And quite a few Mallee Ringnecks (a sub-species of the Australian Ringneck)
2026-05-10
I had meant to pack the blanket off the bed at home. But I did not. Instead I just have the feather doona. Now, you may think that would be plenty, and it probably will be for Lea, but for me, it was too much, whereas a blanket would have been enough on its own. Thus, as you may have already surmised, I didn't sleep as well as I could have, but I slept well enough anyway. Despite all that, I got up around 6:30ish (I think) and proceeded to make coffee, and then porridge for breakfast. I washed up, got dressed and grabbed the camera to go for a morning bird walk by the lagoon. This proved to be quite fruitful on the bird front with several Red-rumped Parrots spotted, as well as a Red-capped Robin (in the distance), and a White-plumed Honeyeater, and many many ducks, to name just a few.
After that, I packed down, made sure everything was put away and locked, confirmed the fridge was working off the car, farewelled Daphne and Les and set off with an aim to be staying in Coonabarabran for the evening. First stop though was Goondiwindi for fuel. I had a little less than 1/2 a tank when I arrived and the price at the United seemed ok ($1.739/L for PULP91, so $1.989/L for PULP98 which I opted for over the 95 I usually use). Just 500m down the road, the BP was selling PULP91 for $1.989. However, as I was to find out a bit later, Bogabilla is THE place to fill, with a price of just $1.439 for PULP91 !!!. In fact prices were extremely variable for most of the day, with the highest spotted at $2.029/L.
The Newell Hwy from the border to Narrabri is 110kph for the most part, and as such, I set the cruise a bit higher today, at 100kph (as 90 would have just annoyed the trucks too much). My fuel economy to Narrabri was 19.1L/100km with next to no wind, and fairly flat going. Narrabri was where I stopped for lunch, although on a Sunday, there's slim pickings (not even a Bakery!). I ended up at a fried chicken/fish & chips/burger/ice-cream place as there was somewhere to park long enough for me and the caravan out front. One chicko roll and two potato scallops and a ginger beer later, I was back on the road.
I guess from there the altitude starts to climb a little as the fuel economy slipped to about 20L/100km and coming in to Coonabarabran I'd hit 21.4L/100km. But then we'd climed to over 600m then, so I wasn't too surprised. I had arrived at Coonabarabran at about 13:30 which was way too early to stop, so I decided to press on another 100km to Gilgrandra. This involved a few more hilly sections before decending back down on to the plains. Final fuel economy for the day was 20.8L/100km according to the trip computer in the Prado.
The Gilgandra Caravan Park, where I'm staying the night, is by the highway, so there is some traffic noise, but the sites are level, have a little slab to park by (preventing too much dirt being walked in to the van) and are drive-through sites (the ultimate lazy-setup). I haven't bothered to unhitch here either. The facilities are... ok. But also a little futher away, and you need the combination to use them. All of which means they'll do as a loo, but I decided to shower in the van (later in the evening).
After the minimal setup (hook up to power and water, since I was planning to shower) and drain the gray water tank in to the provided drain), I had noticed some Apostlebirds hanging around, so I grabbed the camera and went for a wander. Behind the park is a dry creek, or maybe it's the overflow for the nearby river, but anyway, there's access from the park, so I wandered down there, where I found a Eastern Rosella.
And then some other interesting birds, like a Yellow Thornbill (new to me)
And quite a few Mallee Ringnecks (a sub-species of the Australian Ringneck)
Upon returning to camp, I found half a dozen Apostlebirds mucking around not far from the van, and managed a few decent shots in the failing light.
I processed the photos, uploaded to iNaturalist (with this morning's haul too) and then proceeded to boild some water for more pasta to have with the leftover meat sauce from last night (still no hard cheese!). After dinner, I washed up, then showered and blogged (finally giving in an activating the starlink plan, 'cause the 4g signal here is spotty).
I've checked Wikicamps for tomorrow's destination, and it sounds like the only caravan park in Lithgow is a bit suss, so I might head to Oberon instead. It's a G'Day Park, and is apparently a little dated, but supposedly clean and quiet.