Bourke -Cobar – Broken Hill

We decided to stay in Bourke to watch the Outback Show at the Exhibition Centre. One man and his assistant showed us camel, horses, a sheep dog putting sheep through their paces. It was a bit corny at times but good but then he took 6 bullocks, harnessed them up while reciting a C.J.Dennis poem. He then got them to haul a piece of timber onto a wagon. After the show, we had some lunch and headed off to Cobar.

Cobar was a surprise to us as it is bigger than Bourke – probably because of the mines. It was not a long trip and we saw quite a few emus. While in Cobar we went out to see the mine pit and to another mine thing. We looked around town and visited the quilt shop and made a few purchases.

From Cobar we drove down to Broken Hill traveling west. The trees got smaller and there was more spinifex. We stopped at a truck stop for MT and Craig chatted to a truckie who was having his hour break and shining his truck. He invited Craig to have a look inside his cabin – he was very excited. For lunch we stopped at Wilcannia a town on the Darling. While pretty deserted, it is full of beautiful stone buildings from when it was a port for the paddle wheels on the river. Onward to Broken Hill which is a big place in the shadow of the mine.

Today we went out to Silverton, an almost ghost town of stone buildings left over from a thriving mining community. The pub was a hive of activity as there is to be a ball there tonight for local pastoralists.