Packsaddle to Broken Hill

31st May 2021

Distance: 178Km

With the next stop less than two hours drive way there was no rush to get going this morning and we didn’t leave until nearly 10am after having breakfast at the roadhouse.

Easy drive, in fact as we neared Broken Hill we remembered that the town is on Central Australian Time and we were arriving far too early so we stopped at a clearing by the road for half an hour purely to kill time.

Andrew and Katie peeled off to get fuel while I waited on the main road eventually they called on the radio to find out where I was as they had arrived at the caravan park. Anyway we eventually met up and checked in – we had two sites for three nights, while we were there more people arrived and were turned away as the place was booked out.

Once set up, the kids went shopping while I stayed behind and looked after the dog. We made tentative plans for the next few days and where we would visit.

Camerons Corner to Packsaddle

30th May 2021

Distance: 303Km
Fuel: 33L

Spent a part of the morning letting the air out of the tyres for a more comfortable ride – should have done it in Tibooburra but the first two thirds of the road were fine it was only the last bit where the corrugations were really bad.

We set off in convoy at about 8.30am and made good progress the rough sections of the road were much better handled with the lowered tyre pressure though I would hesitate to say “good”.

We arrived at Tibooburra at about 10am. We pumped up our tyres to normal pressures because we were back n bitumen and filled up with fuel. We rang the caravan parks in Broken Hill but they were fully booked for tonight so decided to press on and checkout free camps spots on the way.

It was sealed road again, a section of the road was an emergency airstrip so it was quite odd driving down this massive strip of bitumen in the middle of nowhere.

The rest of the road was more familiar.

Arrived at Packsaddle Roadhouse just in time for lunch, They had a sign “Unpowered camps sites – Free”, with a supplementary sign offering showers for $5, so that was it, here we would stay for the night only about 170 km from Broken Hill where we were booked for the following three nights.

The camp area was just dirt but there was plenty of it so we set up a nice camp, and spent the afternoon chatting once it was dark we wondered over to the Roadhouse for a meal and a couple of beers.

The sky was absolutely amazing, with no light pollution the sky was a mass of stars after a golden sunset (watched from the veranda of the pub). The Packsaddle Roadhouse was great, friendly staff, good service, well worth supporting.

The purpose of our trip had been realised now it was just a question of what we would see next.

Broken Hill to Tibooburra

28th May 2021

Distance: 334km
Fuel: 35L

Woke up this morning to a heavy fog. We all started packing away fairly early and were on the road by 9am. The fog and clouds slowly burned off as we went north.

After the flat country further south the first part of the road to Tibooburra was relatively hilly and the road surprisingly twisty. The further north we drove the more arid the scenery.

We stopped at Packsaddle for fuel and a meal before continuing north. The road to Tibooburra is now bitumen for its entire distance.

Tibooburra is a very small town with a population of about 134, everything seems to be run from the General Store/Post Office/Service station. We arrived at the service station to check in to the caravan park and tried to book two powered sites for us but were told that three cars is three sites so rather than book powered sites booked three unpowered sites for $20 each.

After setting up our camp I filled up with fuel but the kids decided to wait for the morning.

At least the road is open which bodes well for tomorrow.