Kerry had been told by her brother that the Wadlata Outback Centre in Port Augusta was really worth a visit so before leaving to drive to Broken Hill, we went to have a look.

The centre is a museum and interactive centre which goes through the history, culture and other information about outback Australia.

Once inside we entered through the large reptilian mouth into the self guided display of the history from pre-settlement through to indigenous then early explorers.

The exhibits were really well done – great bush tucker information….

There was detailed info on the 4 main early explorers Eyre, Sturt, Stuart and Giles….

Eyre came to Australia as a young man keen to make his fortune at sheep farming but soon changed his mind and determined to make an honourable career as an explorer. He undertook 3 explorations in 1839, 1840 and 1841 the 3^rd of which crossed the Nullabor from Port Lincoln to Albany in WA.

Sturt was a British Officer who came to Australia for adventure. He explored into the harsh centre of Australia in his 1844 expedition where he, amongst other things, brought a rowing boat for the large inland sea he was sure existed in the interior. The expedition was costly and futile as no sea was found and they had to return to Adelaide.

Stuart was a Scotsman who had been a draughtsman on Sturts 1844 expedition – he set out and finally made the crossing from Adelaide to Darwin from 1860-1862.

Giles was an experienced bushman who did several east -west expeditions through the interior in the 1870s….the last of the “Great Explorers”.

In the display walk through was a Trans Australian railway carriage set up as it would have been in the early days of the rail link between Adelaide and Darwin.

There was a Royal Flying Doctor service display with the history of the service – photos and info. In 1912, Rev John Flynn a Presbyterian minister who rode by horse and camel through the outback preaching the gospel was stuck by the plight of the outback dwellers who had no medical service when sick or injured and so he came up with the idea of a small plane and radio service that would allow a doctor to be called for and transported to where required. The idea was dismissed by most people as the dream of an impractical visionary, but Flynn persisted and managed to establish the Australian Aeromedical Medical service in 1933 which later became the Royal Flying Doctor Service….and the rest is history!!

After spending considerable time looking at the displays we had coffee and scones for morning tea then set off towards Broken Hill…

The drive up the mountains of the Flinders Range was slow as we were stuck behind a semi all the way but the view was great towards the mountains….

We stopped at Peterborough for lunch hoping to go to the bakery we had been to previously but it was not open – lunch at another café was delicious although Trev did snag the last chicken on Turkish….leaving Klaus out in the cold…

It was a long drive to Broken Hill over mostly arid plains with only the odd goat clan sighting creating interest. Finally reaching Broken Hill Regional Events Centre and Racecourse we checked in and set up – the sites were grassy and very large – it felt very luxurious in comparison to our last couple of camp sites….

As it was Gordie and Kerry’s last night with us we went out for dinner to the restaurant at the Hilltop Motel…