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