24 Nov – A leisurely start to the day as we have decided to
stay another day in Roma. We biked around the town on a series of cycleways
before it got too hot. Some interesting sights including a big bottle tree.
Spent some time in the afternoon in the small camp pool and ended up in the
air-con watching the Supercars at Newcastle. Outside for drinks with an
electrical storm and a couple of drops of rain.
25 Nov – On the road early for a 195kms drive to the next
town, St George. We were now on the Great Inland Way. The country had changed
and was dry and barren. We spent much of the time dodging dead kangaroos
driving from one side of the road to the other. Just to mix things up, there
were quite a few live ones deciding if they would dash across the road. We have
no roo bars and hitting one would be a disaster. At St George we found a camp
(with a pool) and had a quiet afternoon. There were thousands of galahs in the
trees beside us and at drinks time the camp manager used a stock whip to scare
them away. A huge electrical storm developed followed by 15 minutes of heavy rain.
26 Nov – The country became more barren and desert-like for
our 235kms drive to Lightning Ridge. More roo dodging and we even had an emu
try to outrun “Andy”. The road surface was
also rough until we crossed the border from Queensland into NSW. The road then
improved. Lightning Ridge is known for the mining of black opals. We swam in
the camp pool until a staff member advised us that a dust storm was on the way
and it would get unpleasant outside. The dust was not too bad but we were glad
to be inside with the air-con.
27 Nov – I take back what I said about NSW roads being
better. The south was very rough. We stopped at the Coonamble Showgrounds for
lunch. I had not been happy with some bushes in the front suspension which we
had checked in Townsville and had got worst with the bumpy roads. We phoned
ahead to Dubbo and jacked up for them to be looked at so headed on for another
150kms to Dubbo. The suspension place ordered the bushes and they will be
installed tomorrow. We checked into a camp for 2 nights. A cooler day!
28 Nov – The suspension fix place rang and booked us in for
2:00pm. We rode our bikes following the banks of the McQuarrie River into the
town which is about Ashburton size. Walked the main street and looked into the
Old Gaol. It took the suspension place 1 hour to fit the bushes which seems to
have had limited effect.
29 Nov – We left Dubbo and drove 150kms to the city of
Orange. The country was very pleasant but dry, rolling farmland. There was a
smoke haze however, as there is one bush fire north of us. The suspension was
considerably better. We booked into a camp and after lunch rode our bikes to
the information centre and went into a modern museum where there was a display
of photos of 1920’s criminals. Fascinating! A walk down the main street where Val bought a
dress and back on the bikes to the camp. The temperature is much cooler and
there is a cold front coming.
30 Nov – Only a short drive to Bathurst where we wanted to
drive around the motor racing circuit at Mt Panorama. The circuit is deemed to
be a public road when no events are on. Bad news! We drove into the carpark and
there was a meeting in progress. It turned out to be a national time trial day
where cars of all types try to better their times to progress thru their
various classes. The good news was the day was free and we could walk anywhere
thru the complex. We watched from above the pits for some time before hopping
back into “Andy” and driving to the top of Mt Panorama, where the twisty
circuit crosses the top of the mountain. We watched from various points
including the “Dipper “, “Skyline” and the “Esses”. There were plenty of very
fast cars trying their best and some very brave drivers! At around 3:30pm we
drove back into the town of Bathurst, surprisingly close to the circuit, and
camped in the show grounds.
1 Dec – Before leaving Bathurst we drove thru the main street.
Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst are historic inland cities and although being
different sizes, are very similar with some lovely old buildings. We drove
60kms to our final stop before heading home tomorrow. We chose Lithgow as we
can catch a train to Sydney. The afternoon was spent with laundry and cleaning.
As we had finished all our food, we walked 1km to some take-away restaurants
and ended up getting a classic chicken roast from Red Rooster. Later we heated
it up in our microwave and it was surprisingly great.
2 Dec – A very cold morning! We signed up for our storage
and packed everything up. A taxi to the Lithgow train station and a 3-hour trip
to the Sydney International Airport. It was a great trip thru the Blue Mountains and Katoomba and into the smokey city of Sydney. A nice meal and a glass of red wine before
our flight home. It has been a great trip thru the NSW and Queensland
hinterland.
