Jetty Day 1

The first day of a month on the road was as smooth as silk.

You wake know that today is the day and you just want to get in the car and go but there is about a million things still to do, all of which couldn't be done at any other time, so you work your way through them. The only small hiccup was forgetting to fill the water tank on the Avan yesterday but there are worse, more time consuming things that you can forget.

Eventually, fueled and loaded, we struck out west on the Oxley Highway towards Gunnedah. For so many years, the road between Gunnedah and Tamworth was as familiar as that between Tamworth and Armidale or the Putty Rd to Camden. Of course, that's a life time ago but it was nice to note the well known landmarks as we went along. One of our favourites is the view across the top of the Liverpool plains which opens up to the south of you as you crest the hill heading west from the Lake Keepit turn off. Just breathtaking.

We zipped through Gunnedah - a good approach in our opinion - and soon enough, the Oxley turns south west toward Mullaley, including one straight of nearly 18kms. A few tinges as we passed the turn off to Tambar Springs at the Mullaley Pub, but its such ancient history now.

After Mullaley, the start of the volcanic landscape appeared, that ultimately ends at the Warrumbungles, where the Eastern ranges meet the Western Plans in a near perfect division.

Lunch was in a little park with excellent amenities beside what used to be the Castlereagh River but what is now little more than a few puddles of green, stagnant water.

Everywhere is brown, dry and waiting for sustained rain.

Today's photos

The final short stretch into the Warrumbungles is a joy regardless of season or conditions. The creeks are as dry as I've seen them and there are few kangaroos to be seen but the landscape always staggers you. Mountains in all sorts of shapes and sizes and thickness spring up around every bend. I've been coming here since 1968 and never once, in more than fifty visits, has the drive in failed to create a rush.

One night here and onward.