Saturday 11th July - Home!

Saturday 11^th July

Today we drove home! But before we got home Mum and I went fabric shoping while Dad and Caleb bought a cake for after lunch. For lunch we went to my great great Aunty.

Mum's note:
Aunty Dorothy (my mother's maternal aunt) shares my passion for quilting, so I had a lovely time catching up with all her latest projects and hearing about her family. Karoonda has an enormous patchwork store, at least relative to the population of Karoonda.

Talking quilting......

And there endeth both the holiday and the blog. We hope you enjoyed our journey and thanks to everyone who followed us and/or left comments. We enjoyed having you along.

Friday 10th July - Berri

Friday 10^th July

On Friday we went to Monash playground. At Monash playground we went in a maze with a slide in the middle,  on 2 see-saws and we went on a big slide.

This is me in the maze.

This is me in the middle of the maze.

This is the big slide.

 After Monash we went to Loxton playground. At Loxton playground we went on a big slide, played
with water and on a flying fox.

This is me on the big slide. 

This is me playing with water.

Mum's note:
We had a lovely day playground-hopping with my friend Paula today.

Caleb and Isabel at Monash on a see-saw that spins.  They thought it was great!

Isabel on the tower at Monash playground.

In between the Monash and Loxton playgrounds we went to the Lavender Farm near Berri for lunch and sampled their very delicious pizzas. We'll be going back there again!

Caleb playing Paula at noughts and crosses while waiting for pizza.

The Loxton playground is relatively new and rivals Monash for fun.

The Loxton flying fox is fun for big kids and small kids alike!

Isabel on the flying fox at Loxton.

Playing a new electronic game at Loxton. Lots of fun!

After the Loxton playground we were very blessed to be shown some very enjoyable country hospitality by Paula's friend Jane, who I hadn't seen in many years. We were made to feel extraordinarily welcome, had a wonderful meal with their extended family, and Caleb had a ball playing Lego. A lovely end to an amazing holiday.

Thursday 9th July - Berri

Thursday 9^th July

On Thursday we drove from Broken Hill to Berri. At Berri we booked two nights. When the caravan was getting put up Caleb and I got walked to the bouncy pillow by mum.

This is an old jail we went to.

After 1\2 an hour a soccer club just tramped on with out saying excuse me and just made me, Caleb and the other kids get off!

Mum's note:
On the way to Berri we stopped at Wentworth. At Wentworth we saw where the Murray River joins the Darling River. 

The Murray River and the Darling River junction.

Then we explored the Wentworth Gaol, which also served as a school building after it was decommissioned as a penitentiary. Caleb was fascinated with the idea of being shackled to a tree as a form of punishment and asked to have his arms shackled as well.....

Caleb trying on the shackles at the Wentworth Gaol.

Isabel liked the peppercorn tree in the exercise yard. The tree remains from the period when the complex was used as a school.

Isabel and Caleb enjoying the peppercorn corn tree inside the Wentworth Gaol.

Wednesday 8th July - Broken Hill

Wednesday 8^th July

On Wednesday we went to a mine tour at Day Dream Mine. (Day Dream Mine is called Day Dream because a man had a nap under a tree and when he woke up the ore was staring at him and he thought he was day dreaming). On the tour we wore hard hats with lights on but only when we went underground. But before the tour we got to have scones

This is with my hat on.

with strawberry jam and cream on but Mum got a coffee and Caleb and I got warm Milos. After the tour we went the Pro Hart's art galley. I learnt artists that make art can also make jewellery.

This is a car that Pro Hart painted.

This is a sculpture that Pro Hart made. 

Mum's note:

The Daydream Mine is near Silverton. The main ore that they were chasing was galena, which yields lead and a small percentage of highly profitable silver. We learned about carbide lamps, about where the term "crib" came from (the miners meal break was spent playing card games, such as cribbage, and therefore the break became known as crib) and how boys as young as 8 were employed underground. After the mine tour we went into Silverton for afternoon tea and a look around. Silverton has featured in a surprising number of movies, including Mad Max 2.

Galena in situ.

A carbide lantern and thermos.

Paul and Caleb underground.

The Silverton Hotel, a popular movie location.

At Pro Hart's Gallery Isabel and I both liked the "dragonfly on carpet" painting the best. After we went to Pro Hart's Gallery we went out to the Broken Hill sculptures.

Isabel's favourite sculpture with Aboriginal motifs carved into the rock.

Dad, Isabel and Caleb walking around the sculptures.

I like the horse head sculpture.

Tuesday 7th July - Broken Hill

Tuesday 7^th July

On Tuesday we went to the Information Centre and Caleb bought a naughty plastic spider and then we  had lunch. Then we went to a mineral museum with a giant silver nugget and a tree entirely made of silver.

This is the big silver nugget.

This is a case of glowing rocks.

After the mineral museum we went to the milk bar to have  spider drink I had lemon flavour with vanilla ice cream it was very yummy.

This is me having my spider.

