Broken Hill finally - then home!

Our final day in Broken Hill which we enjoyed at leisure.  Our morning was a relaxing one, reading and resting, probably the last opportunity before we return home.  Much to the amusement of my loving family - yes it had been some time since I've felt like reading a book.  It was something I used to do a lot of, but like many other things it became a thing of the past.  So yes I bought a book (two actually) and have enjoyed taking an hour or so here and there to immerse myself.

We had hoped to set up Miss Kitty's pens outside for her to have some time in the sun but alas this morning the wind was quite cold so we all just lounged in the van.

After lunch we set out to see what Broken Hill had to offer.  For a city of just under 18,000 people it is an interesting mix and seems to be much bigger than its 18k.  The houses are interesting as there is such a range of houses all mixed in together and we couldn't help wonder how it would be possible to keep cool in some of the old shacks that were virtually just made of corrugated iron.  The lack of water shows in the yards of the homes as there were very few actually had any garden to speak of and I don't think we saw one with any green grass on the naturestrip.  Lots of art galleries and obviously in its mining heydey a pub on almost every corner.  Many of those now re-purposed - I guess as homes.

The striking thing at the entrance to the city is the cemetery which has over 60,000 grave sites.  After our conversation yesterday with the guy at the mine, it's not hard to imagine that many of these older graves were miners killed while doing their treacherous jobs.

There are definitely a lot of reminders of the past.

There is so much more to see in this area and we'll definitely be back again sometime to wander around, but as the sun started to go down, so did the temperature so we headed back to camp to get the van hooked up ready for our departure the next morning.

Our original plan was to drive to Mildura, but we had got an early start and the weather was favourable so we decided to drive as far as we felt inclined for the day.  So much of this trip is an eye opening experience of the various arid and drought regions.  It's hard to believe that some of the farming land is able to sustain any animals at all.  This particular part was just sand for many kms and you wonder how the trees have survived much less how any farmer could make money from land that was virtually sand.  It isn't surprising that many of the animals we saw on this stretch were goats.

We spent a considerable time behind this escort vehicle for a linemarking truck before he pulled over to allow us to pass.  It's a good thing Mr Linemarker turned off his paint gun otherwise it may have been an interesting pattern - but just look at that sky!

And then the Victorian border happened..........

We wound up at a little caravan park in Ouyen for the night with a few hours of sunshine and warmth for Miss Kitty to have one last play in the pen outside and some quality Mr H Hog time.

On checking the weather forecast we noted a Severe Weather Warning!  Oh joy - more wind.  Concerned about what lay ahead we decided to head straight for home, albeit a little earlier than originally planned, but there was plenty of work waiting for us so the time wouldn't be wasted and there is no joy in towing a caravan in high winds anyway.

It was a stark contrast to see green fields after looking at the arid lands for the past 2.5 weeks.

The majestic Grampians.