Bourke to Broken Hill

The Bourke caravan park pool.

Kids waiting patiently for dinner. With their fancy plates.

I put curls in my hair, and they stayed!

Are we there yet?

Road to Broken Hill.

Darcy v. Clothes Line

So hot. Can't move.

Who would have thought that Bourke would be greener and cooler than Broken Hill? Not me.

But it is.

We left Bourke, and possibly the nicest caravan park we have ever stayed in. So green! Fantastic facilities. It was a shame we weren't staying longer. Anyway. We left and headed south to Broken Hill. When we arrived it was approximately 2000 degrees with a hot, north wind. The pool at the caravan park was out of order due to 'chlorine issues'. Whatever that means. There was no grass, only cement. I was not happy.

I was homicidal, actually.

Luckily the local pools saved us. Apparently the town rallied for years to get a decent upgrade to their town pool facility, and it worked! Now that have indoor/outdoor pools and a waterslide.

Fun times were had.

It meant that by the time we arrived back from the van, a cooler breeze was around and we weren't so inclined to turn on each other for, you know...looking at each other. Mind you, Darcy had a running with a clothes line, but that was actually a source of entertainment. For me.

The next morning we dismantled the camper in record time due to a pretty awesome storm approaching. We made it into the car just before the heavens opened and the rains came! It is strange that the rain appears to be following us across the country.

I'm not complaining.

A lot of people wouldn't like the drive from Bourke to Broken Hill, through towns like Cobar and Wilcannia. But I love this part of the world that is forgotten about, but is as stereotypical of Australia as is the beach. Given, I wouldn't stay in Wilcannia - but I think everyone should see a town like this to learn how hard some people have it. I wouldn't even know where to begin in a town like that.

Next stop - Bruce. The Farm. How we have missed this place.

Road Trip Tally:

Turn arounds - 1
Backseat arguments - 10
How long until we are there? - 2
Fuel Stops - 2
Middle of nowhere, scary toilet stops - 2

Sorry for the late post! Coverage issues...

The Back O' Bourke.

The most important box. Chargers.

Us being cool with the Cunnamulla Fella

Crossing the border

Oops, left the car in QLD when we went to NSW

Long and (not) winding road

Tild pretending to be scared of the storm.

Darcy not so impressed by the storm rolling in.

Driving to get salad. Bit scary!

Amazing storm heading in behind the trees.

Blogging in the camper while it rains.

Today we made if from Charleville to Bourke.

Let's talk about Charleville. How is it that small towns have a reputation for being unwelcoming where the locals spend their time staring at tourists? Because this town? The nicest town ever. It is in the middle of nowhere. It's hot. Isolated. And yet every person we walked past said hi, offered us information about sights to see and were just generally amazing. It was really the last thing I expected. The town kind of woke up today too.

I saw more than the previous 1.1 people.

There are a few cool little tourist destinations to visit. One even opened up early for us because they saw we were hanging around!

See? Nice.

Today's trek also saw us cross the border from Queensland into New South Wales. Cue the red dirt and better roads. We did the obligatory border stop, with the kids marvelling at how original they were to be jumping from one state to another, and back again.

It has never been done before.

Today also marked the first camper erection. Sorry, couldn't think of another word for it..so erection it is. We were in a bit of a hurry because driving into Bourke, meant heading towards some serious weather. And here I was thinking Bourke was dry. Not so much. We popped the camper in record time (popped! There's another word!) - 20 minutes - and not a minute too soon because the heavens opened up and bucketed down upon us. It was kind of exciting! We were even treated to a pretty spectacular light and thunder show.

Bit scary at times.

Once that passed, we set off to the pool to cool down, as the rain had not so much cooled down but rather it had a hot steamy shower and forgotten to turn the fan on.

Steamy. 

Now the rain has passed. The wind has gone and we are settling in for our first night camping. What a tremendous country we live in. We feel so lucky to be able to tour around like we are, with the kids in tow and experiencing it all for the first time. If you have ever thought about doing something like this, I would highly recommend it. You don't have to do great day drives if you don't want to. There are plenty of stops along the way - some prettier than others but all pretty interesting. And the people you meet along the way all end up being party of a damn good story.

So get out there!

Tomorrow, Broken Hill.

Chow!

Road Trip Tally:

Turn arounds: 1
Road Kill: 848, 265
Car Arguments: 1
Branches hitting the windscreen: 1
Fuel Stops: 2
Bug attacks: 3
Conversations with strangers about BT-50: 2

Gladstone To Adelaide.

The Rig.

Lunch stop.

Two happy and excited kids.

Pondering thoughts and casting some shade.

A famous Roma dude.

Some time ago, and I can't remember exactly when, we decided to do a road trip from our new home town, Gladstone in Central Queensland, to our old home town, Adelaide in South Australia. Adam and I drove around half of Australia before the kids came along. That was almost 13 years ago now and yet we still find ourselves reminiscing about it over a beer or three. So we always knew we would do it again some day and this time with kids!

Only a little bit different. Little bit.

The other difference is that we have less time to do it in. Last time we took about two months. This time it will be about three weeks.

The rig is a bit different too. Last time we did it in a 1988 XF Ford Ute..red...with a dome tent and two red mattresses we pushed together in the tent.

This time, we are 'glamping' more than camping.

We have the Mazda BT-50 and the Jayco Hawk. But don't worry, there's no air conditioning.
Yet.

Today was day 1! Gladstone to Charleville. We made it! There is a thunderstorm rumbling outside of our motel (night one in the motel after a ten hour drive) and it is about 36 degrees.

Fun times.

The trip took a little longer due to the fact that we made many stops along the way. This is because I am a responsible back recoverer. As in I had back surgery eight weeks ago and need to make regular stops so I don't set myself back (no pun intended).

The kids were brilliant, as usual. I can't believe how well these two travel, and always have. Of course it's not like an old school road trip. We take full advantage of technology to keep them happy.

Thank you Apple. For the iPad.

Charleville is probably a little more interesting, when it is not New Years Day. Nothing is open and we have seen approxiamtely 1.1 people. But the RSL is open so at least we can eat tonight.

Next stop tomorrow. Bourke.

Road Trip Tally:

Are we there yet?: 0
Fuel Stops: 3
Turn arounds: 2
Toilet stops: 3
Back Pit Stops: 6

See you then!