On Friday afternoon I joined the photography group on a trip to Fleurieu Peninsula.  We stopped at a few places to take photos.  The first stop was Strathalbyn, a pretty town with old stone buildings, antique shops, art galleries – oh, and a quilt shop.  From there we went to Goowla near the mouth of the Murray River where we saw a paddle boat which still plies tourists up the river.  We moved onto Victor Harbor, the Bluff and stopping for sunset photos at Cape Wilunga Lookout.  We had a lovely fish and chip picnic with South Australian wines and cheeses.  Then the serious went down to the beach for photos through the broken pier.  Then back to Glenelg.

On Saturday, Greg and Jenny left for Hay on their return journey.  Craig and I enjoyed the delights of Glenelg with breakfast and coffee and purchased some Haiges chocolate.  In the late afternoon we went over to Edwin’s for a lovely paella, macerated berries and ice cream and a game of cards. Neil was there too and it was a good night.  Seb taught us a new game so I’ll have to reach you James.  I won?.

Today we drove to Mt Gambier.  It rained most of the way and there was a lot of water about. Everything is green.  We drove along the Corong which was full of water.  It is also cold (11 – 19).

We have been here for a few days now and today is the sunniest and least windy. The place we are staying in was to be part of a retirement living place but this bit didn’t sell so it is rented out for holiday stays.  So we are sort of in a retirement village. The place is one street back from the beach and just near Jetty Road where the tram goes down.  There are plenty of shops and eateries and the lovely promenade to walk along.

Craig has been going to workshops at APSCON.  we went to dinner and I met some of the people and we are about to go on a bus tout down to Victor Harbour where we will be taking photos of sunset.  We are both still sniffling and my chest is still noisy.  But it should be warm on the bus.

Yesterday I went over to Edwin’s and we talked sewing, went to a fabric store ( yes, I did buy something), then had a great lunch at an Italian goods shop and talked family history.

Greg and Jenny visited people they had met in Singapore where they    had a good day except Greg got bitten by a dog.  So another round of  doctors for them.

We spent two nights in Auburn in a house looking out over a vineyard and wheat fields.  We even got domestic and baked some bread which we had with our dinner of bacon and eggs.  Auburn is an old town, where C.J. Dennis was born.  There are many old stone buildings.  On our first morning there we stayed the day in the old grocer store which is now a wine tasting bar mostly but opens up for coffee in the morning.  I posted three postcards to the Gibson men from the old post office there.

From Auburn, we visited Clare and then Mintaro, another old town. Craig and I were there last time we came to Adelaide an Easter that coincided with Anzac Day, where it was bustling.  We spoke to an old lady in a house, whose son died in Vietnam, and who was off to help at the Tea Shop.  Her house is now empty.  Only one place in the town was open – a cellar door and restaurant.

Craig and Greg went off wine tasting but Jenny and I drove back to the house.  Since Bourke, I had been struggling with a cold and cough. I eventually saw a doctor in Broken Hill who gave me antibiotics as it was on my chest but he thought I had asthma.  But I have now spread it to all and we are all unwell.  Greg has bronchitis, jenny is off to the doctor this afternoon and Craig is coughing.  We are certainly going through the tissues.

Still we have now arrived at Glenelg, stopping to see Edwin on the way.  Craig went to a session at APSCON this morning and we are going to the dinner tonight.  Edwin and I are getting together tomorrow while Craig spends more time at sessions.

Sunset at Broken Hill was not until 7:15 pm so we decided to eat early from a local chicken burger takeaway. It was our first (and last) encounter with the famous Broken Hill delicacy, cheese slaw. It is coleslaw with cheese not cabbage. Not so nice but they are very proud to it. The reason we needed sunset times was so the we could watch and photograph the sun setting from the sculpture place. A local artist got together a number of stone sculptures and they placed them onto a hill outside Broken Hill. It is a quite amazing. There were lots of people up there including a tour bus “Brendan’s”.

