Coonabarabran, NSW We then headed north through Dubbo to Coonabarabran for the Easter and Anzac Day holidays. We spent time visiting the largest optical astronomy research centre in Australia at Siding Springs Observatory and trekking in Warrumbungle National Park. The Coonabarabran area is known as the "Astronomy Capital of Australia" as it has an average of 70% clear nights during the year and is well away from light pollution from the busy east coa...

Katoomba, NSW After our overnight stay in Parkes we moved east to Molong, a small rural town some 30km north of Orange which allowed us to travel to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for a day to catch up with Dave's cousin Claire and her husband David who are living for two years in Sydney. It was great to catch up with them as we had not seen them since we attended their wedding in the UK in December 2010. Katoomba and the Blue Mountains were very picturesque and...

Parkes, NSW We headed north from Griffith to Parkes, home of the CSIRO Observatory which is one of the world's leading astronomy research facilities. The radio telescope has a 64 metre "dish" and is quite spectacular on approach to the facility as the surrounding landscape is so flat. The telescope featured in the Australian movie "The Dish" and has also played an important part in several NASA space missions. The Observatory had a very in...

Griffith, NSW Griffith was the next place on our itinerary. A thriving city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of the Western Riverina of New South Wales, it is very picturesque with numerous fruit growing plantations and wineries. During our time in Griffith we enjoyed more wine tasting as well as visiting some of the local produce shops. We also managed a visit to Cocoparra National Park and donned our boots to enjoy a two hour trek through the Cocoparra Ran...

Hay, NSW We headed north east from Mildura into New South Wales and on to Hay which was a pleasant country town. We parked at the Showgrounds Caravan Park and found another 50 Motor homes also parked there as there had been a convention of motor home owners in Hay the previous week.We visited several of the local attractions including the Bishop's Lodge Museum and the Dunera Museum which was a museum dedicated to the Japanese, Italian & European Jewish POW's...