From Dubbo to Canberra, through the country...

We said our goodbyes to the Dunn's now knowing that they are only 800km up the road, we are sure to see them again...

Our first stop was Parkes to see The Dish and have a go at the Whispering Dishes

 We were lucky enough to get one of our few family shots here too by some people who had been up to Lake Eyre (by plane..).  We watched some movies on going to Mars, the size of stars (Canis Major is the biggest one), and watched a man walk to the top of the dish.

 We decided to stop at a little town called Gooloogong, because it showed that they had free camping right in the centre of town, was on the way to Canberra, and we really like little towns.  There were only 4 other people camped there (all a little older).  This gentleman serenaded us with his accordion making us feel like we were in an SBS movie with all the odd things driving past on the back of trucks - harvest time.

 The campground was right next to a playground which was pretty handy for 3 boys.  They made sure that they made good use of it.

 We had a little look around town and found the local shop to get some food for dinner and then had a drink at the pub and a yak with the locals.  Love a country town.  Nice folks

 Next day we needed to get to Canberra - we had to vote by 6pm.  Still enough time to pop into the "Fun Museum" at Cowra.  We thought that we would find some of the war memorabilia here, knowing, as Matt did (I didn't), that a POW camp had been in Cowra.  I think that "Fun" may have been a loose term.  They allowed us in on a discount, not sure if that is because no-one else goes there, or just felt sorry for us.  There is SO much stuff there, rooms and rooms and rooms and rooms of war, transport, farming, modelling, and other weird collected stuff.  Wow.  Apparently it is all going to close down in a couple of years time, so, if you love this stuff, go, but, make sure you go with PLENTY of time and energy, as there is heaps and heaps to look at.  One really good thing about this place was that they had a treasure hunt for the kids (apparently there were prizes, however, no-one to be seen when we left....),  A slight odd, collectors paradise place.

This is perhaps my overwhelming memory...army stuff, and dust

 Signs (Matt's obsession)

 Room number 8

some missile thing...impressed? 

 War things, and me being really excited about it

WOW - Is that the Hume?  This seems really, really close now.  Been here before!

Dunley's Down in Dubbo with Dunn's

One of the brilliant things about this trip has been the people by far, and one of the not so good things has been the rain. 

So when it came to all dirt roads in NSW and VIC closed due to the rain (has the drought broken yet?), and we couldn't go to the places that we wanted to (Lake Mungo NP...etc), plans had to change again.  Good to be flexible.  If we kept heading south, we would have arrived in Melbourne very quickly with nowhere to stay, so it was time to head east. 
Dubbo Zoo was a dot on the map, and we had met some great folks from Dubbo all the way back in Norseman (then Esperance, Perth, and Kalbarri).  They had said that if we get close to Dubbo, pop in, so time to give them a call. 
"No worries",  they said, "come and camp on our block, we've got 100 hectares"

Beauty!

On the way we enjoyed the delights of reverse parking, knitting socks, playgrounds in rest stops (!), big things on the way to harvest, more great sunsets and a town called Never Tire.

Time for a taste of the farm life.

Lucky too, as when we came over the hill to see Dubbo, we were a little overwhelmed at the size of it!  It was probably the biggest centre we have come across for a while.

Sheri and Anthony made us feel very welcome at their farm, and it was great to catch up with them after they had been home for 2 months already.

We took Luke, their son, along to the zoo with us.  It was good, the kids loved it, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be.  The "drive around" bit made Matt & I think that it would be a bit like our Werribee zoo, more of an open plain zoo, but it reminded us more of our Melbourne Zoo, just perhaps a little bigger.  In the end, we were all a little tired of getting in and out of the car. 

The boys all loved the new playground at the end with the flying fox.

The museum in Dubbo is really worth checking out.  It is really well done and Lyn, a lovely older lady, showed us around, telling us stories about the older Dubbo.

We also checked out the op shops (as we do...).  There are 9 in Dubbo!  A sign of the size.  Temptation to get a few things here and there...

A swim in the local pool, until we all realised how cold it was! (They said it was heated, but we are now used to warmer waters)

We popped into ABC Local Radio to pick up free stickers for the kids journals (great to do if you are on the road), and they decided to interview us...

But I think the best fun was had was back at the Dunn's property. 

Matt helped Anthony out with getting starting on putting in his new solar system.  Digging in 8 holes to hold up the massive panels, and getting the positioning right.  The boys all helped out.

The boys also loved collecting the eggs from the chickens, playing with Layla the dog and talking to the steers. 

We had a ride around in the ute (apparently, it has to be done), and chatted with the neighbours about, well, stuff.  We cooked, in an oven!!!  Then we left, as it was time to go.  Dubbo, only 800km from Melbourne.  Just up the road.