March 10-12
Hi All,
We arrived back to Mystic on Saturday late afternoon safe and sound!!! 41 days on this portion of the road trip!!! We are now back to Mystic for 5 days before flying to Tasmania for 7 days next Thursday, March 17!!
Homeward bound on this leg. To break up the drive we stopped in two Outback mining towns, Broken Hill and Cobar. Broken Hill had an eerie feeling to it….lots of boarded up buildings, kind of strange people, a town well past its prime. We stayed in the Imperial Hotel….a renovated hotel built in the late 1800’s when the silver/gold boom hit. We could see the past grandeur and could only imagine the shenanigans that must have taken place.
We meet the proprietor…..friendly but creepy….I read a laminated newspaper article on the wall….maybe 10 years old….I read the first sentence and asked….so is this hotel really haunted; actually have a ghost???…..well, not that I’ve seen…not the answer you want….she continues….there was a couple last week that heard a big bang about 3am….oh, yes, think it was a picture falling but not sure….oh joy….NOT!!!!
The strange vibe we got could be that 900+ miners have died in the area over the past 100 years….none since 2007 as over the last 30 years mining has become safer. As you come into town from the west you drive by the largest cemetery we have ever seen….whoa!!!
Good news: We DID NOT SEE/HEAR the GHOST:)))))
We also drove to Silverton…another ghost town and where they filmed Mad Max II.
Cobar was a bit more proud of its mining past….great visitor center and many artifacts around the town honoring all the history. But, due to the low price of commodities now, the town is also suffering many layoffs!!
Weather: Well….it sucked….rained quite a bit in the dessert….hmmmm….seems to be a theme for us for the Australian desserts.
Best Road sign: Warning, Kangaroos next 240 km
Critters: sadly we saw more road kill than actual critters:(((
Pillows: Can we just shoot whoever makes bricks for pillows….you know it’s bad when your ear has a bruise!!!!
Stats:
Traveled:
Car miles: 250 miles to Broken Hill; 275 miles to Cobar, 425 miles to Bobbin Head
4200 miles total
Air miles: 1450 total
Train miles: 1600 total
Total traveled miles: 7250 miles
Wrong turns: 3 total
Kangaroo/”Roos”/Skippy count: 17 this leg; 327 total!!!
Skippy roadside warning signs: 24 this leg, more signs than actual sightings!; 153 total
Koala count: 0 this leg; 49 total
Emu count: 35, the most on this leg; 120 total
Echidna count: 0 this leg; 5 total
One Way bridges: 0 today; 19 total
Speeding Tickets: 0 today; 1 total
Hotel: Broken Hill: Imperial Hotel: nice, but past its prime, hard, horrible pillows, woke up with a neck and ear ache, threw the pillows out the window and used the spare blanket….ugh;
Cobar: Best Western: ok, road noise, hard pillows AGAIN!!!!
Food: Road food, nothing special
LIG!!!! Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Lot’s of red dirt and red sheep!!
We met our friend the Indian Pacific coming from Sydney!!
Yes….we were privileged to experience hard rain in the dessert….joy!!!
Yep, it’s raining hard….how many times do you think Kathy asked/told me to slow down:)))
What’s left of a ghost town…..now they do tours to the flat plain where they filmed Mad Max II
The dessert by Silverton where they filmed Mad Max II
Panoramic view
A good Emu sighting!
Broken Hill…..still about 15k population but dwindling fast
The old and new……cell et al tower and steeple of a 100 year old church in Broken Hill
Mine tailings from the Broken Hill zinc/lead/silver mine…..on top is a Miner Memorial and a closed restaurant
Broken Hill Mine….I had to climb a little for the pic….they seemed to want to hide all the mining from the public
Miner Memorial – >900 miners died!!!
Open cut mine in Cobar…..now all the gold is mined underground
