Lake Cargelligo to Dubbo

I woke well before Amber and got on my bike as the sun turned everything orange.  I rode down to Frogs Hollow which Pete says is the site of a couple of ochre pits. I couldn’t find them (a sign indicated they were there somewhere) but I did have a lovely chat with another camper, Alan, who was up enjoying the early morning too. He was camped at the free camping area along the bank of the river and he and his wife had been on the road for three months already. Ahh, the life of a grey nomad! Something to aspire to!

We were on the road by 9.30am and heading to Ootha to see the Utes in a Paddock. This amazing sculpture park depicts various aspects of Australian life, all painted on, or crafted out of, Holden Utes. What an extraordinary exhibition this is. Many of the artists were recognisable (for instance John Murray from Lightning Ridge whose prints adorns our wall at home). The signs accompanying the utes tell a range of stories and many are worth reading to the kids. Amber especially liked the story behind a ute painted by the local aboriginal kids.

From here we were on to Parkes where we were lucky enough to catch the tail end of the Elvis Festival. The information centre was teeming with Memphis look-alikes. This weekend-long event takes place the second weekend in January each year and is apparently long awaited. Seems incongruent that such a wonderful town named for  one of the founders of this country, and one of the best radio telescopes in the world should be known for a man who lived and died half the globe away, but the world is a funny place!

Next stop Dubbo. We were staying at Dubbo Parklands Big4. I have stayed here before and really love this spot. Manager, Deidre, showed us their new safari tent accommodation before we set up (avoiding the rain). The rest of the day was spent relaxing, swimming in the pool, playing table tennis and making friends with other campers (most importantly other kids). Amber was definitely ready for the company of other kids and thoroughly enjoyed a huge game of Red Rover.