Tuesday 13 August 2013 - Junee to Dubbo

Well here we are comfortable installed at Dubbo having just finished our chicken in sweet and sour sauce for tea, Grant starting on his latest Wilbur Smith book and me – well, what does it look like I’m doing!

After a chat with our neighbours after brekkie this morning (they are from Waratah Bay), we managed to get away from the caravan park by 9.30 on what was to be a most enjoyable drive.  The countryside was beautiful – lush green paddocks of recently planted wheat now about fifteen centimetres high, other paddocks growing canola at various stages of growth – some a similar height to the wheat, while others in full bloom, with their bright yellow colouring the landscape as far as we could see.  The countryside wasn’t what you’d call hilly, but mostly just gently undulating.  (Gee I’m waxing all poetic!!)  You can certainly see why the colours we are known for are green and gold, because in addition to the above, there are heaps of varieties of wattle trees out in bloom as well.

I hate to brag, but the sky was largely cloudless for the whole day, though the air wasn’t warm.  It got pretty warm in the car though.

The first town we came to, and stopped at to feed the petrol tank, was Temora where a few years ago we went to an airshow with Ron and Deborah Gilchrist.  Then we made our way to West Wyalong but didn’t stop there, but headed further north into bushranger country!  Ben Hall frequented this area way back in the ‘good old days’ and his presence is evident at Forbes, where we saw the Ben Hall Service Station, Ben Hall Reserve and various signs directing visitors to other Hall related points of interest.  We did see one interesting sight there – pictured below – but I find it hard to find any link between it and Ben Hall. 

 We did have a stop at Parkes though – a wee break - before calling in to have a look at ‘The Dish’.  Now fifty years old, this 64 metre radio telescope is still one of the world’s leading telescopes of its kind.  Today it looked like a dish, bowl facing upwards.  Many years ago, when we first saw it, the position was more upright.

And as we were leaving The Dish we had a prime sighting of another specimen of wildlife – a terrified hare bounced across the road in front of us.

We arrived here at Dubbo just after 3.30 this afternoon, well satisfied with the day – after being entertained courtesy of our in-car CD collection – yesterday by ‘Madame Pat and her Orkestra’ – a hark back to the Moe Jazz Festival, then today bopping along to ‘The Best of Dixieland’ before a complete change of genre ‘The Rock ‘n Roll Collection’.  So the travel music, coupled with the ever essential one or two finger wave to oncoming fellow caravanners – and we’re really back in the grey nomad groove.

THEN …. We wouldn’t have been in the caravan park here in Dubbo more than fifteen minutes – the van almost set up, when Grant plugged in the power, we tried the lights and …. No lights!  Memories of last year!! And we’ve had the van fully checked over, lights fixed, etc since then.  After twiddling with power sockets, three point plugs and anything else that may have been the cause of the problem, it was time to investigate.

It didn’t take Grant long to find one of the wires into the van had become adrift – and unfortunately it was at the back of the cupboard under the sink.  So after some general cursing type mutterings, Grant got down onto the floor (narrow space) arm thrust into the now emptied cupboard, trying to reconnect the essential bit.  After another half an hour during which time the sink was partially removed, attempts were made to disconnect hoses and further diagnosis – he found a clamp thing that had to be used for the connection, I was immediately dispatched into town to buy some of these clamps, and by about a quarter to five, all was well!  Dawn to the rescue!  When I got back with the clamps, Grant tried to connect it up.  However his hands wouldn’t fit where they had to, and with all the wriggling, reaching into the cramped cupboard – all the while lying on his back or on his side – this wasn’t what the doctor ordered for his shoulder.  So I connected it, and now add ‘electrician’ to my resume.

Then to add insult to injury – when Grant was putting the tools back into the car he noticed that our spare wheel cover (yes, the one with my name, etc) has been pinched! WHO would want THAT!  I reckon it happened last night.  When we are not putting our awning up (on one night stopovers), it sits outside at the front of the van, near the towbar.   A couple of hours after dark I heard a noise which I thought was our awning (packed in a big plastic garbag) moving, and I mentioned it to Grant who reckoned he didn't hear anything.  I heard it again a few minutes later but didn’t say anything as I thought it must just be caravan park noises – and it was a bit windy.  But I do remember looking when I went over to the toilets later and noticed that the awning bag was still there, so I didn’t think anything more of it. 

So we end day two.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring.