But first we stop in Broken Hill, quintessentially an outback town. We have to admit that we aren’t well-prepared. There are certainly quite a few things to do in Broken Hill. For instance visiting the ghost town of Silverton where the movie Mad Max II was shot. Or strolling along one of the art trails. For us, however, Broken Hill looks like yet another mining town. And after inhaling — and enjoying — the fresh breeze of spring in South Australia, the outback has lost its appeal. Here in New South Wales it looks less intriguing than in Central Australia anyway: Most of the time the Indian-Pacific railway line runs parallel to the road, and the plains show a wisp of colours: Springtime has found its way into this harsh environment as well. After what we had experienced in Central Australia, it feels like “Outback lite”.
As mentioned above, I am totally unfair in my assessment. We are simply not well-prepared for a real Broken Hill experience, but unfortunately we can’t change this now. And it doesn’t really help that the campgrounds don’t cut it: The first one that we explore is a waste dump, and on the second one we get the very last spot with campsite neighbours only a metre away. Compared to the natural settings of most campgrounds on our trip this feels suffocating.
So we hastily leave the town after one night and head further east where after a day in the car we eventually arrive in Cobar. Here we are lucky enough to find a campsite on the banks of a small lake and bird sanctuary. We have a campfire and, most likely for the last time, enjoy the clear night sky with millions of twinkling stars.
[Broken Hill, 20.-21. September]
[Cobar, 21.-22. September]
