Waking Up In Cobar - Going To Bed At Nelia Gaari Station

Last night we cooked a vegetable stew over the gas camping stove. As yet we have not had a chance to light a camp fire.  

Our supply of food includes all sorts of meals...from canned soup, pasta sauces, fresh fruit and vegetables, a variety of grains and cereals, frozen meat, dried pulses, and more.

We're stilled worried about how much of our fresh fruit and vegetables we're going to have to part with so this morning I cooked up some of the granny smith apples and turned them into a yummy apple sauce.  We packed these into small clip lock bags, cooled them down and then popped them into the freezer.  I did pretty much the same with some green beans last night, blanching them, cooling them, popping into clip lock bags and freezing.  I don't want to waste the lovely fresh produce we purchased from the growers' markets before setting off on our trip.

Last night's left overs were also packed into a container, cooled and popped into the freezer for another meal.

I felt like I was back at home, cooking in my kitchen, trying to be thrifty and making the most of our supplies.

It was another cold night last night but what I love most about camping is waking up to a sunrise that is unhampered by architecture, or as in our case at home, the natural geographical landscape of a small valley. 

This morning light was startling, yet soft.

Unfortunately we didn't wake early enough to catch the full impact of sunrise.

The birds are not abundant either, probably because it's too cold and they have more sense then what we do, heading to warmer climates.

All along Andrew has insisted he wants to go to Wilcannia on the way to Broken Hill, but our stop there was brief, we re-fueled, and took the Menindee-Wilcannia Road to Nelia Gaari Station on the Darling River, to see if we could camp there for the night.

The terrain now is flat,

red,

dusty,

and you know you're in the outback when you have to open the gate to reach your destination...

The GPS sent us on a bit of a wild goose chase but...

I remembered...(the Golden Fleece!)...

and we were set straight once more.

Even though the weather looked a little threatening on our drive in

we are now camped on the banks of the mighty Darling River, the entire camp spot to ourselves, fire roaring, stars shining above.

Good night!

Cobar

We were woken by the first flight (small aircraft) of the morning at the local airport.  Other than that, just the usual squawking of a over-sized flock of cockatoos as the sun was rising to a cold dewy day.

During last night's dinner and this morning's breakfast we shared the kitchen with a couple from Hobart, another from Launceston and a farming Victorian family.

It is customary to share ‘travelling’ stories with others as we congregate in holiday parks or camp sites across the country.  The couple from Hobart were killing time before boarding the ferry across the strait to Tasmania, they were travelling in a small sedan and camping along the way.  In their sixties, I though they were very adventurous, until they told us that they have done camping trips for up to seven weeks travelling on the back of a motor bike!

 The family from Victoria are on school holidays and the mother seemed to contain all the excitement not only for herself but for the entire family. She chatted endlessly about everything from work, to Dream Pots, to camper trailers, school, etc, etc.  Co-incidentally, both her and I before leaving home, had prepared a meal, frozen it, and served it up for dinner last night.The two meals, while still frozen, looked identical!

In the camp kitchen, Thursday morning and we meet the Hobart couple again, they are late rising and they have pitched their little dome tent on the grass just outside the camp kitchen.  We have a quick catch up on the weather, sleeping conditions and we’re off to pack up our tent, only to stop once more to chat to a couple who have just packed up their pop-top caravan.  

With them, we discuss the pros and cons of over-sized caravans, big-rigs, buses, camper vans, etc, etc.  At times such is the life of the self contained traveller.

Finally we’re on the road again, filling up with fuel and leaving Dubbo without any sight seeing…in the plan of things, Dubbo is, on this trip, simply an overnight stop. We have visited Dubbo on other occasions, mainly to spend time at the Dubbo Western Plains Zoo.  But not today.

Our plan is to have our next overnight stop in Cobar.   As we drive toward the town, we don’t really know what to expect in Cobar.  It is a mining town and in my opinion there are two types of mining towns in Australia.  The first would be grand towns, with historic buildings, well preserved, a reminder of the wealth and prosperity the town has produced or the second; weary, down trodden, hard working, persevering.  A town which once produced a wealth of precious or valuable metal but has run out of steam and will not give up. (Perhaps there is a third; the derelict town, no longer producing anything but still contains a few hangers-on, usually of the historical or artistic, or alternative kind.)

I was not sure which of the first two Cobar would be.  Our eldest travels to Cobar occasionally, as part of his work in the mining industry.  But of course Cobar is the ‘town-he-travels-to’, to arrive at the mine at the end of his journey, which is more than likely many kilometres away.

Nyngan was our morning tea stop. Morning tea consisted of fruit, buttered Dutch honey cake and tea (from our providore/pantry-in-the-back-of-the-ute).
I visited one of the local churches’ op-shops and picked up a jar of choko chutney (yet to be tested) for three dollars and four pure linen handkerchiefs (at fifty cents each – a bargain). 

The town is quite small and we did a quick whip around of the shops after our morning tea break.

There is an interesting mixture of buildings in Nyngan.

The Commonwealth Bank is an art deco style building.

The Beancounters House was once a bank and is now a cafe and accommodation.

The aging Chemist and Druggist store today houses a hair dresser and the Bogan Lollyshop.

Where else in the Outback can you get a sugar rush but at the Bogan Lollyshop?  And don't forget the Bogan Fudge! (Please note, the shop is named after the shire it is within, that is, the Bogan Shire.  Bogan Shire is on the banks of  the Bogan River.)

Nothing beats a helicopter in the middle of town, not far from the Nyngan Railway Station (now a museum).

Not far into our trip we realised that eventually we will have to go through a fruit-fly exclusion zone and all the fruit and vegetables we are carrying will either have to be consumed, given away or thrown into the bin at the approach to the zone. So we have been trying to use up as much of our stash as possible.

Each day we allocate four pieces of fruit each, usually to be eaten while we drive. This has done little so far to reduce or supply.

So when we arrived in Cobar we prepared a big bowl of salad, added a little ham and cheese and sat in the park across for the Great  Cobar Heritage Centre to eat our lunch.

The entrance to Cobar is grand, and showy.  Approaching from the east, The Cobar Mine sits at the entrance of the town, followed by the Heritage Centre (now a museum and tourist information centre).

I thought it was a little reminiscent of Mount Isa, except in Cobar, the mine is on the outskirts of town, not in the middle of it.

 Across the road from this, on display, is the paraphernalia of a proud mining town’s past.

Both Andrew and I were pleasantly surprised by Cobar.

We found it to be a refreshingly proud but quaint in an unusual way.

The locals were friendly and polite.

I found the yummiest patchwork shop where I purchased some fabric for an upcoming birth in the family (a little girl after five boys kind of birth) so I'm going to keep the purchase I made there secret.

I also bought a little pre-cut pack as a gift to give our quilting friend (when we arrive) in Ninji towards the end of our trip.

The quilt shop, unsurprisingly, is called Cobar Quilt Shop.


We found a wonderful tea room called Country Simplicity Tea Room which is also an overflowing gift shop and Australian gourmet food stockist.

I came away with a bag full of gifts and goodies after we'd had a most elegant afternoon tea (well coffee for Andrew).  A gluten free selection of cakes was on offer too...even better.

The best, though was that we heard a whisper about a great free camp spot, called The Newey Reserve.
Before setting up our camp for the night we had a look at the open cut mine from the Fort Hill Lookout...

...took a photograph of a rather impressive hotel...

...and made our way to our camp.

 There we found electric barbeques, a toilet block and a tranquil outlook over the water.

We watched the light fade over the water.

I just love how the sky turns pink at sunset.

Trip #3 - Destination Corner Country

It's been two years since our last road trip.
We set out on our third today, after a cold, windy blustery Tuesday in the mountains.  We had contemplated leaving yesterday, but now, we're happy we delayed our trip.
It snowed yesterday, and the Great Western Highway, which in parts winds itself along the spine of the Great Dividing Range was affected. I hate to think what the driving conditions could have been, even though I'd love to see and spend some time in the snow.
So we set off on a leisurely pace, stopping at Lithgow McDonalds for a morning-tea-cum-lunch-break.  As a rule we try not to frequent Maccas, but sometimes it's the devil you know...and we try to make our meal choice as healthy as possible by sticking to their salad wraps. Sometimes,(sometimes being the operative word) they make good espresso if there's a McCafe available and the cafes also do gluten free cakes.

It was cold...as you can see, even these sparrows were having trouble coping!  Poor things weren't allowed indoors and as all the customers were sitting out of the cold, the little birds not only had the cold to put up with but were missing out on the usual crumbs left behind by diners.  They crowded at the windows waiting in vain with their feathers puffed up so that they looked like pom poms.

Our next stop would be Gulgong.  Or, some of you would know it as the Ten Dollar Town.  When Australia converted from pounds to dollars, in 1966, a ten dollar note was issued to replace the five pound note and Gulgong was featured on the reverse of the note.

It's been quite some years since either of us have been to Gulgong and to tell you the truth, my memories of my last visit didn't jog any signs of familiarity when we arrived this afternoon, to a cold and grey, almost deserted but very well ordered little town.

We had afternoon tea in at The Butcher Shop Cafe where I had a delicious slice of almond and orange cake nothing like I've had before. This wasn't your usual mass produced cake...it had body, was full of flavour and believe it or not, I had it served with a bottle of ginger beer, because, for some strange reason, I sometimes crave cold, fizzy drinks on cold, wintry days.  Unfortunately the cafe didn't serve a home made lemonade but the ginger beer is an Australian made brand so I didn't feel too guilty.

Andrew had his usual espresso before we dashed outdoors again and back to the car.

I found this historical collection of pharmaceutical paraphernalia interesting since I worked in a pharmacy in the sixties and seventies.  It's a bit scary when you find items from your past making an appearance in museums...and I could identify quite a few items in this display, I'm afraid to say!  

We would have liked to stay in the town longer, but the cold, the lateness of the afternoon, ensured our swift departure...Dubbo, our next stop.

Above: Gulgong Ten Dollar Hotel, on Medley Street.

Gulgong is an old gold mining town  which had been swept into the gold rush era during the 1870s and  many of the buildings remain thanks to the dedication of volunteers.  Most Australian gold rush towns of the past are no longer but Gulgong survived.  It is a destination in itself and it is close enough for us to make this a day trip...so we will return. 

Gulgong Mayne Street.

We arrived in Dubbo just before five and staying at the Dubbo City Caravan Park.

This caravan park we would very  much recommend.  The sites are generous, and the camp kitchen is very well equipped, weather proof, clean, and conducive to socialising with other guests as it is not an overly large kitchen.

Noise wise, there is the usual traffic noise but it is mostly in the distance.

Right now, we're off to further investigate cooking arrangements etcetera...