Willow Springs Station was such a fabulous place it was sad to leave but we needed to move onto Broken Hill to prep for our week at the Mundi Mundi Bash.
Our drive had us passing the Waulkaringa Gold Mine Ruins. We drove in for a good look around and took advantage of the stop to make some lunch. A culinary delight of crackers, meat and cheese and maybe a beer to wash it all down. This is living Barry! To see the ruins and imagine what it was like when it was thriving leaves you in a daydream.
Time to continue on and we came out at Yunta which left a short drive to today’s destination of Olary. This is literally a one pub, 2 house town. We camped alongside the railroad line with a heap of other like minded people, most probably headed to Broken Hill as well waiting on the Bash.
To support the town, as we do, we headed across to the pub for dinner. We met the new publican who recently purchased the pub and was doing her best to make a go of it. She was single handedly serving the bar as well as manning the kitchen. Awesome effort and no-one went away disappointed. Check out the letters written in the early 1900’s. While in the pub we met a couple, Brad and Vicki who were also headed to the Bash. Remember these names as I will be mentioning them in future posts – have I piqued your interest? 🙂 🙂
Next day and we arrive at the big smoke of Broken Hill but continued through to camp for a couple of nights at Menindee Lakes. It was overcast and windy, therefore cold but the lakes were well worth it. The haunting trees in the lake with the mass of pelicans and other water birds will be a memory that lasts forever and we will definitely be back. Ah the serenity….
Back to Broken Hill and we were staying at the racecourse for a few days to catch up on washing and grocery shopping before heading on site at Mundi Mundi. We attempted to wash the truck at the local car wash but it wasn’t to be – too high and no truck wash in town, the owner was on site and wasn’t too keen to have us wash all the mud off at his establishment. We continue with our mud design for now.
While in town we checked out some galleries, the famous Palace Hotel from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and mining tributes. One of the gallery highlights was the “Big Picture”. It is an acrylic painting measuring 12m high x 100m long. We also headed out to The Living Desert to admire the sculptures and sunset. This sleepy little town has plenty to offer.
It was time to head closer to the Bash and we stayed the night at Penrose Park enjoying the local hospitality offering dinner and breakfast in the shed on the place. D day and Bash here we come. This is our first Mundi Mundi Bash but Gaily and Gilly have been before. We stopped at the Silverton Pub to check out the atmosphere and grab lunch, walked around the town checking all the sights, a variety of artist galleries and the Mad Max 2 Museum before continuing onto Mundi Mundi. We were living it up as we camped in the crew area so were graced with hot showers and a full kitchen and washing facilities. In return we worked as road marshalls, helping with the roll in and roll out.
It was a busy week, starting at 6am each morning and on roll out, starting at 4:30am. It was very well organised and with the help of the vollies, all went very smoothly. It wasn’t all work and no play and we had the opportunity to check out the stalls and enjoy a few of the concerts. When asked which is better, Big Red or Mundi Mundi? They are very similar structurally, Mundi Mundi is just on a larger scale therefore not as intimate as Big Red. In terms of my favourite, I’ve got to say Big Red wins for me, I missed it being in the background, watching the kids hurling themselves down the side on their boogie boards. Birdsville and Big Red will always hold a special part of my heart. For context, Big Red Bash had 7500 people this year (normally 10000), while Mundi Mundi had almost 15000. Finishing the week, Gaily and I were asked to be interviewed about volunteering at the Bashes – we were nervous as going in but in the end it was a hoot!
And just like that, the week passes and we are heading out. We had a great time, catching up with old and new friends and felt proud to be part of another iconic Bash event. As we joined the line of the die hard campers, cars and caravans, motorbikes and even a push bike we wove our way back towards Broken Hill. We were lucky enough to witness the camels being walked back to their home in Silverton. It’s as close as we have come to seeing camels in the wild, it will have to do for now.
Stay tuned………..