Gulargambone

Gilgandra

In the middle of no-where in a town called Gilgandra we stopped. We were running low on resources and the water in the caravan tank tasted like there was a dead animal in it. So, dad decided to stop at the information Centre to drain and refill the water tanks and check out the museum. The Gilgandra town is famous for the COO-EE march. Gilgandra is where the “COO-EE” march started which ended in Sydney. The “COO-EE” sound was used to call and encourage people to join the army as recruits. By the time they reached Sydney, they had 351 recruits.

Gulargambone

For a start we didn’t think we would stay here for 3 nights as we were supposed to make it to Pilliga, a free camp. It was late at night and we started getting lost in this small dark town going in circles. Until we saw a large sign that said Caravan park, we stopped as it was our only choice. We paid for 1 night initially and parked the van. I slept wondering what this caravan park had to offer.

The next day I explored the caravan park and found a fenced area with different animals. At that time, I was walking my dogs and then they suddenly went crazy barking at the animals. I pulled them with all my might showing them that I was the Boss.

After organizing myself, we went to Warrumbungle National Park. We started off with a little hike made by Aboriginals, we bought some lemon flavored icy poles to keep us cool. The walk took approximately 20 minutes seeing a lot of aboriginal art and bush. The heat started to cook us in the open, so we started heading back to the air-conditioned car to get a breather. It was nice and cool in the car and while driving we listen to Harry Potter.

We sped through traffic to arrive at Siding Spring Observatory to see the huge telescope. They put in loads of mirrors and lenses to see further into space. We walked around the outside of the observatory before going home.

We got back at our caravan park and checked on our wonderful fluffy dogs and we just arrived in time for the caravan park happy hour. The happy hour is when the manager comes gives us food and starts conversations. It was more for the adults, but I still nipped a few vegetarian spring rolls. We let our parents talk while we went in the farm with an Dave, the caravan park host.

We saw llamas, goats, chickens, sheep and goose while they were eating. We tried to pat most of them, but the goat was acting aggressively and started chasing us. We found fresh eggs to eat and some to keep, we were having so much fun that we forgot about our parents. We went to check on them, and we found them chilling in the camp kitchen/lounge on the sofa with a remote control. We watched Bondi rescue and went back to the caravan once it finished.

Pilliga

Another morning in the bush, we arrived at Pilliga and it was dad’s birthday. I was one of the first to wish him happy birthday and I thought we might go to the pub or do something special. As there were no pubs in Pilliga, we decided we would go to the pub at Lightning Ridge. The only good thing about the camp site at Pilliga was that I found a cool water gun in the bush and that there is a hot water bore bath. This was no ordinary hot tub as the water came from the Earth (full of minerals) which made it extra special. Without hesitation I jumped in and it felt good as it was massaging my skin. After boiling our selves in the tub we got out and went to watch a movie in the caravan. Watching the movie made us even more tired and sleepy. We wished dad a last birthday wish before falling asleep.