Day 7 - Bourke: Mt Oxley, PV Jandra, Back O Bourke Gallery, North Bourke Historic Bridge

Thursday 23 September

Early journaling and it’s 9 am before we’re really making an effort to get moving. Mucking about then we go to information centre. It’s $10 each for access to Mt Oxley plus $25 deposit on the key. Then a couple more errands (servo and chemist) before we can get down to the business side of the trip… having some fun.
It’s not long before we spot another shingleback on the road.  Mum has been reading the tourist brochures and announces there’s somewhere in the area is holding “bogeye” races on the long weekend. There’s a picture of a shingleback with the announcement, so we interpret “bogeye” as the name applied locally to this lizard. 

The wildflowers more visible today in brighter light. There is a fairly consistent carpet of small flowers in a range of colours, more visible the slower you go of course.  Barrelling along at 110 doesn’t really lend itself to appreciation of the micro beauties. Nothing could dull the dazzle of the expanse of golden yellow daisies though.

Exactly 28 kms as the mud map said, the turn to Tarcoona appears. We follow the directions provided on the mud map booklet easily.  The dirt road is pretty good.  Fairly rocky. The cry goes up. Emus run across the road in group of 3, their heavy rumps bobbing rhythmically… and as we all know old man emu can run the pants of a kangaroo.
We pull over and let a car with trailer pass.  As we pass through a number of gates and cattle grids, flowering shrubs and trees and in the earlier sections some delicate flowers across the plain. We finally come to the final section tucked up against the mountain.  One gets the impression that the stock have been kept out of this area.  There are wildflowers everywhwere. The further in the density of wildflowers increases, every tree, every bush seems to be putting on a floral display.
The dirt turns from grey to red and fairly rocky. I spot two pink cockatoos on the road up ahead. You hoo! Major Mitchell Cockatoos! It is always special to see these elegant cockatoos as they are not common. They fly up into tree with pink striped crests raised. Simply beautiful!
We head on and the road becomes sealed, though fairly old. It’s also narrow and there are no barriers protecting you from a precipitous drop.  This seems even more hair raising than driving up the mountain in Mt Kaputar National Park to me, but daughter and Gma assure me it is not.  I’m still not convinced.  It seems like an age slowly and carefully climbing to the summit. We round a final corner and find a 4WD heading down the mountain toward me. There’s nowhere I can go. Nowhere at all. Fortunately the other car is still close up by a spot where there is a potential turn and the driver reverses OK.  She winds down her window and comments, “that was good timing! I’m glad I didn’t have to reverse any further than that!”  Good grief yes. Meeting someone half way just doesn’t bear thinking about.  As it happens a third vehicle is waiting an opportunity to head down the mountain also.  This is the property owner and he asks us if we have a key as he is heading out and locking the gate after himself.  The gate was open on our way in.  We give our assurance and we are left more or less to ourselves here at the top of the mountain.  Aside from a large telecommunications tower the mountain top is lovely.  Nicely arranged rocks. Flowering trees and shrubs and abundant pretty star shaped wildflowers scattered amongst beautiful clumps of grasses, just running up to attractive seed heads.  The whole scene, which is set against a backdrop of 360 degree views to the horizon, is simply enchanting.  The curvature of the earth is clearly visible.

We wander about carefully so we can admire the view from various directions.  The rocky ground takes care to walk through.  We take our time, and finally decide its time to move along.  Daughter and Gma are keen to explore the second road, just a brief pause to photograph some lovely flowers.

Its a good track through an open area then through some attractive mulga with grassy understorey and finally arrive at a picnic area at which a pretty respectable picnic area and facilities has been established.  It’s pretty impressive.  Clean flushing toilet, gas Barbie, sink, shelter with plentiful tables and seats.  A fire pit area and fire drums. All this with views to the horizon.  It would be a wonderful spot to watch the sunset, having extensive views across to the west from this area.    We decide that the entry fee for the station holder is fair enough. We’re pretty impressed with the set up here. This is Mt Oxley, part of the Outback Beds properties.

All good things must come to an end and conscious that we want to take a 3pm PV Jandra cruise today we head back down the mountain.  We are taking our time and I request a photo of a new view when daughter notes in alarm that someone is coming.  Uh oh.  Where? Their dust cloud is rising there on the road below.  Thinking we have ages to go to get down and we REALLY don’t want to meet on the scary bit, we drive purposefully down to the flat. Phew.  It’s a minute or so before the oncoming vehicle reaches us.  A large 4WD with rather wide caravan behind it.  We don’t hear any crashes as we slowly move on along the road among the wildflowers, so we presume that these people managed to get their caravan to the top OK.  Can’t say that’s something that tempts me, but there you go.

We take our time stopping every so often to have a better look at some flower or another.  It’s all very pretty, and best enjoyed up close. 

At the end of this section rather than head down the circle as described on the mud map, we head back to Bourke the way we came.  Along the way a flock of emus is enjoying a stroll across the plain of yellow daisies. Got to get a shot of that!

First things first, back to the info centre.  We already have discovered that the Mateship Tours are fully booked today and then won’t run again for a week due to other commitments.  These tours take you round and show you some farms and tell you about the district. We are disappointed that we won’t be able to do that.   However, PV Jandra is operating so we claim our key deposit and head off to the Back O Bourke exhibition centre (which owns the PV Jandra) to buy our tickets there.

If you’re going to the exhibition centre there is a package deal that gives you unlimited entry to the centre over two days as well as the PV Jandra cruise.  The Exhibition centre is more extensive than we gathered from the website.  There’s a cluster of buildings with nice gardens and some outdoor exhibits and a café. Daughter wants to try the bakery in town so we decide to leave the café at the Exhibition Centre for another day.

Back at the bakery I go for a lamb pie.. I think it was Back o bourke Lamb or something like that.  Mum went for steak bacon and cheese and daughter for a chicken pastie.  Daughter and I decide to share a raspberry muffin. Mum bought some cheesecakey slice thing with macadamia nuts in it.  We decide we’ll eat by the river in position for the Jandra.  As if made to order there is a large picnic table just near the boarding spot.  It’s huge. Giants made this table it seems. We daintily spread our tablecloth.  The table is a bit dirty what with being under the flood waters not so long ago.  We do a quick risk assessment re eating under a river red gum. Mum's a bit dubious about the idea,  they can make you sick if you ingest some thing or other than they drop..I figure many people ate under river red gums before they found someone who got sick and tracked down the cause. Anyway, it’s not like eating a pie each is going to take an age so we go ahead.  

We each enjoyed our pies. Mum couldn’t detect much in the way of cheese or bacon, but as a plain steak pie, hers was pretty good. My lamb pie was very minty. Unusual and quite tasty.  Daughter reports her chicken pastie also very nice.  Both the sweet options, well, to be frank. We didn’t like them.  I recall on TripAdvisor some while ago someone (was it Fawltytowerswatch?) saying that blueberry muffins should be banned.  I agree, and this raspberry one is horrible in the same way.  Sort of packet cakey.  Yuk. I think mum tossed the cheesecakey slice thing.

