Broken Hill to Mackay

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We left Broken Hill about 7-30 am on Sunday morning to drive to Bourke. It was another sunny morning and there were not many other cars on the road.We were listening to Peter Fitzsimons' Gallipoli on CD. We were headed to Wilcannia and had been warned to watch out for wild goats on the road. The country side was very green and puddles of water were on the side of the road but the road itself was fine. We did see many goats, but they ran away from us as we passed by. They were all colours and there were many kids with their nannies.At Wilcannia, we stopped and had an icecream and a drink and then pushed on. The next major town was Cobar. Here we parked and went looking for some lunch. It was nearly 2pm and the one cafe told us there was a wait of 40 minutes for food. We certainly couldn't spend that long. As it was Sunday, everything else was shut, even the Bakery. We bought a Primo lunch pack, consisting of cheese , crackers and salami at the IGA and drove on. There was a nice old pub in the main street but it too was closed!

Nothing much of excitement was to be had between Cobar and Bourke. We arrived about 3-30pm and drove down to the Port of Bourke. It had once been a major trading port on the Darling River and the river was running high at the moment. There were a few people strolling about but the cafe was closed.We then drove up river a little to where there is a museum called Back O'Bourke, which was closing at 4pm. We parked and walked down to the river at the back. A beautiful scene with many birds around.At least we can say we've been back of Bourke!! The water level in the billabong was so high that it was covering parts of the fences and gates.We then found our motel and rested. The receptionist recommended the Chinese restaurant at the Bowling Club for dinner. This proved to be an excellent choice. We walked there in 5 minutes and it was run by a very energetic Asian man who literally ran around taking orders and delivering food. The prices were low, the food, excellent and the wine well priced. A great meal of entrees, seafood and Mongolian beef really hit the spot. We returned to the motel well satisfied.

On Monday we woke early and were on the road at 6-30am. This was to be our longest day of driving, about 10 hours. As the sun rose we could see it was another fine, though cloudy, day. We were really outback now as we soon learnt. Fletcher had to slow down to avoid a mother emu and her brood as she slowly walked from the middle of the road , seemingly indifferent to us. Further on we saw a kangaroo on the side of the road who, as we approached, instead of running away from us, started hopping along right in front of us. We were driving about 20k an hour but the determined animal kept hopping along . If Fletcher tried to pass it, it swerved in front of us. Eventually, after what seemed ages it veered off and hopped across the grassland.

We drove on northwards, along the Mitchell Highway passing through Cunnamulla and on to Tambo. Here we had to get petrol and the one station had only two working pumps. A policeman was hogging the bowser, chattting to two other men who had their ute against the second pump. They took no notice of us waiting behind both of them. We lost patience and drove up the road to see if there was another station, but no we had to go back. They were still chatting and then two bikers pushed in front of us and when the policeman drove off they grabbed the bowser. Fletcher was not happy. Eventually, after much exasperation we were finally able to gt petrol but we had to use a prepay machine which the woman from the shop helped us to do. It was a frustrating 20 minutes or so!!

From there Google maps indicated the shortest route to Clermont but the road was not bitumised and the sign recommended 4 wheel drive only. So we went the longer way driving on to Blackall. This prved to be fortuitous as we found out that in Blackall was the original Black Stump, used as the starting point to survey the surrounding land by British settlers, Of course, we had to see that. It was easy to find and , not overly exciting, we can now claim to be fair dinkum Aussies, having been back of Bourke and north of the Black Stump.The original fossilised tree was there along with a mural and explanation. From Blackall we took a minor, but sealed, road to Jericho. Hardly anybody on this road and the scenery remained much the same, red earth and scrubby trees. After Jericho we came to Alpha, where Google told us was a road to Clermont. At first it was like the Jericho road, narrow but sealed. However, we soon found that the asphalt did not go all the way. There were sections where it became gravel, then red mud with many potholes. Fletcher was driving this stretch , thank goodness, as it required some concentration. Of course, we couldn't go very fast so it added at least an hour to our travelling time. As sunset descended we were still negotiating this path, though listening to the description of the horrors of Gallipoli, kept it in perspective. We were excited each time there was a stretch of bitumen, hopeful it would last, only to come to another muddy section. As well there were wandering cattle to contend with, some huge Santa Gertudis cows, but fortunately they shied away from us. Eventually, about 6-30 we arrived in Clermont, found the Grand Hotel Motel and thankfully got the key to our room. The motel units were behind the main pub and this seemed to be the only place to eat in the town. After dropping our bags, we were happy to have a drink and order some food. This also had a Chinese restaurant which unfortunately was not as good as the night before. After waiting a long time we had an enormous San choy bow each and then huge serves of chicken and cashew and scallops in ginger. Size did not compensate for the MSG and gluggy texture of the dishes. Tired after a very long day we retired to our room, had another wine and gladly went to sleep.

On Tuesday, we again woke early and were on the road by 7am This was our final leg, only 4 hours to Mackay. We were back on the main highway and had no trouble, making good time. We stopped at Nebo, at a small cafe attached to the service station. There we had excellent coffee and scrambled eggs on toast, Inexpensive, but delicious. We pushed on arriving at the Mackay Athletics Club grounds not long after 11am. It had become overcast as we drove, and there was rain in the air. We spent the day there, catching up with old friends from around the Pacific, which was one of the purposes of the trip. Spent much time with Bob Snow, then caught up with Debbie Strange and watched the women's javelin with her, with her athlete, Tori Peeters coming second to Mackenzie Little from Australia. We had encounters with Glynnis Nunn, Peter Hannan, Trevor Spittle and Brent James. We saw Yvonne of course and Josephine Pinto from Guam. They had an Opening Ceremony after the finals of the men's and women's 100 metres. The rain was light but steady but did not spoil the performances. Eventually we drove into the city, found the Mid-City Motel and checked in. We have a very comfortable room next to reception, on the ground floor.

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