Day One

Got away eventually at 9:15, after a huge-ish day yesterday getting organised, doing all the important things like cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, washing clothes, getting our mail redirected, suspending gym membership, completing outstanding work commitments, buying 24 bottles of suitable wine to take away, washing ironing and packing clothes, sorting out supplies and equipment, writing to all the neighbours, etc – you get the idea. It was a busy day and it was nearly midnight when we finished up and collapsed.

Great day’s travelling, though we are going to take some time to get used to the fact that we actually on eight weeks’ of holiday, have no commitments to work or anyone else, and only have to focus on enjoying ourselves and making the most of our travels… It’ll be tough but we think that, given time, we might get used to it.

Journey highlights of day one – which took us from Canberra through Yass, Boorowa, Cowra, Canowindra, Eugowra, Parkes, Narromine, Trangie, and Nevertire to Nyngan:

• Having to stop on the Barton Highway so that two ducks could cross the road. Traffic backed up for a little while and no-one complained or showed impatience.
• How good the country looks at the moment. Last time we came through this route the drought was in full flight, and it looked like a moonscape in places. This time it was green green green and wet, with chains of ponds and pools of water spilling out of the soil at several places. It’s hard to believe that it could even come back from the previous desolation, but there is clearly great resilience in this landscape…
• A couple of clever shop signs – the Deli Lama delicatessen in Canowindra and the Cobb & Dough bakery in Eugowra for starters.
• The football match in progress when we arrived here in Nyngan. Almost nobody was sitting in the stands (too cold!), but were sitting in their cars in a circle around the ground, pointing their cars front ends at the action. Whenever there was a score or something of significance happened, there would be a chorus of car horns all sounding their approval (or disapproval – it was hard to tell which). Not sure who won in the end, but it was entertaining.
• Our current home at the Riverside Camp Ground, on the edge of Nyngan and also the Bogan River (which is replete with water – but not threatening to flood as it did with devastating effect in 1994.

Bob and Anne Jolliffe own and run the camping ground here, and moved here some time ago from Toronto (NSW, that is). They are great lovers of animals in all forms, and the camping ground is a tribute this passion, and part nature park. As well as Dino the soccer-playing dog, there is Eric the white emu, several orphaned Eastern Grey joeys. Turkeys that go jogging alongside Bob when he bicycles around the park, Pepi and Thomas T the cats, possums, budgies and a catalogue of around 200 species of native birds that have been found to frequent this little riverside oasis.

In our little sunset walk along the river bank we saw magpie larks, galahs, grass parrots, purple swamp hens, coots, crows, (very large) willie-wagtails, budgies – and turkeys…