Day 6
A second day in Dubbo without travel as we had planned to split the zoo into 2 x 1/2 days rather than potentially burn out Ellie (or me) in one large day. So again, sorry, but ….. photos are so much better than words. In short – day 2 was just as good as day 1 🙂
We slipped back to the Adventure Park for Ellie to have a play, and then unfortunately I had a 3-hour Microsoft Teams meeting with TAFE in the motel room. Loryn & Ellie enjoyed a meal at the Ox Bar & Grill, and thankfully some fancy pizza made its way back with them.
For anyone who hasn’t visited the Wellington Caves, RFDS, Old Gaol or the Zoo – we highly recommend all of them. Each is distinctly different and we could easily come back in the future and still see and learn more.
Day 7
Back on the road after 3 nights in the one place. Today was a northern loop around to Tamworth following the Oxley Highway, which unsurprisingly actually leads us eventually home. 360km’s for the day with some surprising elevation changes at times – low of 246 metres and high of 732 metres, but throughout the day we climbed 2,623 metres and descended 2,476 metres.
Our first stop for the day was at the museum in Gilgandra. Stops like this are always a balance between time and destination – you could easily spend the day just here without going any further.
Moving on our next stop was at the sometimes little known Hickeys Falls, always good for a quick dip on a summers day. Also good for a snake or two on the rocks.
A couple of the views along the road
Neilson Park at Coonabarabran was a perfect stop for lunch and to stretch the legs
Back on the road we stopped for a quick photo of the silo art at Gunnedah, noting that it hasn’t been that long since we last visited and spent time at the lookouts etc.
Arriving in Tamworth we decided to visit an …… adventure park. Again rural towns are setting the standard – it is seriously impressive.
We finished the day out with dinner at and old favourite (The Longyard) and caught up with some good friends over a couple of drinks.
Day 8
We have done the trip home from Tamworth many times, and many different ways. And yet, we still found some new territory. Today was another ‘working’ day for the car with a minimum elevation of 38 metres and maximum of 1,448 metres. Over the 300km’s we climbed 4,341 metres and descended 4,702 metres.
Coming out of Tamworth we turned off early at Kootingal and followed the train line through Limbri to Woolbrook.
Arriving back at the Oxley Highway we turned into Walcha Road
Continuing past Walcha and to the east of Yarrowitch, we turned into the Mummel Gulf National Park (gravel road) and stopped for a bit of lunch. Whilst there we took the scenic walk to stretch the legs.
After lunch we decided to finish off the loop and head up to Porters Trig and then down Panhandle Trail to the Oxley Highway – which comes out near Yarrowitch. This does require high clearance and I was using low range dropping down to the highway (trig is at 1,448 metres).
Back on the highway we took another diversion on the Myrtle Scrub scenic drive near the Cells River. In the dry it would be fine for most vehicles as long as you had some clearance – it’s basically a gravel road that drops to the river, then climbs back to the road. An AWD like a RAV4 would be comfortable. Did I mention how damp it is – don’t be surprised if you are pulling leeches off.
The rest of the drive was the normal run through the range. Overall a very enjoyable few days away to recharge the batteries a little.