We said farewell to Broken Hill after an enjoyable stay at the Racecourse. We recommend this great spot for anyone passing this way. We had a quick stop at the dump point and I was surprised to see a John Dynan mural on the wall. He’s a popular artist in these parts. He has a gallery out at Silverton.

We had quick stop for fuel and swapped a gas bottle on the motorhome, and set off towards the NSW/SA border some 50km away.

We had a short stop to take a photo before we crossed over the border at the tiny village of Cockburn. There’s not much there except a couple of houses and a pub. Even the old roadhouse was closed.

Stopped for a cuppa at Warwirra Creek Rest Area at the end of kilometres of road works. It’s real desert country around there. Pretty flat countryside for as far as the eye can see with scrubby low bushes and saltbush. Hardly a tree in sight. In the distance on our left are some low rocky hills and that’s all that breaks the horizon. I called Riley on the UHF to see if he felt like he was in ‘the outback’ yet and he responded with an emphatic ‘sure do’.

The next tiny village was Olary. Just a tiny spot on the map.

Next up was Mannahill. It has a little Rest Area with a plaground. A Police station, a pub, a lovely old Railway station and about ten houses. I wondered what the people who live there do. It’s out in the middle of nowhere.

We were passed by a very long freight train not long after going through Mannahill. It seemed to go on forever and must have been going fast as it very quickly caught us and was gone into the distance

The next little village was Yunta with a very busy truck stop. There is a Heavy Vehicle Checking Station at Yunta however it was closed so we didn’t need to go in. Yunta has a rest area with toilets and picnic tables. A few vans were making use of the area with people having lunch. We just drove straight through.

We finally came to Oodla Wirra and this is where the SA Quarantine Station is. There was a very friendly inspector who came on board and quickly checked our fridge for quarantined fruit and veg but what we hadn’t already used we had given away in Broken Hill. Ben and Maddie did a great job walking around camp giving away our fruit. We were waved through quarantine in very quick time.

We left the desert behind and began to see farming land before we reached our destination for the day when we arrived in Peterborough. This tiny town of just 1500 people was once the thriving heart of the northern part of SA Railways with some 100 steam trains passing through each day. In its heyday the town was home to some 6,000 people and many of those worked on the railways. That has all finished now and Peterborough is now a tourist town. We all looked forward to learning more about this fascinating little town.