Anyway, to the cruise.  The PV Jandra heads up stream for a while, turns around and heads downstream then turns around again and heads back to the jetty.  All the while, the captain keeps up a fascinating commentary.  Just about anything we could be wondering, he pipes up and lets us know about the matter. The river is lined with river red gums, then behind them there are a whole stack of Coolibah Trees.  The coolibah trees are the ones with grey foliage, and are old and twisted and gnarled in their trunks and branches.

As we round a bend in the river some people are scooting about in their tinny.  We get a run down on the meaning of nautical whistles, use of which is mandatory and some colour is added via a discussion of the idiotic behaviour of usually unlicenced boat owners as this bloke in the tinny breaks all the rules and gets between the Jandra and the closest river bank. Over to the left our attention is drawn to a popular local swimming spot with a sandy beach that is known as North Bondi.. typical Australian humour. LOL

See those roots on the coolabahs, that’s not erosion… those coolabahs have been like that for a long long time.  Old timers years ago told that they were like that when they were little kids in the district and they would put their clothes on the tree and swim, and play among those roots, so it’s likely they’ve been like that for at least a hundred years.  River red gums and Coolibahs live for up to 1000 years, so it’s impossible to say how old any of those trees are”. 

We see echidna holes in the bank, not foxes as the locals had assumed, they only recently found out they are echidna holes when they observed an echidna digging another one!  Whistling kit nests in view we hear about the breeding habits of the kites.  The river trade too, the specs of this vessel, the survey requirements for it. How they achieve getting an out of water survey, the symbolism of the murray darling flag… heaps and heaps of interesting stuff.
It's a lovely view of the river on the way back to the jetty.

It’s only $16 for this trip pp. Fantastic value.  Definitely a must do.  We heard from another tourist that the same guy does the Crossley Engine and he is great at that too. We missed the Crossley Engine but I reckon if this same guy is your guide, don't miss that either.

Before we leave Kidman’s Camp we make a quick stop to add our names to the board out the front of reception for the campfire and bush poetry night tomorrow night.

We’re getting pretty tired by now.  It’s about 4pm or a bit after by the time we get in the car.  We don’t really have time to head to the exhibition centre now and are a bit too tired to do it justice anyway.  We are passing the Back o Bourke Gallery of Jenny Greentree, so decide to tick that one off the list.  We park and wander in.  pretty much every picture is a wonderful representation of the outback.  Daughter and I are really taken with one called A Morning Stroll. I check that they can ship to Sydney. I have a rule that I cannot buy any more pictures without knowing exactly where I plan to hang it. I’m thinking dining room for this one, but I’ll need to assess the size for the wall I have in mind.

We head on and begin to cross the new concrete bridge at north Bourke. It runs parallel to the old bridge.  We turn around, I really have to get a photo of the curve of the bridge.  I'm not going to share why, just that there is a really funny story about that and they will tell you on the Jandra.

Daughter and I admire the lovely North Bourke Hotel which now offers accommodation and dining according to the sign. It looks really lovely, so we decide to wander around and see if we can have dinner there.  Turns out they don’t do evening meals any more, only brekkie for guests and functions. Looks like a nice place to stay, but as we walk in a large truck rumbles past, so we wondered whether truck noise might be a problem staying there. Not a busy road, so perhaps it's not a drama.  We have a nice chat with the owner/manager before we head off.  There’s just no end to the lovely friendly people we meet outback. 

We’re pretty wrecked now. Hot and tired, so it’s a quick stop for daughter to post her postcard and back to the Riverside to chill, shower and generally freshen up.  An informal dinner and journaling, and still hopes of an early night.

We’re loving it Outback. 

Day 6 - the Ridge to Bourke via Bree

Wednesday 22^nd September – Lightning Ridge to Bourke via Brewarrina)

We are packed up and ready to go by 8:30 which is a pretty good time to be getting away.  Well, we’re ready … almost. We need to return our keys and just buy one or two little things in Margie’s Little Shop.Hahaha

Margie, unfortunately has a very similar set of interests to us. She has an outstanding collection of books for sale. There’s the Idriess shelves of course, and some of my inheritance is spent there. Mum and daughter decide to also get my chrissy presents from that part of the store. Plenty to read before I get up into the Kimberley.  Then there’s a fascinating shelf of stuff on aboriginal culture and issues.  I find a very fascinating, though probably a bit depressing and anger inducing title called Adam and the Atom.  This about the events surrounding the nuclear testing at Maralinga.  Authored in 1957 it’s clear that someone was trying to tell the public what was happening to the indigenous people. The excuses just got fewer.

Oh there’s an almost never ending list of books I acquire, so we won’t list them all, but boy, what a fascinating collection.

It’s 10 oclock by the time we drag ourselves away from browsing the store and chatting with Margie, but we finally hit the road. It’s another glorious morning with blue skies and clear air. Lovely temperature. We have a very half hearted go at getting out to bird site 4, but decide to give it a miss and just get on our way to Brewarrina.  With the conditions of some of the dirt roads around the place we’ve opted to stick to the black top this time.  The route via Goodooga would be interesting, but the last thing we need is to get halfway and find ourselves blocked by a bog., Two active days in the Ridge and there is still plenty left to do next time.

Retracing our steps to Walgett we fill up at a local servo and daughter snaps a photo of a great mural that has recently been painted on a nearby wall.

We don’t linger in town and head out on our way. It’s a lovely open and easy drive. The clouds are doing interesting things with wisps and trails across a beautiful blue sky. The scenery is fairly unchanging, but we find it pleasant and interesting. Every now and again the cry goes up: “Emus!”  A few times followed by “And chicks!”  We saw a lot of emus and we never get tired of spotting another one or dozen.
Some crops in rich green, and some lovely grassy woodland with a beautiful khaki understorey.  In some spots there is some low shrubby understorey too.  As we found also heading up to the ridge from Dubbo there is a lot of apparently wild yellow flowers of some sort of crop, maybe canola which has escaped.

there is also an increasing abundance of white daisies, softly asserting themselves in the landscape.

About 93 km from Bree the road sign updating distances to the various centres announces “Welcome to Outback NSW”.  We cross a couple of un-named water courses which seem to have ample water in them at the moment.  The countryside is mainly grazing country with beautiful, apparently native, grasses providing an understorey to the low native trees. The country appears to still be largely de-stocked as it has been during the drought.

It's been a pleasant drive and eventually we are arriving in Brewarrina. We find that locals pronounce the name of their town Bree-wo –rin-a. rather than the Br-wor-in-a that most people apply.  Makes sense since it’s shortened to Bree doesn’t it. We know the local info centre will be closed for lunch and we’re all pretty hungry.  Before we park Daughter requests a bit of a drive around the nearby streets and past the hospital.  This done we head back to the main drag.  We note a number of possible choices but the Muddy Waters Café is an easy winner. 

