Week Two:  Broken Hill to Wentworth/Burra/Port Augusta/Woomera/Coober Pedy

When travelling you sometimes have to go with the flow; make and change plans to suit the given day.  This was our lesson this week. 

In planning this trip I had been very keen to visit Menindee Lake near Broken Hill and Mungo National Park, near Wentworth/Mildura.  We visited neither.  The day we set aside for Menindee ended up being a much-needed rest day, and the next day we headed south so we could visit Mungo - and that is when the weather changed...and after yet another massive coughing fit, I finally gave in to how sick I was feeling and went to the doctor.  So, we now have two places that will go on our list of things yet to see...some other time. 
We did manage to spend a very pleasant afternoon in Mildura, on a paddle boat again - this one a rare steam powered one.  It felt right to cruise the Murray River, as we had previously cruised the Darling in Bourke.  The boys (big and little) were fascinated by the steam boiler, particularly Tony as he works on steam powered equipment at the Hospital.  We had to pass through a lock each way, which was very interesting. 
That night, I was ridiculously excited to be going out to dinner at the Wentworth Services Club...$50 to feed us all, I can see why we don't go out to dinner too often!  But it WAS delicious. 



We camped right next to the Darling River - nice view!




Where the Murray and Darling Rivers meet. 





The paddle boat 'Melbourne' and 3 of the many, many photos I took of us

going through the lock...I won't bore you with the details!

The boiler attendant hard at work.

On Friday we began to make our way to Port Augusta, planning to stay somewhere along the way for one night.  We decided on Burra.  I usually ring ahead and book a site, but that day I didn't...so we were lucky to get an unpowered site!  Another lesson learned.  The good news is that our caravan passed the test with flying colours.  Burra itself is the first town that we have come to that we really are looking forward to coming back to again.  It reminded us of many little towns that are dotted through Tasmania: steeped in history; and obviously a community that takes a lot of pride in it's past and future.  I went for a little walk in the morning and took a few photos just with my iPhone...it will give you an idea of why, Tony especially, is itching to get back there and spend a few days capturing the light. 

We were again camped beside water, this time the lovely little Burra Creek.

The best thing about Burra - for Charlie and Matthew - was the access to the school playgrounds right across the road...so warning:  photos of playgrounds ahead!

One of the playgrounds had an awesome high slide!  And, how cute is that

photo of Matt top right??
 Usually he pulls a face when I try to take a photo of him,

so it was nice to get one that reflects what a cutie he is!

The drive from Burra to Port Augusta was wonderful - the area around Burra was quite picturesque.  The scenery slowly changed to desert although it was quite nice then to lay eyes on some water once more...even if surrounded by industry! 

Port Augusta...I washed, I cleaned, Tony got the car as ready as we could for heading into the desert, we stocked up on supplies, we enjoyed some warm days. 

The drive to Woomera was a relaxing one, only 173 km.  It was another beautiful day.  The only sad thing was seeing the number of dead cattle on the side of the road.  We had heard from several sources that Spud's Roadhouse at Pimba, just outside of Woomera, was the place to stay - and the best thing was that it was totally free!  That is, unless you wanted a shower:  2 gold coins for a wash.  Pass.  Although we arrived quite early for a free camp (1:30 pm), there were already quite a few vans there.  We quickly unhitched, made a late lunch and headed in to Woomera, where there was a lovely park with lots of actual green grass and a great playground for the boys.  On the drive into Woomera we had passed a big display of old rockets, missiles, airplanes etc that had been donated or found around Woomera and the boys had a great time walking around them and checking them out.  "Talk to me about rockets, Mummy", said Charlie.  Cute. 

Back at Spud's the boys played and we had a lovely time having a few drinks and chatting with our neighbours, it got colder as the sun disappeared but it was warm enough that we were able to eat dinner outside.  Those times when you can sit and enjoy a few drinks and company really are a highlight of being on the road.  Naturally, as we have small children to organise, we don't have as many opportunities for this as the grey nomads, so it is extra special when we do.  The icing on the cake last night was when 2 lovely Swiss girls joined us with 2 packets of Tim Tams in their hands.  They had bought 15 (!!!) packets with plans to send them back home and have a Tim Tam party, but it had proven too expensive.  They had eaten as much as they could but could eat no more.  Hooray for us!

Today we are drove to Coober Pedy, a much bigger drive - 374.5km.  The scenery was beautiful, due to the huge wet season, I guess.  There is actually quite a lot of inland water around - Lake Hart was particularly big.  We did not stop to take photos though, we try to limit the stops on the bigger drives, otherwise it just drags on and on.  Here are a few I took from the car window, it gives you an idea of the outlook for 4 1/2 hours!!

Tomorrow we will explore Coober Pedy.  The boys have brainstormed all the things they know of that live underground...insects, foxes...I was quite impressed with the list they came up with!  It will be fascinating to see their faces tomorrow as we go underground. 

We plan to be at Uluru on Friday, so the next blog should be quite interesting - lots to see in the next week!

Finally, I will leave you with some random photos...

How big is this pizza???  This was dinner tonight, in Coober Pedy. 
Box is empty...we ate most of it plus 4 left over pieces for lunch tomorrow. 

We were lucky enough to be driving around this arvo right on sunset,
a truly beautiful sight seeing the sun go down over the desert horizon. 
The caravans behind the sign are free camping...don't know if I would this close to town...

And just to prove that Australia is truly a land of contrasts: 
this is driving back from Mildura to Wentworth...

...and this is on the road to Woomera. 

Thanks all, keep in touch - we love hearing everyone else's news!  And a big, big thanks to those of you who 'took the plunge' and commented on the last post ;)

Tanya, Tony, Charlie and Matthew