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F.O.R. San Bernard
Member/Volunteer
Gail Brinson -"Holeman"
Holeman’s Australian Adventure
Planning for this trip began when Laurel and I were in Indiana this summer.
My younger brother, Tim, had recently taken up the hobby of grinding and
polishing opals, with the idea that the hobby could work into a retirement
income a few years down the road. He had hunted Indian artifacts in the
cornfields of Southern Indiana for years, so opals were a natural draw to him.
 Laurel
and I had gone to Australia in August 2005 on what became my last business trip
before retirement. We displayed our hole making products (punches and core
drills) at a Hair Transplant Surgeon’s meeting for 3 days in Sydney. From Sydney
we flew to Ayers Rock (Uluru is the Aboriginal name) for 3 days and then we (I)
drove a 4wd SUV to Alice Springs, approximately 300 miles - of which only 28km
was not on a sealed (paved) road. This was all the driving and riding in the
Outback that Laurel was interested in ever doing. I wanted to see and drive
through more of the Outback but at my own pace and path. When Tim suggested
(over backgammon and adult beverages) we go to Australia, I jumped at the
chance.
The plan was: there would be no plans. We knew when we would land in
Adelaide and we knew when the plane left Alice Springs. We had a list of places
we each wanted to see. Mine included the silver mines of Broken Hill and I
wanted to climb “Uluru” (Ayers Rock). Tim had 3 opal mining areas on his list,
Coober Pedy – a MUST and Mintabie and Andemooka were “I really want to go
there”. We did reserve the camper van and rooms in Sydney for the last 2 nights
in Oz, and THAT was the Plan.
I left IAH airport around 7:00 p.m. Monday and met Tim at LAX airport. We left
LAX on a Qantas 747 @ midnight and arrived at Sydney airport 15 hours later at
9:15 a.m., Wednesday. We lost Tuesday altogether, we left it behind at the
International Dateline. Clearing immigration and customs was relatively
painless, but they did threaten Tim with a $500 fine because he had some mud on
his new hiking boots. Their x-ray saw the mud, though the boots were in checked
luggage. Instead of fining Tim, they took his boots away and washed them before
returning them. They are sticklers about introducing ANY soil, plants, insects
etc.... And with good reason. Many of the introduced species are creating havoc
with their native plants and animals.
After clearing customs we take a bus to the domestic terminal and boarded a
plane to Adelaide, another 2 ½ hours away. Upon arrival in Adelaide, we find out
Tim’s luggage (with clean boots) didn’t make the flight. Qantas promised to
quickly reunite Tim and his luggage. We then took a cab to the caravan (Aussies
don’t have RV’s) depot and began orientation. Elapsed time: 30 hours for yours
truly and 32 hours for little brother - and something over 10,000 miles.
Orientation begins with the question: Have you ever driven on the wrong (left)
side of the road before? My answer was, “Yes, once here and twice in Ireland.”
She accepted my answer and we were soon tooling down the street in search of
groceries and beverages before heading to the Camper Van Park.
At an IGA, we stocked up on bread, milk, juice, water, cheese, crackers, canned
fish, coffee and snacks. Prices were somewhat more than we pay in the States,
but I’m no expert in the prices of food and groceries.
We had a rude awakening at the bottle shop. Adult beverages (beer) ranged from
$36 to $44 a case. And this was a huge bottle shop. I was afraid what the cost
would be in the outback. Regardless, we purchased a supply and headed for the
Caravan Park. Once at the park, I had a nice hot shower, put on some clean
clothes and had a cold beverage. Poor Tim, (no clean clothes yet) had a cold
beverage.
We took a short drive down the coast and had dinner at a small Thai restaurant.
It was great; it ended up being the best meal of the whole trip. We got lost
returning to the park, but I carry a small compass when I travel, so we did find
home (in the dark) and then crashed for the day.
Thursday: Day 4: We started the day by going to the airport where Tim was
reunited with his luggage. Back to the park for a quick shower and change of
clothes, and then head for Broken Hill (315 miles). It’s silver, lead and zinc
deposits were among the world’s richest, but now the silver is mostly gone and
zinc is now the most valuable mineral.
Friday: Day 5: Arrive at Broken Hill at 3:30 and our short cut was 460 miles. We
had seen emus and miles and miles of vineyards and short (less than a foot tall)
wheat fields. I couldn’t understand how they could harvest all the grapes until
I googled “Grape Harvesters” and New Holland makes an amazing harvester. The
wineries looked like small refineries with all the storage tanks. I now
understand why Australian wine is so reasonable – there is SO much of it.
Saturday: Day 6: Spent the day mucking about Broken Hill. I had to buy a hat and
finally found a canvas one that would compress for the trip home. We took a tour
of the Daydream mine between Broken Hill and Silverton (a semi-ghost town).
 The
mine was last worked in the late 40’s. There is still silver there, but isn’t
worth the effort at today’s “depressed” prices. In the early days of the mine:
 There
were 2-12 hour shifts, 6 days a week.
Boys 8 to 12 years of age entered the mine immediately after the blast, by
candle, to stack the ore in buckets.
The only thing the company provided was candles.
Water was hauled in by oxen and was more expensive than alcohol.
The average life span of a miner was less than 40 years.
No ventilation was provided.
After the mine tour, we drove on past Silverton to the Mundi Mundi Plain. Part
of the Mad Max movies (the real desolate parts) was filmed here. This was not
quite the end of the world, but you could see it from there !
We drove on the “untar” road (we call it dirt) through a sheep station. The
sheep were wild as bucks, when they saw the car; they would all run for the
horizon. The photo shows a mother and a lamb separated by a fence. All the
others ran off. Now back to the Broken Hill Caravan Park for the night. After
dinner, I realized our lack of planning had put us a day behind our original
non-schedule and we had a long next day if we were to see our “must sees”.
 T.G.F.
Coming soon- Part II : Coober Pedy- "white man in the hole"
Australia photos by Holeman 11/07
Kangaroo photo: Wikipedia
csw/07
One of F.O.R.'s
primary functions is to educate the public
regarding the issues concerning the San Bernard
River and it's Communities. Contact Pat Webb
pat@sanbernardriver.com to schedule a
guest speaker for your group or special event.
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