Dubbo

Sunday, 14 September 2014

 

Siding Springs Observatory just disappearing

Old grain silo

The cold nights and mornings are a bit of a shock to the system!  However, the morning was absolutely superb for driving, so clear and sharp, we were even able to see quite clearly the Siding Springs Observatory in the Warrumbungle’s.  The countryside is probably at its best at the moment – so green and plenty of feed.  We are still passing through wheat crops, and some canola – all the wheat crops we have seen this year look amazing with extremely even growth.  Hopefully the farmers will be happy.

There wasn’t much improvement in the highway today, with plenty of bumps to keep us awake.  Not to mention the trucks; thank goodness it is Sunday!!!  We had a short stop at Gilgandra before continuing on to Dubbo for our overnight stop.  We are at the Big4 Dubbo, not our first visit, and nothing much has changed.  We are on a narrow overnight, drive-thru site and luckily we have the end site, so are able to extend our awning.  Cat even has his own private beach to play on.

Just needs a bucket and spade

As reception weren’t very helpful with information (a tad defensive about the credit charge surcharge and the security issues of Dubbo, I think), we headed to the Information Centre and a very nice lady gave us some ideas for an afternoon’s sightseeing, also recommended a bakery for lunch.  A very nice bakery, actually, with an incredible selection of goods designed to increase waistlines.  We were very good and shared an enormous baguette – and a vanilla slice!

What can one say???

Nooses

Padded cell and straight jacket

Anxious to leave

Note the toilet (ie bucket)

The executioner lost his nose after being kicked in the face by a horse

Reminds me of a prison officer ...

Scaffold

"Dump Point" for toilet buckets

Our next stop was the Old Dubbo Gaol, along with a few other tourists.  This was a very interesting place, with some good displays, both static and animated, as well as a holographic story about New South Wales chief executioner, who also undertake some work at the gaol.  Well worth the visit.  Then it was on to the Botanic Gardens, which were tucked behind BigW and surrounded by houses.  Although small, the Japanese Garden was well set out and very pretty, as well as a sensory garden.  We were probably a month or so too early for the cherry blossom and the wisteria will be lovely later in the season.

Entrance to gardens

Magnolias

Hawthorn?

Down pipe

Popular for weddings

Sandstone ghecko

Gum blossum

Wisteria walk

A very relaxing afternoon.

Coonabarabran

Saturday, 13 September 2014

 

For the first time in many weeks, we had a cloudy start to the day.  However, the cloud did clear, although some did remain throughout the day, and the temperature only rose to about 24 degrees.

Today we left Queensland behind and headed south into New South Wales, with Coonabarabran our intended destination.  The Newell Highway as far as Moree was very busy and very bumpy, with our speed hovering between 70-80 kmh for most of the way.  We changed drivers at Moree and the same conditions prevailed all the way to Narribri, with roadworks thrown in to break the monotony.  We changed drivers again and with Himself driving, what happened?  All the trucks and traffic disappeared and the road improved!!!  Shortly before we arrived at Coonabarabran, we came across a caravan which had fallen off the edge of the road; it must have happened earlier in the morning as there was no tow vehicle at the scene, just the police, the owners and a small truck being loaded with debris.  There wasn’t much left of the caravan, which was on its side, apart from the floor and the ends; the owners were sorting through the wreckage.

We are staying at the John Oxley Caravan Park in Coonabarabran, which is right on the Newell Highway – easy to find but a bit of obvious traffic noise.  It is a nice grassy park, plenty of room and clean amenities.  The town has both Woolworths and Coles fuel outlets, so having vouchers, we pulled into Woolworths, then just as quickly pulled out.  Having paid $1.53.9 at Gundy, we were a little shocked at the $1.70 charge, so Himself decided we could fill up at Coles.  We spent even less time there and returned to Woolworths, where we could claim our discount.  I also gave the tomatoes a miss at the supermarket – would probably have needed more credit on the credit card!

We have decided on a shorter travel day tomorrow, and will stop at Dubbo.

Goondiwindi

Friday, 12 September 2014

 

Convoy; not much room for the caravan

Victoria Hotel

The weather continues to be clear, sunny, very hot (over 30 degrees today) with very low humidity, and also very still.  This all makes for perfect driving conditions.