There are a couple of indigenous children riding bikes in the main street as we pull up.  We smile and head on in to Muddy Waters and order at the counter and sit down one of the larger tables.  The décor is that rustic country Australia look, generous with old recycled corrugated iron and old bric a brac from around the place.  An old dinky, hanging from the ceiling is an old very rusty pedal car..old metal advertising signs and so on. Floors are bare unpolished boards, the ceiling is lovely, apparently original, pressed tin.  Quite a pleasant ambience.  The ceiling fans are going and theres a really pleasant cool breeze resulting. It’s quite warm in Bree today but by no means hot.  Daughter and Gma have opted for a Culgoa Chicken Burger. Though tempted by the warm beef thai salad, and also for the Chicken Parmy (I love it that they just call it chicken parmy and don’t worry about the “proper” name) I end up deciding to go for the Spicy Steak Sanga.  The young man preparing the food tells the girl on counter they’re out of steak.  No problem pipes up a third, I’ll duck out and get some steak, won’t be long.  Now that’s service… and indeed she wasn’t long at all, I would never have known there was any kind of delay.  Muddy waters is being operated today at least, by a group of young enthusiastic people.  They certainly give the air of having a stake in the place, so it’s either their own initiative or boy, the employers are lucky!

To go with our meals I have gone for a caramel milkshake, daughter has opted for a rockmelon smoothie.  These arrive first and both are delicious served in soda glasses.   In quite a brief time our meals arrive.  The burgers are humungous. I mean seriously large.  The chicken is cooked beautifully and the whole thing is very nice.  Very good value for $12.50.

I am relieved to see my steak sanga is a little smaller, but still a very satisfying meal and still very large.  The sanga rests between two very thick and soft slices of toast and is accompanied by some very nice bacon, salad and tomato relish.

As we eat we watch a veritable flood of people coming in to have their lunch.  Lots of shirts and ties and professional looking people.  There is also a sitting area out the back which looks pleasant and is full of people.  This place is really humming.  In the cabinet there are slices of delicious looking quiche and several sweet options.  Lamingtons, cheesecake and others. Certainly as long as the Muddy Waters café is alive and well, you need have no hesitation in eating a meal in Bree.  You wouldn’t find a better café anywhere and we think you’d go a long way to find one that is such good value. 

Our lunch concluded it is still a little while before the info centre opens so we move the car over to their parking lot and admire the fish sculpture there.  Mum jumps on the nebulizer ready for the tour and I catch up on a very few moments of journaling.  At 2pm the staff arrive back and a few tourists make their way in. We’re all after the tour of the fish traps so that’s very convenient.  First up after paying your $7 per person, they sit you down to watch a short video about the traps.  This is a local elder telling a group of kids the origins of the river and the traps which are called Baiame’s Ngunnhu. Turns out this lady is a relative of a friend of mum's.

This completed our guide, Veronica, introduces herself and we walk slowly out the back gate and across to the river.  The river is running very high at the moment and the fish traps cannot be seen.  Apparently this is the fourth rise in the river recently and the fishing is very good at the moment. We watch as a couple of young boys use net tree guards to catch fish in the river.  They plunge the square tree guard down into the water no success while we’re watching, but it does look like fun.

Veronica points out the fish ladders and tells of plans to put bigger ones into the weir, and efforts to controls several little islands that have sprung up since construction of the weir.  We see moon rock and king and queen rock and hear reports of the usefulness of king rock. Then we move into the Museum in the Mounds.  This is still in the process of setting up and a reopening is planned.  The museum is in one mound and the other mound will hold a gift shop. Over the mounds earth is piled and native plants have been planted. Some red flowering emu bush is visible. The concept is interesting and unique. 

We head inside and admire some beautiful old implements and displays, a small model of a gunyah with a beautiful intricate arrangement of branches forming the structure for the shelter.  In the old days of course they used larger trees and families as large as 17 persons could live in one gunyah.  There is a canoe tree and canoe. A one person canoe, they have some pretty impressive things for us to see.  There is also a model of the fish traps with running water so we can see how they are arrayed down the river.  There are plans for an outdoor amphitheatre, and there is an indoor amphitheatre for performances and story telling.  Plenty of potential here that is clear.

Our tour concluded we take our leave and I head up to get the car and save mum the walk back to the info centre. I want to head back there as they had some pretty cool stuff I want to look at further and at a couple of things I’d like to buy.

Yes, of course, we pick up a book or three. One is a short little book by a now deceased Bree local telling of his experiences in WW2.  He reinforced the 2/1 infantry brigade and was left behind on crete to become a prisoner of the Germans for four years.

Another book – Angels of Augustus - tells the story of a couple of Methodist sisters who took themselves outback in the 1940s pioneering services in a region without roads.  There’s also a children’s picture book story called Bogged and Bothered at the Narran by the same author based on real events.  That’s got to be a must for the granny shelf.

There is a beautiful photographic triptych of a leopardwood tree, and others of other local trees and scenes.  $150 but I resist.  Very tempting though. I opt for a lovely mounted photograph of local indigenous kids dancing, a reminder for my city wall, so far removed, that we have some very big problems to solve to help these beautiful kids. To help them preserve their culture but also improve their choices in life. Its no small challenge.

Daughter finds a CD of local music for $2. Called “Our Dreams” by The tribes of Bree.  Surely worth a listen.

Mum can’t resist a book of bush poetry titled Up the Creek, by The Barwon Bard Max Overton.  She’s had a flick through as says it’s got some funny poems in it.

We take our selection to the counter to the lovely and friendly young lady.  Before she gets going with ringing things up she checks we are aware they take cash only.  She points out to us that the Angels of Augustus is signed by both the author and one of the angels themselves before she passed away.  She goes on to tell that the two ladies the books are about where really really lovely ladies and well loved by the community.  Others followed she said but none were as good as these two originals.

We have enjoyed our time in Bree very much. Now about 3pm it’s time to move on. We had planned to stay in the area, but were a bit nervous about the rain that's been about, so have deferred a farm stay for drier times.

The scenery  heading on to Bourke continues in a similar vein as it has since Walgett.  The clouds are building and looking threatening and form a beautiful back drop to the landscape.

The major hazard is lizards.  They sun themselves on the roads and there’s a saddening amount of road kill.  Daughter thinks she hit one. Horrified we drop back about 20kph.  At 90 you’ve got better chance of spotting them and slowing down and going around them.  Not much traffic at all so this is a realistic option here.  The emu sightings continue, much to our delight.

Along the way there are some patches of white wildflowers. Looks like erigeron or something very similar.  About 15 kms out of Bourke wildflowers start en masse. Mainly in white and yellow daisy style flowers. There are also some purple daisy and pea type flowers but these are not in sufficient quantity to really notice driving by.  At one spot on one side of the road it seems to be expanses of the yellow crop flower on the northern side of the highway away to the distance it is the wild daisies.   We are looking forward to exploring out to the national parks.

