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Published: October 13th 2010
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Friday came and we were on the move again, continuing our journey north. We headed for Parkes which was purely a stopping off point. We arrived at about 2.45 which gave us plenty of time to find a flat pitch and walk into town. Later we walked up the hill to the monument/lookout we could see from the site. Back in the caravan and just as it got dark there was a sudden noise like something being dropped on to the roof. Graham investigated with a torch and saw the cause - a couple of possums were in the tree that we had parked under and were foraging, causing leaves and seedpods to drop. The noise went on for about an hour but had stopped by the time we went to bed.
We didn’t need to unhook the caravan last night when we stopped in Parkes (we chose a “drive-through” pitch) so minimal preparation was needed prior to our departure. This meant we could have a casual start to Saturday and didn’t actually get going until 9.45ish. We re-fuelled (a more stressful process with a caravan on tow!) in Dubbo and later stopped for a sandwich lunch in a pleasant
park in Gilgandra. Most of the terrain on the 300km journey was pretty flat until we got to within 100 kms of our intended destination, Coonabarabran, when it became much more undulating. There weren’t so many big trucks on the road as it was a Saturday, a blessing as Graham often finds it hard to see what’s coming up behind us. The extended wing-mirrors don’t quite extend far enough to see fully around the caravan and although the bends in the road can often help give a good view of what’s behind, many of the roads are dead straight!!
We had passed through this area in the car several weeks ago on our way to Warwick and thought then that it would be a good place to stay awhile and explore when we had the caravan. Sarah and Darryl had “raved” about The Warrumbungles and we thought they must also have spent time here. It transpires that all of their information came from good friends and one-time travelling companions KangarooJack. So it’s thanks to Andy and Caroline that we find ourselves here.
It is possible to camp within The Warrumbungles but we had already decided to base ourselves
in Coonabarabran and to travel into The National Park in the car daily. The caravan park we chose was on the edge of the town to the north. We arrived at about 3pm and selected a nice grassy pitch in a quiet part of the park. I was just about to put the kettle on when there was a loud crash and the caravan lurched forward. I ran outside fearing something terrible must have happened but was pleased to find everything, including Graham, still in one piece. Alas, Graham had not attached the “jockey wheel” securely enough and it came away, allowing the front end of the caravan to crash down to the ground. Alerted by the noise, our camping neighbour rushed over and Graham explained what had happened. He found the heavy-duty car jack and with the help of his new mate managed to raise the front of the van so they could get the jockey wheel back in place. That was a valuable lesson learnt and, very fortunately, with no serious consequences. Never having towed a caravan before, we’ve picked up a few good tips already in this first week and they’ve all been gratefully received. Neighbouring campers
are usually only too willing to help in a crisis and are a constant source of valuable information to us “virgin” caravanners.
On Sunday we were up with the larks although by the time some washing was done and hung out and sandwiches prepared it wasn’t that early! We drove out of town towards the Warrumbungles. It was quite a few kms until we got to the National Park and the first place of interest we came to was the Siding Spring Observatory. This site is home to 13 telescopes including the very impressive 3.9m Australian Astronomical Observatory, Australia’s largest optical telescope. This observatory is not open to the public for night-time viewing of the sky but there are other observatories available in the area for that. We enjoyed going inside and taking a look at the big telescope and looking at the many displays. The information available about what is “out there” in space is over-whelming and much too much for us ordinary mortals to take in fully. The views of The Warrumbungles from the Observatory were stunning and the café serves some great coffee and raisin toast.
Fully refreshed, we drove on and came across Whitegum
Lookout Walk so we parked up and did the easy 1km walk. Again, the views from the lookout were wonderful. We went on to the Visitor Centre as we needed to buy a National Park Pass. We were undecided about what sort of pass we should get - a day parking ticket or an annual NSW pass. A day ticket cost $7 and the annual pass $45. We think we may spend a lot of time between now and Christmas in NSW so we plumped for the annual pass. We only need to visit NSW National Parks 9 times to get our money back and that’s what we’ll try to do. Armed with our pass we drove on to a picnic area for a welcome tea-break. We saw quite a few kangaroos including our first mum and joey (on this trip). We had a quick look at ‘Camp Blackman’ the campsite we could have stayed at - it would be a great place to stay for a few days although, even with loos, showers and power, it was very expensive for a NP site at $20 per night.
Quite a few of the walks listed in the brochures were
long and steep, designed for serious walkers, and at this stage we didn’t feel ready to tackle them. But to test ourselves we thought we would attempt ‘Fan’s Horizon’ which, although less than 4 kms, included over 1000 steps (1035 to be precise!). It started off fairly gently but then the steps got deeper and steeper with some very challenging bits. We soldiered on and made it to the top, stopping occasionally to chat to a group, some of whom were struggling with the climb. But Graham, considering his major operation of not too long ago, found it all surprisingly easy. The view at the top was glorious and worth every one of those 1035 steps. A bit further on was another lookout which we managed to reach but the view couldn’t surpass the one that Fanny Gould had loved so much. It was almost as difficult going back down and my poor old knee and hip took a bit of a pounding. We passed a family with four very young children - Dad, with baby on his back and son were doing well but Mum and two younger ones were lagging a long way behind. We doubted that they
would make it to the top and we’ll never know. We felt a real sense of achievement that we had completed the walk although, back at the car, our legs felt very weary. Graham drove on round to Coona and I was pleased that I had cooked enough chicken pasta the previous night so I only needed to do a few veggies. Then we collapsed in a heap!
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Darryl and Sarah
Wallaby Wanderers
One step beyond!
Excellent effort with the steps and the walks, you both look very fit and healthy. The weather there looks good too - very envious. Just been looking at our blog from last year ..... we had already met up with the Elliotts and just about to meet up with the Reeves for the first time. Happy Days! :-) Lots of love to both of you. Safe Travels Sar and Dar x x x x x