Wednesday, July 21st 1999

Up at 7.00 again this morning and down to the river with Tara. I threw a stick for her and she bounded happily about. There was no need to hurry away as it was only about 135kms to Cobar, so after breakfast we went back to the river with a ball and a camera. I saw the pelicans again and made various attempts to photograph them as well as throwing the ball for Tara.

It was still only about 9.00 when we got away. A lovely morning, some cloud and a cool breeze, but perfect for travelling. There was a rest stop after a small village called Hermidale where I planned to stop. It seems to me that just driving by you don't really get the feel for a place.

The rest stop was just a bare bit of ground with a dust bin, but a track led off towards the railway line which had been beside the road for most of the trip. I took Tara and set off for a little explore - being very careful to notice the landmarks. The country is very scrubby, red dirt and prickly underfoot if you get off the track. We walked beside the railway line for a short distance before going back to the van.

We reached Cobar about 11.45 and went straight to the "Outback Heritage Centre". I spent a good hour looking around inside and out. There were some interesting snippets of social history inside and I particularly enjoyed the railway carriage outside that was the travelling baby health centre. Tara and I then went walking along most of the Cobar heritage walk.

The primary school and the court house are interesting old buildings and I enjoyed looking at the houses of "historical significance", mostly miner's cottages or other Victorian cottages. It is interesting that the standard miner's cottage seems to be the same in Cobar (outback NSW) as it is in Wonthaggi (country Victoria) at least to outward appearance.

The Cobar Caravan Park is pleasant enough but there is nowhere nice like the Bogan River. I did find a bit of waste land where Tara could have a run and we did some lead walking as well before returning to the van for an evening of reading, writing and sleeping.