Starry soup!

Insulated mugs are on the list for our soup picnics!

Before checking out from the Dubbo cabin, Nick had filled our two Stanley food thermoses with home-made soup.

It had been pleasantly warm sitting in the sun for our picnic lunch at the zoo, so we elected to save the soup for later.  We reached the Singleton East Rest Area around 6:30am that evening.  Although it was quite early the sky was already dark and it felt much later.  We weren't hugely hungry but were definitely in need of a break from the driving, so deemed it time for soup under the stars!   There were picnic tables available but we elected to park Elmer beneath one of the light-poles, so we could actually see our soup.

Not surprisingly Vaughan considered it too cold to stand outside, so he stayed in his seat instead.  The rest of us admired the clear night, very glad of our thermal underwear!

Swanning around town?!

Dunedoo has several parks.  We usually stop at a fenced one, where there are picnic tables and a children's playground (with public toilets close by) - which means we hadn't ever had a close look at these neat bird sculptures.

The artist was David Sherlock.  He lives nearby and exhibited at Ironfest several times!

Vaughan was initially miffed at missing some time in the playground but he cheered up and was happy to pose with some of the sculptures for me.

I particularly wanted to photograph the barn owl because we had watched "Legend of the Guardians:  the Owls of Ga'hoole" repeatedly while at Dubbo!


The name Dunedoo is derived from a local Aboriginal word meaning swan - which would explain the various swan motifs/references around town!

All good things ...

Our original plan was to depart the Zoo directly after our giraffe feeding but Erin decided against attending her Monday night TAFE class, which meant we all enjoyed a few bonus hours.  It was very pleasant sitting in the sun eating our picnic lunch.  No-one was keen to leave - even though we'd already stayed longer than expected!

It was around 3:00pm when we started along the Golden Highway and all was very pretty in the golden afternoon light!

We stopped not far out of town, so Nick could top-up some of Elmer's fluids - and then we were on the road again.

Dunedoo (approx 90km east of Dubbo) was our next stop.

Carrot Value!

We highly recommend feeding the giraffes!

Our first two days at the zoo corresponded with the last weekend of the NSW school holidays, which meant there were many visitors - and the line-up for the giraffe feeding was huge.

We therefore decided to feed the giraffes on our last morning, as our zoo finale.  The cost is a mere $5.00 per person, which makes it the cheapest animal encounter on offer.  We know from experience that it is hugely entertaining, so Vaughan was keen to be the absolute first person in line - hence we lined up about 30 minutes before anyone else. Our boy was first out onto the feeding area though and that made him very, very happy!

Pot Luck Dinner! (13-16 July)

Stir-fry Chicken with Cashews

I always check the cooking facilities of our accommodation, so that I can menu plan accordingly.  I knew our Dubbo cabin would have a microwave and hotplates - and I presumed some basic cooking equipment, which was true.

The cabin was rated for a maximum occupancy of four.  It seemed from the available saucepans that the four were expected to have small appetites - or survive on takeaway, perhaps?!  I had planned a stirfry but neither the frypan nor the two saucepans were large enough to hold all our ingredients, so I cooked in two parts - then combined both with hokkien noodles in a large plastic container we had brought with us.  It wasn't elegant but all were quite appreciative of our pot luck dinner - even Vaughan!

Trolley tray-ed off (13-16 July)!

Erin enjoying hot chocolate in the sunshine ...

Taronga Western Plains Zoo (at Dubbo) is "... an open-range zoo, where animals are located across wide open spaces." 

Visitors can walk, bike, cart or drive around a 6km one-way circuit, stopping along the way to look at exhibits.  The electric carts looked fun but we elected to save the hire fee and drive around in Elmer Fudd (putting the heater on when necessary)!  There are several picnic/BBQ areas throughout the grounds.  Even so,  on the first day we elected to use Elmer's back tray for our food prep area - because he was parked in the sun, and the picnic tables weren't!

What was on the menu?  We enjoyed a choice of corned beef or meatloaf sandwiches with either roasted vegetable chutney or onion confit (as mentioned here).  Our standard beverages (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) were available, as were some home-baked choc-chip or wholemeal date muffins.  Fruit and cold water are standard options.  Obviously, there is never any danger of starving!

Dubbo Dallying

We checked in around 7:30pm on Friday night

Given Nick had worked most of the July school holidays, we decided to take advantage of his few days off just before the start of term.  Time was tight as Nick had to work on Friday morning - and was due back for another shift on Tuesday.

Due to those time constraints, we decided against camping and instead booked a studio cabin at Dubbo City Caravan Park (via a discount accommodation site).  The cabin was a bit bigger than our tent - and had air conditioning, which was very much appreciated when the temperature dropped considerably overnight! 

As usual, it was a budget trip.  I had done much food preparation before departure and we traveled with one of our Engels running as a freezer, full of our weekend provisions.  Before checking in we made a brief supermarket stop to purchase ice-cream.  It was just as well we had the Engel, the freezer compartment of the small cabin fridge was almost completely iced over!

It had been three years since our last Dubbo experience and we were all looking forward to spending several days at the Zoo (again, courtesy of our annual ZooFriends passes).  Prior to collecting Nick, we had visited one of our local libraries - viewing a school holiday science show and borrowing some books and DVDs to bring away with us.  Erin and Vaughan were in charge of DVD selection and choose two of the Lion King movies, in keeping with our zoo theme!

Dubbo dallying

We had stayed at Byrock overnight, arriving there around 8:30pm (NSW time).  All were tired from the day's exertions and were in bed fairly soon after our (thermal-cooked) dinner!

We were back on the road around 9:00am the next morning and stopped for quite a late lunch at Dubbo.   (Although the Visitor Information Centre is visible in the background, the office had been temporarily located across the road due to recent flooding).

We arrived  home at around 9:00pm.  There aren't many pics from the return trip.  I think I was too busy looking at all the flooded areas - and taking footage! 

"the Dubbo"

There was much excitement when Erin received confirmation that her week-long work experience application for Western Plains Zoo (Dubbo) had been accepted.  (She had previously enjoyed a week at Taronga in 2008).

Nick and I both juggled leave  and Nissa was given permission to come too, even though it was school time.   We had the most brilliant holiday, out at “the Dubbo” in Vaughan-speak!

Although we briefly considered camping for the trip, it was decided given our novice status (and other factors), we were be far more comfortable in self-contained accommodation – so we had a well-deserved/highly recommended splurge.  Erin thoroughly enjoyed her zoo time: feeding otters, cheetahs (and others),  weighing meerkats and making Easter “enrichment” eggs  for  various animals! 

And yes, the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed playing tourist!