5th August to the 16th
August.
We settled in to the life of
bogans at Nyngan!
It was all too easy, coffee in bed at 8am, up
for brekky at 9.am, 10 minutes to do the housework and then the camp was ship
shape for the day.
THE BUNDY AND BULLSHIT BAR
THE BAR STOOL
AND WHEN YOU WANT TO SHIFT THE BAR, YOU CLOSE THE WALLS IN AND DRIVE IT OFF.
HOW IS THAT FOR INGENUITY AND USE OF BUSH SKILLS!!!!!!!
Biggest decision to make was…..
what to cook for dinner at night and what time will we go hunting and gathering
for the evening’s wood supply.
Another couple, Denise and Paul
from Heryey Bay who also enjoyed the Bogan life, joined us! We spent many evenings; enjoying fiveses
together around the ingenuously constructed fire bucket, watching the sun sink
slowly into the west.
We were starting to become very
sedentary! This wasn’t what we were supposed to do, we are nomads……… nomads
wander! Time to hit the road again!
On the 11th August we
set our GPS for Bourke. Several free
campers told us of the free camp at May’s Bend on the Darling River. The very
strong winds blew us into Bourke; one look and we decided to go to the Back of
Bourke to the free camp.
We found the “Black stump” a fitting
place for fiveses on this very windy day, which incidentally was a bonus! It kept the flies away!
PAUL BY THE BLACK STUMP
GOODNIGHT BOURKE!
The strong winds influenced our
next decision. We must move onwards, to the opal fields of Lightning Ridge. I had visited this unique town many years ago with
my family and we had spent a good time fossicking on the mullet heaps for opal.
We didn’t really care that it was only ‘potch’ it still looked good to us. So
we headed for Lightning Ridge on the12th August.
THE CASTLE AT LIGHTNING RIDGE
I was a little disappointed by
two facts. Lightning Ridge has become a tourist draw card so its unique
lifestyle appeared “staged” and secondly the wind did not let up, so we moved
on. We set our sights for Charleville.
En route to Charleville we stayed
at Roma , “The Gateway to the
Outback” on the 13th August
Next day we headed west, through Amby ”The Gateway to the Outback”,
through Mitchell , also “the Gateway
to the Outback”, Morven……you guessed
it also “The gateway to the Outback”, we were becoming confused, when were we going to arrive in the outback?
How much further west did we need to drive to reach the Outback.
We got our answer on arrival in
Charleville. “The Real Outback town”
We enjoyed the company of this
hospitable town, enjoyed its history, pubs and the spirit of the locals who are
very proud of their town.
VORTEX RAINMAKER CANNONS
WHEN THEY DON'T WORK YOU USE ONE OF THESE!
We also enjoyed the company of an old school mate who
now proudly calls himself a local. Thanks for your hospitality Wadey!
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