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.

Other things we did in broome during election time...

Anastasia's Pool

Looking for Dinosaur Footprints

busking at the market

watching planes land right in the centre of town

Look at the really high tides in the mangroves

Find the dinosaur footprints

Find amazing trocus shells

Climb around the rocks

A Quick Lesson in Politics, Voting and Running Polling Booths

Day 1 of Matt being the OIC of Broome Pre Poll Voting Centre (which was to cater for any and everyone who was eligible to vote within Australia who happened to be in Broome), he and the other 2 staff were completely innudated by all of the other travellers (like us) who happened to be here!  I was immediately signed up as well and the kids sat up the back (in the cool air con) and did their school work, read, did craft, watched a movie, etc. 

We all had a steep learning curve of understanding how it all worked and went about our training online.  Whenever it was quiet enough, usually around "sundowner hour", I finished work and took the kids "home" to our tent to get rid of their physical energy on their scooters while I cooked tea. 

Occassionally it didn't work out that way..

It has been a very long two weeks, and I have to say that we have the most tremendous kids, and Matt ran the most awesome centre given that none of the staff had ever done this before.  We had a huge nuimber of people come through our doors, much, much more than expected by anyone, but we did it! So much so that we even made the news!

Election day was quieter than the others as we only had interstate voters, yet the count kept us there until 11pm, then we were there the next day to package all up to get it onto a tiny plane to Geraldton. 

Incredible to be part of this amazing election, and now that I have done the count, I have learnt so much more about how the House of Representative preferences work.  So next time you vote, really think about it, because it all does matter, every number! 

Now we are tired.  Recovering.  All of us.  We are having a week in Broome to put our things away, tidy up, sort our things out, pick up our SOLAR PANEL that we ordered (yes even more exciting), and try to remember that we are "travelling family" not a family living in Broome.  Then we are hitting the Gibb.  It's getting hot over here, and only going to get hotter.  Plans will be reviewed, but that's OK, that's travelling.