Canning Stock Route 2004

Friday 13^th August, 2004.

The day started off with beautiful weather. We left at 7am and met up with Colin and Ann Jones and headed along the Bells Line of Road. First stop was morning tea at McPhillamy Park at the top of Mt Panorama at Bathurst. This was not a long stop as it was very cold and windy. Moving on, we had a play with the wind chimes near Wellington. Some of the ropes were broken, so only some of the chimes could be hit. It sounded better when all of the chimes were operative. We then continued on to Dubbo for lunch in the park. The next stop was when we met Warren and Joylene Pirie at Nyngan, then continued on to Cobar for the night. The countryside today has been very green (a most unusual sight after Sydney being so very brown with the drought). We went for a walk from the caravan park to the shops and had dinner out. The night was absolutely horrific!! Gale force winds made the vehicle rock and roll and the canvas was flapping madly. We did not get a good night’s sleep. Trucks pulling in and out of the truck stop across the road all night didn’t help either.

Saturday, 14^th August.

We continued heading west to Wilcannia along the Barrier Highway. There was no wildlife or stock to be seen. Morning tea was at a roadside stop with kids’ play area and a water tank. A very cold strong wind was blowing. Colin was hand feeding 10 apostle birds who then had a bath under the tap. When we arrived at Wilcannia we did a tour of the town. It has some beautiful old stone buildings, but many are now boarded up. It was still very cold and windy. After lunch at a rest area, the next stop was at Broken Hill and we visited the Tourist Information Centre. We visited The Big Picture (12m x 100m) and then Pro Hart’s Gallery where he has an extensive collection of original paintings by many famous artists, as well as other collectables. Most interesting was a collage mural of Australian history. Colin, Ann, Alan and Val went out and walked up to the sculptures near town later in the afternoon. There were a lot of people at the sculptures till nearly sunset. It was almost dark when we were walking back down the hill, then it was back to the Broken Hill Caravan Park for the night. We watched some Olympic Game events on T.V. in the very well set up camp kitchen. We had a good night’s sleep as there was no wind. This was followed by a very cold morning.