We awoke to wet and cold in Narrabri. What happened to that summer weather?

It is still hard to get up early in daylight saving time, and we took a long time to pack up and leave in the wet and cold.

Brett and I went off for fuel, Val and Steve went to the shops. We agreed to meet at the Australian Telescope Compace Array which is a little west of Narrabri. It is a beautiful drive to get there. Once you are there, there is a really good information centre with a continually running video of astronomy, which wasn't running the whole time we were there. There was music though.

The telescopes themselves though - they are large and run on rails, like giant railway lines. About 3km worth. As you watch them you can hear their motors wind up and the telescopes move. But you don't see any people, because they are not in local control.

This is another place that I really recommend you go. Not just for the telescopes.

There are two dishes there called Whispering Dishes. They are set quite a distance apart, but if you stand near one and your mate stands near the other, you can talk at a normal volume and it is like you are next to each other. It works just by the shape of the dishes, there are no wires involved. It is so weird. And I think we have solved the post-Zombie Apocalypse long-distance communication problem!

Back through Narrabri and then off the highway again heading for Sawn Rocks.

Never heard of them? Do yourself a favour.

They are amazing.

And the drive there is so scenic. I can't begin to explain, you will just have to go.

Just try not to be standing there when the rocks are falling, I think that might be a bit dangerous.

While we were on the viewing platform, marvelling at the site across the creek, we heard a big snapping and crashing sound. Phew - only a tree this time, and a bit further up the creek from where we were. Still I wouldn't have wanted to be under that tree!

If you are a twitcher, this is another recommended spot.

We had lunch in the carpark (there is a picnic area there too) and spoke to some other campervanners. There was nobody else there when we arrived but by the time we left the place was getting crowded.

Val needed to buy fuel so we continued along the road to Bingara. We had lunch there on the way down, remember? The drive through the mountains is spectacular and recommended. Down on the other side and heading to Bingara the scenery continues to be worth seeing. Again, different to anywhere we had been so far - it is hard to believe that you can see so many different types of landscapes in one day's driving.

We didn't actually cross our path from two weeks ago. We arrived in Bingara, Val bought his fuel and then we headed north-west again on the road to Gravesend.

Bingara is a well known bird watching area. and the number of different birds you can see just driving along is quite incredible.

The mapping app on my phone said that this road was 46km and should take over an hour. The speed limit is 100km/h on this stretch of road. What does that tell you about the road? Probably not as much as you learn from actually driving it!

There are many little concrete causeways. Although it had been raining, the rain was mostly light so most of the causeways were dry. There were also many kilometres of unfenced road, which meant that we got to share the road with a great many cattle. Mostly very young calves and their mothers. We took it really easy when we saw the cows, as the young ones can be a bit unpredictable. We all got through unscathed.

We came across a fox feeding on kangaroo roadkill. I think the fox must have been fairly hungry. It was broad daylight, and when the vehicles went past he waited just behind a clump of grass only a metre or so away from the road. It is unusual to see a fox this way.

We had intended to go to Moree for the night,although we were a bit concerned as Moree has a bit of a reputation for not being terribly safe. When we got to the Oxley Highway and reached the town of Gravesend, there was a sign - "free overnight vans at the Gravo pub". That will do us! We stopped at the pub and were shown where to camp. Much better than camping in Moree.

Once we had set up, Brett and I had a nice relaxing beer in front of a very warm open fire in the main bar, then we all four took a walk around the town.

The pub is in front of the old railway station which closed in 1979. There are no railway buildings left. No trains have run along this line for so long, you can only see grass where the tracks, sleepers and ballast are. As we walked around the town, we met a lot of dogs. Suspicious dogs. We only came across one house where the dogs were friendly straight up.

By the time we finished our walk, the pub was open for dinner. You know how big country pub meals can be? The boys all had steaks which were so big you couldn't see that the plates were half filled with chips. And they were big plates.

The landlord introduced the boys to a man who lives down the road and has a yard full of rusty things. Trucks and stuff. They made arrangements to meet up next morning for a tour of inspection.

Another day full of surprises. Australia is an amazing place.