outback nsw
2020...what a year for the history books! But it made for a memorable expedition that we probably wouldn't have considered...
Our highly anticipated holiday to the Cook Islands to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary was put on hold as international border closures were put into action as part of tackling the COVID-19 situation here in Australia. That was ok, it was something out of our control, but we didn't want to waste the annual leave that we had booked for a getaway. So we started drafting up some plans to explore Victoria, but that came to a sudden holt when we saw our own state and territories borders close. Victoria was about to go into a 112 day lockdown and we couldn't leave our state of New South Wales. Back to the drawing board we went...
Our highly anticipated holiday to the Cook Islands to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary was put on hold as international border closures were put into action as part of tackling the COVID-19 situation here in Australia. That was ok, it was something out of our control, but we didn't want to waste the annual leave that we had booked for a getaway. So we started drafting up some plans to explore Victoria, but that came to a sudden holt when we saw our own state and territories borders close. Victoria was about to go into a 112 day lockdown and we couldn't leave our state of New South Wales. Back to the drawing board we went...
...then one night it hit us! Lets drive to Broken Hill and explore what our own backyard has to offer! We grabbed the good ol' fashioned road map of New South Wales and started highlighting our trip. This trip was going to be mammoth, but a memorable adventure to say the least. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we would plan a trip to Broken Hill, but we are so glad that we did! Everyone must do it! It really makes you appreciate the vastness of our country. So our two week expedition dubbed Rocks, Hops and Cotton Socks began.
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Gerringong - narrandera | 472km
We packed up the van and headed off just as the sun was rising to smash out the 5.5hr drive ahead of us. We passed wind turbines, canola fields and many wineries. Our first night was spent on Wiradjuri Country, Narrandera where the name was derived from Narrungdera, meaning 'place of lizards'. So much beauty in this quiet country town. From murals on water towers, wildflowers by the river and historical architecture, it made for a lovely rest spot at Lake Talbot Tourist Park.
narrandera - buronga | 459Km |
The next morning we travelled to Buronga, Kureinji Country, which is on the New South Wales side of Mildura as our plans changed again. We did have two nights booked at Lake Mungo but that wasn't to happen this trip due to the national park closing because of the rain (we can't complain there!). We had our packed lunch stop at Yanga Homestead, a place to explore Yanga National Park's Aboriginal and pastoral histories. Before too long, we had arrived at Buronga for our two night stay on a riverfront powered site on the Murray River at Mildura Buronga Riverside Discovery Park. A great place for our warriors to burn some energy in the swimming in the pool, riding on the bmx track and playing on the adventure playground.
buronga - broken hill | 298KM
The time had come to pack up and drive to Broken Hill! Our excitement was through the roof! With a 3 hour drive in front of us, we stopped in at Wentworth to visit the Old Wentworth Goal and a good ol' country bakery pastry! Also be sure to fill up the tank at Wentworth as there is only one fuel station between there and Broken Hill! Just 6km up the road you'll find Perry Sandhills, and what a place to visit! Sand dunes and wildflowers as far as the eye can see.
It was then time to hit the open road, hours of no phone reception, long straight roads, endless mirages, mob of emus, dusty willy willies, the occasional road train. It truly shows you just how robust and vast our country really is. After hours of driving, we had to do a double take of the Broken Hill sign! After a few games of our made up 'truck or car' game (yep, that's how excited we were to pass a road train or car), we arrived into Australia's oldest mining town, on Wiljali Country. Note: you enter a different time zone - Australian Central Standard Time.
Broken Hill didn't disappoint! We had a 3 night stay at Broken Hill Outback Resort which was a 10min drive out of town but we loved it! It gave you a true outback feel with rolling hills surrounding us. On the property is the old Mt Gipps Hotel which has been fully refurbished and makes for the park's own restaurant and beer garden. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the deck, eating our pizza, watching the rain rolling in. The resort itself was an attraction of its own but we had other places to go and see!
Our top places to visit while in Broken Hill are: Silverton, Line of Lode Lookout and Miners Memorial, The Living Desert and Sculptures (allow plenty of time to bushwalk through the desert gardens and then drive back to the sculptures for sunset), Sulphide Street Railway and Historical Museum and the Bells Milk Bar (a 1950's milk bar serving up old fashioned milkshakes and desserts - Rob highly recommends the Cherry Ripe milkshake, whereas I'm more of a Pina Colada milkshake kinda gal). While in Broken Hill you must dine at The Palace Hotel, the famous hotel from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and book in for a sky show at Outback Astronomy to learn how to read the night sky! Our eldest warrior has a strong passion for astronomy so this was one of his highlights from this trip. It is family friendly, very informative and interactive as you get to look through telescopes. Bring a picnic rug or hire some yoga mats.
It was then time to hit the open road, hours of no phone reception, long straight roads, endless mirages, mob of emus, dusty willy willies, the occasional road train. It truly shows you just how robust and vast our country really is. After hours of driving, we had to do a double take of the Broken Hill sign! After a few games of our made up 'truck or car' game (yep, that's how excited we were to pass a road train or car), we arrived into Australia's oldest mining town, on Wiljali Country. Note: you enter a different time zone - Australian Central Standard Time.
Broken Hill didn't disappoint! We had a 3 night stay at Broken Hill Outback Resort which was a 10min drive out of town but we loved it! It gave you a true outback feel with rolling hills surrounding us. On the property is the old Mt Gipps Hotel which has been fully refurbished and makes for the park's own restaurant and beer garden. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the deck, eating our pizza, watching the rain rolling in. The resort itself was an attraction of its own but we had other places to go and see!
Our top places to visit while in Broken Hill are: Silverton, Line of Lode Lookout and Miners Memorial, The Living Desert and Sculptures (allow plenty of time to bushwalk through the desert gardens and then drive back to the sculptures for sunset), Sulphide Street Railway and Historical Museum and the Bells Milk Bar (a 1950's milk bar serving up old fashioned milkshakes and desserts - Rob highly recommends the Cherry Ripe milkshake, whereas I'm more of a Pina Colada milkshake kinda gal). While in Broken Hill you must dine at The Palace Hotel, the famous hotel from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and book in for a sky show at Outback Astronomy to learn how to read the night sky! Our eldest warrior has a strong passion for astronomy so this was one of his highlights from this trip. It is family friendly, very informative and interactive as you get to look through telescopes. Bring a picnic rug or hire some yoga mats.
broken hill - white cliffs | 239km
The time had come to leave Broken Hill and travel back towards the east coast, with many more outback stops to come. After another 2.5hr drive of vastness, we arrived to the pioneer opal fields of White Cliffs, Wandjiwalgu Country. Be sure to fill up at Broken Hill. There are 2 fuel stations at Wilcannia, but the internet can be sketchy which meant that EFTPOS was off limits and we had to scramble to look for cash (we highly recommend you also grab some cash out too before you leave Broken Hill). If you have made the effort to drive all the way out to Broken Hill, you need to visit White Cliffs! A tiny town amongst opal fields with underground homes and nothingness as far as the eye can see. You really do feel isolated and away from the craziness of life. The excitement to find opals, particularly the pineapple opal which is worth quite a few smackaroos, is contagious. Be sure to visit Red Earth Opal and book in for an opal tour, venturing 45 feet into the only working mine in Australia. Our warriors were in their absolute glory! Plus the tour guide Graeme is a funny character! We surprised our warriors, packed up the van for the night and stayed at the White Cliffs Underground Motel. This completely blew their minds and made for a memorable childhood experience!
white cliffs - bourke | 493KM
This was another epic run, just over 5hrs. We stopped at Cobar, home of the big beer can! Plenty of pubs, shops and fuel stations down the main drag. We opted for another country bakery pie and it didn't disappoint. From Cobar, it was another long stretch of road, passing many emu chicks, kangaroos and even some stray cattle. We arrived at Bourke, Wongaibon Country, for our 2 night stay, at a lovely caravan park on Darling River called Kidman's Camp. With an outback feel, the sites were well maintained and very generous. We spent most of our time swimming in the refreshing pool and watching movies under the stars with our outdoor projector. While in Bourke, we visited the Back O'Bourke Visitor Information and Exhibition Centre. Here we bought a package deal to enter the exhibition centre and to travel on the PV Jandra paddle vessel. We all thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition centre as it had many interactive displays and told great stories of Bourke's history. The following afternoon we went for a cruise on the PV Jandra. We packed our own nibbles and drinks and enjoyed a lovely afternoon cruising up the Darling River.
bourke - lightning ridge | 299km
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The drive from Bourke to Lightning Ridge was a special one. We stopped at Brewarrina, Ngemba Country, to visit the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Ngunnhu, the Brewarrina fish traps. These fish traps are one of the oldest man-made structures on earth, estimated to be over 40 thousand years old! We highly recommend booking a guided tour with a local Aboriginal guide to learn more about the Aboriginal history of the area, including the fish traps. There was something pretty special about being in this place. To think that our ancestors built this with their own hands and natural resources thousands of years ago, made it quite a spiritual place to be.
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We continued on with our leg to Lightning Ridge, Yuwaalaraay Country. Look out for the big 'agie' as you turn off to Lightning Ridge. This town was bustling with people when we were there, mainly because it was isolation vacation period and close enough to the east coast for people to run away too. If you didn't make it to White Cliffs, you can book in on an opal tour here. We stayed at yet another great caravan park called Opal Caravan Park for 2 nights. A fantastic place for families as there is a pool, great BBQ areas (including a pizza oven) and its very own opal fossicking area!
As it was bustling and something that we weren't use to after over a week of being in quieter towns, we didn't venture out too much. There were a few self tours that you can do around town in your car which showcased what the town had to offer. We attempted to soak in the natural artesian bore bath which is right across the road from the caravan park, but the only time we could visit without massive queues was during the day. That didn't pan out well as the super hot days with the naturally heated bath, meant it was was too hot for us to even dip our toes into! We did however, find Lightning Ridge Olympic Pool where we spent many hours of fun in the cooler water which included slides, rapids and different pools for the whole family.
As it was bustling and something that we weren't use to after over a week of being in quieter towns, we didn't venture out too much. There were a few self tours that you can do around town in your car which showcased what the town had to offer. We attempted to soak in the natural artesian bore bath which is right across the road from the caravan park, but the only time we could visit without massive queues was during the day. That didn't pan out well as the super hot days with the naturally heated bath, meant it was was too hot for us to even dip our toes into! We did however, find Lightning Ridge Olympic Pool where we spent many hours of fun in the cooler water which included slides, rapids and different pools for the whole family.
lightning ridge - narrabri | 248km
Off we went to venture to the cotton capital of Australia...Narrabri, Kamilaroi Country. The drive from Lightning Ridge to Narrabri was just stunning! We passed through grain fields and cotton fields, and passed more artesian bore baths and patches of wild sunflowers! It wasn't long until we arrived at Narrabri. This place is totally underestimated! We stayed at Highway Tourist and Caravan Park, nothing fancy but just what we needed, a playground, a pool, and an ensuite. We practically had this place to ourselves! The Narrabri Region Visitor Information Centre was our first place to visit. Here, we grabbed all of the maps we needed and read the cotton display (while our warriors climbed into the interactive giant red cotton header). We missed the cotton season to be able to book in a cotton farm tour, but there was still plenty to see and do. Sawn Rocks is a must and is an easy 15min walk along a sealed path. It is pretty magic to see how nature can create such stunning features like the 'organ piping' formation that you see at Sawn Rocks. It is all linked back to Mt Kaputar's volcanic past. The other place to visit is Mt Kaputar itself! You can drive right up to the Summit Walk Lookout, but caravans are not permitted. Be sure to pack a jumper regardless how hot it is. It was 10 degrees cooler when we visited and quickly rugged up! If you're looking for somewhere to eat, the best country Chinese restaurant we have ever eaten at was at On Lee.
narrabri - tamworth | 173KMThe last leg of our trip before we headed home, Narrabri to Tamworth, the country music capital of Australia, Kamilaroi Country. This two night stop at Big4 Paradise Tamworth was chosen to be a few days of rest and leisure before heading home. We spent most of our time in the pool and the warriors played on the playground which was conveniently across the road from our site. We visited the Big Golden Guitar and The Gallery of Stars' Wax Museum which are both located at the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre. No family can visit Tamworth without visiting the Regional Playground and Tamworth Marsupial Park.
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And that's it folks! Our isolation vacation to Outback NSW completed! A vast contrast to sipping cocktails under coconut trees in the Cook Islands, but the best thing that could of happened! That would have to be one of the positives that 2020 'Year of COVID-19' brought, was the push for all of us to explore our own backyard. It made us appreciate what we do have so much more. To see just how diverse our country truly is was an eye opener for all of us, but particularly for our warriors. We hope that we have inspired you to do the same!
Peace + love,
Peace + love,