It was time to say farewell to Broken Hill. We had really enjoyed our short stay in the Silver City. Our camp at the Racecourse was a lovely one on nice green grass with power and water. The water was good quality for drinking. The showers at the Racecourse were some of the cleanest we’ve ever come across and the water pressure was incredible. Kevin, the caretaker, was super friendly and looks after the place well.
Catie & Robert left to get fuel before they headed off with a rough plan to get to Lake Cargelligo to camp by the lake. We left not long after with full water tanks and an empty cassette. We stopped at a couple of places to get some photos and we briefly stopped to put some air in one tyre then left Broken Hill heading east on the Barrier Highway.
The Barrier Highway runs 1,014km from Nyngan in NSW to Adelaide in south Australia. For most of its length it is a long, straight, lonely drive. Half an hour east from Broken Hill we entered the Eastern Time Zone and had to put Richard’s watch and our clock forward half an hour. The Apple devices change time automatically. The motorhome is still on Winter time!
It’s really desert country between Broken Hill and Wilcannia. We saw mobs of feral goats and once we saw a group of huge Wedge-tailed eagles feasting on some road kill. Such huge majestic birds. As it was Sunday there wasn’t even a lot of traffic apart from the occasional road trains and ‘B’Triples.
Out there are miles and miles of flat, red sandy desert with scrubby grasses and saltbush. There are hardly any trees. Usually if there are trees you can be sure there will be a creek bed however all the ones we crossed were dry. The road is long and straight out there and in the far distance we could see a line of low hills. There was not much sign of human habitation out there apart from the long line of power poles that track along the roadside into the distance. Occasionally we passed an entrance to a property with a mailbox and property name but we didn’t see many buildings along that road.
By midday we’d arrived in the tiny outback town of Wilcannia where we stopped to get fuel. It was $1.79L, the most expensive fuel on this trip so far.
We pulled up for a brief lunch break at MacCullochs Rest Area, the same spot we’d camped at on our way to Menindee.
As we got closer to Cobar there were a lots more trees and grasses. The rainfall must be a lot higher along that stretch. The soil is still that red sand though. We did see a lot of goats many with young kids. The young kids are very cute. There was still not a lot of traffic on the road and at times it seemed like we were the only ones traveling.
We finally arrived in Cobar where we fueled up, got a replacement gas bottle then headed out of town. On the way we passed the recently opened Miner’s Memorial and stopped for a look. What a great job they’ve done on this park. It’s worth a stop if you are passing through Cobar.
Heritage Centre 
Beautiful potted colour 
Big old pub 
We headed out of town and set up camp at the Old Resevoir with water views. There was only one other camper. There is a lot less water in the reservoir than there was when we were last there in June 2021 but it is a lovely spot for an overnight or short stay camp. There are no amenities just lots of flat area to camp. The road in is a short length of gravel road but don’t be put off by that. It is worth it. The other option for a free camp in Cobar is right underneath the Cobar sign at Cornish Rest Area. There are toilets at the rest area however it has never appealed to us as it sits right at the intersection of two busy roads. We like it much better out at the Old Reservoir.
It was Halloween night and we laughed when we received messages from our children with pictures of our grandchildren going trick or treating. What fun Halloween is! They all looked like they were having a great time. We miss them all so much when we are off meandering. It’s the biggest drawback to RVing.
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