There is far more traffic than we have seen in a very long time, so we will try and get off the Newell Highway as soon as possible. Another thing that has been really noticable since crossing into NSW on the Newell is the state of the rest areas. They are pigstys with rubbish everywhere and generally unkempt, the Qld and NT ones just about without fail were very well looked after. Time to get onto the secondary roads and make our own stops I reckon!!We went through Moree which is a big town and not tourist friendly as there is nowhere to park, so kept straight on going to Narrabri. The CMCA have negotiated with the council for members to stay at the showgrounds for $12 per night including power or $6 unpowered so we decided to stay here 2 nights so we can connect to power for a change. It is well off the highway and is nice and quiet. There is a really nice area behind the info centre on the river for tourists to park and consequently there was heaps of vans stopped and people doing their shopping!! Today is hot at 30c and they are predicting a hot and very windy weekend and high fire danger.
Saturday 23rd September
Our firstborn is 32 today!! We cleaned, washed and vacuumed today and then did some shopping. Finally have gotten rid of the smell, after I pressure cleaned everything I sprayed lemon scented bleach I got from the cheap shop everywhere, and that along with the wind has seemed to have fixed it.Fortunately it didnt come inside, but you couldnt sit outside at all. A lesson learned, next time I will stop if I have to!! but I must have straddled 100s of the things before, so obviously this one was just a fraction too high or else was just rotten enough for the suction of the Bunkhouse to burst it!! Get the picture!!! A lovely job it was!! Sunday 24th September Went to see the Australia Telescope Compact Array today. It is the largest and most powerful radio telescope array in the Southern Hemisphere and is keenly sought after for use by astronomers worldwide. Each dish is 22m in diameter (about the length of a cricket pitch) and weighs about 270tonnes. The larger the dish the clearer radio pictures you can get but building a dish any bigger than 100m is nearly impossible so using lots of smaller dishes linked together overcomes the problem. They move the dishes along the railway track on which they sit. Next we went to see Yarrie Lake which is a great place for camping, bird watching and water sports. There are a number of camping spots around the edge of the lake and even a few powered spots. Had a few lazy days but there were footy finals to watch and it has been rotten hot windy weather so it has been good to have power to run the air conditioner without starting the generator. It is almost a month since we last plugged in, so the batteries also have had a proper charge. Elle must be worried about putting back on the weight she lost while working at Marla she's up at 5.45am every morning walking, this morning I had to get out of bed so she could get the tennis racket stored underneath it because she has found a wall she can bang a ball against. Time to move on I reckon!!
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