We went to bed with rain falling on the roof and sometime in the early morning, the rain stopped.
When we opened the door, we were confronted with mist but above the mist was clear blue sky.
The overnight rain had left a lot of ground water as recent rain has soaked the ground so there is nowhere for the water to go. Our caravan was now on an island, surrounded by water and very soft ground.
Avoiding the ground water, we were able to pack the caravan and the preparation for departure was completed quickly.
We had decided to leave at 9:00am but some of the group decided to depart earlier. We had agreed to stop at Walgett for morning tea. We spoke to the remaining couples before departing with 2 other vehicles in tow.
The road was drying quickly, and we had a quick trip to Walgett. Fuel consumption was terrible but other members of the group made a similar statement.
Stopping at the agreed roadhouse in Walgett, we refuelled and then concluded there was nowhere to sit for a cup of coffee so we decided to continue to our final destination for the day.
Those who departed early were now behind us, so we were the first to arrive at Lightning Ridge but the second to arrive at the caravan park. Our group was located together which we were grateful for.
After setting up, we purchased groceries from Khan Super IGA (Khan’s have a monopoly with super IGA’s in north-western NSW) and after returning to the caravan park, we joined other members at happy hour where locals, Mel & Susie were performing. We met Mel & Susie many years ago and call them our friends. They are professional bush poets and are well known across Australia.
We had meals we purchased from IGA for our evening meal and closed our door around 7:00pm and watched television until the end of the Aussie Rules game between Melbourne and Carlton. Melbourne won with a goal 10 seconds from fulltime.
The showers in the caravan park are great with glass shower screens and the water temperature is easy to adjust.