Day 105: Mon 8 Aug - Kinchela Rest Area (Kidman Way) to Cobar

Day 105: Mon 8 Aug - Kinchela Rest Area (Kidman Way) to Cobar

Towed 119km

3 Deg to 17 Deg (In Cobar). Don't know the exact temperature this morning, but it was damn cold - cold enough to need the heater on again. We stayed in bed a little longer this morning with only 119km to drive and being too cold outside. We finally got on the road by 08:30am and arrived in Cobar at our free camp stay in the carpark behind the RSL Memorial Club just off the main street by 10:00am. The carpark was still emptying when we arrived, but we had no trouble securing a spot for the night. By 5:00pm the park was full with still more vans arriving and leaving disappointed. We left the van hitched, locked up and walked up the street to a wonderful coffee shop where I enjoyed the best cup of coffee I've had since I left home - it was fabulous. We took our time enjoying our brew, before Noel went her way looking for wool to start her next knitting project, while I wandered off to the Cobar Mining Heritage Park and Heritage Centre where I spent a couple of hours between the two. Noel and I met back at the van for a late lunch, then I unhitched the van and we drove the short distance out of town to the Fort Bourke Lookout with amazing views across the region and into the Open Cut Gold Mine below. On the way back to the van, we re-fueled, then I set off for a walk around Cobar's Heritage Trail, returning to the van for pre-dinner drinks and home made pizza for dinner. Our day in Cobar was very pleasant, and a real surprise. Cobar is a historic town with a lot of lovely old buildings, and some great interpretative panels telling the stories of the town's mining and history. A great day.


Photographic history of Cobar - main street

Photographic history of Cobar - main street

Remnants of 'The Great Cobar' Copper Mine which opened in 1871. At its peak it had 14 smelters, a 64m chimney stack and employed over 2000 men. The 'Open Cut' or 'Mullock Tank' (filled with water) was actually not a mine, but a quarry used to backfill the  stopes of the mine.


Commemorating the ANZACS and Cobar's contribution towards WW2. LCDR Robert Rankin was born in Cobar.


Cobar Mining Heritage Park

Cobar Mining Heritage Park


Cobar Mining Heritage Park


Cobar Mining Heritage Park - Rick the Miner


Cobar Mining Heritage Park



Cobar Mining Heritage Park



Cobar Mining Heritage Park - the Miners Memorial


Inside the Miners Memorial - Designed to symbolise a mine portal with a tag board for the fallen miners who never got to tag off. 



The Great Cobar Heritage Centre, including visitors information centre, a former administration building for the Great Cobar Copper Mine, completed in 1912


The Great Cobar Heritage Centre


The Great Cobar Heritage Centre


The Great Cobar Heritage Centre



The Great Cobar Heritage Centre

The Great Cobar Heritage Centre



The place where copper was first discovered in 1869

The Poppy Fence honouring the men and women who served in all conflicts 
The Great Western Motel - At 100m long, it's a huge building. Said to have the longest iron-lace verandah in the Southern Hemisphere


Photographic History wall under the Great Western Motel



Our fee camp (self-contained) for the night - behind the RSL in a council carpark. Quiet on arrival, packed now.

View from Fort Bourke Lookout, 150m down into the New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine

View from Fort Bourke Lookout, 150m down into the New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine


View from Fort Bourke Lookout, 150m down into the New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine. A truck making it's long haul to the top.


The Cobar Sign

Rotunda in Drummond Park

Post Office

The Old Municipal Chambers built in 1904

Cobar Public School built in 1883

St Paul's Anglican church built in 1903

Cobar Court House built in 1887

St Laurence O'Tooles Catholic Church built in 1907

Cobar Railway Station

Cobar Railway Station


Completed in  1898, the Great Western Hotel took more than three years to build

Main Street

Main Street Historical Mosaic 

Main Street Historical Mosaic 


Main Street Historical Mosaic 


Main Street

Main Street - enjoyed our one-day stay in Cobar.




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