Dubbo to Tocomwal

 There are so many Aussie towns with unusual names.

Dubbo is a larger city in the middle of New South Wales. It's a major rail and road transport hub with a population of about 40,000. If you read the Wiki article, it states that there are numerous possibilities for the origin of the name.

We each had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast. It was huge and very tasty.

The brekkie cafe.

Dubbo station. There is a daily train to Sydney.

Soon we were out into the country.

Just north of Parkes, we visited the Dish. You might remember the film made in 2000 about the role the dish supposedly played in transmitting the video of the first walk on the moon in 1969. Everybody who saw the landing video remembers where they were at the time.

The radio waves from you cell phone can interfere with the sensitive radio receivers. The snakes can interfer with your health. The drones might drop Amazon packages on your head.

The old control panel.

If you ever need a C30 converter, this is what they look like. 

You are not allowed to get any closer than the fence.

Pathway leading to the dish.

Inside the old Receiver Cabin which was situated at the focal point of the dish, way up high.

The old cabin.

The new cabin that replaced the old.

The smaller dish that nobody notices.

Can you imagine climbing up the ladder (250 steps) to the cabin.

We continued driving through endless fields for mile after mile.

It's an easy drive with very little traffic. Usually there are a few minutes between approaching cars.

The gantry holds cameras that are used to time it takes for your car or truck to travel to the next gantry. Your average speed is calculated and if it exceeds the speed limit, you get a ticket.

We stopped at a park in West Wyalong.

This insect was about 3 inches long. I almost managed to step on it.

Chainsaw carving.

The bridge to the public toilets.

Next door was what appeared to be a maze.

They even provided a hole to gaze at. This park had everything.

Marianne checks out the fountain. We have been really impressed by how hard the small towns try to make the most of what they have. This was a beautiful park and walking on the grass was like walking on a very plush carpet.

More fields.

Yes, it's the name of a small village. Grong Grong means 'bad camping ground' in the local Aboriginal language. It's not very encouraging.

Interesting grain silo.

The highway becomes a beautiful avenue of trees.

We liked this old house across the road from a large park in Narrandera.

The park has one of the prettiest cricket grounds that I have ever seen. It's an oval and the longest dimension is about 150 meters so it's very large.

A Tiger Moth used to train pilots in WWII.

We passed over the Murrumbidgee River which is the second longest river in Australia. It flows into the Murray River. It's also the centre of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and we saw numerous canals carrying water to farms.

Another speed gantry. I just set the cruise control to the speed limit and most other drivers do the same. It's very relaxing just rolling along.

Marianne takes the photos while I drive. Occasionally she takes a photo of her knees which I am sure you would enjoy.

A small museum in the town of Finley. I try to stop every hour or so to take a break and stretch my legs.

Dinner in a pub at Tocumwal that is located on the banks of the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and NSW. I had the smoked salmon and barramundi pie and M enjoyed the beef ragu and potato. It seems to be easy to find good food in country Australia these days.