I got home safely. After resting in Dorrigo for a few days I headed to Bellingen, where I picked up my pre-pandemic January routine. This meant attending Camp Creative and heading slowly down the east coast of NSW in time to join my kids and grandkids for a few nights at the beach (stopping places below the maps).
I didn't know if I'd get as far as Broken Hill, but I crossed the Nullarbor in both directions, and took in a large number of other places along the way. Departed eastern NSW: 4th January 2022. Reached the westernmost point of Western Australia (on Rottnest Island): 12th August 2022. Returned to the NSW Central Coast: 18th January 2023. Time taken on journey: 12mnths 2 wks. Total nights away: 382. Nights slept in Bertha: 332. Total distance covered: 20,000km. Google's estimate for time and distance Gosford-Perth-Gosford: 84hrs and 8,000km. I FEEL SO PROUD WHEN I READ BACK OVER THIS !!!!! (10/9/23)
Nights 315, 317-323: Bellingen Showgrounds (1A, 2 white dot)
Night 316: Burdett Park football field (1D) Fernmount (close to Bellingen) Night 324: iKew Visitor Information Centre (2A) Kew Night 325: Bulahdelah Bowling Club (2D) Night 326: Morisset Showgrounds (2 blue dot) Night 327: Lions Park Woy Woy Night 328: Fisherman's End Nights 329-332: NRMA Ocean Beach Holiday Resort Central Coast (H)
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Not managing a secluded Christmas meditation break and deciding not to overnight at White Cliffs (map 1 white dot), I became moved to head east as fast as I could.
Night 304 - beside the Barrier Highway at MacCullochs Rest Area, between Wilcannia (1A) and Emmdale (1B): very nice, beautiful sunset. Night 305 - beside the Barrier Highway at the Florida Rest Area, between Cobar (1C) (I stopped for a swim here) and Nyngan (1D): even nicer, easy to get away from the main rest area. I was amazed by the size of Nyngan Solar Plant. Night 306 - beside the Oxley Highway at Marthaguy Rest Area, a bit west of Gilgandra (1E): ok but a bit exposed. Night 307 - beside the Oxley Highway at Redbank Rest Area, between Coonabarabran (1F) and Gunnedah (1G) (where I stopped for another swim): very green and leafy. The next day I stopped in Tamworth (1H) to visit the Regional Art Gallery. Night 308 - Armidale Tourist Park, Armidale (1I & 2A) (visited another Regional Gallery). The tourist park was good; it was so nice to sit on the grass and use town water liberally. Google Maps says that White Cliffs to Armidale takes eleven hours yet it took me four days. Go figure! Night 309 - Ebor Sport and Rec, Ebor (2B). Looking at Ebor Falls was nice, but the "Sport and Rec" was just another roadside stop not suitable for a meditation pause. Nights 310-314 - Dorrigo Showgrounds, Dorrigo (2 white dot): this was much quieter and very spacious. Much better. While I was here I noticed the one year anniversary of my departure from Araluen come up. I'm not home yet, but in a way, the trip has taken exactly a year. The next day, feeling very well rested, I did the half hour drive down Dorrigo Mountain to Bellingen (2D) ready to pick up my customary January routine. YouTube: Journey Back East The first place I visited in NSW was Silverton. It's been a ghost town for over a hundred years, but it manages to hang on with its museums, movie credits and bits of tourism. I visited the Day Dream Mine, which was one of several small silver mines that used to operate. As a township it almost ceased to exist once ore was discovered at Broken Hill; apparently many miners moved themselves, their possessions, and their houses twenty kilometres to Broken Hill. The large gaol was built of stone and today serves as a substantial museum for the Broken Hill Historical Society. Penrose Park was a delightful place to stay, being a piece of history in its own right. From the 1880s to the 1960s it was a place of resort for the people of Broken Hill who travelled there in open railway trucks. In 1915 a Turkish camel driver opened fire on the picnic train to support the Turkish effort in World War I. I parked Bertha between an old tennis court and a disused basketball court and experienced quite a significant dust storm. Actually, I assumed it was par for the course when my shoes blew away and my meal filled with red dust and I was surprised to hear locals talking about it three days later.
Silverton still has camels. I enjoyed a ride one evening. YouTube: Silverton I planned to spend a quick night in Broken Hill to finally inspect its mine, see some of the galleries, take in the History Tour, and a few bits more, especially the Afghan Mosque. I hadn't reckoned with the extent of the tourist slowdown in the hot weather. I only managed the Pro Hart Gallery on Xmas Eve, although I did manage to see the mosque through a locked gate on Christmas Day.
When I reached the second major creek there was water over the flow way and three people were pushing a ute out of the water; there was a line of utes not daring to cross in the other direction. So I headed back to the safety of the city side of Stevens Creek. I was surprised to find that it had come up during just thirty minutes and was flowing vigorously beside and under the road. There was a derelict café/gallery there, which made it a good place to camp. In the morning I was happy to find that Stevens Creek had dried overnight, so I headed north again and found the second creek similarly dry. I was driving along happily reflecting that flash floods end as suddenly as they start, when I came to a very wide puddle on some flat ground. I was confident that I could steer Bertha round the edge ... that is, until she stuck. I rang the road service but I didn't have to wait for them this time as two boys, bound into town for Christmas lunch, towed me out backwards. This time I too returned to town and, after locating the mosque, considered my options. I particularly wanted to visit White Cliffs, near Wilcannia, for both the opal mines and the historic solar power station. Boxing Day wasn't a good day to visit. Although there were lots of OPEN signs the reality was that everything was closed. I decided that I needed to get to another part of NSW as fast as possible. YouTube: When Xmas plans don't pan out Nights 298-300 - Penrose Park, Silverton Night 301 - Broken Hill Tourist Park Night 302 - (Xmas Eve) at Stevens Creek on the Silver City Highway, north of Broken Hill Night 303 - (Xmas Day) a return to Warrawong on the Darling, near Wilcannia where I stayed back in April |
AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
February 2024
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