Hot day in Baradine today, over 32 but a dry heat, it really is more comfortable than coastal 32 degrees.
Drove to Woolybah, a former sawmill village which now has a population of 3. In its heyday, the little school had 43 pupils, hard to imagine today where they'd come from. The tiny hamlet has a few empty cottages which used to house the workers. The mill closed about 20 years ago and two of the residents are the former owner and his wife. Tom's a very pleasant chap and we would have enjoyed talking to him without the constant interruption of a visiting blowhard (another grey nomad trying to impress!) Tom's wife had gone to town to shop so we didn't see her but apparently they love living here, about 42 kms from Baradine, although closer to Kenabri, which has about 4 inhabited houses and a phone box. Oh, and a children's playground which looks as if no child has swung there for quite a while.
The sawmill is in fairly good condition and has Heritage status. Chris says it's not as big as the Cessnock mill owned by his family, but much the same otherwise. This one was only built in 1962 after the previous one burnt down.
Back to Camp Cypress, where we did a load of washing (free) and had a lazy afternoon. No photos today, and no animals sighted apart from horses at the sawmill and goats in someone's yard. However we did see an unusual fungus like a golf ball or sometimes as big as a tennis ball. It grows in the sand on the edge of the road, and while driving along you can see a white line of them on either side of the sandy road, just like painted lines. How odd.
Tomorrow we move on to Pilliga village, which has a free camp at an artesian bore. We may even have a swim.
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