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.

Thursday 2nd July - Charleville

Thursday 2^nd July

On Thursday we went the Cosmos Centre. At the Cosmos Centre we went on a tour. But before the tour we saw space junk.

This is space junk.

On the tour we got to hold asteroids and compare them with normal rocks that we find in the river beds. I learnt that asteroids are heavier then normal rocks their size. 

This is me holding the asteroid call Jack. Look how heavy the asteroid is compared with a normal rock. 

Mum's note:
Before we got to the Cosmos Centre we stopped at the Stiger Vortex Guns. These were brought to Charleville in 1902 by a meteorologist by the name of Clement Wragge. The same technology had been used successfully in Europe to prevent hail-bearing clouds from damaging crops. They produced a vertical pressure wave from a gunpowder explosion, and it was hoped that they would force clouds to release rain on the drought stricken Charleville area. Eventually it rained naturally. Enough said.

The two surviving Vortex Guns.

Mr. Wragge was also the first person to give personal names to cyclones, and named a few after politicians who he considered to be "natural disasters"! Turns out, said politicians didn't see the funny side of that....

At the Cosmos Centre we listened to a talk about meteorites and enjoyed an interactive area covering meteorite impacts, the effects of speed on time and mass, and the history of astronomy vs astrology. The space junk is the remains of a fuel cell.

A button meteorite. If you want to find one of these, apparently the best place is to look inside an emu.
Emus eat stones (gastroliths) for aiding digestion, and prefer anything shiny, including button meteorites.

A slice of the Esquel Meteorite with olivine crystals embedded in a nickel-iron matrix. Amazing!

Caleb playing a game showing what would happen if one of 4 different size asteroids were to hit earth.

Isabel finding out what would happen if you tried to travel near to the speed of light.

Wednesday 1st July - Charleville

Wednesday 1^st July

On Wednesday we drove to a caravan park 8km from Charleville called the Evening Star. On the way we saw a teddy crossing sign in Tambo. 

This is a teddy-bear crossing sign. 

We also saw fossilised wood in Alpha. At lunch time Caleb found two kookaburra feathers.

This is petrified wood.

Mum's note:
Before we left Rubyvale caravan park this morning we feed the rainbow lorikeets some apple. 

Rainbow lorikeets REALLY like apple!

And Caleb has just removed pirate from his career choice list.....

We had lunch in Alpha. Alpha has (by far) the cheapest bakery we have come across in our travels, yet nicer food than most. We certainly regretted packing sandwiches today, but enjoyed our sticky buns nonetheless.

While we had lunch in Alpha we were joined by a flock of Apostlebirds (also known as Happy Jacks).
These birds have a serious lack of need for personal space.....

Alpha also has some pretty impressive murals.

We stopped in Tambo long enough for Paul to take a conference call. In this time, Isabel managed to teach Caleb how to swing upside down on the playground, a feat that they were both very proud of.

Caleb showing off his new skill!

Tambo is also Bottle Tree country.

On our way out of Tambo we found this very fun sculpture. I especially like the hood ornament.

The most excellent kind of road train!

Complete with fun hood ornament to brighten your day!