We were woken up in the early hours of the morning by a thunderstorm and I had to get up to put the antenna down. We had breakfast, packed up, topped up the fresh water tank, said our farewells to those still at the club, and headed of to Barraba.
I had decided not to go back the way we had come so we went to Canowindra and Parkes. The road from Canowindra to Eugowra was a problem. The middle 10 km was OK but the first section was less than 50 kph (30 mph) and the last section wasn't a lot better. Jean had to have a rest so we stopped at Eugowra for a long morning tea break. The road to Parkes was a lot better and we reached Parkes at lunchtime. Jean took another rest and I did the grocery shopping. After lunch, we filled up with diesel, ULP for the generator and a fresh bottle of gas for the fridge and the kitchen.
We had three wildlife sightings on the road. An Eastern Snake-necked Turtle, a Grey Kangaroo running alongside the Motley, and a big goanna crossing the road in front of us.
We stopped for afternoon tea just after three o'clock in the rest area 12 km south of Dubbo.
When I was buttering buns for afternoon tea I realised that I had forgotten to buy butter so we had to stop in Dubbo.
By this time I was pretty well bushed so we decided to overnight somewhere close by. The choice was between the Devil's Elbow, one of our favourite camp spots or the Brocklehurst Rest Area. Jean suggested that It had been raining a lot recently and Devil's Elbow might well be inaccessible so we went on to Brocklehurst. We chose a spot at the back of the rest area and settled in for a good night's rest.