2016 Holidays - Days 50 to 53 and Statistics

Super Pit Photos

Very Large trucks. Notice person standing in front under the '210' on the left hand side

And you thought your intersections were scary!!

Orange is the new Black?

Just like kids toys!!

Day 50 – Broken Hill – Rest Day

Had a quiet day today. Had a cooked breakfast with bacon, egg and hash brown with toast. Did washing. Joy did crocheting and reading and Les did reading and Trip Advisor reviews, diary, etc plus emails and surveys from the accommodation we had stayed at.

Weather was cold and windy so we spent all day inside.

Day 51 – Broken Hill – Silverton – Living Desert

Weather started looking OK albeit only 10 degrees. Left Broken Hill at 9:00 am and headed towards Silverton. 

Dry Creek bed at Silverton

Old Building at Silverton

Silvetron

Silverton from Heritage Walk

Silverton Hotel

Started the Heritage Trail which was supposed to be 2 hours but after 1 ½ hrs we were only about ½ way so took a short cut via the “tip” back to town. Then Joy went to the Café for a coffee while Les went to the Mad Max 2 Museum. On the way to the Café Joy met a couple of fellows out the front of the pub feeding donkeys. The fellows come from Broken Hill and feed wild donkeys that have become fairly tame and know the car and come running when they arrive. 

Joy feeding Donkey at Silverton Hotel

The café was not open (closed because the owners have retired and put the café up for sale – anyone interested?) so Joy went to the pub for a coffee (from a machine). The Mad Max 2 Museum was OK and had lots of photos, some original stuff and some replicas of stuff from the movie.

Mad Max 2 Museum

Back to Penrose Park (in Silverton) for lunch, then headed back to Broken Hill and out the other side to the “Living Desert”. The weather had turned very overcast and windy and cold. Wandered around the Living Desert checking out the few plants in flower and the great views. By now we are very cold so head back via the Sculptures to the cottage for afternoon tea.

Living Desert

Living Desert

Living Desert

Started packing the car ready for an early start tomorrow as we have a long day.

Day 52 – Broken Hill to Nyngan

Another early day as we have about 600 km to do today. Woke to an overcast day with a red sky where the sun is rising (Red sky at dawn, shepherd be warned!!!). We had refuelled and bought bread rolls and treats yesterday and had not eaten the treats so they will do for today. So once we leave today nothing other than driving so straight through town and out the other side. The further we go the more puddles we are seeing.

Morning tea was at a rest stop which had a shelter shed with walls so we were fairly sheltered.  We are passing lots of goats and also more emus including young (but not baby) emus.

Lunch was at another rest stop which had a roof but no sides and so we were copping the wind and it was cold. We passed through Cobar and more and more puddles with some water across the road. (Checked out Bureau of Meteorology and in the past 3 days Broken Hill had 0.2 mm, Cobar had 52 mm and Nyngan had 51 mm in 1 day). Arrived in Nyngan at 3:10 pm and noticed the river is overflowing.

Large flock of birds

Very green along the road

Goats along the highway

Had afternoon tea and a quiet afternoon before heading out to the Australian Hotel for dinner. Joy had Thai Beef Salad and Les Chicken Parma.

Day 53 – Nyngan to Bathurst

Woke to a sunny day with just a few clouds but this did not last as the clouds rolled in again. Rather than just head down the highway we planned to go via Trundle and Bogan Gate to Parkes, Orange and Bathurst and an interesting drive it was.

Stopped to take some photos of the overflowing Bogan River at Nyngan and then headed south. 

Bogan River

Bogan River

There was lots of water lying in paddocks and beside the road. Nyngan had had at least 2 inches of rain over the weekend and that had followed on from 4 inches earlier in the month. To add to the road kill tally we saw a dead fox today.

Flooded Paddocks

We had to travel through small patches of water on the road as we headed through Tottenham, Tullamore, 

Tullamore

where we stopped for morning tea, and on to Trundle where there was a large amount of water on the road. We followed other cars through so we knew what the depth and road was like. 

Trundle

Trundle

Arrived in Parkes at about 12:00 and as it is cold and windy (12 degrees) we stopped at the Coffee Pot (Joy’s Mum’s favourite coffee shop in Parkes) for lunch.

Goobang Creek, Parkes

Manildra Creek, west of Manildra

Next stop was home where our wonderful house sitters were waiting for us, and so was Maggie!

And so ended a wonderful holiday and as per our tradition we had home delivered pizza for tea.

Length of Holiday in days	53 days
Total Distance travelled (us driving)	14,909 km however we estimate the speedo is out by 2% so in reality about 15,200 km
Average per day	287 km
Days when we did not drive (buses, trains, taxis, etc)	6 days plus one day with only 4 km (driving to bakery due to wet weather). 5 of these days were rest days and the other was the day we did the guided tour at Coober Pedy.
Days when we drove more than 500 km	9 days (649 km on longest day between Meekatharra and Leonora and 644 between Wirrabara and Coober Pedy)
Total Fuel used	835 litres
Average Fuel Consumption	Car recorded 5.5 litres per 100 km and average of 76 km per hour. Our calculation 5.6 litres per 100 km (17.8 kilometres per litre or 50 miles per gallon)
Average fuel cost	$1.47.   Paid over $1.60 - 9 times (out of 34) of which over $1.80 twice being $1.84.3 at Yulara (Premium as no 95 fuel) and $1.92 at Kings Canyon. Cheapest $1.14.8 at Renmark
Temperatures (according to car or Bureau of Meteorology)	·         Minimum – 7 degrees at Meekatharra ·         Maximum - 39 degrees at Kakadu. ·         Coldest Maximum – last day from Nyngan to Bathurst – never got over 13 degrees according to car. ·         13 days from 53 where it rained but day 9 to 35 inclusive with no rain!!
Photos taken (approx)	8,800
Road Kill	Kangaroos, Echidnas, Birds, Fox, ‘flat as’ (unable to identify), Wombat, Cats, Sheep, Cows, Rabbits, Pig, Fish (yes at Mataranka), Snakes
Unusual Highlights	·         Rain on way to Uluru, ·         Finke River with water in it, ·         Joy nearly stepping on snake, ·         Road signs to ‘Slow Down’ to 110 kph, ·         Termite Mounds dressed in shirts, dresses and hats, ·         A Model Fords towing trailers ·         Flooding at Karijini National Park
Highlights	·         Personal Tour at Coober Pedy, Breakaways, Dingo Fence. ·         Rain, flooding and puddles at Uluru ·         Uluru sunset ·         Kings Canyon Rim Walk ·         Ormiston Gorge ·         Alice Springs Desert Park ·         Bitter Springs Thermal Pool ·         Katherine Gorge Cruise ·         Yellow Waters (Kakadu) Cruise ·          Mirima National Park, Kununurra ·         Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park) ·         Karijini National Park (need to go back) ·         Super Pit Tour, Kalgoorlie ·         Whales at Head of Bight
Lowlights	·         Crazy drivers ·         Takeaway from Erldunda Roadhouse ·         Woman (from US?) blowing animal horn at sacred site at Uluru – height of disrespect ·         Queuing for 20 minutes for fuel at Erldunda ·         Flat tyre at Jabiru (but mechanic at servo very helpful). Spacesaver spare tyres are useless. ·         Weather at Karijini which closed part of park ·         Night and meals at Karijini Eco Resort ·         Newman Crib Package for meals – ripoff! ·         Amount of rubbish along the way.