Dubbo is home to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, has a really lovely botanical garden, an old gaol, and the lovely Macquarie River (Wambuul). It became a city in 1966.
It is also the centre of many main roads, which means it is the centre of much traffic including the B-Doubles travelling through to their various destinations.
The Mscquarie River is part of the Macquarie-Barwon catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, and is one of the largest rivers in New South Wales.
The camping ground is beside a lovely park, with a cycling/walking path alongside the river. Every morning there has been a heavy frost covering the grass.
Yesterday we drove fifty kilometres to the Wellingron Caves, but unfortunately the tour was booked out, so we did not visit the caves. Luckily we had visited the caves in Naracoorte which is in the Limestone Coast Region so we knew approximately what they would look like inside.
However, we popped into the display area, which was informative and we had quite a bit of fun playing with the interactive display.
The caves were formed after the sea evaporated and the limestone dried out causing cracks and holes. This type of landscape is called karst.
The landscape of Wellington Caves Reserve holds evidence of 400 million years of evolutionary history. There were many fossils found in the caves, initially sent to Britain but now kept in Australia.
The area is also the home of the local 'Binjang mob' of the Wiradjuri people, and they have their stories about how the area was formed and developed.
The skeleton of an ancient animal. The interactive board is curved around the edge of the room.
The creatures in the sea that once covered the area.
The original emu.
A large animal, which moves when you wave your hand in front of it.
The outline of the kangaroo on this animal. The original kangaroo., without a tail.
We also carried out a few minor repairs to the caravan and did a big and expensive shop to carry us through for the next week. Prices are certainly more expensive here than in Aldinga. The groceries came to $160, and the only really expensive item was a $10 pack of fresh pasta. I was also shocked with the price of diesel which cost $142 to fill the tank, I forgot how much per litre it was, but remember Walter whistling at the price. The joys of travelling.
The main street of Dubbo. It was fairly empty of people but full of cars. In fact Dubbo is full of vehicles, with clogged roads, and intersections. We were not impressed with the amount of traffic. And only two pedestrian crossings on the main street, plus cyclists used the footpaths. I only lasted ten minutes with Piper before I went back to the car. Walter persisted for longer, although he was looking for a hairdresser.
There are two shopping malls on the main street, owned and run by Woolworths and Coles. Most people shop in the 'strip shops' on one of the main road that lead out of the city. All the big stores and malls are along this road, which is the same with most country towns and cities.
However, the beautiful parks that run along the river are definitely beautiful and relaxing.
Walter came out of hospital on Monday, looking relaxed and thinner, and very impressed with the standard of care at Dubbo Hospital.
Tomorrow we are travelling back up north, first stop Walgett, on the Darling River.
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