We have retired from farming now and hook up our caravan or camper whenever we can, to take to the open road. We live in a country of vast geographical diversity and I never fail to appreciate Warren’s patience as we’re driving when I’ll suddenly shout ‘Stop.’
I’m an obsessive photographer. As we’re travelling I perpetually scan the landscape. I see everything in photographs – the shape of a tree, a certain light or shadow on a fence or a hill that can be so fleeting, a garden gate, a vast horizon that portrays the impact of drought.
Tibooburra is in the north western corner of New South Wales. God-forsaken country some would say, and for 2018 I might agree. There’s been no rain for years. Even the kangaroos are starving – their carcasses strewn ingloriously across the dirt bare landscape. No water. Empty dams.
We took a drive up there recently – towed our trusty Golf caravan. Have a mate who spends autumn and winter there each year – gold prospecting. It’s an amazing community. The hardship seems to draw them together. But perhaps it’s just one of those outback towns that is close no matter what.
They do have tourism. People like to experience these places, get out of the office, the workplace, blow out the cobwebs. My trusty camera worked overtime. I love to find the beauty in the harshest of landscapes. It’s there.
After ten days in and around Tibooburra we headed for Cameron’s Corner. The road was so rough we broke an axle on the van. Hadn’t seen another car all day. My husband is an amazingly resourceful human being. He removed the broken axle. We left the van on the side of the road and drove to Cameron’s Corner eighty kilometres away. Thankfully the station owner let Warren use his workshop and welder.
By the time he’d repaired and replaced the axle, it was nightfall. The job had taken seven hours. We have been in some dire situations on our outback travels, but Warren’s resourcefulness will always see us safely home.