The sunrise this morning was quite spectacular in the bush, with the dawn chorus happening and the usual crew of birds arriving at our door in the hope of some food.  We left Possum Park about 8.20 am , with our estimated time of arrival in Goondiwindi being 11.05 am.  The compass bearing in the car once again said “South,” with a quick stop at Miles for fuel and then onwards and southwards to Condamine and Moonie.  The road was very good as far as Condamine, then the rot set in!  Although the surface was good, the road bed was nothing but continuous lumps and bumps, with the occasional smooth section which had been recently resealed.  We were travelling between 60-65 kmh for most of the way from Condamine to Goondiwindi; thankfully there wasn’t much traffic so we were able to drive like the locals – straddling the centre line.  South of Moonie we did meet two trucks with heavy mining equipment heading north, complete with four escort vehicles and two police vehicles.  Luckily, we saw the oncoming convoy just as we came to a small rest area and we able to pull off completely.  The two police cars were actually forcing oncoming traffic off the road.

Unfortunately, Doris TomTom hadn’t been told about the road condition and it was just on noon when we arrived at Goondiwindi (pronounced GUNdiwindi, we have been told!) and checked into the Big4 Goondiwindi.  This park has new owners but nothing has changed much.  The receptionist wasn’t very informative (didn’t even offer advice on how to operate the boom gates) and the damper and tea at happy hour doesn’t happen after the end of August, despite the park being nearly full each night.  However, the artesian spa is still here and still nice and clean – and warm.

After setting up, we headed into the town centre for some lunch and some groceries and Himself managed to increase his shirt collection.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting quietly in the shade, until we felt it was cool enough (about 27 degrees) to cope with a soak in the spa.  It was also nice to talk to our grandson via Skype, now that he is home from hospital and resting on the couch.

Possum Park

Thursday, 11 September 2014

 

Part of the caravan park

Blue faced honeyeater

Currawong

Train carriage accommodation

Railway line

Bushwalking

Bunker

TAA plane

Caravan Park, part thereof

Looking for tomatoes

Cute grey miner bird

Honeyeater with attitude!

I saw it first, no I did, no I did.

Doesn't matter who saw it first, I got it first!

Grey butcher bird

We had a rather chilly start to the day (the radiator came forth from the cupboard!) but it quickly warmed up to a very dry and pleasant 27-28 degrees.

We left Mitchell, still heading due east towards Roma.  The road was very good, quickly leaving the outback behind and entering traditional farming country – large wheat crops, sheep and cattle.  We didn’t stop at Roma – the traffic was quite heavy, with many, many trucks and mining equipment on the road.  If the gas fields and exploration around Roma suddenly stopped, this town would very quickly become bankrupt!  We also passed a large number of oversize trucks carrying mining-type equipment, necessitation pulling right off the road at times.  The road deteriorated between Roma and Miles, probably owing to the large number of trucks and vehicles using this road.  Possibly over 80% of vehicles carried large numbers, signifying they belonged to gas/mine companies.

A left turn at Miles and another twenty kilometres brought us to our overnight stop at Possum Park Caravan Park.  We are so glad that Denise and Barry recommended this place!  After turning of the main road, we continued through the bush, with numerous signs telling us how far to go, until we arrived at Possum Park.  Originally an RAAF bomb storage site during World War II, this bushy hilltop has been turned into a caravan park, with some of the original bunkers now being used as underground accommodation.  The bombs were delivered by rail, unloaded and then stored in a large number of bunkers scattered around the hillside.

The caravan sites are in a large clearing, with rail carriages being used as accommodation, as well as a large Musset hut which has been converted.  There are also a large number of new cabins available as well.  We were shown a couple of the train carriages and were surprised at the standard – for $100 a night, far superior to what is on offer at Undara Lava Tubes at a much more expensive price.  A flagship of the old TAA fleet has also been brought here and is currently undergoing conversion to accommodation.

There is no shortage of birdlife here, which was quickly discovered at lunch time when a number of miner birds arrived to share our sandwiches, along with some blue faced honeyeaters, currawongs and a grey butcherbird.  The magpies are also very friendly and happy to visit if a feed is on offer.