The trip has finally started! We are posting this from Broken Hill, where we are spending our last night in NSW for many months to come.
Our first night was in Griffith, the citrus capital of Australia, and it was really remarkable to see the scale of citrus and grape production out there. Initially we had planned to head straight north west to Broken Hill, but quickly realised Google Maps (which is actually useless out here- thankfully we were saved by a very thoughtful gift in the form of a 4WD map book from a good friend) was leading us up 100s of kilometres of dirt roads, so we backtracked to Mildura to stick to paved highways and were blessed with a beautiful free camp along the banks of the Murray as a reward.
Once we got to Broken Hill we headed straight out to the Menindee Lakes for 2 blissful nights of camping on Lake Cawndilla, waking for sunrise with all the birds, and soaking up the stillness that it offered. We were the only ones out at our camp for the second day which was a real treat.
Today we popped in to Silverton (of Mad Max fame) and visited the BHP miners memorial (grim) which seem to be the main tickets around town. Sunday nights in Broken Hill are pretty quiet but we did visit the famous Palace Hotel to pay homage the Priscilla the Queen of the Desert.
Already we have seen so much wildlife including heaps of roos and emus, lots of feral animals like goats, pigs and cats in national parks, and plenty of birds, especially out at Kinchenga National Park (Menindee Lakes). Highlights have been encountering a whole flock of pink cockatoos, hundreds of pelicans soaring into the lakes, and a wedge tailed eagle eating roadkill right next to the car (they are so huge close up!)
Tomorrow we briefly cross into South Australia, as we head to Coober Pedy via Port Augusta and then up to the NT for our official destination, Uluru.
Nothing like a free lake or river camp , have fun guys 🌅
That book is great 👍