28 July – Armchairs and other household items

We awoke refreshed in our distressed apartment. There is an ecologically sensitive and organic (the two terms may be interchangeable) café next door. It is run by volunteers all of whom are females of a certain age and all of whom are friendly and cheery. On the other side of the apartment is an old school butcher. The G has determined that this butcher is a butcher of the type with whom she would be happy to treat. He has beef in the window that looks to be succulent in the extreme.

We are staying in what looks like the shop to the left of the butcher's

We went to the next-door café for breakfast where one of the aforementioned females of a certain age greeted me by name. I was flattered for a moment that the fame of a humble management consultant such as I am might have spread to Mildura ahead of my visit. But it seems that Terry and Enid, who had arrived there before us, had informed these women. The G had something that was toasted and looked like bread but probably wasn’t. I had the strangest looking muesli covered with bananas, pears and kiwi fruit. It tasted OK (but no better). The coffee, however, was of a satisfactory standard.

We thought that we would start the day with a search for the finest vanilla slice available. Indeed we were specifically looking for a slice made by the enterprise that won second prize in last year’s Merbein Great Australian Vanilla Slice incorporating The National Dried Vine Fruit Bake-Off. A bakery in Ballarat won first prize but the Continental Bakery, just up the road in Eighth Street, took second prize. We entered and demanded of the good woman behind the counter that she should point us at their prize-winning vanilla slices. She told us that they had none. I exclaimed that we had travelled hundreds of miles to sample their wares and what was I now supposed to do. She explained that “the boys” were either too busy or too lazy to make any vanilla slices. She was a charitable woman and was, in consequence, assuming that they were too busy. She pointed us to Banjo’s which we found just around the corner.

Prize-winning vanilla slices. Those of the winner from Ballarat (L) and those of our friends up the road (R)

On the way to Banjo’s we chanced upon a shop that The G had seen the previous evening when she had been wondering around. This was Ishka’s which turned out to be a chain that we had not heard of. There in the window was an armchair that we could pass by. We entered said emporium and emerged with an armchair, footstall, cushion (all matching) and a candelabra. Fortunately, these purchases have all gone into the Subaru and we are all set to go!

You could not resist this combination. At least we could not

We visited the Inland Botanical Gardens. There we saw Sturt’s Desert Pea. This is a handsome flower indeed. This bloom was adopted as the floral emblem of South Australia in 1961. We visited the shop and cruised around. There were lots of Australian plants, many of which looked the same, but most of which were familiar. Were I to venture a criticism it would be that there wasn’t enough conveniently available information about what was what.

Sturt’s Desert Pea

Our next stop was the Nursery Ridge Winery. We know this winery because we have been drinking its Petit Verdot for several years. We sampled their other grapes and departed with a catholic selection of wines. We drove back through Red Cliffs where there is a beast of a machine called Big Lizzie. This was simply huge weighing in at 45 tonnes. It is effectively a massive but oil-fired traction engine. It has a trailer which is the surviving one of a pair. It has a single cylinder 60hp engine with a bore of 228mm (9 inches) and a stroke of 450mm (18 inches). Not surprising it revs and 235rpm so it must have made a wonderful sound. At top speed, it reached 2 mph (3.2 kph).

Big Lizzie - all 45 tonnes of her

Big wheels with an interesting tracking system

Red Cliffs got its name from some nearby Red Cliffs at the side of the Murray River. We went to have a look which took us all of 5 minutes. 

Red cliffs by the Murray

A red gum by the red cliffs by the Murray

A red path near the red gum by the red cliffs by the Murray

Woods

On our return, I was amused by a sign at the side of the road in Red Cliffs that advertised, at $3 a bag, a product referred to as “mandies”. For my English readers, these are mandarins. I find I am still amused by Australian abbreviations. Later we talked to a man who recalled being “povo” which, as you would have worked out means poor or impoverished. At least he wasn’t wearing a “flanno” which is a shirt made out of flannelette. At Wentworth yesterday the woman in the bakery had referred to their Cornish Pasties as “fair dinkum”. The G satisfied her retail longings at the mandy stall and also at the nearby vintage wares shop.

Mandies - only in Australia

We had one winery to go and that was Cappa Stone Wines. Therein was a man who was very amiable but who could talk for Australia, and win gold medals, were they to introduce talking as a national sport. The wines were exceptional, both the whites and the reds. We are booked to go to Stefano’s tonight and we gleaned much information from our friend at Cappa Wines. The G knows of Stefano from her days in Sydney. He was hooked up with Jim McDougall of The Black Stump for a while. Stefano’s appears to be a bit of an empire; they also have a micro-brewery next door to the restaurant so we shall be sampling the amber nectar before dinner.

