Tuesday 3 March 09, Wellington to Parkes

The alarm sounded at 7.00am and today we arose immediately. We were on the road just after 9.00am and “She” was The Captain for the 105 kilometre cross country leg of our trip. As we left the road going into Wellington Caves, the GPS said turn right, so naturally, we went left. We had been told that a shortcut existed between Wellington and Parkes and it would save us having to make the trip back to Molong. Fortunately as soon as we turned left, the GPS computed our intention and sent us heading in the right direction.
We travelled 105 kilometres across very picturesque country with very little traffic sharing the road with us and careful driving by “She” resulted in an improvement in our overall fuel consumption by almost one half of a litre. Upon arriving in Parkes we refuelled (Iveco computer said average consumption was 14.21 litres per 100k’s, our spreadsheet calculator said 14.9). Either way, the consumption was well over our target of 13.8. Time will tell to see if our target number can be achieved.

We headed to the Parkes Showgrounds which was the registration point for the rally. Registration consisted of visiting several tables in a building where we parted with some money and were finally given the detailed instructions for the intented safari route.

Fortunately we had power but the facilities were very limited but we suppose they were representative of a typical country showground setup.

We spent a pleasant afternoon in the motor home, he caught up with three episodes of the last series of “LOST” whislt “She” managed to close her eyes for a short period of time. Amazing how effective the AC was when it was 32 degrees outside.

We were collected at 5.00pm for a bus ride to the local golf club where we shared the evening meal with our fellow safarites. It was at this event that all safarites were introduced whilst receiving their name badges and further details of the safari were shared. We were proud to learn that the departure order from Parkes would be based on fund raising and thanks to our sponsors, we would be the fourth vehicle to depart. There are 83 motor homes going on the safari carrying 139 safarites.

It was warm when we went to bed and we awoke in the early hours of the morning with the van swaying from the westerly wind from a very strong weather change

 

 

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