Hillston, New South Wales

We are currently in Hillston, on the Lachlan River.    A small town, nothing of note about the place except that the land surrounding the town grows crops: oranges, almonds and of course, cotton.   All due to the Lachlan River and local groundwater sources.

The Lachlan River is the fourth longest river in Australia, and does not flow into the Murray.   It spans 1,448 kn through New South Wales and ends in a swamp, although when it floods the water finds its way into the Murrumbidgee River.   So I guess, indirectly, the water ends up in the Murray River.

Altogether we have travelled 868 km from Charleville to Hillston, almost in a straight line down.   Often we felt that the road had no bends in it.   We stopped in three towns, Cunnamulla, Bourke and Cobah, with nothing much in between, except for bush, and wild goats.

In Cobah we were on the same site as previously, some weeks back, a definite 'de ja vu' feeling , however we hoped Walter did not need to visit the Cobar hospital again.  

Before we left Bourke I took a photograph of two of the bottle trees there.   Magnificent specimens.

This one was hollow inside, but still very much alive.

I really liked the markings on this bottle tree.

Now back to Hillston, a great place for taking Piper for walks but not much of interest for Walter.

They had an Art Trail in town which we did not follow.    However I did manage to get some photos of the 'Emu Antics' created to welcome visitors.

                                                   

Two  more emus.   It is too late now to get the map and follow the art trail.   Such a pity.

The Hillston Ex-Servicemen & Citizens Club.   We had dinner there tonight, a very popular and noisy place, but the food was good.   Standard of dress for men appeared to be shorts and thongs (flip flops).

The swing bridge over the river, and onto the circular walk on the other side.

Lots of gum trees with this one in danger of falling into the river.

The council owns and runs the caravan park.   At the moment it is being renovated, with funds from both the Federal Government and the New South Wales Government.   Fantastic facilities, all freshly tiled and painted, a new shower block, great laundry with cheap washing machines and dryers, and no rules written everywhere.    Some caravan parks go overboard on them.  Plus at $37 a night it was cheap.   We paid $64 for the site at Cobar. 

It has been busy every night, mostly with people returning from the Mundi Mundi Bash in Broken Hill.    

As with all Council Caravan Parks there are sporting grounds or show grounds or a park next door.   At Hillston there is a sports field on one side and a park with a swimming pool, playground and plenty of grass and an empty lake on the other side.   The lake fills each September, with water from the Lachlan River, and then empties the following March.   The lake is used for canoeing and paddle boarding.     It must take some filling though!    A lot of river water.

This shop is now a thrift shop, run by one of the charities here.   Unfortunately it was not open, probably due to there being no volunteers.

Last night it rained heavily, and I slept with a sheet of plastic on the side of my bed.   Luckily it was a large bed so I still had plenty of room.    I am mostly on top of the leaks around the edge of the roof, but I did not cover a tiny section, and the water found its way in there.   I went to sleep with the sound of drips on the plastic.    Luckily it did not keep me awake.    Quite a tortuous sound, drip, drip, drip!