'Stuck in Dubbo'.......

We spent the first afternoon setting up and settling in.  The Dubbo City Holiday Park was very big and very well maintained.  It backs on to the river reserve so was a very quiet park as well.  This turned out to be home for the next 13 days as an extra part for the car had to be ordered and fitted.  

Bill picked up the hire car the next day once he knew what was happening with our car and we popped out to have a look at the shops in the afternoon.  

The next day was fine and we decided to explore a little further afield so we drove out to Trangie to have a look at the Goan Waterhole in Argonaut Park.  The local information booklet told us we could find birds here.

The waterhole was lovely, quiet picturesque with a complete coverage of an aquatic plant making it almost impossible to discern where the park finished and the water started.

The park was absolutely waterlogged after all the recent rain and apart from one swooping Magpie we didn't see any other birds.  But we did find another 'big' thing to add to the list of big Aussie Icons.  The Big Billy is here in the corner of the park welcoming travellers as they come to picnic.

With all the sights seen here in Trangie we drove back to Narromine to see if their bird sites were open but found the same story there.  We did find the statue of Glenn McGrath, the Australian cricketer, who grew up here.  Obviously very proud of their hometown hero.

We returned home after this and settled in for a quiet night with the heater on.  Winter was meant to be over but since the beginning of Spring it seemed that Winter was having a resurgence in a big way.  It was still raining almost every second day and the temperature was below average most of the time.  Nights were still hovering between 3 and 6 degrees.  Our decision to install the diesel heater has certainly a good one.

While we were 'stuck' here I took advantage of staying still for a while and got stuck into the cleaning and washing each dry day.  We also discovered the local McDonald's free wifi was pretty effective so spent some time there with coffee and computers.  Also spent a couple of afternoons in the library for the same reason.

We spent an afternoon checking out Central Dubbo and found this lovely city is well catered for in the variety of shops and services here.  We found the odd rhinoceros here and there as well.

One day we drove across to Geurie, once again looking for birds but same old story, roads closed or too soggy to drive in.  We did find Dave's Jam Stall and left with a jar of Raspberry jam.  Across the road at the bus stop it seems that 436 km was the favorite distance to anywhere.

The old Memorial Hall stood proudly at the top of the hill commemorating all the soldiers who fought in many wars.

Another day we went out to the Dubbo Botanical Garden and Shoyen Japanese Garden.  Very soggy here but a nice walk on one of the sunny days.  The baby ducks were loving it though.

On Saturday morning we walked across to the farmers market held beside the railway bridge each fortnight.  The rain held off and we enjoyed a walk around and left with some lovely fresh fruit.

Walking across the bridge over the Macquarie River it was easy to see how high the water was as a result of all the rain.  The river was running fast and furious here.

Finally we got word that the car would be ready to pick up on Tuesday.  Bill returned the hire car and collected our Jeep and we spent the rest of the day packing up, shopping and generally getting ready to hit the road again on Wednesday morning.

Of course it had to rain again and it was a very soggy job as Bill hooked up and drove us out.  We were well and truly ready to hit the road again but we are very glad that if we had to be 'stuck' at least it was somewhere civilized.  

We enjoyed looking around Dubbo and the surrounding areas but hope not to see it again too soon.

until next time.......