Our choice of caravan park proved to be a good one because the traffic noise overnight was pretty good. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast and preparing a picnic lunch in anticipation of a trip out to Sawn Rocks later, we headed out to the CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) some 24km west of Narrabri. The ATCA consists of six 22m diameter dishes each weighing 270 tonnes, with five of them relocatable along a 3km rail track which runs east-west and the sixth at a fixed location 3km further west.

The ATCA project received Federal Government Cabinet approval in 1983 on the basis that 80% of the project’s funds, which totaled $50m, would be spent in Australia and because it was designated an official Bicentennial project: it had to open in 1988, come what may. It was officially opened on 2 September 1988 and CSIRO references say "With the Narrabri band playing the theme from ‘Star Wars’, an antenna trundled down the track to the ceremony, carrying a load of VIPs, including the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. 'Surely you get to open lots of interesting events,' commented Project Engineer John Brooks to Hawke. 'Not like this,' said Hawke warmly. 'Not like this.'”

Back in Narrabri we went to the Visitor Information Centre to look at a display highlighting the area's agriculture. Cotton is the main crop and to emphasize that, there is a giant red cotton picker inside the Centre which visitors can "operate" by climbing into the driver's cabin.

There were also several quilts on the Centre wall which used various materials and techniques. One featured a Wedge-tailed Eagle, which may have been an omen because later on our trip out to Sawn Rocks we saw one, a rather rare event. 

We collected our picnic lunch from the van and took the 35km drive out to Sawn Rocks. Sawn Rocks is an example of the geological formation known as organ piping because they look like a wall of giant organ pipes and is within the Mount Kaputar National Park. From the car park we followed a 700m paved path which became a boardwalk to a viewpoint of the 40m high rock formation. Going down 50 steps to the dry creek bed and waking through the fallen sections of rock provided an even better view of the columns rising above. 

It was well worth the drive and walk, and we enjoyed our picnic lunch at one of the four shelters back at the car park.

As we began our drive back to Narrabri we could see in the rearview mirror a storm front engulf the mountain range, but we still had time to view Narrabri's Sporting Wall of Fame. This recognises the locals who have contributed to Narrabri Shire being named “Australia’s Sportiest Town” by Channel 9’s “Today Show” in 2001, as a result of the large number of shire residents who have represented their sport on a state, national and international level.

Dinner tonight was sausages with steamed vegetables in a cream sauce followed by pineapple and yoghurt for dessert.