Apr 27, 2013 - Terramungamine Reserve - Dubbo

27th Waking up to a cool but sunny morning it is time to up camp and move on. After saying goodbye to Firefly and Bret once again thanking them for a great meal last night. It is time for us to hit the road. A big drive today travelling 70 kms to Dubbo. We arrived and set up at Terramungamine. A free camp 11 kms out of Dubbo beside the Macquarie river. Home for two nights. 28th A cool morning to start the day but the sun warmed us up very quickly. After breakfast of bacon,eggs and mushrooms on the balcony with Blu and Elaine we start to...

Dec 4, 2012 - Mount Panorama Race Track and the Western Plains Zoo

This morning our first stop was Mount Panorama just on the edge of town. Since the race track is a public road you can drive around it (doing the speed limit) so we did. Dad had first lap and we all noticed how steep the road is, especially at the cutting and Reid Park on the way up (incredibly steep), Across the top the views back down into the valley and of Bathurst are brilliant while the drop across the Esses and the Dipper on the way down is also incredibly steep gradient. Then it was down Conrod Straight. The only difference between...

Jul 24, 2012 - Dubbo Zoo

We had a fantastic day riding push bikes around Dubbo Western Plains Zoo. We had a close encounter with a giraffe & tempted fate by placing the carrot in our mouth rather than holding it!!!. We played "hide & seek" around the park & lost Jesse & Bronte for a while when they couldn't work out which animal enclosure Sean & I were at. Our clue was a bit obscure: "Uncle Raymond's mobile house" Answer: The Tortoise (he drives a Winnebago) The camper trailer is wonderful & even though it got down to zero degrees over night we kept warm &...

Jul 14, 2012 - Taronga Western Plains Zoo

There are lots of ways to get around the Dubbo Zoo - hire a bike, car or zoo cart, or drive yourself. We drove ourselves and its a 6 km circuit. You can just get out whenever you want and the ticket is good for 2 consecutive days. The animals had plenty of space and because of the way the paddocks were built, it looked like they weren't fenced in. We had lunch while we were there - zebra burgers - no just kidding! There were also picnic areas with barbecues for those who took their own food. Being the last weekend of the school holidays...

Jul 13, 2012 - Old Dubbo Gaol

Visiting the Old Dubbo Goal was quite eerie. The guard out the front is wearing a real uniform which has been specially treated to preserve it. I didn't like the Cat-o-nine Tails but it was interesting to actually see one. In the same room was the bench made to strap the prisoner on while he got whipped. Good ol' British justice eh.

Jul 12, 2012 - Dubbo

Had a good time in Dubbo, stayed at a caravan park. There is a lot to see and do and they welcome caravanners. The town is quite pretty with flowers and shrubs in the main streets. I was amazed at how close some of the old houses were to the house next door. One would think that back in the days they were built, there was enough land to spread out a bit. Most houses had their indoor fires going as evidenced by the smoke coming out of chimneys.

Jun 13, 2012 - Dubbo

Tuesday morning. Another very cold morning. We left Narrandera at 10.30am. Is that another late or early start to the day? Heading towards Forbes today through West Wyalong. Arrived in Forbes with enough time to unhitch the van and drive around exploring and doing all the usual cultural things. You should know by now that this includes buildings, parks, gardens etc. Today (Wednesday) saw us leave Forbes at 10.00am heading to Dubbo. T'Ann, the odometer read 88818kms. Missed another reading yesterday, sorry. We stopped in Parkes to look...

Sep 5, 2011 - Day 1 Sydney to Dubbo

It has definitely been an eventful first day! I woke up at 1:30am this morning with hives, my face all puffed up and red blotches all over my body. Not to worry, we were getting up at 3am anyway. We stuck to our schedule, and were on the road at 4:15am. Paddy managed to fall back asleep, but i think the excitement was too much for India. By 6am, she had vomited all over the car and there began the first of many stops en route to Dubbo. We eventually arrived at the Big4 camping ground around 11:30am this morning, after which point we have...

Jul 26, 2011 - Destination Dubbo

Had a yum breakfast at a small coffee bar before making our way to the Pro Hart Gallery. GHe was a well known bush artist who passed away in 2006. He started out as a miner in Broken Hill but his love of the bush and painting it and mine life soon saw him become well known and well respected in Australia. Maureen dabbles in painting and wanted to see his works and I also like a number of his paintings, the ones depicting everyday bush life. Spent about 3/4 hour there before the guys dropped us off at the shopping centre to see if I could...

Feb 2, 2011 - Dubbo

Narrabri to Dubbo This was a very scenic drive with a mixture of agricultural, national park and mountains and the road was once again in pretty good condition, which is just as well as it was very busy with heaps of trucks. All was going along quietly until about 60km from Dubbo, when out of the blue – we blew a rear tyre on the car. Fortunately my superior driving skills once again came to the fore and disaster was averted without any fuss, as I eased the beast to a controlled halt in a suitable spot on the side of the road. Having not...

Sep 25, 2010 - on the road

Sept 25th Southward bound! Aiming for Cobram by Tuesday, 1600 kms or so. Signs of heavy recent rainfall all round. All creek beds full, road covered in places, surrounding paddocks water logged. Stopped at Goondoowindi, QLD. Pulled straight into town and ran in to watch the last three quarters of the AFL grandfinal. Unable to leave till the game finished as it proved to be a nailbiter and then a draw! Found a campground by 5.30pm, all sites too wet for canvas. Allocated a spot on an old crushed rock stock pile ( high ground!). Sept...

Jun 21, 2010 - Day 1 to Dubbo

First day, taking it easy this morning as most of preparation done. Left home after 9am but took nearly 30 minutes to get out of Maitland city. Then on to the open road, not long until we were on the Golden Highway and over the Great Dividing Range towards Dubbo. Couple of stops along the way, one of which was at Dunedoo, was really busy and looked like a bustling little town that I had never witnessed before. Lots of semis and B doubles on the road and I am a little sorry that I had not installed a CB radio. Note for next trip. Road over...