Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

If you have missed Part 1 of this tale, it can be found here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14196&highlight=red+center+centre

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Early morning of the 11th. day, and we noted that Beatrix had carried us 2,782 miles from home. There are still quite a few more miles to roll under her wheels before she feels the familiar gravel of our driveway.

We left Peterborough, and with something of railway still in mind made a slight detour to Terowie. This is the nearby town where the broad 5' 3" gauge railway changed to the 3' 6" one.

In the past, as the 'break of gauge' town, Terowie had been a very busy place. Alas not railway here any more. As we entered the township we were intrigued with a paddock full of metal figures, quite humorous ones.



The main street shows of the towns past busy activity.



But alas, there is little of the railway station left.



One claim to fame that remains is that a certain American gentleman made a statement here on the 20th of March 1942. A statement that echoed around the world.



Leaving the General, and Terowie behind we set off again, passing some more wildlife en route.



We were now on "The Barrier Highway", and heading towards the South Western corner of New South Wales, with a couple of hundred miles to cover. There are few settlements along this route, but lots of broad lands, almost none of which is able to be cultivated, though early planners had high hopes for farming activity. Here, as an example is the railways station at Mannahill. It used to face narrow gauge tracks, but now the standard gauge has replaced those.



And here is the township, that the station used to serve. No trains stop here now.



Thirty or so miles further on, at the next village, Olary, there were a couple of vehicles of interest.





By about lunch time we were at Cockburn and crossing the border.





We arrived in Broken Hill at around 2.00 p.m., and found a caravan park then booked a cabin for two nights. After unpacking we set out to familiarise ourselves with the town. Being a mineral rich (mining) location, the street names are rather interesting- Sulphide, Chloride, Blende, Argent and Wolfram streets as an example. It is one of the largest towns that we encountered on our travels, and lists as one of the most interesting. That afternoon and all of the next day we explored.

Broken Hill, although geographically in NSW, is actually closer to Adelaide than it is to Sydney. It owes is existence to the rich silver, lead and zinc deposits, first located on a hill of that name. the town is built around the hill. Seven men created a company to exploit the mineral wealth and so the company Broken Hill Proprietary (B.H.P.) came into existence.



There is a miner's memorial built on top of the now worked-out hill. It is the rusty-brown building on the horizon.



We drove up that hill to see a collection of mining equipment on display.





And to view evidence of some of the workings.



While there we could see the "Indian Pacific" the train that runs from Sydney to Perth, at the station.





There was also a poignant reminder of the dangers of mining.





In the distance could be seen current mining operations.



We found this place-



We didn't think it right to take photos inside, but if you are unfamiliar with the name, then look up Jack Absolom on the 'net, and you will see some of his magnificent paintings. Jack is a bushman who can paint. His love of his country and especially the outback is shown quite vividly in the television programs that he made about 30 years ago. We had just passed through the sort of country that he paints and can vouch for the authenticity of his work. Jack is now 86 years old, but still goes out into the bush painting. We were very lucky that he was at home, and we were able to have quite a chat with him. The chatting interrupted our study of his paintings and his collection of opals, so we returned the next day and were able to chat some more as well. For Noreen and myself this was probably the most memorable visit of the whole trip. We bought DVD's of his T.V. programs, as well as a book of his paintings and some prints and postcards. Jack signed them all for us.

I was looking through the fence enclosing the property of The West Darling Machinery Preservation Society.....



..........when a chap pulled up in his car and hailed me. "There's a fellow in town with a car, just like yours", he said, "And it is for sale too". He gave us the address of where to find the car, and although buying another Rover was not on the agenda we thought it well worth a look.

We found it-



It is rough but a very restorable machine. He had another chopped up one for spare parts-



Tony, the owner, wants $1,000 for the two vehicles. He kindly loaned me the rotor from the spare parts car, just in case we needed it. So if you would like a nice Rover, let me know and I'll pass on his details.

The Silverton Tramway was set up by a locally formed company to move ore around the Silverton and Broken Hill area. It was hoped that the New South Wales Government Railways would build a line to Broken Hill to help with the movement of minerals, but they seemed not to be interested, so the South Australian Govenment extended their lines to Cockburn, and met up with the Silverton lines. The ore was then sent through to Port Pirie in S.A., all on 3' 6" gauge lines.

When the business closed, the main 'Sulphide Street Station' was left, and a group of local volunteers turned it into a most magnificent museum covering not only rail history, but immigration, hospitals etc.













