2026-05-20
It was about 11°C with a "feels like" temperature of 6°C this morning when we got up. To no-one's surprise, we had the reverse cycle A/C on for 15 mins or so before getting out of under the covers. Usual breakfast was had, and then we decided to drive back up to the Siding Spring Observatory to see if they were open today, and if so, have a peek inside.
When we got up there, it was quite windy and the car said it was 7°C, who knows what the feels like temperature was, but a lot colder than that. Vest+Scarf+Great Coat+Beanie was the order of the day. It was sunny though, which meant we could actually see the AAT (Anglo Australian Telescope) dome today, unlike yesterday when it was completely invisible, shrouded by cloud.
We went inside, and they have an extensive collection of info boards and some videos to watch, as well as a gift shop, and supposedly a café but we weren't that inspired by that prospect (and had only had breakfast recently). We read the info, watched some displays, etc, and then braved the cold windy weather to walk up to the AAT dome. From here you get a good view over part of the Warrumbungles, and the dome structure looks considerably bigger up close.
After making myself dizzy looking up at the dome as the clouds sped past above, I went inside out of the wind, where Lea was waiting by the lift. We took it to the 4th floor, where there's a public viewing gallery. This is a 3.9m optical telescope, so there wasn't anything happening in this in the morning and the telescope was folded down in a stowed configuration, but that didn't stop us taking a selfie with it.
Once we were done poking around in there, we wandered back to the car, and set off for the National Parks office in the Warrumbungles National Park (approx 10km down the road). In NSW, you have to pay to visit some parks (unlike Qld where they're all free to enter) thus the trip to the office, to pay for our visit ($8 for one vehicle for one day). Having taken care of that, I chose a relatively short walk to do (2km return), the Burbie Canyon Track. It wasn't far down the road, and has a carpark, so off we went. Lea was tired and decided not to walk, so I set off alone (well with the camera, obviously) to see if there were birds about.
The track itself was relatively flat, and the promised Canyon wasn't very canyon-like, but it made up for that with a nice collection of birds.
There was also a Golden Whistler, and a few heard but not seen honeyeaters.
Back at the car, it was around midday, and there was a picnic table right there, so we had the sandwiches I'd prepared earlier (Chorizo Salami, Hungarian Paprika Paste and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on Ciabata). We then drove down to the Old Woolshed, where Lea had stayed on an excusion a long time ago, to find it had been burnt down in the 2013 fires that ripped through this area. Next, we went back to the visitors centre and checked out the camp grounds nearby. They are both extensive and well provisioned, including powered caravan sites (if I'd been aware beforehand, we'd have stayed here instead of in town).
Our final trip for the day was to find Milroy Observatory, where tomorrow night we're doing some stargazing. After that, we went back to camp to mostly veg around. I wandered down to the corner store for an onion (as was the style at the time 1) and a bag of chips and of course, did some more birding around the caravan park, where I found more parrots, including Galahs, an Eastern Rosella, an Australian King Parrot and several Red-winged Parrots.
Dinner was Bao Buns again (since I still had filling from last night). Still delicious, and super quick to prepare.
After dinner, I popped outside to take some night shots, because well, it's dark out here with little light pollution.
Tomorrow has no fixed plans. We will probably check out the Diprotodon exhibition at the Coonabarabran Visitors Centre (it's not a big display, so it won't take long), maybe do some washing, and then wing it for the rest of the day until it is time for our stargazing session with Donna the Astronomer.
1 Obligatory Simpsons Reference