Around Cobar in Easter:



As a desert should be, Cobar does not disappoint and is hot and very dry.
I visited the Open pit gold mine which is only about 4 km from town and there is a lookout on a hill that allows the visitor to appreciate the size of the open pit; it operates 7 days a week and there were loaders carrying the ore to be processed  at a plant nearby, they advertise the production of a 15 kg ingot of gold every week (around 450 oz, at the current price of 1200 dlls/oz would be around $540,000 dlls/US/week, I wonder what are the production costs)
After the mine I visited the Old water reservoir and bird sanctuary , but I found it almost dry, and the same condition affected the Newey, which is another water reservoir for the city, and as birds is concern, only a few ducks were enjoying the remaining water. I was born in an area of the world that has become very dry, and am very familiar with water rationing and droughts.
I have not commented about the Road trains, because in the areas where I have traveled this  time, the most they haul is a double trailer, the most impressive ones in the NorthWest that I saw in my previous trip were pulling 4 and ocasionally five trailers.
I will continue my trip tomorrow. Victor

                                          Town of Cobar entrance from the East.

                                          Open pit gold mine

                                          Loaders carrying the ore

                                          The empty one has to wait until the full one exits the tunnel

                                          Empty loader enetering the mine tunnel

                                          15 kg goold ingot extracted each week

                                          Almost dry old reservoir

                                          No birds around

                                          A few ducks at the Newey reservoir

                                          The Newey reservoir with very little water as well

                                          Main street of Cobar, The Barrier highway.

                                          Double road train

                                          I did not see any one longer

Newey reservoir. Cobar

From Broken Hill to Cobar, important mining towns of Australia



The 456 km  trip was uneventful, perhaps because I only travel after sunup and never after sundown, the reason I mention this is that this stretch of road is deadly for kangaroos and risky for drivers, I stopped counting after 100, therefore I must have seen more than 200 dead roadkill kangaroos, one goat and one sheep, there were many goats which during the day could represent a risk, they are feral, therefore not controlled by fences, I had been warned by a fellow motorcyclist in Tasmania who mentioned this road as full of wild goats, he was right.
The second live animal I have seen in this trip  was an Emu today, he crossed in front of me, but gave me enough time to slow down.
Wilcannia was a sad town, there are many aboriginal peoples, the Darling river is almost dry due to a severe drought that periodically affects this region, but there must be more to it as the river bridge was covered by protest canvas asking whoever is responsible besides the lack of rain asking them to "take your hands off our river", there was a police present at the site and I could not understand what was going on until I went to the Mining museum in Cobar, where the attendant explained  to me that the area of Queensland is mostly responsible for the siphoning of water of the Darling.
As luck had it, a gentleman present immediately intervened in our conversation and stating that he was from Queensland he said that they are blamed because it is politically expedient to do it, but that in reality the area is responsible for only one percent of the taking of that  water and all the rest of  what is a very extensive area siphones off most of it.
The result as I understood it is that the river in the dry season is left without water and the Aborigines as usual get the short end of the stick so to speak!
Tomorrow I will visit an open mine, as the history of mining in this area like in Broken Hill is very rich and important for the development of modern Australia. Around here copper has been big but gold is important as well, the museum shows the human and technological aspects of mining thru the history of the country and this area in particular. Victor

Spending Good Friday in Broken Hill.



Everything was closed,  only a few tourist attractions remained open, therefore I drove to the Miners Memorial at the top of a hill constructed with the discards of the mining operation. Roughly between 800 and 1000 miners have given their lives in this mining industry, security has slowly improved, but it continues to be a risky bussiness.
BHP Billiton is the second biggest mining company in the world, and it started here in Broken Hill, but now it operates many big mines around the world and had an income around 60 billion dollars last year, just behind a Swiss mining organization that had 200 billion dollars profit last year.
The mine in Broken Hill is still operating and there are more subterranean highways under the ground than above, a visit to the Geocenter in town will compliment the history of mining and it combines the art of Pro Hart with a large mural and an instructive video.
I took pictures of the historical buildings in the downtown area, but at lunch time I could not find any place open except McDonalds. Tomorrow I will continue to Cobar.

                                         View of Broken Hill

                                          Line of Load Miners Memorial

                                          Miners Memorial

                                          Miners Memorial

                                          45 kg nugget of pure silver

                                          History of the Silver Tree

                                          Silver Tree

                                          Historic buildings downtown Broken Hill

                                          !800s style building

                                          Historic downtown Broken Hill

                                          A history of hard work and wealth creation

                                          Well preserved history

                                          Mantaining history alive

You do not find many like this

From the Murray River Valley(Mildura) to the Outback! (Broken Hill)



Changing the scenery 100%, after leaving Mildura, 32 km later, I arrived to Wentworth where I had mentioned the two biggest rivers in Australia join and there is a little park with an observation tower to appreciate the difference in color between the water of each river, appropriately is called Junction park and it contains the lock that acting as a small dam regulates the flow of water provided to the irrigation systems and the cities.
The rest is desert similar to the Nullarbor at times not even trees are visible, the Silver highway at the moment is dusty due to the construction of an oil pipe, and after 295 km, I arrived to Broken Hill, a mining and very historic town.
I had lunch and registered myself at the Gateway Motel close to downtown and then visited Silverton, another mining town established in 1881 (at that time my paternal grandfather was studying highschool at Notre Dame University Indiana together with two of his brothers), but now Silverton is a Ghost town and only a tourist attraction, it is eerie, there is a scenic look out called Mundi Mundi about 5 km farther West with extensive desert views.
On the way back to town I visited a small park that contains several rock sculptures provided by artists from around the world, two of them from Mexican authors, the effort is commendable in their inception, but for my liking I was more impressed by the skill of Greg Duncan and his Wall made out of Huon pine wood, located near the Derwent bridge in Tasmania, west of Cradle Mountain.
With sunset coming I returned to my hotel to avoid the risk of encountering kangaroos in my path.Victor

                                         Old building downtown Mildura

                                          History in buildings of Mildura

                                          Murray on the left, Darling on the right at Junction park

                                         Already only one Murray river

                                         At right between the trees the lock to regulate  the Murray

                                          Rivers junction at Wentworth

                                          Diagram of the rivers junction

                                         Artistry with the towels by the management at Gateway Motel

                                          Outside Silverton

                                          You can see forever

                                          Can you appreciate the Earth curvature?

                                          Founded in 1881

                                         Eerie feeling seeing this abandoned buildings, no people

                                          Looks like the inhabitants just left.

                                         Similar structures to the modern ones

                                          The Living desert sculptures, Mexican sculptor

                                                       By Mexican author

                                          Scultor from Tiblisi, Georgia, near the Caspian sea.

                                                        Georgian author

                                          Artist from Damascus, Siria

                                                       Sirian author

                                          Another Georgian artist

Georgian rock