Menindee Lakes

 From  Bourke and lots of rain we headed further south to Cobar where it was not only wet but freezing cold. We stocked up again  on food and grog and then headed off to Meadow Glen a camping area about half way to Broken Hill where we planned to meet up with Nick and Chris again.  They arrived there about 5 mins after us. So we both proceeded to find a level patch of ground that wasn't likely to get too muddy as it was still showering.  Chris hunted around for some wood and lit a very pathetic fire which we managed to keep going most of the afternoon until it just got too cold and we ran out of dry wood.

Mining display at park opposite Information centre

 We had planned to stop at a rest area before getting to Broken hill but didn't find anything suitable so continued on and stopped at the first  caravan park we saw. As it was dog friendly I looked for Chris and Nick and sure enough they were a few rows across from us.

 After a few nights in Broken Hill and getting more fuel etc we headed off to Menindee in the pouring rain and wind. It was easing to showers by the time we got there but still very windy so we opted not to camp by the lake but camped at the Bourke and Wills camping area along side the river. We camped in an open spot away from the old river gums as we didn't trust them.

 On our first excursion back into Menindee we came across Pat who we knew from Lake Dunn.  She was out walking her dogs and doing some bird spotting. On our trip into Menindee we just got the paper and a few groceries. 
Since we had arrived ar the lakes the weather had slowly improved and after a couple of days it was really quite nice and we explored the area , checking out all the lakes and weir and went up to Cosy hollow where a local guy told us some of the history of the area. We also did more exploring around Menindee township and found an old rail/ road bridge over the Darling  and the old pub.
  Where we were camped was just down from Burke and Wills base camp so we often had people driving into the area to check out this piece of history.

 Lake Pamamaroo sunset

    The whole area was full of pretty wildflowers and lots of birds both big and little. Pat, is a keen bird watcher and was pleased to find some different birds where we were when she came to visit one day. Her knowledge was very useful and helped me to identify more birds.

 Mallee ringneck parrot

 As the weather had settled down Lynn decided that perhaps we should move to be lakeside like most of the other campers in the area. We found a lovely spot with almost a beach in front of us and again we got lovely sunsets across the water just like at Lake Dunn.  There was also different birds and flowers around us.

 Cosy Hollow

  We stayed at Menindee lakes for about a week and explored the area fairly thorughly. We had a day out at Kinchega National park and visited the old homestead and Woolshed which were quite interesting. Our only problem that day was that the loop road was closed after rains and we had to double back quite a long way to get from the lake back to the homestead.





 Lynn with a different steam tractor that had been "walked" from Melbourne

 The woolshed was quite interesting and seemed to be in better condittion than the Yanga one ( see relavant blog). but although the equipment was in better condition the story boards weren't as good.
<><>

<><>

 Timber jinker  note the wooden wheels

Kinchega woolshed