Western Plains Zoo

Sunday, 10th September 2017

Only its mother would love a wild dog ...

Azure kingfisher

Meerkat

Black rhino and calf

Giraffes

Selfie

Apostle birds getting excited over ant holes

Elephant taming

Tiger, tiger ...

Dubbo dawn

No trains in this Lions Park

Red rump parrot

Saturday morning dawned clear, breezy and very cool, but without the forecast frost.  By the time we were ready to leave, the temperature had risen from 3 degrees to 7 degrees!  We continued our southerly direction along the Newell Highway, with plenty of trucks and caravans heading both ways.  Apart from plenty of dead kangaroos and lots of bright parrots, the only other wildlife we saw was a very brave emu attempting to cross the highway.  The middle section of the drive (co-pilot’s turn to drive) proved to be the roughest and hilliest as we needed to cross a range of hills between Coonabarabran and Gilgandra.  The sun continued to shine and the temperature had reached a pleasant (in the sun) 16 degrees by the time we arrived at Dubbo.

We are staying at the Big4 Discovery and once again, despite booking well in advance, we given a dreadful sight – all dirt, no slab and quite shallow.  Back to reception with the question, Why?  Offered a choice of drive-thru sites which, although still mainly dirt, were a much better option.

Not having been to the Western Plains Zoo since 2008, we decided to have another look this afternoon and also have lunch at their café.  The cook forgot about our order and after waiting 30 minutes, we enquired as to how much longer.  Ooops – great service from then on!  We enjoyed the drive around the zoo, stopping to look at the various animals – and our beautiful wild kingfishers, parrots and wrens.  Although it isn’t school holidays, there were a lot of families at the zoo and a lot of children in the caravan park.

Go the Swans!!!  The Swans most definitely went – woohoo!

Sunday morning saw a cloudy dawn, which also meant some magnificent colours in the sky.  With the temperature hovering around the 3-4 degrees and an overcast sky, it was a rather raw feeling to the start of the day.  Our journey today took us to West Wyalong, passing The Dish at Parkes and travelling through Forbes.  How different the country looks this year compared to the same time last year when it was freezing cold, raining and the countryside was underwater.  We had a pleasant surprise this afternoon when a lady I worked with for a number of years pulled into the next site, together with her husband.