Wamberal to Dubbo.
As usual, there was a mad rush to get away on Wednesday 4th June as planned. So many last minute things to do. We hugged Pete and Helen and made a dash to Newcastle for my special birthday dinner with Cush, Matt and girls who spoilt me beautifully with gifts and good food.
Next day we drove to Dungog to drop quilts for the Quitarama exhibition to Dorothy Davis who is the organiser. We had a great pub meal while listening to the local Ukelele group who were playing there and then spent the night with Dorothy and Barry in their fabulous house overlooking the valley.
After a delicious brekkie we said goodbye to our hosts and drove through the really beautiful Hunter valley to Singleton and beyond. I think this part of the world has some of the most wonderful, undulating, green and beautiful hills and valleys anywhere, ( except maybe the Manning Valley of my childhood).
We drove to Dubbo, the pre-destined meeting place for the "Three Supremes", where we met our fellow travellers, sister Nanette, Ken, cousin Paul and Kerry. We had two days there and spent one day at the Western Plains Zoo, pedalling our way around and seeing all the animals. We really enjoyed the day despite rather bruised bums from the unaccustomed bike riding. We free camped a few kilometres north of the town at Terramungamine Reserve at Brocklehurst and Glenn cooked one of his famous curries on the campfire and even produced a yummy chocolate cake and champagne to complete my birthday dinner.
From there we drove to Cobar, a small town where Paul lived for a few years when his dad was the Rural Bank manager. Needless to say, he managed to follow up on a few old contacts. We had a memorable night at the Golf and Bowling Club eating our way through a very good banquet dinner, washed down with a few reds. Alas, there was no big win on the Keno!!
It was cold and when we went to fire up the old blower heater, it failed us. Glenn attempted a repair job but all the bits were loose and it ended up in the bin! We put our beanies on about that time.
We left Cobar and saw hundreds of goats in small groups with young along the roadside. Then a number of notable trees, each one with different decorations. The first was a furniture tree, followed by one with bras, then tinsel, bottles, stuffed toys, shoes and beer cans hanging from their branches. They were about 80 kms east of Wilcannia. Shortly afterwards we crossed the MacCulloch Range following the long straight 'blacktop'. The vegetation is mostly low scrub and grasses, with uninterrupted 360 degree views of the horizon visible from the car. The open skies were stunning.
Suddenly, the ground rose up and there was White Cliffs in front of us. We drove into town, asked at the pub about where to stay the night and ended up at the caravan park on the hill. $20 pn with power... Cheaper than most. The hot showers which required a dollar in the slot, were excellent. Hot and plenty of pressure.
We highly reccommend the opal mine tour with did with Graham from the Red Rock Gallery. It was a value packed, informative and entertaining experience which took us into the depths of his working mine in the historic area of the town.
The amenities at his home were hand built and the garden full of citrus trees. We helped ourselves to some Kaffir Lime leaves ( thank you Graham) on the way out.
Can you believe it????? it's RAINING in White Cliffs...... Again!
Last time we were here we were driving the Darling River Run with friends Peter and Helen. They went ahead to Mutwindji National Park while we stayed to experience a night underground in what was the P.J.'s Hotel. Overnight there was the first steady rain for months and the next day the road we planned to take was closed and we had to detour south towards Broken Hill, and then north, miles out of our way, to meet Peter and Helen in the NP. Hopefully the rain today will stop so we can drive tomorrow on the dirt to Milpirinka!
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