The amber nectar sampled before dinner was very good. There was a range of beers and the place was full with the great, the good, the aspiring and, no doubt, the wankers of Mildura. The experience at Stefano's was mixed. The food was good but the overall service was not. There were two problems. We had booked for 19:00; others had booked for 19:30. There was a set menu of five courses. The first three (a twice-cooked cheese soufflé, a pork sausage with puy lentils,  orecchiette with an oxtail sauce) came steadily and at a good pace. Then we waited 40 minutes for the quail with fennel. 

We waited because the kitchen had decided that it would manage matters for its own convenience and not for the comfort of the diners. Everyone, both 19:00 and 19:30 people, was served at the same time. We were the early booking so we had to wait.

The second problem was the deserts. There were two: a flourless orange cake and a brulée. Both were good but they were served alternatively. Now, I am aware that when you go to the Rugby Club dinner you might get chicken and beef served to alternate diners. But this is not what happened at a restaurant with pretensions such as Stefano's. Two deserts means two smaller deserts for each diner, not one each.

We returned to the apartment where I ate an Anzac biscuit and retired to bed.

27 July – The high road to Wentworth and beyond

Sooner or later there comes a time in each of our lives when we need to seek out pastures new. Today, for The G and me, was one of those days. Of course, once you have been staying in a place for 5 nights, packing up feels a bit like moving home. We are headed for Mildura which, The G tells me, is grape (eating rather than drinking variety) and citrus country. We had enjoyed Broken Hill but felt that we have taken everything that it had to offer, determined that we would not live there for quids and concluded that it would probably be a ghost town in 20 years’ time.

Our ultimate destination today is Mildura but Wentworth is on the way and seemed to be an interesting place to stop. Wentworth is the place where the Murray and Darling Rivers meet, as I thought, in a turbulent confusion of rushing waters. In this expectation I was to be disappointed.

As you can see from the map, there is
not a lot of stuff along the route from
Broken Hill to Wentworth.

The drive between Broken Hill and Wentworth is about 280 kms and is across bushland that varies between relatively open to low scrub with scattered trees. There isn't a lot of forest. There are slight inclines in the road; Broken Hill is 315 metres above sea level, Wentworth is 37 metres and Mildura 50 metres so we dropped 250 metres as we came but it was not noticeable. The road, like the others we have travelled on, is straight. It is also extremely well made. We have remarked to one another that the condition of the roads in the outback of NSW is remarkably good.

There is little to see. It’s not boring so much as just unchanging, and you would not want to drive these roads with any frequency, at least I wouldn't. There are no sights of any note but we did pass a couple of points of vague interest. There is a road stop at a place called Coombah. Between Broken Hill and Coombah there are a few kilometres where the road travels alongside what looks, to all intents and purposes, like the country park of an English gentleman. There are trees that are well spaced out with grass in between. We had seen this on the drive between Mudgee and Cobar. We are not sure how it happens and whether it is natural. I am not sure that we care very much but perhaps we ought to.

Parkland - well, almost.

The Coombah road stop is unexciting. We stopped nonetheless, but it looked so uninviting that we did not go in even though I was sure that they had the best bread and butter pudding in the state. I have formed a fancy that outback roadstops vie with each other for the best bread and butter pudding. I found an article that made me think perhaps it would have been interesting. The woman who manages says that she has seen an emu trying to self-serve petrol. That would be a sight.

The Combat Roadhouse where emus fill themselves up with petrol

About 100 kms from Wentworth there is a sign to the Gingko Mine. We thought we had heard of this before. There are, in fact two mines, the Gingko and the Snapper mines and they mine mineral sands. These sands are from old beaches from an inland sea that existed about 7 Million years ago. A highly informative website told me that they mine Rutile and Zircon. Natural rutile can contain significant amounts of tantalum and niobium, as well as up to 10% iron. It has the highest ability to propagate light than any other known mineral. Zircon is very hard, apparently, and is used in blast furnaces (it has a melting point above 2,500 degrees C), in spacecraft because of its resistance to heat and corrosion, and in computer disc drives. So, now you know – wake up at the back.

There is a bridge which is at what I think is called the Bunnerungee Bridge Rest Area. It is quite a large bridge which seems to cross a dry river. I think that the area is a lake system that does not always sport lakes that are full. I walked down to the river or lakebed and it was pretty muddy. I did take a picture of a magnificent thistle. As we left we saw a trio of memorial stones but it was not clear exactly why they were there.

A handsome bridge over a dry lake although the lake bed was wet and muddy

A very handsome thistle, but I am not sure that New South Wales is its native habitat

We were not sure why there were three memorials at the Bunnerungee Bridge Rest Area. This is one of them

Continuing along the highway (that's all you can do other perhaps than take one of the many turns to Pooncarrie) there is a signpost to Annabranch Hall about 65 kms from Wentworth. I had visions of a magnificent hall in the bush but in fact it is just an area with nothing there.

As we drew closer to Wentworth there were more and more turnings off the road to properties. None of these properties had a house that was visible (though one had a “for sale” sign with a “sold” sticker across it and the sign bore the picture of a house). These properties each had a sign which proclaimed its name. Each sign could be read if one was travelling from Wentworth (the opposite direction to us). The point is I suppose that no one would be travelling to and looking for these places from Broken Hill so the information needed only to be advertised from the one direction.

The G had selected a place called the Artback Gallery and Café for lunch but when we arrived it was closed. So was the rest of Wentworth or so it seemed. Far from being the hustling bustling centre of life I had anticipated it was quiet and dull. The G dealt with the Tourist Information Centre which, with two people behind the counter, was grossly overstaffed. I think that the main result of that was that we found a baker that served an acceptable coffee and homemade (or made locally) Cornish pasties and jam doughnuts. They said that the man who made the pasties was Cornish and certainly (and I am something of an expert on the Cornish pasty) I think that they were close to the genuine article.

I wonder who persuaded the Marketing Department of Massey Ferguson that they should erect this memorial. On reflection, such a tiny tractor seems perhaps less than appropriate 

We took a walk of a couple of kays each way to the place where the two mighty rivers meet. Far from the crashing sounds and turbulent sights that I had expected I was confronted with an expanse of quiet water, muddy and grey-brown, that was presumably wending its way somewhere but which was in no great hurry to get there.

"In the land three rivers I'm longing to be, Where the Tyne, Wear and Tees meet the north rolling sea." Oh, no, that's another country ... this one is two rivers and they meet in calm, if muddy, waters

An MX7 like Terry used to have (he had two apparently and surprised when he said the they were very reliable)

I have decided that I am interested in the flora and fauna of the bush (this interest will pass) and, having noticed that there is a Botanical Garden near Mildura determined to visit it on the way. As it happened, as we drove out of Wentworth, The G spotted a large corrugated iron shed with a sign outside proclaiming “Auto Museum”. We had to stop. It was $5 each and when we got inside it was wonderful. Quirky would be the word. The shed was filled with cars that looked like barn finds. We locked the fellow in conversations and the place is basically for people to put cars in while they get round to restoring them. One interesting one was a Ford Falcon Delta was an XL Falcon sedan given a Mustang-style makeover (I mistook it for a Mustang and then got confused by the boot). This car was apparently used in an armed robbery and its history is documented.

The Big V Auto Museum - quaint, quirky and, to anyone the least interested in motor cars and their restoration, a must visit. There's a nice collection of bikes as well

A row of barn finds ... 

A bit of rodding goes on: this Beetle has a nicely modified back end

Another RX7

A Toyota Crown. Very unusual now; we spoke to its owner who had done all the work including some lovely velour upholstery work. He had never done upholstery before but, he said, bought a sewing machine and just "gave it a go"

Ford Falcon Delta

An old Chev (I do not know the model)

If I were to have a truck this is what I would have. The G agrees - indeed she thought we would be driving off in this

Nicely done Ford rod in the entrance

The result of stopping here meant that we were too late for the Botanic Garden so we rolled into Mildura and found our accommodation. It’s an old shop and they have gone for the distressed look and I may say that it looks wonderful. It’s very well done and I am sure we shall be very comfortable. On the way in we noticed signs advertising the Merbein Great Australian Vanilla Slice incorporating The National Dried Vine Fruit Bake-Off. A Mildura woman won second prize in this competition last year and her shop is but a cockstride up the road. I shall be sampling some of her wares tomorrow.

The G is pleased with our apartment; we both love the distressed look

The bathroom, fortunately, is not distressed.

A bedroom wall. Beware the number 85 London Transport bus on its way to Victoria from Hyde Park via Islington that has decided to route itself through Mildura

Magnificent lock on the bedroom door - ain't no one gonna get in!

The G had decided that we would take dinner at The Black Stump and that we would also join in their Trivia Night. Firstly, I should say that dinner was excellent. The saltbush mutton was magnificent and The G, Terry and Enid were all impressed with theirs. The waiting staff, notably Jack the Man, we really friendly. The Trivia Night started at 20:00 and we had to move to the bar. There we found a room full of people none of whom seemed to be more than half our age. We called our team The Old Farts and proceeded to come a healthy last with 42 points. But we were equal last with two other teams so honour was partially satisfied!

The Black Stump men's room: a new look to the brick shithouse! 

Saltbush mutton

A chocolate affair enjoyed by The G

Cheese served with honey curd. We had not heard of honey curd but will try it. This one was not made with eggs, apparently just cream, honey and butter

Trivia night at The Black Stump