After an extended and enjoyable stay working in Louth, it was time to move on. The eclipse wasn't about to wait for us to get there. So off we drove down a short section of the "Darling River Run". The river is not much more than a string of salty ponds, and the river flats are parched and barren. It would make a nice camping trip in a good season, but is not very inviting in a drought.
Two nights in the tent provided us with a day in Broken Hill. An underground mine tour gave us glimpses into the lives of the miners who gave the town a reason for being. We also visited the "Living Desert", a collection of rock sculptures atop a hill at the edge of town.
We stopped in on our friends Jo and Tim in Streaky Bay. In stark contrast to western NSW, the Eyre peninsula has a fair amount of ground cover and the crops are in reasonable condition. Jo's 4th boy is just a few days old, and harvest (or, as they call it here, reaping - very biblical) is in full swing. A little bit of light rain has delayed the reaping.
The Eyre peninsula is a tapestry of wheat, mallee, and sand dunes, edged with sea water. The last time we were here, we thought it was a little barren. Having just come from a major drought in NSW, this time the same vista looks pretty lush.
On the day of the eclipse, we hooked up with Eva (and her entire family) in Ceduna. Although the sky was predominantly cloudy, breaks in the cloud allowed us glimpses of the progress, and during the 30 seconds of totality the corona was completely visible. The digital camera couldn't handle it, but the big one did a reasonable job of capturing the event.
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