here and Madagascar (so the locals say). The road up the mountain was steep and windy but the view was amazing, we could see all of Orange and out to the surrounding hills. From there we went to the lake which in the early days was Orange's water reservoir but has now been turned into a recreation area. It is well layered out and the bird life was abundant.
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| Orange in background |
MARCH 1
First day of another month, first day of Autumn and it is raining. spent the day embroidering Mike's pockets and sewing them onto his shirts.
MARCH 2 &3
Stayed home and cleaned the van and prepared ourselves for a trip to Western Australia.
Thursday I cooked tea for everyone as Helen was back at work and I needed to empty fridge of perishables.
MARCH 4
Barry very kindly took us into Orange so we could catch a bus to Lithgow (nearly missed the bus even tho we were 45mins early) and then train to the airport and then plane to WA. It was an interesting trip even though it took about 4hours to Sydney. We were very pleased to actually get on the plane and know we were going. At the other end it was terrific seeing Michelle and the boys even though their grandmother embarrassed them by having the sniffer dog stop me and have my bag searched. I had put two ripe bananas in my bag to eat on the long trip into Sydney and threw the skins away at the airport before boarding the plane but of course ripe bananas have a strong smell and the lovely Beagle found the smell. All was well and I think the boys recovered.
MARCH 5 -19
We spent this time visiting family and friends. Visited Dr's for checkups and got a good report especially Mike.
Checked up on our work mates and all the local gossip. Finally the day for departure arrived and this time we were a little anxious as arrival of plane and catching the express train to Orange was critical and only one hours gap. We arrived in Sydney to pouring rain after spending 2 weeks in HOT WA and later in the day it was reported as the heaviest rain for Sydney in 4 years!!!.
We rushed from one platform at central station up and down stairs to the fartherest platform to catch the express train bearing in mind that poor Mike was still suffering extremely painful gout, no time to think about it. We caught the train with plenty of time to spare and enjoyed the trip back to Orange. Barry was there to meet us and bring us home. Need less to say we were most grateful and totally exhausted.
MARCH 22
Freezing cold but had to go into Orange to buy food and then we were right back home.
MARCH 23-25
Stayed home washing, cleaning etc and recuperating from our travels.
MARCH 26
Helen voted and then off to Dubbo we went. We visited the Dubbo Goal and what an eye opener that was. It has been very well restored and there were lots of historical tit bits to read and listen to. The isolation cells were awful, one was painted black and was so dark nothing could be photographs. At one stage I was standing at the door of the cell and Mike just inside (could have touched him if I had reached out) and we could not see him, it was unbelievable and oh so daunting. Poor souls who were locked in this cell. There was a hologram talking about the hanging of prisoners and this was very well presented.
We stayed the night in a cabin at a caravan park.
MARCH 27
After a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs (cooked by Helen) we were off to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo. We hired a safari cart and let Mike be the driver!!!! With a map in hand off we went and had a wonderful time seeing all the animals. Although these animals are fenced in, the fences are in a gully so from where we look they appear to be free. It is a truly wonderful place and we all commented on how relax, happy, well fed and contented the animals all looked . After 6 hours roaming and eating we headed for home on a different route to going. We passed some of the characters on bikes in peoples paddocks between Yeoval and Molong. There is a trip one can do but it is quite long but we decided we had seen enough on the stretch of road we travelled.
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| 2 of over 12 Giraffe |
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| Hippopotamus |
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| Very Rare Przewalski Horse |
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| Galapagos Tortoise |
MARCH 28
Another trip to Orange for more food and a little retail therapy. We found 3 Patchwork shops all close by so had a lovely time browsing and buying a few bargains. I even managed to find the second William Morris applique book by Michelle Hill. It has been hard to find so very happy with my discovery.
MARCH 29
Parkes was calling today so off we went and had a great day. We called in at the Information centre and were amazed to discover there are three museums all side by side at the
visitor centre. The first one had memorabilia on Elvis, apparently Parkes holds an Elvis Festival every January and we were amazed at the stuff in the museum, from fantastic jackets covered in Rhinestones and diamonds to his Army fatigues to a copy of his death certificate. From there we walked into a motor museum and there was Elvis's car which he had driven the day before he died.
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| 4 of the original outfits worn on stage |
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| 1 of only 2 Gold Lame' Suits worn on stage. |
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| Elvis's Gold Throne and outfits |
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| The last car owned and driven by Elvis. A 1976 Cadillac Seville. Note No Plate "ELVIS 1" |
After the cars came a clutter of old goods and then outside was a huge collection of old tractors and machinery. The whole concept is very new and very well presented.
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| Emerson-Brantingham "Big Four" 30hp Tractor Made in USA 1912 |
The large telescope was amazing and although when we arrived it was perched like a dish and while we were having lunch it started to move and Mike rushed out to get some photos.
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| CSIRO "The Dish" |
On the way home we called in at Manildra where the largest flour mill in the Southern Hemisphere is located. This mill processes 75% of all flour used in Australia.
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| Manildra Group flour Mill. |