Speaking of national parks, about halfway between Bree and Bourke daughter calls attention to a large rock formation that rises, Uluru like from the flat plains.  This we conclude must be Mount Oxley.  We’re planning to come back with a key to get into the park there.

It’s only 5pm when we’re arriving at the Bourke Riverside. The bloke there seems very pleased to see us. He has apparently left us voicemail.  Won’t do much good of course. We’re on Vodafone and they have no coverage out here.  Apparently bourke is full and the Riverside is fielding requests for accommodation so the owners were getting a bit nervous knocking back business when we haven’t yet arrived.  Gees, it’s only 5pm! Glad we weren’t late arriving as that could have been ugly. Note to self. Get into the habit of ringing ahead and confirming accommodation in future.

We settle in and briefly explore the beautiful gardens. There will be a wonderful display of roses in the not too distant future and as it is there is all manner of spring flowers. Snap dragons, ranunculus and so forth. The air is full of perfume and we conclude that this must be coming from an orange tree that is in abundant bloom next door and visible through the fence.  There is a gate out to the river reserve, but this is padlocked.

Daughter and I wander across to the next block and find the local Khan’s Super IGA to pick up some perishable supplies.  Some local kids are playing and riding their bikes in the streets. One little guy is riding a bike a bit bigger than himself.  He looks pretty able. All look like they’re having fun.

Back in our suite, named for Nancy Bird Walton, we settle down to watch the news and a video about an indigenous lady of Bree.. another of our purchases at the info centre.  The sitting room in our suite is well equipped with bar fridge and good value mini bar.  There is a sofa too, but on the whole I think this room could do with more sofa space and less furniture that is not useful to guests.  There’s space in this suite for two couples, but not enough room in the sitting room if everyone wanted to sit down and watch together.  Overall though the rooms are beautiful.  The bedding particularly comfy, warm and luxurious.  We settle down for a light snack for dinner. Who needs more after a very large lunch

Day 5 - The Ridge - Parrot Ponds, Chambers of the Black Hand, Hot Artesian Spa and sunset

Tuesday 21 September

It’s about 6:30 am. We’re at the parrot ponds. What a stunning spot. The sun is low in the east sending beams of warmth into the woodland. Curls of water snake their way through pale khaki grassland. There’s not a breath of wind. The ponds reflect a mirror reflection of the surrounding trees and cloudless blue sky. In patches a submerged tortoise sends up blubbles to ripple across the mirror. The whole entrancing scene is backlit with birdsong. Early morning chorus of the pied butcher bird. The occasional whistle of feather upon feather as a crested pigeon moves to another perch. I take a walk along crusted tracks which wend their way around the ponds. Fine spider webs thread across between grass stems like gossamer stands of light. As I set up my tripod to try to capture the scene, several kangaroos bound across the image in the distance. They stop and feed for a moment, disappearing among the grass heads before moving away again in graceful bounds. Utterly Australia.

Having given a good attempt at capturing images literally, I decide to sit in the car with the doors open and try to capture the scene figuratively. A bird flies into the tree in front of me. Just a noisy miner. A small group of colourful parrots fly low across the grass. Bright green. Red winged parrots. One perches briefly on a bare stick rising from the ground before dropping out of site among the grass to feed. Not much doing there apparently as it’s only a moment before they rise again and head for a clump of trees.

There are calls around, but realistically with the extent of standing water in the district at the moment the birds disperse and reliable birding spots like this one are less so. But oh how glad I am that we ventured out this morning to witness the stillness and beauty of this place. Only a couple of hundred metres from the Castlereagh Hwy at the junction with the turn into lightning ridge. You need to go around the far side of the pond close to the road and travel in along the track a couple of hundred metres.

As instructed in the bird sites guide, we drive up over a low mound following the track into a clump of woodland. We are looking for scar trees. These are trees where the traditional owners of this land cut bark from the tree for use as coolamons (bowls) and other implements. Nearby the track after a brief search we see a very old dead tree. A beautifully regular oval shaped scar is clearly visible. We play tourist and photograph each other at the tree. Round about piping calls draw our attention to brown treecreepers working the area. They fly to the base of a tree and work their way around collecting small insects from crevices in the bark. Occassionally they drop to the ground before heading back to the base of another tree. Calling in soft single pipe notes to eachother all the while.

In a tree nearby movement. Two kingfishers. White breasts, clear white ring around their necks. .Intermediate sized shrubs are smothered with flowers. I don’t know what they are but wonder if they might be quandongs.. can’t be surely as they are abundant and I think quandongs are not that common. Looking at the plant sites guide I think perhaps they are budda.. but with more flowers than shown in the illustrating photo. This I later confirm with Margie.

A chorus of alarm calls goes up as a raven in funerial black flies into one of the trees. . I spot a very mottled looking trunk about 20 metres off the track. I wander into see if maybe it’s a leopardwood tree, but no. The variation is just lichen on a black fissured bark of what I think is a budda tree. Looking around though there are two scar trees right nearby I take a photograph and almost the instant the shutter closes, mum sings out. Theres a couple of scar trees right here by the car. I look around and scar trees are everywhere. Almost every tree of any reasonable size has surrendered its bark for a bowl or shield.

Back in the car just about ready to move on and a couple of white plumed honeyeaters land in the branches right in front of us.

As we pass back by the parrot ponds the light is has change the palette. Tress lining the shore show amber and red leaves glowing in the sunlight like stained glass.. It’s now 8:30. Time has flown.

Heading back into town we make a stop at the attractively painted agitator that signals the turn into Lightning Ridge from the highway. 

Back at the Bluey, the bird feeding station is doing brisk business as usual. A stunning male red winged parrot looks up as I take his portrait.  He is sitting in the shade at the moment, but when the sun hits those feathers he shines like a jewel.

Washing some muddy boots and a spot of brekkie and we’re off to explore the local shops and galleries before heading over to Chambers of the Black Hand.

The John Murray Gallery is just around the corner from the Bluey. Even closer if you go via the laneway at the back of the motel. The gallery has a number of large original paintings on the walls and numerous smaller and more affordable prints and greeting cards. Many of the paintings include some quirky humour, such as one long effort of an emu with six chicks following titled “one long neck and six stubbies”. There are excellent caricatures of Tony Abbot and Julia Gillard. Only two fairly large rooms. We select some small mounted prints and we are on our way. In the gallery we again bump into a group of daughters’ fellow medical students who are, coincidentally, spending several days in Lightning Ridge on a program put together by the rural health union. We’re heading on into the Chambers of the Black Hand with them, daughter being a member of the rural health union.
It’s only a fairly short drive down the three mile road and onto the dirt into the opal field to the Chambers of the Black Hand. The surrounding vistas are typical Lightning Ridge. Mullock heaps, and scrubby trees, and today for the first time we have blue skies. It’s looking more like the paintings.

