Wilcannia

Friday, 11 September 2015

Lunchtime view

Feral goats and sheep

Lovely spot



Billabong

Very cold last night!

After much thought and discussion, we decided to travel to Wilcannia today, not normally a town that one would overnight at.  However, we have heard many glowing reports about a new caravan park a couple of kilometres east of Wilcannia and after researching Wikicamps and TripAdvisor, planned our travel to Wilcannia, which meant we wouldn’t have a short day to Cobar and then an very long day to Broken Hill.  Even though we travelled about 450 kms today, we wont have as far to drive tomorrow.

The morning’s drive was just superb – the weather was so clear (not a cloud to be seen), the road was extremely good and straight and there was little traffic between Bourke and Cobar.  After refuelling at Cobar, we turned west and travelled the Barrier Highway towards Wilcannia and Broken Hill.  This road was much busier and the surface wasn’t as good as the Kidman Way.  We stopped for lunch at a rest area, with views over the green countryside, with its carpets of white and yellow daisies.  A herd of feral goats came to visit a sheep while we were there.  The country looks so much better this far south and west, not nearly as dry as it is just a day north of here.

We changed drivers once again after our lunch stop, with the copilot in charge of the steering wheel for the next hour or so.  This is when the drive really became “interesting!”  A small road train overtook us (knew he has there and coming through) and tried his level best to suck the caravan under one of his trailers.  Fortunately, he who is experienced in these matters was able to offer advice on how to stop the swaying.  Cat had his claws out clutching on to the seat and I have to admit that the colour of the knuckles was closely related to the speed of the heartbeat.

The road deteriorated badly for about 20 kms before improving once again when we changed drivers for the final time.  We arrived at the Warrawong on the Darling Caravan Park shortly before 2.30 pm, checked in (no eftpos or credit facilities, but an ATM in reception) and selected a site which backed onto the billabong.  Although only 4 kms from the Darling River, we didn’t bother unhitching and driving to Bondi Beach.  All guests are invited to happy hour around the campfire each evening, with nibbles provided.