From: David Fullagar

Date: 27 Mar 1997 17:16:05 +1000

Finally got around to reading your great Australian road trip page. I've just got to the Wilcania bit. Rings a bell. On the way back from the Flinders Ranges at the beginning of the month, Tracey and I briefly stopped in Broken Hill. Didn't have time for the mine experience, but we decided that getting to Kinchega that night wasn't going to happen, so we used up some time walking down the main drag. Did you get to see the park a couple of block from Mario's that featured the memorial to the band playing on the Titanic while it sank. It was our highlight.

Anyway, we decided to drive on to Wilcania on the sealed road as we needed to be back in Canberra the following afternoon. We agreed during the 199km drive that a steak at the pub was going to be perfect. Unfortunately we forgot about the 1/2 hour time zone change, so we got into "town" around 8 (I seem to remember) and starving. We pulled into the service station to fill up with fuel. There seemed to be a lot of people on the road. There were a lot of people even wandering around the garage. It wasn't all that comfortable. Tracey went in to pay, and the guy at the counter looked pretty tough. Beard, singlet, tattoos? She asked him what was going on (i.e. the general mayhem on the street). "Pay day". Ahhh. And was he heading up to the pub to celebrate with the rest of town after work. Nah, too rough for him.

We drove on hungry ...

-Dave.