Mum's note:

Today we are looking around Broken Hill. We were going to try a couple of art galleries, but Isabel spotted the Albert Kersten Mining and Mineral Museum, so we did that first. The very large native silver nugget (pictured) and the silver tree (photos banned) were indeed both quite impressive. The "glowing rocks" are under a black light and fluoresce various colours. There were also many different crystals and ores from the local mines. 

The spiders (of the drinkable, non-naughty variety) were sampled at Bells Milk Bar, which also has a lot of 1950's nostalgia and an arcade game from the 80s. Paul and the smaller kids had a wonderful time playing Pac Man and Space Invaders.

Paul and the kids playing arcade games.
Paul did eventually let them have a turn, if you were wondering.

Monday 6th July - Broken Hill

Monday 6^th July

On Monday we drove to Broken Hill. On the we stopped for lunch. For lunch Caleb and I had lasagne and salad we are also on the South Australian time and phone numbers so we don't need to put 08 on the front of the real phone number.

This is me and Caleb playing on the playground.

Mum's note:
Regrettably we didn't have time to explore Bourke. Another day, hopefully. On the way to Broken Hill we stopped briefly at Cunnamulla for afternoon tea.

The Cunnamulla Fella statue in Cunnamulla.

Sunday 5th July - Charleville

Sunday 5^th July

On Sunday we went yabbying. Yabbying is when you catch yabby in this case we didn't put our hands in the water we pulled in yabby nets and hopefully there will be yabbies in the nets and we got really big ones too! When we had checked all the nets we went back to the caravan park to boil them.

This is Caleb pulling in a yabbie net.

This is a fish we caught called a yellow belly.    

This is me pulling a yabbie net. 

This is the bucket of yabbies after we finished  

This is a hypnotised yabby.

Mum notes:
The yabbies were Blue Claw Yabbies, and very delicious. The yellow belly fish was still alive and happy, and got a second chance at life. Apparently it will also be delicious when it is much bigger!
After yabbying, Craig showed us around some more of his property and we got to see waste stone flints still lying around indigenous camp spots, the old Cobb and Co. track and the site where the King brothers made their landing.

Isabel holding a stone flake we found that has is serrated, used as a knife by the original locals.

The old Cobb and Co. Mail Coach road.

The remains of a bridge on the old Cobb and Co. mail route road.

Ross and Keith Smith landed here in 1919 in the London to Darwin Great Air Race.

After we had eaten the yabbies we said goodbye to the Evening Star Caravan Park and drove on to Bourke.

Hard to miss on the way in, but easy to miss once you've left.... Highly recommended.

Saturday 4th July - Charleville

Saturday 4^th July


On Saturday we went back to the Cosmos Centre again. But this time we went on a sun viewing tour. The first time we saw the the sun on that tour we had to put glasses that when you don't look at the sun you can see nothing but if you do look at the sun you can only see the sun and you don't go blind as fast. 

This s me looking through the glasses. 

Then we looked through the telescope we got see sun spots. Some sun spots can fit the world in several times! We also saw a flare on the side. 

This is me looking through the telescope.

Mum's note:
Just for the record, the glasses provided to look at the sun are sufficiently rated so you don't go blind at all..... They are made from the same material as the window blinds on the space station. Likewise, the telescope has special filters in it, so PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! It feels weird looking at the sun directly, but it is fascinating

Friday 3rd July - Charleville

Friday 3^rd July

On Friday we went back to the Cosmos Centre again. At the Cosmos Centre we booked a tag-along-tour of an old American Army Base. There was a bomb sight house with a thing to help you look

This is the little house that has the bomb sight in.

This is the bomb sight.

where to drop the bomb in the right place. The person who does that is called a bombardier. We even got to see one of the hangers. (A hangers are where you put planes to keep them safe.)

This is the only hanger still standing. It is the smallest of all the hangers that the Americans used in that war. 

Mum's note:
Other things we saw on the WWII American Army Base tour were bitumen baths for the men's hygiene - the baths were a zigzag shape to slow down the flow of water through them and sealed with bitumen. They are currently barely visible, awaiting profession excavation, as they are fragile.

This is a small portion of one of the bitumen baths still mostly filled with dirt.

We also saw a number of other facilities around the base including the medical centre (now a private residence), the dance hall foundations and ablution blocks.

This is the foundation of one of the mess complexes.
The pit on the right (mostly filled in) was the ice cooler.
The foundations for the stoves can be seen at the rear of the concrete (centre).

After we returned to the caravan park we went for a walk around the property. We saw Red-wing Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoos and lots of very large paddy melons.

Major Mitchells.

The Major Mitchell Cockatoos were ripping these open for the seeds.

Back at the Evening Star we enjoyed the campfire and the hospitality of the caravan park owners. Craig also collects Aboriginal artefacts (among many other things) and was very passionate and knowledgeable in sharing a small portion of his collection and very generous in letting everyone touch all the items.

The campfire at the Evening Star never goes out.

Some of the items that were explained and available for examination.

This stone was the most fascinating of all.
Apparently these artefacts predate known Aboriginal occupation of Australia and their origins are a mystery.