The next day we checked out the art galleries and museums. Broken Hill is known as the home of Pro Hart, and we visited his gallery. We also went to the Regional Art Gallery where the art was really good and it would have been nice to have a couple of extra thousands for a piece. We went shopping for memorabilia, too. Broken Hill centre was quite busy and people very friendly and proud of their town. We ate out at a local restaurant, Red Lush, and the food was great and beautifully presented (and reasonably priced). The chefs were born and bred in Broken Hill and proud to be there.

Today we drove from Broken Hill to Auburn. The scenery changed from desert to green valleys. From land with few livestock, no crops but lots of emus to land of sheep, green and at the just near here, vines. From deserted towns with ruined stone houses to proud old towns with well maintained magnificent buildings.

We have arrived at our lovely cottage at Auburn and just enjoyed a hearty meal with Greg and Jenny.

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.

On Sunday night Cunnamulla experienced a thunder storm with a lot of heavy rain. We left early and it was still raining but about 50 kms out of the town, it was overcast but not raining. The road to Bourke is good, pretty straight with a very few rest stops, mostly for trucks. There were no toilets for the 260 kms- ouch. We made do for our MT by just putting the stove on the ground.

We arrived in Bourke around lunch time and were able to book in – oh the relief. Greg and Jenny arrived mid afternoon from Lightning Ridge. We then so set off exploring.Bourke is on the Darling River which is currently in flood. We have not been able to go to lots of places because of the water. Ironic.

But we have/ been to –

• Exhibition Centre (which features the past of Bourke with quite a lot on Henry Lawson;
• Mt Oxley which is a mesa looking silhouette on the horizon. It is a rocky mountain about 50 km out of town with stunning views of the surrounding land;
• Town where we wandered through looking at the old buildings, one of which was the Lands Department building especially designed for the heat and with a fragrant rose garden;
• See the Crossley engine working;
•  Enjoyed coffee;
•  Poetry on a Plate – a poet around a campfire.

Our cabin at Kidmans Camp, looks towards the river. There is a paddle boat we can just see the top of, that takes trips from here to Bourke Port and back it is too dangerous in the river as there is a bit of debris. Besides the road just down from us that goes to the boat is flooded.

Tomorrow we are going to the Outback Show then onto Cobar where there is a quilt shop – yeah.

We left early(6:54 am) on Saturday morning and arrived St George around 2:30 pm.  Once we cleared Brisbane there was very little traffic on the road. We stopped at Jondaryn for tea we boil up on our little stove. It took a while as it was really windy.  Some home made cake too. We also stopped at Moonee which has a petrol station with a shop as well as an information centre / craft centre. There is a oil driller thing remembering that in 1961, oil was found there.  (I remember this as it was to be the start of great oil wealth for Australia).  The area has had a bit of rain as there was water lying beside the road and the grass was abundant and green and there were lots of wildflowers.   At St George we wandered around town where everything except the pubs was closed.  But there were occupied shops – at least 4 coffee shops.  We walked along the river walk beside the Baloone and caught the tail end of a band and stalls.  Cabin was comfortable. Woke up this morning and it was freezing but it warmed up once the sun was up.  Stopped at the river on the way out and everyone was coming to watch the dragon (it is St George) boat races.

We were the only car driving to Cunnamulla and only a few coming in the other direction.  Not windy today but still green and water about.  Our morning tea stop was Ballon on the banks of the Wallam creek.  There were supposed to be koala was according to one of the old locals, people, dogs and drought have decimated them.  From there onto Cunnamulla where stopped for cattle on the road, and to take a picture of the emu family.

Cunnamulla is a small place with few shops still occupied.  Houses are shabby  as is the town.  Not a lot to see.

The Brisbane family gathered together to say goodbye.

See me in the mirror – where’s Wally like 

On Saturday we leave on our next trip.  Destination- Adelaide.