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Awoke to the sound of birds again. And diesel heaters (it isn't THAT cold, guys). It was great by the river, like last night there were many birds again.
After a quick breakfast we loaded up the van and left for Narrabri. Today we were driving along the Newell Highway. We hadn't done much highway driving up until now. If you don't like highway driving you probably won't like the Newell. It is full of trucks. The speed limit is 110km/h and in many places the road is not in fantastic condition.
We stopped in Gilgandra for morning tea. The bakery has the biggest rock cakes you have ever seen. Brett and I shared one, and even then we were full. Gilgandra is a really pretty town. It was the starting point of the Coo-ee March.
Look it up.
After Gilgandra, we left the highway as soon as we could, to take the tourist route through the Warrumbungles. We had never been this way before and were amazed by the landscape. Even before we got to the Warrumbungles themselves the landscape changed every time we went around a corner.
We passed a really pretty campsite in the National Park. There are so many things to do around here. Perhaps another idea for a holiday. The Warrumbungles. I have so many ideas now after this trip.
We stopped at the Siding Spring Observatory and had lunch there. A delicious hamburger and some local soft drink. Club Nectar. No idea what that flavour is supposed to be but it tastes great.
We walked up a big hill to the Anglo Australian Observatory. Actually it isn't Anglo Australian anymore, just Australian. But it was Anglo Australian for a long time. Once we reached the building at the top of the hill there were lots of stairs. Four flights according to the lady at the shop, but her idea of four flights is not the same as our idea of four flights.
At least we had our exercise for the day.
If you want to visit the place and you think that is too many stairs, actually there is a lift. We just chose not to use it. Once we got to the top and the observation room where you can actually see the telescope - wow. I say the top, but it is like the floor for the telescope. There is still a lot of telescope above you. And it is really big. Really really big. I took a couple of photos - but it is the usual story, the photos cannot hope to impress you the way the real thing does. You will just have to go there yourself.
Back onto the Newell Highway at Coonabarabran.
We were stuck with the Newell all the way to Narrabri. There is no alternative. The distance is just over 100km and there are no towns and very few features on the way. You pass through the Pilaga scrub, the road is straight. A bend or a hill is a reason for excitement. There are very few bends, and very few hills. But there are lots of trucks.
We arrived at Narrabri and booked into a caravan park just near the centre of town. Brett used to be in the Navy with a guy whose family owned a caravan park at Narrabri. The proprietor advised that he still runs it and gave us directions. After we picked our campsite we headed off to the other van park and Brett instantly recognised his old shipmate although they hadn't seen each other for over 20 years.
It was lucky they got the chance to catch up because the van park had been sold and Brett's friend is due to leave in three months.
It was hot in Narrabri and we thought we had finally gone far enough north to be in summer again.
Back to town, we set up camp and walked to the supermarket to buy some groceries. And beer, because you can buy alcohol in the supermarket down here in NSW. We also checked out the restaurants to find somewhere to eat dinner.
We settled on the nearest Chinese restaurant, where we had a banquet for four. Unusually for a Chinese banquet, we didn't feel overfed. It was a nice easy walk back to the camp.
The walk between the campsite and town included some interesting historic buildings and architecture. Brett and Val were most interested in the old service station of course! The pumps were still there, and it last sold fuel at 65c per litre.
During the night it started to rain.
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