A quick look around Cobar and then a 640km drive to Tamworth visiting a few towns new to us on the way.

Cobar Sound Chapel is a sound installation artwork combining a sound space, architecture, art, poetry and nature. It was too early to get the key to see inside but a local dryly told me in the local vernacular not to bother.

Eremophila just outside Cobar

Cobar Old Reservoir just north of town. Popular with grey nomads; bereft of birds in the morning. Grey Nomad wisdom: If you find a good free camp, you are as happy as a pig in mud… even if the free camp has feral pigs … and mud.

Cobar railway station. We couldn’t go up there, we weren’t wearing platform shoes.

Peewee (Magpie-lark to more learned ornithologists) at Cobar. This is a male.

Ringneck parrot at Florida Rest Area east of Cobar.

Native daisies beside the Barrier Highway

Noisy Miners have a wide range from North Queensland to South Australia. The race lepidota, found in western New South Wales, is smaller than the nominate race with a black crown, and darker, more mottled chest.

A magpie feeling peckish.

Barrier Highway from Cobar to Nyngan – now that is a wide load and two prime movers. The grey nomad on the left was excited because they found another free campsite.

Straw necked ibis outside Nyngan

White-winged choughs

Hotel in Trangie

Canola and silos outside Narromine just west of Dubbo.

Narromine main street – looks like the local Hanami Festival had begun.

Blossom in the main street.

I was bowled over by this statue of Glen McGrath. Glen grew up in Narromine and it was the place he began playing cricket. We stayed for a while then said “bye”.

Mitchell Highway between Narromine and Dubbo.

Dubbo is the home of the Western Plains Zoo but there was once a rival tourist attraction – a dinosaur theme park on the way out of town on the Newell Highway. Sadly the park has gone the way of the dinosaurs too. This Pterodactyl captures the quality and realism of the dinosaurs that were on show. We were out on the Newell Highway looking for Mother Clucker free range eggs that were mentioned on a tourist site. Sadly we didn’t find any so we will try to find your eggs next time Mother Clucker.

We travelled out of Dubbo on the Golden Highway that links Newcastle and the Hunter Valley with western NSW. It also provides a low altitude crossing of the Great Dividing Range. The road was ablaze with wattle for many kilometres.

Dunedoo (pronounced Dunny-doo) is named after the local Indigenous name for the Black swan. This is in the bird sculpture park along with a number of others.

Wedge-tailed eagle

And if you thought the last sculpture was good, here’s a real head turner.

Sulphur-crested cockatoo cock-a-hoop in a White cedar at Dunedoo

The Dunedoo Silos were painted in three stages. The final stage shown the artist’s son reading a book in a wheat field. The owl is looking for some bookworms.

The second stage shows local flora and fauna including the Black swans.

The first stage show the champion racehorse Winx ridden by Hugh Bowman who was born and raised in Dunedoo. Winx was from Jerry’s Plains about 2hrs drive east from here near Singleton. Winx was more yeah than neigh.

Dunedoo Hotel

We were here on a Saturday and they were closed but we will return someday to try their pies. If they can use alliteration, rhyming and slang in their title, they must be good.

The Big Black Swan on the top of a Dunedoo motel. We may stay here next time and try the Cygnet-ure dish in the restaurant.

Off the highway onto some minor roads for the shortcut through Coolah, Premer and Werris Creek to Tamworth.

The Leaning Shed of Coolah – I was inclined to take an image.

Rock outcrop near Coolah

The Black Stump – in the 1830s, there was a Black Stump here – everything west of here was “Beyond the Black Stump”. The original Black Stump and local Black Stump Wine Saloon were destroyed by fire in 1908.

Countryside near Werris Creek

Driving into Tamworth late in the day.

Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth. When I was a kid, I wanted to play the guitar really badly. And after years of frustration, I can now play the guitar really badly. Tamworth is the Australian Home of Country Music.

Now have a good night, y’all.