A Long, Long Weekend Part 1 - On the Road Again

It's nice to sneak away for the June Long Weekend and on a few occasions we have taken the Friday off work as well.  By doing so this year, it actually meant that I had no more full time weeks of work ahead of me, as I am now transitioning to my part time role.

We hooked up the caravan behind the ute and headed north to warmer climes.  I wonder what the above picture is of?

It is the gorgeous textured bark of a tree outside the information centre at Gilgandra, where we had our lunch.

After lunch we kept on our way north, getting into big sky country.

As we had plenty of time up our sleeves we were able to stop in the country town of Coonamble and have a nice walk up and down the street, something we've never had the chance to do before.  I've known of Coonamble and Wilcannia since I was little, as one of my best friends always had her dad absent for her birthday due to him shearing at one or other of the areas at that time of year.  All country towns have an impressive pub somewhere.  This one is a feature on the main corner.  Isn't the street garden lovely and colourful.

We decided to cross the bridge and have a look at the river.

The sign above was rather amusing, considering the river was sand only.  I'm not sure what sort of boat to be aware of and didn't happen to see any water with a strong current in which there would be a fish .........which is a pity, as rain is desperately needed in the area.

We were surprised at the size of the aquatic centre, but it would be very welcome in the heat of summer.

The mural on the wall was rather impressive too.

The majority of the buildings in the main street seemed to date from the late 1920s to early 1930s, so I thought it must have been a boom time for the town.  It actually turns out that there was a big fire in the main street in the late 1920s.  Makes sense.

There was another mural, this time for Moorambilla, which is a children's performance program for the western region.

Mick found a book to read in the op shop.  That will keep him amused for a little while.

We also found a quilt show.  Fancy that!  Poor Mick got dragged through another quilt show.  He is very patient.  More on that soon.

We had been told that we must visit Mink and Me for a coffee, so we did so after the quilt show.  This is the cheerful facade that greeted us.

Wow!  What a gem to find in Coonamble.  Such a treasure trove.

I think I may have to chop a branch off one of the yukkas on our verandah and grow it hydroponically.  What a statement piece.

On the other side of the shop there is a huge communal table and comfy lounges.  Perfect for enjoying our coffee and decadent brownie and caramel tart.

Lucy was delightful to chat to and has created a beautiful place to visit on the way through.

OK, we really must get a wriggle on or we will run out of day light for the rest of our trip.