We slept in the house last night because we could. I was up early and after loading the last few things, breakfast food, tooth brushes and stuff we had forgotten, we got away at about nine o'clock.
We stopped at Gunnedah for morning coffee and at The Black Stump Rest Area for lunch. I had planned to stop overnight at Dubbo but on looking at the map I changed my mind and headed for a place called Geurie which is south of Dubbo on the Mitchell Highway. I intended to take a bitumen road from the Oxley Highway to Geurie but the best laid plans, as the Scots say, "Aft gang aglay". I found myself on a rather long stretch of gravel road which upset my passenger a great deal. Though she had had a good travelling day, the last half hour took all the goodness out of the journey. I will not make the same mistake on the way back. I will not go adventuring but will use the roads I know well.
The rest area was quite close to the highway and, with a lot of traffic, it didn't quieten down until quite late.