22nd & 23rd May
 
 Awakening with the sunrise in Grenfell and it's brisk, actually it's damn cold and misty, therefore no walks this morning. Shortly after a hot shower we have the Honda generator humming away, the Nespresso drawing coffee nectar from those little pods, perfect accompaniment to bacon, eggs and grilled tomato. Suddenly the day is not so cold, the mistiness has burnt off revealing a blue sky for our journey north.
 
What does one do when one has plenty of time, no set destination and drags home around behind you? You meander, explore and enjoy, thus, after an hours journey we pullover in Forbes to explore and enjoy a coffee. Sadly (for some) it is Sunday and with the exception of a couple of cafés, bakeries and petrol stations everything is closed. It seems a pleasant enough place from our brief visit, made especially so by the Lachlan River that lazily winds through the township and golf course. 
 
Further north we enter Parkes, but as it is still Sunday (apparently) we make only one stop at the Info Centre to gather information on the famous Parkes Radio Telescope located 20klm north of town. This 64 metre dish was built in 1961 and was one of several radio antennas used to receive live and televised images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on 20th July 1969. The station is impressive not only for the dish but also small museum and theatre where we listen to the history of The Dish. Outside are a pair of parabolic dishes set about 60 metres apart, when standing at the dish you can clearly hear the voice of your partner whispering at the other. Cool.
 
Next stop, Dubbo, where we will visit old friends Rachael and Damien for the next few days. We are now back in familiar territory having visited this town many times over the past 30 years. High on our list is to visit our hosts new warehouse premises in Dubbo, a mighty erection indeed for this country centre. Whilst here we enjoy many meals and a few bottles of vino with our hosts, and on the Monday we decide to revisit the Dubbo Plains Zoo, our last visit was with our sons Nick and Tom about 18 years earlier. The zoo provides a great day out, though we decided to walk it, a choice we did regret on a few occasions, however, it does allow plenty of animal viewing opportunities.