Day 15 – White Cliffs to Nyngan

The title says it, but that’s not how the day specifically started.  Again a really cold night, but at least this morning we can put the fan heater on.  A long day today, not sure how far we’ll get but we’d like to get somewhere between Cobar and Dubbo.  400 to 600 km.

Given when we arrived at White Cliffs the park was so busy, it certainly seems to be quieter today.  More vans are packing up to leave.   Between here and Lightning Ridge, I think we may have picked the busiest days to be there

We start the drive, 80odd km we hit Wilcannia, we are now on the same road we were on at the end of the big trip.   I remember it being long and boring last time.  Interestingly there is a COVID notice on the entry to town requesting that you only stop in town if it’s urgent.  I guess this is due to the large indigenous population.   I need fuel, (I always need fuel) so we get this and a quick stop on the Darling.  Last time I was here I was able to walk on the riverbed.  We can’t do that now, but it’s not as full as I expected. See last time here. https://gbn.net.au/2019/01/20/day-130-broken-hill-to-cobar/

260 more K’s to Cobar, with not much in-between.   We have our lunch at a rest stop.   Like last time there are heaps of goats on the side of the road on this section.  Just behind a fence at the back of the rest area are some really large ones.

Refuel in Cobar.   We’re getting rubbish fuel economy on this trip.   I can’t figure out why, not  sure if we’re always getting headwinds, or if the bikes are affecting the aerodynamics (I suspect the latter). 

Into Nyngan, there is meant to be a freecamp by the side of the river, which also appears to have a weir on it.  On the town side, which was claimed to be the better there ends up being really only room for one van and it’s taken.   We can see on the other side of the river there should be space.  To get there we need drive 3 or 4 km back to the bridge, cross the river then 4km back to be directly opposite..  There is a spot, but it’s difficult spot to get the van into.  Nothing like a tight camping spot to test a marriage!

I checked yesterday, and to my surprise,  there are spots available to visit Dubbo Zoo and the local Caravan park has vacancies.   So I’ve booked it and we’ll drive there tomorrow and visit the zoo on Saturday.

The river is great and it’s a much nicer spot than on the Paroo at Wanaaring.  So quiet and there are a few pelicans floating around.    The kids get out the rods, for what is the first time on the trip, although there is no luck landing anything. Caitlin lost 3 lures in the process.  Meanwhile, I fight with the diesel heater which is refusing to start with an Error code 10, only trouble is the manual only goes up to error code 9…. Helpful.  Anyway I work out it seems the pump is not working properly so pull it out and given it a bit of a clean.  Success, and given it really cold everyone is grateful it’s working.  Although I’m covered in diesel.

Good stars again tonight, but with all the trees around we can only see the ones directly overhead.

4 Replies to “Day 15 – White Cliffs to Nyngan”

  1. ……Nice spot by the river. Have you thought about going to the NASA website & seeing if the ISS will be in visible orbit? If so it would be pretty cool to see that. If you have binoculars it is an even better view.

    Take care. All good here.
    Ciao Paulo xx

  2. Bummer about the fuel consumption. Are the goats feral? Your camp site there is beautiful, looks so peaceful , easy to spend a few days there I should imagine.

    1. Some goats seem to be behind fences, and farmed others are by the the road and see feral, having said that I don’t think goats have much respect for fences.

      It was a great spot on the river

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *