Thursday, April 21, 2011

Easter 2011

With a 5 day easter holiday, 3 days of holidays and may day holiday weekend all together i had 11 days off work so decided to head down to Menindee to get a sunset pic of the dead trees in the lakes near there.

I had just registered the old MK so it was a good chance to give it a first test drive to see how it goes.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I left thursday night after work and was surprised that "Little Red" managed to drive up Cunninghams Gap in top gear ... my GU ute and my GQ wagon would have no hope in doing that!
I drove on through the night stopping in a parking bay and rolling out the swag about 2AM for a sleep.
About 5AM it started to rain so i rolled up the swag and hit the road again with the sun coming up not long after.

When i passed through Moree the sun was just over the horizon and i stopped to get some pics of "The Big Plane" parked in/through a hotel.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

on the way out of town is an old flour mill
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

the trains are long out this way
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I stopped for a break beside the river at Nyngan
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Nearby in the tourist park is a couple of Camels
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

LOL at the sign
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

On the road again and the lack of room in the footwell and the cramped driving position was making things pretty uncomfortable ... I'm only a short arse and the seat does not move back far enough for me ... stuff knowns how a 6 foot bloke would even fit in the cab!
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I passed a "Shoe Tree"
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

A big load
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

When i got near Wilcannia i found the first road to Menindee closed
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I drove into town and found the second road down to Menindee closed as well so i had to head to Broken Hill and take the Bitumen road south from there.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Oh well ... it was a nice night for a drive
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

About 10PM, after 1700.03 Km, I finally arrived at the site where Bourke and Wills had their base camp for their crossing of Australia and rolled out the swag between Mum n Dads caravan and my Brother in laws camper.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The next morning i took a pic of our campsite.
on the Left is another couple, Jeff and Annette,who were camped there, then there is Mum and Dads caravan, my swag, Graeme and my sister Deb in the Rodeo and on the right is Mum n Dads friend Kevin
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The birds were flying around the outflow pipes doing a spot of fishing but there were thousands of dead carp left over as the floods receded from the camp grounds
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I walked over and had a look at the signs and blazed trees
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Dad was trying out his new "ex Telecom" GU Ute on its first big drive towing the Caravan
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

That evening i headed over to Menindee Lake for the sunset and the shot i had driven down for ... the sun was setting in the wrong spot and the floods meant i was too far away from the trees to get the shot i wanted so this was the best of the shots i took.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

On Sunday we all headed to Menindee for a look around the Maiden Hotel where Bourke and Will hung out a bit ... there were dozens of bikes and trikes lining the street
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

We then headed out to Kinchiga for a look around the historic sheep station
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Note the wooden wheels ... "wood" have been a rough ride LOL
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The yards now only have dragons
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Back to the Woolsheds
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

We then headed over to Copi Hollow where Broken Hill Water Ski club has an awesome set up beside the water.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

That evening i headed to Lake Pamamaroo to try for the dead tree shot again but the sunset was still in the wrong position
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Back at camp Dad had his fire cranking
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

On Monday Deb and Graeme along with most of the campers headed back to whence they came and the boys collected some more wood for the next few days.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Birds were wading in the carp filled shallows taking their pick
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I headed up to the block dam for a look, the road was well under.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The block dam was stopping the fish going upstream and the birds were having a feild day
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

That afternoon i went in to Menindee for a look around the old cantilever railway bridge
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Then had a look around the nearby railway station
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I had a look to see if the closed roads were open yet ... nup
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

On Tuesday i threw the swag on the back of the Ute and headed towards home and passed a strange sight in the flooded paddocks beside a pub ... Shark !!
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Funny looking cloud
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Not often you see mailboxes in a petrol station
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Along the way to White Cliffs i passed an old bridge ... yep :)
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Some of the old mining equipment at White Cliffs
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The old Solar Array at White Cliffs
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I headed North on the dirt road to test Little Red out on some corrugations
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I'm not saying the old Patrol is slow .... its just that Emu's are faster in a drag race !
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The old bridge near Bourke
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Did i take a wrong turn somewhere ???
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Dropped in to Lightning Ridge to have a hot soak to ease the aches and pains
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

One for the tourists
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Had a look around the gardens
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Some bloke is building a Castle
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Some trees carved by Aboriginals have been cut down and moved into protective custody
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I passed the Wobbly Boot Hotel and later that night arrived back home in beautiful downtown Jacobs Well.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Little Red went well with no extra problems occuring, the weather was great, the company good and i had a good holiday ... what more could you ask !!