Day 1: Today wasn't a day to stop and smell the roses. We wanted to cover as much ground as possible, so that we could cut back and travel less Km each day from now on.

It was a beautifully sunny, but chilly, morning as we pulled out of our driveway at precisely 7am. We took the New England Highway first and then turned off to the Golden Highway, the main route from Newcastle to Dubbo. This road passes through a wheat belt...hence its name. We passed through several small hamlets; some with quaint names like Jerry's Plains and Dunedoo and over several watercourses; the quirkily named Willy Wally Creek, and Flyblowers Creek amongst them! This part of the upper Hunter Valley looked very dry. Hopefully there will be some good winter rain in the area.

We made it to Dubbo by lunchtime. Dubbo is a major city with a population of more than 32,000, but serving a catchment of around 130,000. It is sometimes referred to as the 'crossroads of NSW' because it is linked by major highways to Brisbane in the north; Melbourne to the south; Newcastle and Sydney to the east and Broken Hill and Adelaide to the west. Once out of Dubbo we were travelling via the Mitchell Highway. This road passes through cotton and grain growing areas, as well as being a main centre for the growth of Merino (wool) sheep. The country was very open and we saw lots of road-kill; several mobs of Emu; and of course plenty of sheep and cattle.

After the outback country town of Nyngan, the landscape becomes more treed and again there was much road-kill. In one location a very bold, large, black, feral pig had come out of the dense scrub to feed on a kangaroo carcass near the roadside. He had to share it with several crows!

On the approach to Bourke we sighted lots of feral goats. Bourke is in the north west of NSW and has a population of around 2000; 33% being Indigenous Australians. It sits on the banks of the mighty Darling River, once a major trading route. Pastoralists settled in this region in the 1850s and the expression 'Back o' Bourke' was adopted because it was considered the last outpost of civilisation. The phrase is still used today and has become synonymous with the true 'Outback'.

We are camped just north of Bourke for the night. Heading further north-west tomorrow.