This morning was a slow morning as we planned to only travel to Cobar which is about 130 kilometres away.

We slowly packed up the Karavan and checked everything around the whole rig. When we were satisfied that all was fine, we left the Riverside Caravan Park and went into the town of Nyngan, The rig was parked outside the Nyngan Museum where there was plenty of space available.

Once parked, we then went to the Nyngan Bakery for a cappuccino and raisin toast. It was reasonable but we have had better. It is quite a popular location in town.

Then we moved on. Setting out initially on the Mitchell Highway, we then turned left onto the Barrier Highway which will eventually lead us into Broken Hill. The road is in much better condition than the Oxley Highway from Gilgandra to Warren. There was quite a bit of traffic, eastbound towards Nyngan. As we progressed the volume decreased with a continuous stream of travellers like us and a number of heavy transports.

About 40 kilometres out we passed by the village of Hermidale. It was a small service centre long ago but now only services the thirst of travellers and others that pass through. There is some copper mining to the north of the village and the Pub caters for some accommodation for the miners.

Further on, we stopped at the Florida rest area which is about 50 kilometres from Cobar. While there we chatted with a few fellow travellers who related tales of their travels. These people are from all over the country but mostly from South Australia and Victoria.

We arrived in Cobar just before lunch time and located ourselves in the only Caravan Park in town. By the time of writing it must almost be full to overflowing. There are about 100 sites and I am almost sure they are all full tonight.

Once we set up the Karavan, which does not take long, we had some warming soup while sitting in the sun. The sun has not been visible much during the past week. It was very pleasant.

After lunch, we drove to the Information Centre on the eastern entrance to Cobar. There we obtained literature and verbal information relating to Cobar. After this, we drove back into town to the Gumnuts/Busy Bee Cafe for coffee. This was a better coffee than the one we had in Nyngan earlier. While there we decided where we wanted to go around the town.

Our first visit was to the Fort Bourke Lookout and “New Cobar” Open Cut mine. The mine is now not only originally open cut but now is underground. There is quite a deep hole in the ground and at the bottom is an entrance to the underground mine. It reminded us, in a much smaller way, of the Big Hole Diamond Mine in Kimberley, South Africa.

Also, at the Lookout is the water purification plant and storage. The water comes more than 130 kilometres from Nyngan by pipeline. This was constructed in the early 1960s. As a child, I can remember the railway hauling tankers of water into Cobar. The water to Nyngan comes from the Macquarie River near Warren by way of the Albert Priest Channel. It in itself is quite a feat of engineering that was carried out during the Second World War. These are communities that are in a very dry area.

Following that part of our visit, we did a drive around the town following directions on the Information sheet. We saw many of the old buildings in the town that included the Police Station and numerous old homes. We passed by the Drummond Park named after a local Methodist minister, Reverend Stanley Drummond. He was the founder of the Royal Far West Children’s Health Scheme in 1925. This was started as a result of the poverty of local families. Many of the children suffered from long term illness and disease. The Drummond family devoted their lives in helping these underprivileged and sick children of the Outback. There is still a facility in Manly, a Sydney suburb, known as the Far West Children’s Health Scheme Base. I remember children at Nevertire School being sent to this location for help.

After our drive, we bought some lovely meat at the local butcher along with some other items at the IGA supermarket. While in this area, we decided to have a look at the Art Gallery owned by Yvonne Beard who originated from Grafton.

The day ended with me cooking the lovely steak on the BBQ while Prue cooked the vegetables. All this was helped along with several glasses of both red and white wine.