Gilgandra and surrounds

While spending a week or so in Gilgandra, we did a couple of side trips in Scruffy.

The first was to Dubbo to pick up our mail so we took the opportunity to the Western Plains Zoo. Probably not the best day for it as it was a bit overcast and cool but we drove round in the Moke and saw some of our favourites – meerkats, ring tail lemmas, cheetahs, the tiger, otters and much more in open range style enclosures.

 We visited the old Dubbo Gaol which had Gaol which has some excellent displays set up in the old cells with automated dummies made to look like actual former in-mates, and as visitors pass a photo cell sets off the automation and the “prisoners” tell their stories. Each dummy has individual features and there is even a female escapee going over the wall.

 We also spent a day exploring the Warrumbungles National Park. Some great camping areas easily accessible to motorhomes and there is plenty to see without tackling the many walking tracks. Good sealed roads, very enjoyable for Moke driving. There are some amazing rock formations left from the volcanic activity 13 million years ago and revealed by erosion. Just outside the park is the Siding Springs Observatory which is well worth a visit for the views from the mountain top and the facility itself.

In Gilgandra we visited the Rural Museum and spent some time going through all the farm machinery, tractors, trucks and ingenious home-made equipment. Gilgandra area once had hundreds of windmills and there were four different types out the front. They have been superseded by solar pumps as these are more efficient and at the sunniest, driest time of year there is often no wind.