From our overnight spot it was a 40 kilometre drive to the CSIRO Radio Telescope near Parkes. The place is famous as it was used during the Apollo landing on the moon and was made into a film in 2000, “The Dish”. The film 20 years old this month was only on the TV a couple of weeks ago.

The place has a visitor centre (free entry) that shows how it was built and has been used over the last 60 years. We were lucky when we were there as the “Dish” moved several times. After iced coffee at the cafe our visit was complete.

Parkes

Apart from “The Dish” Parkes is known for its Elvis festival which is held annually in January. We parked in the main street and strolled up and back buying a pork roll each for lunch. A very pleasant town but today no Elvises were sighted.

Forbes and on to Gooloogong

From Parkes we drove down to Forbes only stopping at the Bunnings and Spotlight to buy materials to construct a netting curtain over the rear access. Which turned out to be a success, so we can leave the back door open and have some air while having some privacy and keeping out the bugs.

We headed on the road towards Cowra to find a place for the night. The first place we had bookmarked did not appeal so we kept going. We drove through the small town of Gooloogong and noticed some motorhomes and caravans parked behind a park and playground. We turned around to investigate and discovered it was a basic caravan park with showers, toilets, electricity and all for a donation. We pulled in under the shade if a tree and set up for the night. The showers in the toilet block were basic but with hot water and good pressure.

With a pub just across the road and with the town supplying the caravan park it would have been rude not to go there for a meal. The place has seen better days but the staff were friendly, the beer cold and the food good.

In the morning another small camper arrived and we started chatting. It turns out that Jimmy only lives about 15 kilometres from our house. Our early start didn’t evenuate and we only left at 11:30 heading to the very place we had planned before being side tracked at Gooloogong.

Phillips Crossing

This free campsite is set on the Lauchlan river. It’s at the end of a dead end dirt road so has no passing traffic noise, only the raucus cockatoos and twitters of smaller birds. The river was deep enough to have a swim and there were only 3 other couples sharing the site. We spent 2 days there relaxing, going for walks, swimming and enjoying the serenity. A group of locals did come by one afternoon and played loud music but were gone before dark.

About Scamp

When rebuilding the rear bed I built a storage draw, 1200 long and 600 wide. The runners are rated at 400 kilograms, not sure what my carpentry skills are rated at. It allows for plenty of storage and when not in camping mode my work tools reside there. You can also see the netting curtain we made, still to be finished off when we have access to the sewing machine.

After 2 days here tomorrow (Friday 16) we will head off to Cowra.