 The obligatory safety briefing and it is pointed out that for people with mobility limitations there is an option of a lift down into the mine. Mum enthusiastically volunteers for this assistance. As we don our hard hats we are relieved she has a choice. There is a huge flight of stairs to get down to the higher of the two levels. We are assembled into groups, we’re not the only group being accommodated today. The local TAFE is also on a visit here. Don is our guide for the first part of our tour and he leads us down a fairly steep ramp to the opal level, the chambers of the black hand are higher in the rock strata. Don, like many of the people we have met, quite a character. Daughter points out to us that he looks quite a bit like Paul Newman. Don jokes periodically that when you hit on opal you’re married within the week. Perhaps so we thing, but looking a fair bit like Paul Newman can’t hurt either!

Don explains about mining and the lifestyle and how he came to be a miner. Some amazing finds that have occurred to people. He’s highlight of the tour that’s for sure. When we’re finished down on the mining level we are free to self guide ourselves around the chambers and the many wonderful carvings and paintings. Our favourite was of a huge octopus wrapping itself around a shark, with seals and other sea life woven into the sculpture in a very natural and appropriate way.

We finish our time at the Chambers of the Black hand with a look over the jewellery and gems in their underground store. They have some lovely pieces. Most are more to my taste than much of the stuff we’ve seen elsewhere. There is apparently 30% off the prices of everything today. Not sure I believe this isn’t the case every day, but call me a cynic. They have one solid black opal in the case which is exactly to my taste. If only it wasn’t already set in a necklace that’s not so much to my taste.. if only it wasn’t the best part of $9000, but it was a magnificent opal. The man serving says that in 15 years when the opal mining at the Ridge is finished pieces like this will be worth a lot of money.

We’re done here for today. We’ve enjoyed this attraction, it’s a real achievement. Our tix were paid for by the rural health union, we were able to piggy back on that as some of the people who said they were coming pulled out and the spaces were there paid for whether we used them or not. Or so we understand. Although we have enjoyed our time, we’re glad we didn’t pay $25 for the privilege.

It’s not coming on for 11:45 and we’re getting pretty hungry. We stop by a café next door to Under sea opals. Daughter and I decide we’ll order a milkshake and we’ll lunch on supplies at home. My milkshake tasted oddly like it was tainted with onion or garlic. Very odd. I cannot imagine how one manages to contaminate a milkshake with onion or garlic but I had my milkshake to daughter and she samples and agrees. Glad we didn’t opt for lunch there then, though the place looked OK.

A browse in the opal gallery here and another across the road. We admire some nice pieces but resist the temptation to buy anything. I’m feeling a bit over it by now. Time for a nap, so we adjourn to the Bluey for an afternoon kip. We need energy for the bore baths thisafternoon. We plan to take Chuck’s advice and head over to the bore when Deal or no Deal is on. Apparently everyone local watches Deal or no deal.. so that’s a good time to head to the bore baths. After the news, the place gets busy! We shall be testing this theory tonight.

We lob up at the baths at about 5 oclock and there is no shortage of people here but it is by no means overcrowded. We head in to the showers and wait a brief while in the queue for the two shower cubicles. Friends are showering together to save time and water and heading on out to the pool. Showering completed we are now wet and cold so we make our way out and clamber down the stairs into the hot water. The pools maintain a constant temperature of 41.5 C. At the beginning it is hot but pleasantly hot and you can stay immersed for quite some time. I clamber back out and head back to the car to get the camera so we can record the experience for posterity. Still cooling off I wander over to some large signs which explain the baths, the great artesian basin and the bore capping program being undertaken to stop the wastage of both water and water pressure. The signs also advise that the best therapeutic effect is achieved by short periods of immersion interspersed with periods of cooling off.

We hang about dipping in and out. Soaking aching ankles, neck and knee. Chuck said that the warmth from the pool will keep you warm for a couple of hours and we can readily believe it. We’re wandering around wet without any chill effect at all. We are warm to the core and it’s a lovely relaxing sensation.

The sun is getting low in the sky and the clouds are rimmed with gold. Violets and increasing tones of red are beginning to appear. This is the first clear night since we’ve been here. The silhouettes towards the west aren’t the most inspiring here at the hot artesian spa and we decide to make tracks out to somewhere with a better view of the horizon. Lunatic Lookout is settled on as mum failed to get out and have a look at Lunatic Lookout yesterday. It’s about 5 mins or so drive out there and when we get there we find it’s a bit down on the eastern side of the hill and not much good for sunset. I recall that we had some good views behind us when we went up the four mile road yesterday morning and that is nearby so I direct daughter to make the turn to that end. We find ourselves quite a good pozzie right by an old mine hoist and settle down to wait. I walk across to get some photos when the sky is looking rather pretty. Mozzies galore and so I have no incentive to linger when I have a shot I’m happy with.

Time for dinner and for the third night we are back to the Lightning Ridge Bowling Club.. pretty much the only option available and as a result it seems to do a roaring trade. Food is acceptable. Tonight mum and I go for chicken schnitzel with veges and a wedge of lemon. $12.50. Daughter goes for a rump steak $19. Daughter said her steak was lovely. Mum and I enjoyed our meals too, but as they had the chicken already cooked in the bistro area tonight it was a little dry. Nothing tragic though.

Home and dressed for bed catch up on the day’s journalling and it’s off to the land of nod.

Day 4 - The Ridge Black Opal Tour and Black Queen & more

Monday 20 September 20, 2010

This morning I spend a bit of time trying to catch up on journalling, fairly unsuccessfully. Then we need to talk to Margaret, our hostess here at the Bluey Motel. We need advice as to activities and routes that should be ok to explore after the rain of yesterday and overnight. I take an executive decision to book us onto a Black Opal Tour which Margaret’s manner suggests is a better option than driving yourself.

We are delayed in Margaret’s little shop by a discussion of Ion Idriess and the various titles. For those not familiar, Ion Idriess is a great Australian author who belongs in my articles listing 10 Greats from each Australian State. Unfortunately he is yet another of NSW’s eminent sons, and I got past my 10 with others who could not be denied. Idriess had a very interesting life in interesting times, he writes beautifully, telling true stories about this great land in earlier times. Most places you travel in Australia you will be able to find an Idriess title about that area. Most hard cover editions are collectible to say the least. Margaret ‘s little shop is another source of collectable Idriess editions and I choose two, irresistible ones . I have to get Lightning Ridge obviously, though I understand it overlaps contents of The Silver City which I already have. I also cannot resist another he co-authored called Secret Service about the Australian Navy between the world wars. I resist Australia Must Fight, which is either $550 or $450 depending on which copy you buy.

Time is a tickin’ away and we finally drag ourselves away from the Idriess shelf and head off. We need to get some supplies. Just around the corner from the Bluey is a Khan's Super IGA supermarket. We mosey on in to find that it is really excellent. They have a good fruit and veges section and a deli section that is well above average. Good range of specialty cheeses as well and some really good breads.

