On The Banks of the Bogan

Friday 23^rd September

We left Gunnedah at 11am today. There was no rushing around.  Normally we would be racing around the night before getting everything ready for an early departure the next day.  This time we planned a short first day so there was no rush.  We were able to have a leisurely breakfast at Josh and Belinda’s, a local take away, wash the sheets and make the bed ready for return, check tyres, oil and water and pump up the tyres.

After we passed through Coonabarabran we stopped at a rest area about 55 km from Gilgandra.  The rest area was at Hickeys Falls.  I remember calling in there once before when the family made a trip to Sydney.  I think it was either 1964 or 1965 when Dad did the calculations and estimated that it would be 2 miles extra going down through Dubbo and Bathurst instead of Newcastle. (It was actually 200 extra.)

When we got to Gilgandra Deb took me to see some of the sights that she saw when she was there earlier in the week doing a course with the Ambulance Service.  One of the outstanding institutions was the bakery called the Rock Cake Café.  The picture is of a rock cake that is resting on a small commercial tray. We also dropped into the training centre and I met her trainer.

We purchased a couple of the products of the Rock Cake Café, no not rock cakes and continued on our way.  We stopped at a little village called Collie where we had a cuppa.  There wasn’t a rest area that we could find so we pulled into the backyard of the pub and had a cuppa and cake on their verandah.  Very pleasant it was too.

 We arrived here at the Nyngan Riverside Caravan Park at about 3.45pm after passing through Warren and Nevertire.  The cabin is one of their older ones but you wouldn’t think so.  It is clean and tidy and all the fixtures and fittings seem to be in good condition. 

We had a quick tour of the town and had a look at the local health facilities (Ambulance Station and Hospital) which appear quite new and well kept.  When I first saw the hospital I thought it was a park.  We did some shopping for tea and fuelled up ready for a quick getaway in the morning.  The caravan park is on the Barrier Highway on the Broken Hill side of town so there is no need to go back in to town.

Tomorrow it’s Broken Hill, 625 km along the Barrier Highway.  I’ll let you know how we get on tomorrow.

Deb and Den aka The Western Wanderers.