Hi Folks,
First the obligatory weather report just to set the tone. We awoke to frost with an overnight minimum of 0.5 again. This is good news since it means clear skies and subsequent sunny weather which was with us all day. We have also had quite still conditions for which we are also thankful.
We were away reasonably efficiently and early although we had to return to the camp site as someone left their drink bottle on the bumper bar!
We then followed the Sturt highway over a well worn route through West Wyalong, Forbes, Parkes and Dubbo. We paused briefly on the way for a Macca's at Forbes and a MacCafe at Parkes. Such is the nature of having a date where you have to arrive in a certain location that these towns become whistle-stops which is a great pity since they do have some attractions worth seeing. Maybe on our way back we can do them justice. We examined free camps on our way from Parkes to Dubbo all of them were unappealing being close to the highway and with no natural havens to park. I selected one 10 km north of Dubbo which is off our intended route so will mean a small back track tomorrow. This is where tonights blog is being typed and it is a pleasant locale next to a muddy river. We are taking a slightly less direct route to Tamworth since it will involve a road we haven't travelled on.
Other than that there is not a great deal to report. Susan has discovered we can zip our sleeping bags together along one edge which will keep her from having to wrestle the overlap together all night.
On a more sombre note something we didn't mention yesterday was a detour at midday around an accident at Euston. Unfortunately the detour wasn't far enough away for us to miss the tarpaulin covering a body on the road. A barouche was being wheeled towards it as we passed and further along the undertakers vehicle was approaching. The victim a young woman from a vehicle roll over at 0300. It's something that a few of the kamikaze drivers we have encountered this time out need to see.
Susan did much of the driving today mainly because I had to sit pressing fast forward on the audio book since I lost our place around 450 minutes into the section. This took about 40 minutes of holding the button down. As previously mentioned it is a Bryce Courtney novel The Potato Factory set in grim times in the 1820's UK with grim characters one of who is being transported to Hobart as we listen today. All the convicts are doing a lot of vomiting which parallels Susan's trips on the Spirit of Tasmania!
Time for tea catch you tomorrow
cheers Simon
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