We pick up a caraway rye Vienna (yum) and a soft and delicious looking fruit loaf. Daughter grabs some fresh ricotta and of course we need some more bananas. Over in the yoghurt section we are surprised to find that they stock king island yoghurt, 400g tubs for $4.38. You pay $4.99 or thereabouts for 300g in Woolworths usually. Looks like it’s yoghurt for brekkie tomorrow! Mum grabs some sliced ham. Some jarlsberg cheese and a range of crackers including the delightfully versatile Sao biscuit and we’re done.

We stowe our bounty and head of up along the highway to explore some bird/flora/geology sites armed with several brochures picked up from the Bluey for 50 cents each. You can also download these brochures from the website if you’re organized. I’m not and anyway the professionally printed ones are glossy and nicer to use. With any luck they’re making a little profit on them too, and getting a direct return on the effort that has gone into developing them..

We decide to tick off the lake at site 7. This is usually a fossil lake but the Naran lake has overflowed and this lake has filled this year. We struggle at first but finally we make contact with the large sheet of standing water. I’m sure this place we’ve pulled over is not the spot we were supposed to be finding, however the only roads off to the left we’ve seen are badly wet and chewed up looking and we’re not game to risk getting bogged there or further along the track so we stick to surfaces we’re confident in. We wander across the highway and across between the trees. It’s a beautiful scene with Royal spoonbills feeding skimming their black spoon shaped bills back and forth in the soup, extracting all manner of aquatic life for their sustenance.> Further down more spoonbills are either feeding or roosting up in the trees. A couple anonymous ducks fly up nervous at our intrusion. Near our feet a bright red emu bush is flowering. Ruby saltbush is springing up all around among the other vegetation, as yet no sign of the bright red little jewel berries that give the plant its name.

Having seen what we can at this spot, we head back to another site closer to town. This is at the old dam and we expect to find white winged wrens and variegated wrens in the thick vegetation near the drain from the road. As the guide instructs we pull up under the weeping myall. I change into my hiking books and head off on foot the 30 metres odd that is required to get in among the wrens. At first it is all very quiet then after we’ve been there a time the wrens get a bit more used to us and start to show themselves. I see a coloured up male variegated, and another variegated wren not in male plumage and with the rich russet eye makeup. A little later some small soft brown wrens are flitting and it’s clear these must be white winged wrens simply by a process of elimination. No eye makeup.

Sheep are grazing in the paddock on the far side of the lake. They don’t seem even slightly fussed by our presence. They are clean and happy looking. Mum and I note that these seem to be “augashorn” sheep. This is a running joke in between mum and I. Some years ago we went to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. We both like looking at the animals and watching the judging of things and on that occasion we went along to the sheep judging. During the announcements they kept referring to "augashorn" sheep. Talking to an official after it was all over mum pipes up and asks “by the way what is an augashorn sheep?” he looked a bit dumbfounded and replied “its august shorn, means they were shorn in August.” We’ve been laughing about augashorn sheep ever since.

The budda trees everywhere around the district are flowering heavily.

It is so peaceful here at the old dam.. except for the periodic rumble of the traffic along the Castlereagh Highway. Tomorrow we really must get out early and get away off from the road. Maybe to the parrot ponds.

From the old dam we head futher towards Walgett to find site 2 which is an enclosure of regenerating quandong. Originally, Margaret told me, they just fenced a quandong tree. They were puzzled why no quandongs were springing up anywhere near it. Then they decided to try an experiment. They put a rabbit proof fence around a much larger area. I think it might have been 50 x 50 m (same as a mining plot) and waited and watched. Young quandong sprang up all over the place. My god I hate rabbits. What they have done to this country is a tragedy. Anyway, we are all interested to see a quandong. There are trees and things that we all hear about all our lives but have never seen, we’re ticking some of them off on this trip.

A little way on we find the turn which is signposted Lorne Road. This road, according to my map will take me back into lightning ridge along the dirt. We’re travelling through some beautiful country with understorey of saltbush. We stop to check out a bird. Only a galah. Daughter spots another bird in a tree by the road. Australian Kestrel. Cool.

We come across a group of young cattle. Their hairstyles seem consistent with their age, or so it seems to us.

A quick bite to eat back at the motel and then we’re climbing on the bus for our Black Opal Tour. Our driver is Chuck and he’s a really friendly and really funny bloke. Our first stop for the day is to visit Alex’s tribute to Copernicus. The building is quirky and interesting. The real attraction is Alex’s story. It is simply extraordinary. We are very glad Margaret encouraged us to do the tour. You just could not get the same experience of this place, or the ridge, driving yourself.

We also have a quick photo pause for Amigo’s Castle which is also accompanied by a story that is pretty amazing. Then its time for “smoko” and we adjourn for afternoon tea at the Black Opal show rooms which are located in an old red rattler train carriage. We hear some stuff about cleaning and polishing opals etc while we have refreshments including Devonshire tea. Then we head inside for a run down on the various sorts of opals, solids, doublets, triplets, honey opal etc. I didn’t realize opal is actually found all over the world, but quality, naturally occurring, black opal is found only one place – Lightning Ridge.

Next up we visit the walk in mine. this one gives mum a bit of a work out as it has quite a few stairs. We hear about the purpose of the wooden struts which appear to be supporting the roof, but actually don't, as well as other interesting mining information, history of the Walk in Mine and so forth. Again we have an opportunity to browse the opal shop on site.
On the tour we also pay a quick stop to hear interesting things about the bore baths. Towards the end of the tour we head up to Lunatic Lookout where Chuck explains the hame of the place and various strata in the open cut and we see the Idriess plaque that Margaret was telling us about, in position.Apparently they are planning on setting up an Idriess walk. I looking forward to doing that some time. There are also a number of interesting information boards about the area.

Finally we head to a heap where we can fossick for a bit and get some lessons in how to spot opal. This last was way more fun than I expected and useful for people too as it’s essentially a lesson in what to look for so you can get your eye in.

I’m starting to get a bit anxious about the time. We are due at the Black Queen by 5pm. We have learnt so much on this tour, it really has been excellent and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the ridge. The ridge is all about people and the interesting stories of the people who live and have lived here. So many characters. ...and did I mention, Chuck is really funny as well and a character in his own right. We are pleased to be able to spend the afternoon with him. We are so glad we tok this tour.

We’re among the last to be dropped off and we rush to get into the car and away, just a quick few words to another guest at the bluey who is keen to see the local birds, but we’re still about 5 mins late. The show has started without us. Bugger. Gale recaps for us though and we catch up OK.

We complete the first act, which is really fascinating, then we move to the next building for Act 2. The story continues here and I’m not going to tell you a thing about the contents of the show. Not a thing. Act three takes place after another change of location. It’s a complete surprise and again fascinating. An amazing privilege. That’s all I’m saying other than I found the show inspiring and empowering. We leave through the gift shop rather than the way we came, which I’m thankful for.. no, not explaining why.. go to Lightning Ridge and see the show! It's much better you come to it without specific expectations.

