Clare & on to Broken Hill (days 37 - 38)
So it became time to head "back". What we thought had been dry so far, was indeed to get drier. While we continued to have nice clear weather, the wind was chilly and the colours changed ... the sky still that fantastic blue, but the lack of trees began to make the colours less rich, far more bare as they change to a grey-brown and later to the red earth of the western plains. The vegetation became very sparse and low. Fascinating how each day remained quite different and full of wonder in its own way - certainly a LONG WAY from "nothing" 😲.
We stayed overnight in Clare and it was chilly. Nice place and valley with so many wineries and walking and biking trails - perhaps one day we will return for a much more thorough visit and exploration.
On the way we diverted to take in a couple more of those painted silos. First one was in the small community of Owen just south west of Clare. The second was in the (also) small community of Farrell Flat just north east of Clare. These are a wonderful tribute to the pioneers of the regions and a quick search on Google Maps indicates just how many there are right around Australia.
Just near the silo at Farrell Flat was this magnificent gum standing proudly in the paddock - I included it here because as the follwoing image shows, shortly thereafter, the landscape changes quite dramatically as described above. This scene captures the impact the large trees have on the way the landscape is "seen". Not too many big old trees seen outside of towns after this for a few days.
By way of contrast, just before we reached Burra, this panorama provides a sense of my descriptions above (accepting, of course, that this particular scene is man-made in the sense it is the result of broad-acre agricultural clearing. However, you can get a sense of how the colours are beginning to change as "things" flatten out and the sky becomes "larger".
The next set of photos are around the old mine in Burra and conclude with a photo of the memorial to the mine workers looking back over part of the town.
This photo again highlighting my earlier descriptions but this time clearly showing the impact of the drought with the sheep being just provided with fodder because of the lack of grass. Some recent light falls are evident with a slight tinge on the foreground paddock - but much more follow up was needed so it did not just wither.
I have some friends who are very keen music buffs, so I needed to stop and get this next photo as a tribute to their passion. This is the Midnight Oil house - they will know what I mean. I didn't until we looked it up. The light is different to the album cover and sadly we were about 2 hours early to get the sunlight on the front, but still it makes for a cool photo. The wider angle of the second photo is just for context showing the remains nearby of the old Cobb & Co coach house.
Just to show what a difference lighting can make ... here is the album cover (and I'm sure the lighting was far from natural 😁 (courtesy: https://www.i-tech.com.au/sm-88985339161-midnight-oil-diesel-and-dust-vinyl-album-380514.html)
Next up are two photos of roadside emus and a roadside young kangaroo along the Barrier Highway approaching Broken Hill in the afternoon. Something about seeing emus (most days hereafter) on these long open roads was very comforting. This is in contrast to seeing the masses of feral goats and (lots fewer) kangaroos other than as road kill. Just seem more at ease with their environment and content to stay out of harms way. Easy to see how they blend in so well, even in these sparsely vegetated environments.
And to end this post a panorama of part of the Barrier Range as we neared Broken Hill. The changed landscape is clear (I think) and the colours in the late afternoon are just superb.
What a canvas nature paints for us. 😁
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