Winter Wanderings – Day18 – Born To Travel Australia

Goondiwindi – Dubbo

We knew it was cold when we woke quite early. It was just after 6am and it was still dark. So we cuddled up under the covers until after 7am then quickly got up and dressed before eating breakfast. By the time we had packed up the caravan it was just after 8am as we left the caravan park and came to a t-intersection.

We turned left and headed off down highway 39, quickly crossing the border from Queensland and into New South Wales. In no time at all we were entering Boggabilla.

Fifteen minutes along the road we came to the inevitable, our first roadworks delay.

We were soon on our way but in the middle of a bunch of trucks and larger road trains so we turned on our CB radio.

Half an hour further along we came to more roadworks.

Once we had waited for oncoming traffic we continued. After passing that section of roadworks we managed to pass the road train in front of us on a passing lane up a hill. Pretty quickly after that a road train passed us. We’d heard the driver complaining about another caravan rig behind us so thought it prudent to go slow until he could overtake us.

After that it was a pretty quiet time for us. After swapping over at a park in Moree we headed south again. Huge grain sheds and silos could be seen on the edge of town.

We also passed a slow moving train as we headed towards Narrabri.

After reaching Narrabri we drove on to a roadside stop at Bohena Creek for a stretch and early lunch. Lots of trees burnt in a bushfire were showing signs of regrowth. After we had eaten a sandwich and swapped driver we continued on.

For the benefit of non Australians reading this I’ve included a road sign you only see in Australia. Because it was the middle of the day we didn’t see any kangaroos of course. Our aim is to be off the roads before they become active in the twilight.

Between Narrabri and Coonabarabran the road was very quiet. At times we had it all to ourselves.

Gilgandra

Mid afternoon saw us finally reach Gilgandra. We stopped to swap over driver at the Tourist Information Centre. In behind it on a large grassy expanse were some beautiful murals showing a range of things from aboriginal art to fauna and local scenery to rural scenes to war memorials.

Sadly drizzly rain began as I walked around taking photos so this one on the side of the Gilgandra Museum is a bit blurry.

Back in the car we drove on towards Dubbo, where we planned to stop for the night.

As we drove along the rain intensified.

Oncoming trucks became a problem

as they sprayed up huge amounts of water onto vehicles like us as they headed north.

Finally we arrived in Dubbo. We were pleased to have phoned ahead to secure a site. Mind you setting up the caravan in the rain wasn’t fun. A hot dinner and shower helped. Another long day ahead again the next day so we took an early night listening to the rain fall on the caravan roof.