This long day saw us traverse four highways, south on the Newell from Moree to Gilgandra; west on the Oxley to Nevertire; north west on the Mitchell to Nyngan; and west on the Barrier from to Cobar. 

The morning took us past the great Nandewar Range (containing Mount Kaputar National Park) and onto Narrabri – centre of a large agricultural industry.

Unusual rainbow creating an opal sky outside Narrabri.

Trying out the cotton harvester at the Narrabri Visitors Centre.

Cotton

The Piliga Scrub is a seemingly endless forest with cypress pine scattered through a reasonably dense Eucalyptus forest – the largest continuous remnant of semi-arid woodland in New South Wales.

Button daisy in the Piliga

Cotton crop between Gilgandra and Warren

A few cotton bales bewteen Warren and Nevertire.

The cows here don’t know their road rules, crossing on a bend and over a double line.

We made our way west to Nyngan in the Bogan Shire, proudly sited beside the Bogan River. An old RAAF helicopter is on display at the Museum. Close by, a new structure, the Big Bogan adds to Australia’s collection of Big Things. Nyngan is a tidy town with nice parks and obvious civic pride but my tub of yoghurt from last night’s dessert has more culture than this two-dimensional structure.

The commencement of the Barrier Highway at Nyngan named after the Barrier Ranges around Broken Hill.

Fort Bourke Hill is just outside town. This is the site of Cobar’s first copper mine. A new underground mine extracting gold and copper operates at the same site. Copper was first mined in Cobar in 1870.

Outback sunset over Cobar from Fort Bourke Hill. Emu count for the day : 9

Many goats have made the mine their home.

Machinery makes its way up out of the mine.

Welcome sign to Cobar at the site of the original mine close to the town centre.

The main street of Cobar with the Big Beer Can. Not many maroon jerseys in sight.

The Great Western Hotel in Cobar built in 1898 boasts having the longest iron lace verandah in New South Wales and argued by locals to be the longest in the Southern Hemisphere.  Great food too. 5 out of 5 real chicken schnitzels with the best salads and vegies.

Night is a great time to explore country towns. Where else can you get a whole carcass even if you do live on the cheapside of town?

PS. I am aware of the blog images taking up download megabytes. If you wish to view this on a mobile device, don’t open the link until you have affordable or free wi-fi connection to open the link.