G’day from Narromine,

I got away to an early start this morning (6:45am), thanks to the usual raucous squawking calls at 4:00am of the Little Wattlebirds (Anthochaera Chrysoptera) nesting in the native flora on Cove Boulevard. I normally shut the bedroom window when they wake me, and go back to sleep, but this time I decided to get up. After showering, breakfasting, and leisurely packing the car, I departed.

I’d already decided that I’d be stopping in Yass for morning coffee, the attraction being the gourmet pies available from one of the bakeries. I purchased a couple of them at around 9:30am, and devoured one (Lemon Myrtle Lamb) with coffee at a rest area just outside Yass. It was cold, windy, and threatening rain.

I left the Hume Highway a short distance beyond Yass, taking the Lachlan Valley Way. I stopped at Boorowa for a toilet break, and just 50km/30min from my last stop, the weather had become much more salubrious; sunny through patchy cloud, and whilst still a little windy, no longer cold. I continued along the Lachlan Valley Way through Cowra and Forbes (where I filled the petrol tank) to Parkes. I stopped somewhere along the way at around 11:00am to ingest the remaining pie (Chicken and Mushroom), as I was feeling a little peckish. I reached Parkes at about 12:30pm, where I obtained a lunch from Subway. From there, I followed the Newell Highway to Tomingley, then took the most direct route to Narromine via a secondary road. By 2:15pm, I’d checked into the motel I’d booked in Narromine. After settling in to my room, I went for a walk about town (4.35km/42:36min).

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the motel for a small town (population 3,500); it was rated 3.5 stars, and definitely earned that rating. I had dinner at the motel restaurant, after consuming a couple of beers at the bar whilst chatting with the innkeeper and innkeeperess, a very pleasant young couple who had moved from Gravesend, 50km east of Moree, to take over the business just a week ago. The “Chicken Narromine” that I ordered was “most excellent”.

Today’s trip leg was 568km. I’m off to Broken Hill tomorrow, which will be a 720km leg. You may think it’s a strange route to take to W.A., but I enjoy driving in the outback; there’s bugger all traffic, the speed limit is 110km, and the majority of the oncoming drivers wave to you.

Cheers,
Julian