Day 94 Thursday 10/8/2023 Bourke to Mt Hope, clear 6 – 19

It’s a bright clear ‘make you feel good’ morning and it’s already 19 degrees at 9:00am. We had a good sleep last night and there was no traffic noise.

We take the Kidman Way and head south. We see the cotton gin and in the distance what seems to be kilometres of yellow-wrapped cotton bales or ‘Golden Eggs’ as they are called. We’re back in mulga, eucalypt scrub, and red dirt. Feral goats and their kids graze the roadside. The road is good and so much better than the Newell Highway has been in past years.

Last night Woody wrapped a few chunks of leftover pork in foil and put them in the fridge. As we left this morning, he popped a little foil package in the car for his 10 o’clock snack. “That tastes like meat!” He says. I’m wondering what he’s on about until he tells me that he thought he’d grabbed the last of B’s chocolate slice.

It’s close enough for an early lunch at Cobar and we find a gift shop and cafe called Gum Nut that has a sunny courtyard. It’s perfect for lunch and a coffee and I buy a new pair of scuffs on the way out.

The drive down to Mt Hope is almost straight and flat and we can’t help but remember our trip through here when state Covid regulations requested us to cross New South Wales in 24 hours. The soil changes from red to brown and there are now more native pines. Grazing properties are starting to appear.

Elle has camped at Mt Hope before and knows that there is a donation power point beside the hall. There are a couple of vans down the back near the toilet block. We plug into the power. It’s a pleasant afternoon but we know that by tomorrow we’ll be switching to long pants and sleeves and tossing the shorts and T-shirts into the laundry basket.

Mt Hope was a gold and copper mining town and now has a population of 7. As far as I can see there is the highway and one other street, the pub and 3 houses. I sketch the shed by the fence before we wander over to the pub for Happy Hour. The Royal Hotel, with its unusual concrete bar, is busy. It’s homely and run by a young couple (anyone younger than us is young). But where did everyone come from? There are a few of the obligatory Toyota utes out front and a large fully loaded truck in the parking area across the road. And of course, there are some campers. The town common offers acres of free camping beside the pub.

As we settle in for Happy Hour #2 in Elle’s motor home a light plane wobbles low overhead and we wonder if is, perhaps, a neighbour.

Dinner is crumbed steak and vegetables. Our new electric heater keeps tripping the power box.

A truck parks out front while the driver sleeps. The stars are beautiful.

Accom: $10.00 (Power, Toilet, Shower)

Towing Kms: 321kms