Breakfast was at 8:00am and prior to that we both had showers in the motor home.
Our trip today was around the 100k mark so we had time to have a look around the town. One of our friends was born in Coonabarabran and lived here for a couple of years. Together with he and his other half, we had a long walk around town and we able to locate the home that he spent his early years in. It was a special moment especially when a local stopped in his car at the next property and was able to recall details of the occupants of the house.
We visited a local attraction called “Crystal Kingdom” that houses on of the best display of rocks we have ever seen. There was no entry charge. This business is currently for sale on a WIWO basis and for a cost of $1.5m. The collection alone is worth more than the sale price.
With our friends we stopped at a rest area for lunch, exchanged passengers and then headed north towards our overnight destination. The Newell Highway is very busy with trucks and we watch four trucks who were travelling together organise a passing manoeuvre of the two motor home. We also used our CB radio to assist with a couple of passes. Some people say they (CB’s) are useless but the are a must if you travel on road frequented by large vehicles that are travelling faster than you.
We arrived at the turn-off for Yarrie Lake only to find a dirt road and a sign indicating a distance of just short of 30k’s. Our trip guide gave the road a name and indicated that it was sealed, the GPS simply said “unpaved road”. We travelled down this road for a short distance before finding another sign that did show the name of the road we were looking for. This road was also unpaved.
The road was relatively good but had several spots that were covered with water but soon we arrived at the lake and the site for our overnight stop.
This place is paradise with a beautiful lake, abundant bird life, toilets and showers and nice level camping spots and unfortunately a bloody telephone tower as he received a late call from Telstra about work relating to an office move.
Prior to happy hours, several of the guys solved the issue with the BBQ and cleared a blocked valve.
We all enjoyed happy hour after which we headed back to the motor home and cooked chicken again. It was simply wonderful having a great meal in a beautiful place away from the rat raced of city life (and then the phone rang!!). Unfortunately the internet does not work all that well where we are camped.
After washing our dishes, we headed back to the camp fire for a couple of hours for a talk and a game where you had to name movie stars. It was fun. It was not as cold as previous night but the forecast is for overcast days with rain on Sunday.