Woke to another glorious day in Dubbo!
Behind the Big 4 where we are camped is a lovely park that runs down to the Macquarie River and the 3 km Tracker Riley Cycleway passes through the park - you can walk / cycle into the CBD or out to the Zoo along this picturesque track. Great for the morning/afternoon exercise. We used it to get to and from the Zoo.
We spent the morning enjoying some more of lovely Dubbo and then we road tripped to Tamworth this afternoon - more of our lovely countryside to enjoy and appreciate.
Had a walk around the Dubbo CBD - what a nice shopping centre! We became inmates of the heritage listed Old Dubbo Gaol in Macquarie Street for a few hours and walked the "haunted halls, listened to the inmates stories and gained an understanding of how harsh gaol life was in this prison. The presentations throughout the gaol were fantastic - life-like figures and animatronics, movement activated stories as you entered the different areas of the gaol and an excellent hologram theatre presentation on the hangings at the gaol at the hands of Robert Rice Howard - "Nosey Bob"( his horse kicked his nose off his face - how scary would he look!), the Chief Public Executioner. Although harsh and gruesome, we thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of the gaol and the lives of the inmates. Puts things in perspective!
After our interesting morning we broke out of gaol and escaped along the Newell Highway to Gilgandra, then shot to Coonabarabran - the Astronomy Capital of Australia, on to Gunnedah - the Koala Capital of Australia and Dorothea Mackellar's inspiration for her poem "My Country". From there we took the Oxley Highway to Tamworth - the Country Music Capital! All lovely towns and their civic pride shone through. We plan to revisit these areas for an explore on another trip. The Warrumbungles, making a striking silhouette on the horizon, looked very inviting for some National Park hiking and nature appreciation, while the Siding Springs Observatory near Coonabarabran sounded very interesting.
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Our backyard :)
The lovely park and the Macquarie River behind the Big 4 |
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| The Cycleway flanked by the beautiful autumn trees - made for lovely walking! |
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| As you travel the path you can read about the cases Riley helped solve |
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| The Macquarie River |
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| Really in the wild! These chappies were grazing beside the Tracker Riley Cycleway as we walked home from the zoo. |
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| The all important bell! |
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| Alec Riley is acknowledged for his great work with a special display at the Gaol. |
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| The ghost (one of the men hung in the gaol) tells the story of the gaol as an introduction to your self-guided tour - very clever and effective use of the hologram |
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| The steel doors are on all the rooms in the gaol - massive! |
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| We only tried the cell for a minute and couldn't get out quick enough! |
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| Thomas is an animatronic and he realistically told us about how he felt being a condemned prisoner |
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| The whipping implements |
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| The Women's Block was in a separate area of the gaol beside the Watchtower |
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The Theatre Holograph presentation about the hangings in the gaol - excellent presentation
and very informative! |
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| The Pillory |
Off to Tamworth..................
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| Our first glimpse of the Warrumbungles |
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| They made an impressive skyline! |
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| The fertile black farming soil on the properties between Gilgandra and Coonabarabran |
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The long, never-ending, straight road into Gunnedah
Dorothea Mackellar's inspiration for her poetry came from her experience on her brothers' farms near Gunnedah.
One of the main streets leading into the town is named after her. |
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| Cotton at Gunnedah |
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The lovely Tamworth countryside
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Loved our road trip today and we are really appreciating our beautiful country.
As Dorothea Mackellar wrote in her poem "My Country".....
"I love a sunburnt country/A land of sweeping plains,/Of ragged mountain ranges,/Of droughts and flooding rains." ...
Can understand why she was moved to write this wonderful poem!
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