Monday 18th March
It was the prettiest park and the yummiest morning tea!
The lookout and park were built in 1938 and I’m sure would have been a
wonderful and very popular stopping place back in the days of the old highway
We finally stopped at (330) Red Bank Rest Area a freebie
for the night, about 12 km east of Gunnedah. There was one other caravan and 40
thousand flies! Ron ended up fleeing inside Indie just to escape them!
Tuesday 19th March
We stopped at Gunnedah just long enough to do the
groceries. Wow has it grown since we were here twenty five or so years ago. We
have fond memories of shooting at Gunnedah in the Dual Range Championships -
always held on Mother’s Day weekend in May – always freezing cold! I
particularly remember one year when we opted to stay in the hotel in town when
the kids were little and ended up sleeping 5 adults and six kids in the one
room! Those were the days!
We stopped at (335) Oxleys Crossing Rest Area for lunch
and ended up sharing our picnic table with a couple on their way home to
Townsville after touring Tasmania and another couple from Victoria on their way
to visit relatives in Brisbane.
We drove on through Coonabarabran and thought to
ourselves – wow- we have come a long way!
Turns out it was not a sign for the nearest rest stop but
part of ‘The Worlds Largest Virtual Solar System Drive’ - a scaled model 38 million times smaller than
space, it stretches from Siding Springs Observatory to Dubbo.
The rest stops were pretty ordinary (right next to the
road and no toilets) so we drove on to Gilgandra and stayed at a pretty
ordinary caravan park (Akropolis Motel and Barney’s Caravan Park) for $25.00 –
at least it did have toilets (and showers).
Wednesday 20th March
We stopped at the Tourist Information Centre at Gilgandra
because they have a beaut exhibition dedicated to the ‘Coo-ee March’ in 1915.
The aim of the march was to recruit one volunteer per mile along the 320 mile route
from Gilgandra to Sydney.
A total of 351 men did volunteer but only 263 were
finally accepted for service.
The troops were reviewed by the Governor-General, Sir
Ronald Munro-Ferguson.
They embarked for Egypt at Woolloomooloo wharf on the
ship A-15, T.S.S. Star of England on 8th March, 1916.
Then, with the galahs looking on, we swung out past
Neptune and on to (933) Terramungamine Reserve.
What a lovely spot - right on the edge of the river, lovely and green
and with fewer flies.
Afterwards, I put our Rapid Boil to good use by making
myself some 2 minute noodles for lunch.
Shortly after lunch, the place started to really fill up, and what a
lovely group they all turned out to be. There was Rodney and Val Witt from
Yeppoon who invited us to call by if we get up their way. We spent almost the
whole afternoon chatting with them and then we adjourned to Indie for
sundowners
There we were joined by random campers most of whose
names we never did find out.
And Bill and Janelle. They were from near Coffs Harbour
and also had a Toaster (Toyota Coaster). It was a short wheel base one, a
replacement for their previous one which had burnt down.
Thursday 21st March
We were sitting outside Indie this morning, breakfasting
and enjoying the sunshine and the view when one of last night’s randoms
appeared and very kindly offered us free tickets to Dubbo Zoo for today if we
wanted them as they were of no use to them. We declined because we had been a
couple of years ago.
Ronnie did a bit of a clean out and got rid of lots of bits of old
papers and put our copy of Camps 5 (our previous bible) on the rubbish bin lid
in case someone might want it. We have Camps 6, and Camps 7 is out now as well.
Around mid-morning it got a bit windy and I decided that
it was a perfect drying day so Ronnie was dispatched to the amenities block to
fetch a pail of water and I took up the position of washer woman with unbounded
enthusiasm.
By 3.30 pm it was all dry.
As I was chatting with Karl it came to pass that he did not have a copy
of any directory for free camping so I directed him to the nearest bin lid
where he was able to obtain a near new copy of Camps 5. He appeared quite chuffed with his new
acquisition and when last spotted was planning his route to Moree.
Later that evening as Ronnie and I were preparing to eat our rather splendid
spaghetti bolognaise, the storm that had been brewing started in earnest. We
adjourned to Indie with the intention of bringing the awning in as soon as we
had finished eating.
Dissatisfied with this arrangement, the awning decided to
come in by itself, arched itself heavenwards and broke away from the bus on one
side. So after a good few minutes wrestling with said awning and becoming
thoroughly drenched we had managed to roll the awning in, rescue two of the
struts which had become dislodged and left the broken bracket with the other
support strut hanging at a 45 degree angle to the bus.
We hung our wet clothes out on the washing line, wrung
our hands at the likely costs of repairs, finished our dinner and went to bed.
During the night, the rain continued to pelt down, there
was much rumbling of thunder, flashing of lightning and the clothes line
attempted to escape down the paddock.
Friday 22nd March
Everything remained in this state until the cold light of
day when Ron emerged from Indie to survey the damage proper. Much to our
surprise the damage did not look as bad as first suspected and Ron managed to
reassemble most of the struts and secure the awning and we drove into Dubbo in
search of a repairer.
We ended up at Ryans Caravans who quoted us about $200.00
and said they should be able to slot it in between jobs. We went and sat in
their lounge and watched TV and the job was done within a couple of hours. Wait
for it though, the final cost was $139.40 – less than the original quote!!!!!!!
This being the Year of the Snake and Ron’s Chinese Zodiac
sign, it seems that the universe is aligning in a pattern most favourable!!!!!!
We are now staying in Dubbo at The Poplars Caravan Park
($25.00) per night. Not the most salubrious of parks but it is across the road
from a large Coles and it is walking distance to the town centre.
Shortly after we arrived,
we put the awning out just to make sure it all worked but paranoia over the
grey skies, wind and what looked like another approaching storm caused us to
have it back in within half an hour.
Saturday 23rd March
I can’t say that I’m overly impressed with Dubbo. It is
pretty grubby looking and of course quite a large city and pretty impersonal.
I just prefer the open spaces and I see towns and cities as
necessary evils that must be endured only because they provide goods and
services.
Real estate is quite reasonable and in fact, the clock
tower in the picture is attached to a building (we believe to be the old Post
Office) and the whole lot (not just the tower) is for sale with ‘offers over $500,000
considered’.
After that we walked past the Old Dubbo Gaol and then
back home.
Sunday 24th March
Today we have just been getting ready to leave Dubbo and
head off to Orange.
Under the bridge, Aboriginal motifs have been used to
paint the supports. I think they look fabulous.
Later, I wandered over to the shops and bought myself a
new pair of shoes, a couple of shirts and a replacement bucket for our broken
one. When I returned Ronnie was taking full advantage of the glorious weather,
stretched out under the awning watching the soccer game across the road.
