BROKEN HILL. Not quite as far as you can get from anywhere is Australia, but up there with the furthest.
Around 900km from Melbourne, Broken Hill is hardly a flying visit.
But with the nearby Menindee Lakes in flood, and a car for a few days, that's what we did.
When full, the area holds 3 times the water of Sydney Harbour, which is a hell of a lot of Olympic-size pools.
It is also an extremely important birding site. And stunning to look at. Wish we'd stayed longer.
Broken Hill itself is a reasonably interesting and pleasant town, with a rich, multicultural history, and a good pie shop.
Thanks to its association with the movie "Priscilla", it also has a thriving drag scene and festival.
Still, we hadn't come to Broken Hill for Broken Hill itself, but to camp in the nearby bush.
Out this way, 3 hours drive or 200kms is "nearby".
Mutawinji National Park was our destination.
True outback, red soil, sparse, open, big skies.
There are several good hikes in the park, including Rockholes Loop and Bynguano Range walking track.
You're unlikely to being sharing Mutawinji with more than a handful of others.
There's wallabies, euros, kangaroos, and lots of emus around.
It was the first time for us to see the iconic Major Mitchell cockatoo.
Maybe we were just lucky, but we saw some big flocks.
Another species known to flock to this part of the outback, is the movie maker.
If the Mundi Mundi pass looks familiar, well done you.....
Just outside Silverton, 10km from Broken Hill, one of the pivotal scenes from Mad Max was filmed right there.
Silverton's Mad Max Museum draws visitors from all over the world.
There are genuine and reproduction cars, other props, costumes, and photgraphs from the filming of the legendary series of films.
The end.