame is that this is the area where the Mad Max movies were filmed.
We have a look around the town, stop at the iconic Silverton hotel and have a look at the local jail now turned museum. We also stop and visit John Dynon’s art studio.
In April 1993, in the desert outside Broken Hill, artists from around the world began work on 12 sandstone sculptures. Giant sandstone blocks weighing more than 50 tonnes had been shipped in for the artists and six weeks later, the artists unveiled their creations, and today, this is one of the most photographed sites in the Australian outback.
About 80 kms south-east of Broken Hill, we arrive at Lake Menindee (C). What a great spot for camping and birdwatching along the Darling River. We camp down by the weir and meet a group from Victoria who have been coming to this spot several times a year for fishing and yabby catching. They kindly offer us some whitefish and yabbies for our evening meal.
We leave Menindee as we hear that rain is coming and if it does, its likely that the road out will be closed off so we head further south to Wentworth (D) where we find another free camp on the Murray River. Wentworth is where the two longest rivers in Australia meet, the Murray and Darling Rivers.
We are slowly making our way toward the coast and we’ve finally had some serious RAIN for the first time since we left almost 3 months ago. We decide to head towards Bathurst as Sinclair wants to drive the Mt Panorama circuit. We stop a night at the Hay (E) showgrounds, then onto a small caravan park at Ariah Park and then we reach Bathurst (F). Mr Carter does a lap of Mt Panorama WooHoo! We stay the night at the Bathurst showgrounds, have a look around town and head out.
We have a brief overnighter at one of the CMCA member stopover. These are members who allow fellow CMCA members to park up on their property for free. Bonus is we get to watch this amazing electrical storm just overhead. We also take the opportunity to catch up with Rachel from Mercy Ship who comes through to visit for an afternoon.
The next day we travel to beautiful Kiama (G), south of Sydney on the coast where we spend a few precious days with whanau – Trish, Chachi and Poppy and have the privilege of attending the art exhibition for their Visual Arts program. What an amazing and creative family!
Then onward to Southport via Macksville and Mullumbimby (H), where we stay a few nights with our nephew Luke, fiancee Madi and fur babies Luna and Maui- bonus to meet Madi’s mum Lisa and partner Alistair.
We head to Brisbane for a few days to get JV ready to be stored until our return next year and we fly out to New Zealand for Christmas and summer holidays.
Thanks Australia, its been a blast… we’ll be back next year!
So, some stats for those of you who are interested –
- 12 weeks on the road
- Just under 10,000 kilometres completed
- Crossed three states – Qld, NSW and SA
- Min fuel price in Medlow Bath (Katoomba) NSW and Southport, NSW @ 1.93 … Max fuel price in Maree, SA @ 2.90
- Average fuel consumption 17.2l/100kms; 1584 litres used
- Average daily expenditure – $100
- Hottest temperature 42°c in Windorah, QLD (October 2023)
- Animals encountered – Lots of Roos, Wallabies, Emus, Goats, Sheep, Cows, Lizards, a few Camels, and 1 snake.
- Birdlife – AMAZING!
- Paid campsite vs Free camps – 55% vs 45%
An approximate map of our trip overall
soo cool