Day 2 - 20th June 2016

Today was a llloooonnnnggg day!

Our plan today was to leave Hay and make our way to Broken Hill, approximately 6 hours. We left our comfy little spot, Bishops Lodge in Hay at approximately 8am and after filling up and a purchase of coffee and two sneaky hash browns for me, we were on our way.

After a good hour and a half on the road, of not much at all, Phil had noticed that the camper cover was starting to blow up like a balloon. So, when it was safe, as truck stops were few and far between, we decided to pull over to the side of the road to tighten the straps. As soon as we left the tar we knew we were in trouble. The car immediately sank and dirt was flying in the air..... we were bogged. Now, let me paint a picture! We were in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between Hay and Ivanhoe, there were not many cars on the road, it was 8 degrees and we are without a winch. Yep, we were in JUST a little bit of trouble. We jump out to check how much trouble we were in and yep, we were deep, belly deep. So after putting the car in low and trying to get out discovering that was not an option, Phil got the shovel off of the roof and started digging. After freeing the wheels he told me to jump into the drivers seat and accelerate but unfortunately we weren't going anywhere. A comment of "oh well we'll just have to wait" and a 5min break and Phil was adamant we were getting out. Another try, a few slip and slides and I came out with the comment of "I cant do this" which was shut down pretty quickly. Phil decided the camper was too heavy and unhitched it, with a little push and acceleration from me the car was out, I had made it onto the tar with a few fish tails as well, that dirt was slippery. The car was out but we were far from out of the.... dirt, I was then asked to reverse the car back to the trailer which was still deep in mud and we were to hook up again, front wheels on the tar this time. I should mention at this time that a car finally turned up, a farmer, his wife and 3 very curious dogs. They offered their help but to my horror Phil told them we were fine and declined. The look of horror on my face must have been obvious to all. Phil then said to me, "I got us in this shit, I will get us out again". The trailer was hooked up and I gave it some power to hear a yell from Phil to stop.... what now.... unfortunately he was "so excited that we got out" that he forgot to put the jockey wheel back up. So yep, we just damaged it and out come the tools, we cant tie it up so it needs to come completely off. Did I mention it was about 8 degrees and windy? Thankfully Phil brought with us majority of his tools and the jockey wheel was off in little to no time. We were back on the road ready to go! Here are some shots of the mess :).

Being back on the road we were able to have a laugh at the situation we were just in. When I asked Phil how we will use the camper without the jockey wheel he said "just like the marines babe, we will improvise, adapt and overcome", this made me giggle, he is so head strong!

After another hour or so we made it to Ivanhoe, a fork in the road as such to jump onto the next highway through to Broken Hill. Unfortunately though,we got to the entrance of the next highway to find out the road was closed... BUGGER. So, we turned around, pulled over, had a look at some maps, called our trusty traveler Adam and discovered that the only way forward was to go back to Hay, jump on another highway and make our way to Broken Hill via Mildura, VIC. On the way back to Hay the company was very silent, in fact, he was seething! We saw all of the wild life we had on the way there, kangaroos, sheep, cows, bulls, lambs, an eagle, emus. lots of galas and some little bird which after landing on our windscreen is now another animals dinner. Whoops! We also passed a lady of whom we had passed on the way to Ivanhoe, we would love to know what she thought we were up to. There was a toilet stop at Hay Shell for me and we were back on the road, another 3 hours until Mildura. After a quick phone call to the caravan park in Broken Hill we discovered there was no way we would make Broken Hill in time (7pm was the latest check in), I was then on the phone googling other towns for somewhere to stay. We decided on Wentworth, NSW. Wentworth is between Mildura and Broken Hill and a very nice little town. We called the caravan park an hour out and the lady who answered was so lovely, taking our booking for a cabin (there was no way at 5.30pm and after our day we were setting up the van in the wet). We arrived, the staff were amazing and pointed us in the direction of the pub for a feed. We unpacked, made a few phone cals and walked to the pub The Crown Hotel. It was a lovely pub with great staff and the best Chicken Kiev I have ever eaten. Oh, the wine was spot on also. Here is a snap of our "upgraded van" as Phil said and an old pic of the pub they had on the wall.

That was it for us, we're looking forward to the hot shower and getting back on the road tomorrow. We're thinking of visiting Broken Hill but staying in Silverton but we will see where our day takes us. Its only 3 hours to Broken Hill so hopefully its a quick day on the road, especially for Phil who has decided I am not to drive as yet.