Dubbo, New South Wales, AustraliaAfter a magical 30 degrees day at Port Stephens on Saturday, the wind came up about 11.00pm and it was actually moving the caravan when it came through in strong gusts! We awoke to a cool windy day. How quickly the weather can change at this time of the year.
Our plan was to travel to Muswellbrook or Scone for the night and then onto Dubbo the next day. We travelled out to near the Pacific Highway via Raymond Terrace, then to Maitland where we met the New England Highway. We didn't want to go down to where all those highways come together near Newcastle! Memories of travelling to Lake Macquarie in 2014.
It was a nice drive out to Maitland, where we stopped for morning tea,. Being Sunday we were able to pull into the large Pharmacy carpark in East Maitland. The countryside was green, but not lush green. Maitland is in the Lower Hunter Valley, has a population of around 67,500 and is situated on the right bank of the Hunter River, with a levee bank to protect the town from potential flooding. In 1955 the the town flooded for the 15th time and 14 people lost their life. The levee bank was constructed soon after. Maitland is the principal town in the Hunter Valley and although coal has been important to the town, today it is vineyards and boutique food production. Not that we really saw any of that in our travel to and through the town. It was a very quiet place on Sunday.
From there our travels took us through Singleton and onto Muswellbrook. Muswellbrook is an interesting spelling, as it is pronounced Musclebrook. Over the years it has been spelt a number of ways - Muscle Brook, Musclebrook, Muswell Brook, Muscletown and Musswellbrook. At the end of the 1880's they decided on Muswellbrook, although the town was not gazetted until 1949. The town was named by Henry Dangar because of the large number of mussel shells found at the junction of a small creek and the Hunter River at the southern end of the town.
One of the reasons to travel this way was another "Big Aussie Icon'. The 'Big Blue Heeler' sits proudly near the Shell Service Station on the New England Highway, which does still goes through the centre of town., A bypass is planned. The Blue Heeler Country statue was erected in 2001 'in recognition of the contribution to Australian rural life by the Australian cattle dog and the development of the 'Blue Heeler' in the Upper Hunter." The Blue Heeler was bred by crossing the Australian Dingo and the Northumberland Blue Merle, producing an ideal working dog. The result was a dog capable of coping with the extreme conditions of the Australian Bush and the ability to control the wildest of cattle on the vast properties throughout the colonies'. The 'Blue Heeler Big Aussie Icon' gets 8/10 on the Iconmetre.
There wasn't a lot to stay in Muswellbrook for, especially on a Sunday when the Information Centre wasn't even open to encourage us! Two other people came in when we first arrived and were also disappointed. We talked with a fella from the UK for a bit. He was from Lancashire and was on a two month holiday to Australia and Asia. He had a few things on his 'Bucket List' he wanted to tick off and one was to sail on the Sydney Harbour. He was on his way to Cairns and is flying to Perth next. Would like to go to the Ningaloo Reef, but didn't know whether he had time. Peter told him him would travel north of Perth quite quickly.
We had seen a lot of signs to vineyards, but there were no grapevines in sight of the New England Highway. Guess I have to say "The Hunter Valley really wasn't as I expected". We decided to continue on to Dubbo as we were able to get into the Discovery Caravan Park. Whilst waiting for the park to get back to us, we took a few photos of heritage buildings in the main street. Heritage buildings seemed to be the main tourist attraction of the town. Whilst walking the street, a group of men dressed in various costumes were very noticeable, in an otherwise deserted main street. I asked if it was a 'Bucks Day Out' and was quickly told they were from Newcastle and had won the Rugby grand final. I said "We were from W.A. and it was all about AFL in our State and we were hoping the West Coast Eagles made it to the grand final. One nice little fellow said "Well I hope they do too"!
I walked up the hill to get a photo of the Catholic Church and to my surprise, when I turned to come back down, I had this view over the top of the town buildings to a coal mine. There was a large coal-fired power station and mine as we neared the town on the New England Highway, and the one I could see was another on the road to Denman. Coal has been the economic lifeblood of the area and power stations and mines are now being closed as they reach their use-by date. They are not being replaced. The town will probably evolve as an extension of the Hunter Valley wine region. The coal mine is so close to the road to Denman, that there was signage on the road advising when the next blast would be and when the road would be closed.