For me an especially interesting item was the "Silver City Comet" a diesel powered passenger train, complete with kitchen and dining car, and fully airconditioned, dating from 1937. I had known about it but never seen it. Something else you might like to hunt for on the 'net.



Both Noreen and I were now feeling the effects of colds, and so were not feeling 100% when we left Broken Hill in the early morning. It seemed a long way to Wentworth on the Victorian/NSW border, just where the Darling River meets the Murray.



From there we continued on the NSW side, pausing at a dry-lands botanic gardens. Amazingly there were still blooms in the rose section.



After a few more miles, we decided to look for somewhere to pull over for a break. A sign said that such a place was not far ahead, so we tuned in and to our great surprise came across another Classic traveller.





They had left home in the Clare Valley (S.A) and were on their way to a Standard get together in Hay.

We turned across the border at Robinvale.



Then continued to Swan Hill for the night. The town was crowded as it was a long weekend, and there were races on. We were a bit too tired to take a lot of notice of that and after a few pictures early in the morning set off South again.



Later that afternoon we felt we were getting a bit closer to home when Mount Macedon was in site.



Rather than push through the City and on to home that day, we stayed overnight in Sunbury only a few miles from Melbourne. Next morning we set off and were in the South-eastern suburbs as the sun came up.



We live just under 100 miles from Melbourne so got home at a nice early hour. We unloaded the essentials, gave Beatrix a pat of thanks and settled inside for a rest and to try to overcome our colds.

In just 14 days we had been to the Red Center and many other wonderful places. Beatrix has covered 3,708 miles (5967 k's) and had used 180.5 gallons (821 L) of petrol, at an average consumption of 20.54 mpg, which considering the condition of her engine is rather creditable. Beatrix is now going to be given light duties of a local nature, and when it can be done, some revitalising of her engine will take place.

I hope that you have enjoyed this tale. It has been work, but fun writing it.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Rick]

Must have been a big task to put all these posts together, thanks so much for going to all that effort.

The vintage car wreck looks slightly Dodge-ish to me, c1922 or earlier, and the Dodge rail car is very neat indeed

RJ
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[peppiB]

A brilliant account. Many thanks

[Keith D]

Thanks Dane!

I thoroughly enjoyed your holiday, although not as much as you would have done of course! A most enjoyable read.

It is especially enjoyable when you can do it in an old car that is still on the road due to your own efforts.

Keith

[rjt10/4]

thank you so much for sharing your hoilday with everyone fasinating tidbits of information i have really enjoyed your travels keep on motoring

[Riley Blue]

You're so lucky to have such amazing scenery to drive through; I'm very envious. Thanks for the story and photos - the furthest we've managed in a single trip has been just over a thousand miles to Scotland and back, not a dirt road to be found!

[ChrisD]

Indeed, a great trip and story. The landscape is so different to the UK.
I've been to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley but that's the limit of my Oz experience.

Incidently I've just worked out that the petrol you used would have cost £1100 in the UK!

[JohnDale]

Thanks for sharing your trip Dane, quite an experience - fantastic pix & an informative narrative. Last year I carried out a repair on a boat in Broome,
(by email) so it was good to see some of the country. The boat had been sold by another Oz friend of mine(who lives in Hong Kong) & it lost all drive while touring the North West coast. There was a lock up device in the gearbox so that got him into Broome where I was able to instruct him how to carry out repairs & arrange for shipment of spares to him. He did say it was a little remote(Oz understatement) & extremely hot. I now have some idea from your pix just what he was talking about, thank you,kind regards,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[roverdriver]

Thank you everyone for all of the kind comments. I am glad that so many have enjoyed the story.

Here are a couple more statistics from my wife's records.

The 821 litres of petrol used had a total cost of $1,350
The dearest petrol was at Kulgera (Last stop before Alice) at $1.95 per litre, the cheapest was outside of Bendigo, at Kangaroo Flat, at $1.35 per litre.

Photos taken- 3,483. Noreen had the advantage of being able to photograph from the moving car so she took a lot more than I did. Imagine how much that would have cost using film!!

Cheapest accommodation (mostly cabins) was Mildura at $75 for the night, most were around $100, dearest Swan Hill at $162, but it was a special holiday weekend there.

Overall a not too expensive outing, and a very very memorable one.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Penman]

Hi
For price comparison purposes.

Currently
£1 = A$ 1.67
or
A$ 1 = £ 0.60
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10