Seveny six days on the road have passed so quickly and what a lot we have learnt about our country and ourselves and Elle in that time. Good to be home and planning the next journey.

Day 76. Lovely drive home from Forbes. The country from Forbes to Booroowa and Yass is lush, and looks prosperous. Cold homecoming after the warmth of our trip but we quickly got the heating going and lit the fire. The farm is in good shape, the kangaroos have done the mowing and the jonquils are blooming. The horses mobbed me when I called them up. Very happy to see me! We had a tremendous trip, covered a huge geographical area of Oz, saw many and varied sights...

Day 75. Drove to Forbes via such well known places as Bogan Gate. RM got breathalised. We failed to complete the crossword! RM thought it was Brogan Shire but I had to put him right. It is indeed Bogan Shire. We also lost the cover off the back tyre but noticed thus and retrieved it. Found a Family Park to stay in. Very dog friendly and they even have horses here. The old railway station, now the Tourist Bureau, is beautiful. It is the same design as the one in ...

Day 74. We are on the road home now, having visited the last town on our 'must see' itinerary, Broken Hill. A longish drive to the pretty town of Cobar, where the Cobar van park has impressed. We completed the SMH crossword on the way, with minimal cheating, so we are improving! The hotel here is reputed to have the longest lacework verandah in the country.

Day 73. Good TV coverage here means I have seen the Cross country and jumping parts of the 3 day event at the Olympics. Watched Andrew Hoy again, reminding me of his wonderful ride in 2000 to win us the Gold, with me in the stand. There was a whole grandstand of empty seats there too, so nothing much has changed in seat allocation since then. Olympic 'family/sponsers' .... whatever ..... are given too many seats! Looked out for friends Jo and Terry who are there ...