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.