Silverton is west of Broken Hill towards the South Australian border. Silverton was a mining town in the 1880s before being overshadowed by Broken Hill and has become a regular filming locations for many movies including Mad Max 2, Razorback, Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Mission Impossible II.

Dry creek bed at one of the 39 dips in the road between Broken Hill and Silverton

The welcoming party – Apostle birds by the roadside.

Silverton Hotel

Little corellas at Silverton

The painted beetle

The Silverton Donkeys – we ass-ociated with them for a time.

Tourists and locals love these guys – they are a real ass-et to the town.

This Willie wagtail enjoys the food bonus disturbed by the donkeys’ chewing.

Max Rockatansky (he’s mad you know) has left his mark in the town.

The Mundi Mundi Plains looking west into South Australia

Yellow tails (Ptilotus nobilis) at Mundi Mundi

The view west

Silvertails (Ptilotus obovatus) at the Mundi Mundi Lookout

Prickly wattle at Mundi Mundi

Just outside Broken Hill is a wreck of an open carriage at the site of the only attack on Australian soil during World War I. Two Afghan cameleers who were Turkish sympathisers ambushed a train carrying 1200 people in open carriages for a social outing to Silverton from Broken Hill on New Year’s Day in 1915. Four people were killed and 7 wounded before the attackers fled into the hills before being killed in a 3 hour gun battle with police.

The Kelly gang were divided in opinion about Ned’s new look and his new pump action handgun.

Pro Hart, the eccentric and talented artist lived in Broken Hill. This sculpture was dedicated to the tradies who built the town. It is a worker ant.

Pro Hart’s grave at Broken Hill Cemetery features one his famous artworks. He frequently addressed political themes in his artwork. When asked about this subject, he stated “If I said what I thought sometimes, I might get sued so I paint to show what is going on, to bring out the truth and make people aware”.

Before we left Broken Hill, we called in to Bell’s Milk Bar that claims to be Australia’ oldest milk bar (started in 1892). It is now decorated and furnished in original 1950s style.

In the afternoon, we did the 456km run to Cobar eastbound on the Barrier Highway. This purple pea was prolific in the first hour.

Dolo Hill

Further east on the Barrier Highway

On the Darling River floodplain east of Wilcannia, there are artificial high ground points for livestock in times of flood.

McCullochs Range is an elevated section of road dominated by mulga scrub.

At one one of our favourite rest areas at McCullochs Range, the Apostle birds were keen to see us.

Three species of paper daisy are growing here.

Goodenia wildflower at McCullochs Range

And a bit further down the road was another species of yellow paper daisy.

After a stop at Emmdale for a late lunch, we continued east through the dominion of the goat.

Beasts arguing about who is the GOAT. Goat 1: “Baaaa….it has to be Roger.” Goat 2: “Riiiidiculous…its Rafa!” Goat 3: “Nooo…Novak…baaaaa.”

A sea of white paper daisies

More Close Encounters of the Herd Kind. Even the goats enjoyed the flowers but recriminations were raging over who left the kid by the roadside. Some were looking for a scapegoat.

The Leopard tree – Flindersia maculosa – a tree from the Flindersia genus that mostly grow in rainforests and wetter areas. These trees were spotted on several sections of the road.

It was time for a toilet stop. Grey nomads also took the time to stop here. Grey nomad wisdom:  If old age is catching up with you …… walk faster.

Into Cobar for the night.