Day 29 Friday 6th August 2010

Interesting pattern created by the early morning sun and raindrops on top of the canvas


The floral emblem of the outback Sturt's Desert Pea growing on a dolomite verge in Broken Hill


Lift up bridge over the Darling. The last time the bridge was lifted to allow a paddle steamer to pass was 1942. The large concrete counterweight that sat on top of the lifting gears was removed in the early 60's to allow taller trains to pass.


This picture and the following ones are of a bird of prey at the main control weir. I don't have my bird books with me but a little bit of web research leads me to think it is a black breasted buzzard





Hi Folks,
Our last night in Broken Hill tonight. After Susan did a couple of loads of washing and I spent a fruitless search in town for a modem patch lead we hopped in the car and sprinted 100km down the road to Medindee Lakes. These are a popular target for South Australians who feel the waters of the Murray should evaporate from the Goolwa lakes rather than NSW lakes. The lakes are big in fact they are huge and full.
We drove around the town of Medindee and had our first glimpse of the Darling River this trip. The Medindee Lakes are part of a flood plane and in the past would fill naturally when large floods flowed down the Darling. Exactly how full I don't know. A weir was constructed across the Darling in 1949 so in times of high flow water can be diverted into the Lakes. This and other levee banks and weirs are used to control water flow out of and around the lakes. I can't remember the exact figures but SA gets about 30%, 40% evaporates and the rest is used for irrigation and drinking locally. There are some very nice free campsites with spartan facilities. After viewing the area we felt it would have been good to spend a few days here with few neighbours, fishing, yabbying and watching the birds. Of course we did have a very good weather day with little breeze and a warm sun. Our opinion might have been totally different had there been a roaring cold gale blowing!
We returned to the Hill pausing to watch an emu and 2 chicks scampering off the road. Tea cooked and eaten we refilled the car from the last Woolworths petrol station for many km's and dropped in to the Old Willyama Hotel for a last cup of great coffee.
Possibly the worlds slowest carpenters are working here at the caravan park. In the space of a week the three of them have managed to erect the frames of 2 verandahs each with 4 steel uprights. They are obviously getting paid by the hour. I reckon one competent carpenter could erect the whole lot in a day.
Tomorrow after a visit to the sculptures which we didn't see today we will be heading east and north. I would like to think we will get to Bourke around 530km but we will see how we go. There is a lot of flat featureless land to be traversed and I want to knock as much off as possible.
Cheers for now Simon and Susan