• Departed Narrabri on Tuesday

• Travelled to Coonabarabran

• Travelled towards Gilgandra and turned off towards Dunedoo

• Camped overnight Tuesday at Mendooran

THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WHILE THE PICTURES LOAD

Day 7

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Click on the pictures for larger versions

Back on the highway again with all of the traffic. Our idea was to avoid as much traffic as possible for our sake and the public, as the Daihatsu isn't exactly speedy but there were areas it just wasn't possible.

We had this confirmed as we were near Coonabarabran.

I have the UHF CB radio set to the "Truckies" channel, Channel 40, to hear any activities of interest like wide loads, floods, accidents etc.
I could see three semi trailers in the rear vision mirror catching up fast. Normally I slow down and move to the edge of the road to allow them to pass, if the road is clear ahead.
It wasn't possible on this section because it was a long uphill grade with double lines.

As they came up behind me the radio burst into life. By the comments, they were obviously travelling together.
The comments went like this, in typical truckie drawl.

Number 1 ------ "Have a %$@#&^ look at THIS !!!!!"

Number 2 ------ "Yeah, looks like Ma and Pa Kettle on holidays!.... ha ha ha ha ha"

Number 3 ------- "Ahhhhhhhhhh...leave em alone....as long as they're enjoyin emselves !"
 

After that, they organized themselves to pass, using the radio. Once one passed and he could see the way ahead was clear, he called the others on.

I could have talked to them but couldn't see the point as there was nothing I could do but plough on as best I could.

Once past Coonabarabran, we were able to avoid the Newell Highway, as we had to turn towards Denman, where my sister lives.
I had picked a camping spot for the night, from Camps Australia 4. A place called Mendooran.
As it was by the Castlereagh River, I thought it might be green and have a lot of water.

Mendooran isn't exactly somewhere you'd want to return to.

What you see above are shots of the Rest Area. Functional is the best I'd give it. There is water and it's probably really pretty when there is no drought but with the way the drought is now, it looked pretty sad.

The town reminded me of one of those towns in the movies where the old men sit around watching time go by. It's probably a lovely place to live but it looked so isolated.
We received waves from some of the townspeople as we drove in, so it can't be too bad.
A lot of places we've passed through have people who just look at you and ignore your friendly wave, as though you are some kind of alien.

Anyway, we set up camp with 4 other campers and settled in for the night.