We arrived in Dubbo just before five, making a stop at Dunedoo for a coffee that was unavailable at the Service Station, so we settled for an icecream. I noticed that the planet of 'Neptune' was the miniature solar system planet in the park in Dunedoo. We became aware of the 'World's Largest Virtual Solar System Drive' when we stopped Coonabarabran Info Centre on our way to Tamworth in 2014. The idea behind the drive is to provide a unique opportunity for tourists and students to experience first hand the vastness of our Solar System and develop an interest in astronomy and science. .Each of the miniature planets is 38 million times smaller and there are a number of drives in this area of NSW, all ending at the 'Siding Spring Observatory' in Coonabarabran. It seems that a number of geocaches are being placed at the miniature planets. Something for Jenny and Bob to research!
Dubbo....On Sunday night, whilst attempting to defrost those sausages that were purchased from the butcher in Normanton, we found that the microwave was not working. So Monday morning was spent getting the old one out, measuring and shopping for a new one that would fit! And we managed to get one and it was fitted back into the opening by Pete by 1.00pm. Need to mention that the Normanton sausages were really nice. Whilst having a morning tea stop in Normanton Peter went to get a loaf of bread, as we had enjoyed the Normanton Bakers bread in Karumba, and came back with the sausages as well! This info is 'The Tourist Tip' for future travels or travellers.
After lunch we all went for a visit to Dubbo Goal. Dubbo Goal in probably rated the second most visited Tourist Attraction in Dubbo. Good that it has been kept, particularly as it is right in the middle of the CBD. It didn't close until 1967 and to lessen its prominence in the CBD area, the entry doors were removed from the front to the back. At the back of the prison, the Courthouse was just a short distance away. Eight people were hung at the Dubbo Goal between 1877 and 1904. One or two appear to have been ruthless and calculating murderers. Others claimed to have killed in self-defence or in passion. But under the law at that time, the penalty for murder was death. There was a holographic display in the Hangman's Room, providing the details of the crimes and the hanging the eight men at the goal. The hologram also told the story of 'Nosey Bob' the NSW State Executioner who performed seven of the hangings. Prior he was a cab driver in Sydney and one of his horses kicked him in the face and he lost his nose. People would no longer ride in his cab, so he became a State Executioner. All sad stories. Australian history.....but!
With still quite a bit of the afternoon left, we found ourselves looking for other tourist attractions. 'Flip Out' on 18 Mountbatten Drive was somewhere to go. 'Flip Out' is advertised as Australia's first and largest trampoline playground. The address took us to the industrial area and 'Flip Out' has been set up in a section of a large industrial shed. There was no one there and the guy was happy for us to have a look. It opened four years ago and the young bloke said "It is not a profitable business". It certainly looked that way to us! "Not too bad in the school holiday and sometimes on the weekend it is okay" he said. There was a room set up for a child's party, which was quite cool!
By heading out to this area of Dubbo, we came across signage to the 'Dubbo Botanical Gardens'. So we just had time for a quick visit there, before it closed at 4.00pm. That would fill up the day for us. There are four sections to the gardens; the Biodiversity Garden, Shoyoen Sister City Garden, Dubbo Sensory Garden and Oasis Garden.
By far the nicest garden was the 'Shoyoen Sister City Garden'. The Shoyoen Sister City Garden was a gift from Dubbo’s Sister City Minokamo in Japan. The history and concept of the garden began in 1998. Excavation work started in March 2002 and the garden was opened on the 23rd November 2002 - the 153rd anniversary of the founding of Dubbo and 13 years after the establishment of 'Sister City relations' between Minokamo and Dubbo. On the opening proclamation day it was said; It shall be our very special honour to nurture and care for this garden as a special reminder of the friendship and understanding that has developed and will continue to grow between our two cities and our two countries. "As each cherry blossom opens in the springtime,so shall our friendship and understanding grow". The cherry trees were just starting to blossom and they will be stunning in a couple of weeks. There was a security guard sitting at the entrance, in the sun. Surely he doesn't sit there all day everyday! It would be cheaper to invest in some security cameras. Not to mention the need for plenty of sunscreen. There was only about four other people there.
