1st Day comming back

Well today was the day to start the long trip back home to Perth, and it was going to be a nice little lazy drive today of about 660kms. After leaving Toronto our first rest stop (or poo stop) was at a little rest area near Gungal, then we drove up through Merriwa and on to Dunedoo.











We stopped to stretch or legs at Dunedoo and have a photo of the kiddies outside the Dunedoo Hotel, talk about putting it on for the photo but I think they were getting at bit stuffed at having their photo taken fifty times a day. As we walked along the town park we came upon these tree pencil's which i'm not sure what their doing in the park, but who cares a photo is a photo. Then after a short walk it was time to get back in the car, and head for Dubbo then a nice short drive to Narromine and yet another pit stop and then through Nyngan. Then a nice 131kms to we hit Cobar which we had decided to stay for the night.









Well it was still daylight but was getting dark and everyone knows you should'nt drive along the Barrier Highway at night, cos if a roo doesn't get ya maybe a roadtrain might. Also from Cobar to Broken hill is about 457kms of the most dead country you will ever come across, and right in the middle of it is one town called Wilcannia. Now anybody who's been driving through Wilcannia will know it's not the sort of place to stop for petrol, let alone for the night mate.


As you can see we decided to posh it up for the night, and grab another cabin for the night, well at $65 for the night it's a bit more expensive the say a tent sight. But even old tight arses like your's truly likes to live it up once in awhile hay. But fairdinkum what ever happen to the good old ON-SITE VANS that we lived in on holidays as kiddies?... aaaaa the good old days!



Anyway of we went for a walk along the main street of Cobar and of cause to have that photo all people on walkabout do when going through town, yes the photo of the beer can on top of the Grand Hotel. Fairdinkum it must be the most bloody photoed beer can in Australia, but about the only thing worth taking a photo of in Cobar.












Well okay their is the mining stuff up on the hill, which is where we were going on our walk. Here are the little nevilles standing next to an old Batterier stamper from the old days, see the ore from the ground was passed through the stamper and crashed and then run over mercury coated tables and the Gold would join together with the mercury. Easy hay (yeah right) well here are the kiddies on the 'Cobar Miner' which is a memorial to all the miners in Cobar who had lost their lives mining underground, in fact a total 0f 120 fellas lost their lives between 1870 and 2000, strewth!












This is a mine shaft that you will see as you drive into Cobar, it's also in the Cobar Heritage Park and was built in 1938 for the Chesney mine. And worked till the mine was closed in 1952, being made of steel construction meant it has stood the test of time better then most. And then was relocated to the park by Peak Gold Mines for all to gander at, and i know the kiddies loved clawing all over it. Here are the kiddies ready to pop down the shaft ready for another day's hard work, yeah right they wouldn't know a day's hard work if it hit them in the face.














Then it was time to jump onto one of the old mining machines, now this stuff was real cool as I was told.










So seeing that they were real cool I thought I should take at least a second photo hay, and after that we walked back to the caravan park and had a beaut feed of fish n' chips and a real beaut sleep before our next days drive.