The gift shop is well endowed with great gift options and it costs me a fortune, but even now in the cold light of day I don’t think I got carried away, its just that Gale has managed to stock the store with cool stuff that I actually wanted before I stepped foot in this place. Getting them here was simply a delightful bonus. Even managed to tick off some presents for my soon to arrive first grandbaby, a large hand puppet greater glider, I mean honestly, you don't see recognisable greater gliders around just anywhere and its a hand puppet to boot..

We chat with Gale and Roger after the other guests have departed. Gale gives us some information and recommendations for things to see later in our trip. Recommending we make sure we see an artist named Jenny Greengtree in Bourke she takes us inside to show us a fabulous mixed media artwork up close that I had been admiring during the show. We adjourn back outside and admire the beautiful leopardwood tree by the door. The builder of these buildings, Joan Andrews, built around the leopardwood trees on site. What a wonderful feature they make with their beautiful spotted and textured trunks.

Having left our email address and promising to send Gale the details for Scott Marr, and natural pigment pyrography we head off. What a great evening we’ve had. What a privilege to share the stories of the Black Queen.

It’s 8pm by now and we head directly the club and grab a spot of dinner. We intersect with the Rural Health Union group of students who have just arrived in town for their local program. Turns out some of their party bailed at the last minute and they have some places paid for but unoccupied on their tour of Chambers of the Black Hand tomorrow. Daughter is a member of the Rural Health Union as part of her John Flynn Scholarship, and had it not been for a prior commitment travelling with her rellies would quite likely have been on this RHU trip, so we figure its not too dodgy to tag along with the group tomorrow.

Dinner completed we’re well and truly ready to hit the sack. We're loving the ridge!

Day 3 - Morning Walk at the zoo and on to Lightning Ridge

Sunday 19th September
I sleep really badly and am almost inclined to skip the early morning walk at the zoo. But its 5 am and I can hear mum up and about downstairs. I drag myself from the bed without enthusiasm and begin the process of dressing, packing up and quietly loading the car. We’re on the road and in the queue at the entrance gate by 6:35. We pay for our walk, park and get assigned to one of several groups heading off and being lead by volunteers from zoo friends. A bit of a delay as we organize a wheelchair for mum and daughter and I manage to miss the bit about the African hunting dogs, but eventually we’re on our way. We’re all set and the walk really gets underway.

The route is adapted to the circumstances of the times, and with all the construction, at the moment the tour is heading down the back route and up through the behind the scenes area. First stop is the black rhinos.

The buses from the zoofari lodge are ahead of us and the keeper is feeding the rhino some branches. The differences between the black and white rhinos are explained and eventually, having taken our time here, we move along. Up through past Barbary sheep pens and camel pens and on to the giraffes. Quite a good herd and a number of babies among them. Our guide has a bag of carrots which are fed to the giraffes and gives a great opportunity for photos.
We also visited the enclosure for the white rhinos and the difference between white and black rhinos is explained, it having nothing to do with their colour of course. It’s all about their lips.
A stop at the Eland enclosure gives an opportunity for our guide to explain that the black bar on the backs of their knees helps them to locate eachother in bad conditions and that in dust storms where they cannot see eachother, eland communicate with eachother by clicking their knees! Wow!
There’s a stop at the hippos and while there’s nothing much doing with the hippos determinedly dozing, at least they are visible. Their enclosure is undergoing a revamp. Dredging and new fencing so there’s not much in the way of water in it at the moment. When they finish and let the water back in it will be 5 star hippo facilities, but the down side is that it gives the hippos max opportunity to just sit under the water where they cannot be seen.
Moving right along we stop for some entertainment from the white handed gibbon. As strong as six men their strength would not be guessed at from their slim proportions. And next door we have the siamangs. They wait for the groups to assemble and then they put on another fabulous display for the crowd. The groups are all back together at this point and I take the opportunity to listen in on the commentary from several different guides, all of which have something interesting to impart.
By this time the zoo is open and we are nearing the end of our tour, so with thanks to Sharon, our guide, we head our separate ways. I need to go check out of the accommodation which we should have done yesterday but I didn’t. Oh well. It’s only a short drive and I’m back meeting up with Mum and daughter at the café. Mum’s tucking into a pie. Not something I would choose at this sort of outlet, but each to their own.
We have hung on to the wheelchair for our wander in amongst the spider monkeys, lemurs, meerkats and aviary. These are located around the Savannah picnic area. This is a wonderful space with electric bbqs, extensive play equipment and some toilets. In the redeveopment it appears that this will be accessible without paying zoo entry, encouraging locals to utilise the facilities.
Heading first to the meerkats we stop at the army memorial. Apparently the zoo sits on the site of the old army camp from WWII. Interesting.
We spend some time talking to a volunteer observer at the meerkat enclosure. She is helping out by recording events in the enclosure. This is necessary because a new female has been introduced and there has been some ructions as a result. We get lots of interesting information about the meerkats and recent events re the new female. All very interesting indeed. We have been very lucky to be here when a volunteer was here to talk to us.
Conscious that time is moving on and I want to be at the otter feeding on time, we move on to the aviary and find it has a number of very beautiful birds. Diamond Firetails flit past you with their flashes of brightest red. They perch and we can see the beautiful black with diamond spotting along their wings. They are truly a gorgeous bird.

One of my most treasured birding memories was during my first visit to the Capertee Valley we were driving along in a farmers wheat paddock with the windows open and a small flock of diamond firetails decided to amuse themselves by flying alongside. You can never get a better view of a firetail than that.

Back in the aviary, a couple of turquoise parrots in great condition fly right in front of me to land nearby. Superb parrots sit at a feeding station and forage on the ground. It is awesome. I head along the path and find a mallee fowl happily steering clear of trouble. Nearer the exit a couple of white browed woodswallows are perched within easy viewing. Lovely birds, woodswallows like to roost in large communal groups where they snuggle up to one another. Acrobatic flyers they feed on the wing and are very impressive to see in a flock by a dam as we did out in the pilliga driving the birding routes of Baradine. We make our way out. We pass on the wombat and echidna and head back to the car.
Our next stop is to the Asian smalled clawed otters. Feeding will be happening soon. On the way around the loop again we find the addax herd is out and they have the cutest little baby among them.. aaaah..
We park as close to the otters as we can. Mum’s not feeling well but she drags herself in. Otters are as cool as meerkats. Daughter reminisces as we walk about seeing the sea otters at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. They were soooo cool. There’s quite a crowd waiting it is hard to get an even reasonable viewing spot. The otters are waiting too, bounding around and standing up against the fence looking for the keeper.

At the scheduled time the keeper arrives and starts flinging green prawns around in the enclosure. Some into the water, some into the rocky area across to the side. The otter pair (a partnered male and female) race like demons to the food and position themselves one in each area and are going for it for all they are worth. The one near the pool swims down and grabs several prawns and heads back up onto the step to munch away enthusiastically. Otters are very active animals and need a lot of sustenance. This is their fourth feed for today.