We did talk to a gardener. We were all curious as to the name of the trees we are seeing everywhere with no leaves at the moment. He told us the trees in the main street of Dubbo are named 'Celtis sinensis' trees. This tree was introduced as an ornamental and has been cultivated as a garden and street tree. It is particularly common in the warmer temperate and sub-tropical regions of Australia. Although they are very bare at the moment, the gardener told us they are very nice during the summer months with lots of green foliage. They keep the Council workers busy clearing the leaves in the CBD each day!
The gardener told us the other gardens at the Botanical Gardens are needing a lot of work done on them. The drought has not helped. The 'Sensory Garden' was not too bad. The Sensory Gardens were opened in 2011 and the Dubbo Regional Council received a Federal Government grant of $458,000 to develop them. There is a striking sculpture of a 'Barking Gecko' in the gardens, some strawberries growing on one of those walls, soothing water features etc. The planting of contrasting colours and shapes of the flowers and foliage within a 'Sensory Gardens' are designed to stimulate the visual senses. Soothing sounds from the splashing of water and the bamboo swaying in the breeze. Not sure that it did that for us!
It was a visit to the 'Western Plains Taronga Zoo' on Tuesday. This time I had the battery charged on my camera and the zoom lens. I went ill-prepared in 2014! We had a great day. We hired the cart for the full day, rather than the three hours and shared the cost of $99.00. Nothing is cheap! Entry was $36.00 each with a concession card. Peter was right about being able to drive around in the car. I have to admit I was wrong, when I kept telling him you weren't able to do that! But it was more fun in the open electric cart and we managed to plan our day pretty well. Your ticket is valid for two consecutive days. The 300 hectare open range zoo was established in 1977 and undertakes a vital role in national and international programs for rare and endangered species.
Poaching continues to be a major threat to the long-term survival of this species, with demand for rhinoceros horn surging across Asia. The Zoo has been very successful in breeding Black Rhinoceros across the program’s 20 year history. In 2015 two new Black Rhino calves were born.
We managed to get to nearly all of the talks by the 'Zoo Keepers' and they were all very good and worth making the time to be at that particular area of the zoo, at that time. The talks lasted for 10 to 15 minutes and the animals were fed at that time, so you were close for your photos. My photos will tell the story of our 'Dubbo Zoo' experience. But I do need to record for Delma, that we did see the 'Galapagos Tortoise' this time and possibly the baby she asked me to report on in 2014. We just got there in time to see the keeper putting the tortoise away for the night, that had been born in 2011 and is now 7 years old. There were two tortoise's that were four years old. They must be so small when they are born. There is a 97 year old matriarch at the zoo. I feel sure it was the one that was outside. It is said that she could still live for another 100 years.
We all agreed we had had an excellent day at the zoo. We concluded our day with a drink together in the camp kitchen. John and Dorothy are on the other side of the park, so it was easier to meet there. We were fascinated with the number of children on the 'Jumping Pillow' near the camp kitchen. There are two coaches here from Port Stephens and there is a large complex at the end of where we are parked in a drive-through bay. Obviously a building that can be booked for large groups, particularly school camps. The CP has been full every night we have been here. Time to move on to our next town. Oh, forgot to say. Dubbo is excited because Harry and Meghan will be here for the day on the 17th October. The guy at Harvey Norman thought they were probably going to be taken to the Zoo. Heading south now.
Julie
2018-09-19
We have fond memories of Dubbo and Taronga Zoo, where animals from all over the world appear. The old Dubbo Gaol was an eerie and fascinating display of gaolers of the past. Love the photos Pam.
pamandpete
2018-09-19
Thank you Julie. The animals are all so healthy and the staff so passionate about what they are doing at Western Plains.
Chez
2018-09-20
Hi Pam and Pete..Great blog with so many beautiful photos of the animals..I wish the Perth zoo was that good..Still haven't caught with all the previous blogs due to my IPad glitch but will do so soon. What a pity you weren't in Dubbo to meet Meg and Haz..That would have made for an exciting blog eh?.Keep enjoying yourselves and travel safe xx
pamandpete
2018-09-25
I would have had fun putting a Meg and Haz blog together Chez. Don't think we can expect Perth to ever be like Dubbo, but they probably do need to work a bit harder at building their profile. Good to hear from you. xxx