The keeper makes his presentation and it’s all over fairly quickly, which is handy as we want to have a look at the Indian rhino.. which I should be calling by its proper name, hmm, I think that’s something like greater one horned rhinoceros or something cumbersome like that. At any rate this Asiatic rhinoceros is way cool. It’s armour plating is more well, more like armour plating and it moves as the beast walks. These rhinos came so very close to extinction, but over the years the program for recovery has been pretty successful and there’s now a few thousand of them. At one point we are interested to read the remaining rhinos in Nepal were protected by 1000 troops. Pretty impressive effort there by Nepal. Well done.

Time is getting uncomfortably close to the Cheetah talk and that is way over on the other side of the zoo. Mum is really feeling crook now and is obliged to stop by the path. She manages to rid herself of just a little of the contents of her stomach, she’s hot and really not doing too good, but she feels a little better. We definitely blame the pie. I wish I had been there to stop her buying such a thing. Pies can be risky and you need to be choosy about where you buy them. Buying a pie somewhere like the outlets here is like buying a pie at a servo. Not a good plan. Not a good plan at all. I hope mum doesn’t get really drastically ill.

Anyway, we head on as quickly as the 10km speed limit will allow, over to the African section. Park the car and I dash up the path to the cheetah talk. Mum was going to wait and see if from our report if they are really king cheetahs, but as there’s no time before the talk she drags herself in keen to see a king cheetah. It is a very interesting talk. The four young cheetah on display are two spotted males and two king cheetah (striped) females. They are just awesome. Cheetahs are sooo cool. I am so glad we made it to the talk. We loiter for a while until the keeper is one his way, listening to questions being asked and admiring the female cheetah who is pacing in front of the water filled moat and giving a cute sort of squeak, begging the keeper for some more tasty treats. Apparently these guys aren’t stupid either, and without the treats offered by the keeper they would probably just hang out over at the back of their large enclosure near the bamboo.
Just one more stop to make. Daughter is determined to see the maned wolf. One our way round past the lake we spot a pair of purple swamp hens and their family of 6 fluffy black chicks. The chicks are all feet and they look like a wind up toy as they walk along their short little legs rotating these enormous feet.. or like a cartoon where they have the legs rotating in full circles, they are seriously cute.

At the maned wolf display Grandma is too unwell and tired to worry about it. It looks like the entrance to the enclosure is really close to the parking area, but there’s a long boardwalk ramp in to a high viewing platform. We look around the enclosure. No joy. We’re just on the verge of leaving when daughter looks back and there it is. These animals come from South America and live alone rather than in packs. I am rather surprised to find it is a very very beautiful animal. I mentally name it Eva after Eva Peron! I tried determined to get a shot which may do it justice, but I don’t think I really succeeded. Long legs like a race horse, black socks, white tail, elegant silky looking coat. Glad to meet you Eva! We find also that mum was right. I do like the smell of the enclosure. It does indeed smell like mint bush or sidonie lavender. Yep, it’s Eva Peron in there alright.

With the maned wolf viewing out of the way, it’s time to say farewell to Dubbo and head north to Lightning Ridge. I don’t know how we managed it but we failed to stop at the Cooee Centre in Gilgandra. I really am amazed because I really wanted to do that. Oh well, I guess we will have to come back for that!
It’s a straightforward drive north. The road is lined with shrubs smothered in yellow. From the road it appears to be beautiful golden wattle. It is certainly putting on a display. Its great to be on the road again.
After a while, we come to what I now refer to as Gulargambone parrots. At first there is one, depicted flying. A bit further on there is a group of two.. still flying… then closer still to Gulargambone there are three flying parrots.. once you get into town the parrots are perched in the town. Made from corrugated iron, I really enjoy looking out for these birds which from our previous explorations, seem to be erected on all the various routes into Gulargambone. They were a great idea. Quite unique.
Heading up towards Walgett we are roughly following the course of the Castlereagh River. We cross it at Coonamble. The last time we were in Coonamble it was hot and dry as a bone. There’s been a couple of floods through since and everything is much greener. Daughter excitedly recognizes the servo where we had an ice cream on our last visit. Man that was a lovely cold treat on a hot dusty day.
As we approach into the Walgett district it is rainly lightly. There is standing water on either side of the road. Mum and I begin a game of spotting water birds. Pacific Heron! White Ibis! Two more pacific heron! Straw necked ibis! Pacific Heron flying… no, sorry, that’s a white faced heron. On and on we go I’ve never seen so many pacific heron in my life. Keeps us entertained for the drive! Crops are looking happy. It’s a cheerful drive with wipers running. We make a stop for something or other, probably to change drivers, and take the opportunity to photograph the roadside environment and the beautiful view up the highway. We really love he grasses that line the route..


We cross the Castlereagh again further north and it is flowing high. Vegetation which is clearly not usually in the river stands with feet submerged. I think of the poetic references to this iconic river as we excitedly snap a photo or three. .. actually pretty much all rivers in Australia are iconic aren’t they? At any rate I’m gradually ticking off those that are in NSW at any rate.



Drawing ever nearer to Walgett daughter is rather taken by the road sign to Come by Chance. Have I ever mentioned we are easily amused?

Finally we arrive in Walgett itself and add to our growing collection of town name signs.

It’s getting dark as we head on from Walgett to the Ridge and lightly raining. I’m sleepy and only indulge in opening my eyes for an occasional glance as the scenery round about. Luckily, daughter is taking a turn at the wheel!
Arriving in Lightning Ridge we find a respectable small town with street lighting and to all immediate appearances, quite like many a small town.
We check in to the Bluey Motel. It’s clean and comfortable. A bit of an aroma from, I believe, the cleaning products, which mum is a little concerned about, but which with an airing is no problem. Mum isn’t hungry, but daughter and I head over to the bowling club across the road for a spot of dinner. There's not too many options around for an evening meal so the decision regarding where to go is not a difficult one. The girl on the desk is very diligent about checking ID for confirmation of postcode. Daughter has left her ID behind so goes back to get it. I wait and amuse myself by admiring an awesome painting in the lobby. By local artist John Murray it is a desolate outback scene with variegated wrens here and there. Devoid of Murray’s usual wry humour, well, at least in any way that is obvious, it is very striking.
At the bistro, I go for a pork schnitzel and veges, daughter goes the lamb roast which she reports was very nice. My schnitzel was nice and the veges not overcooked which is always good. LLB from the bar for daughter, I stuck with water. Drinks are good value too at only a couple of dollars.. maybe $2.80 for a schooner of LLB.
We waste no time retiring after dinner. It’s been a long but very enjoyable day. Still, one has to be very tired to not check email and here at the Bluey we have free wireless internet. This place is outstanding value for money and you couldn’t have a more hospitable hostess.

Finally it's lights out and we rest up for what turns out to be a brilliant couple of days in the Ridge.