The choice of route for the day was very easy from here. We were clearly going to take the route home via Pinnaroo. The salmon gums with their beautiful deep red/brown glowing satin smooth bark were a sight to see (always a pleasure along this road)
After slowly managing to pass a number of problem vehicles along the way, we stopped for lunch and a loo stop at Lameroo where we fueled up again with a pie from the bakery, eaten in the wind as we stretched our legs at the local park, and watched most of them pass us right back.
We researched the local solar array at Tailem Bend as we passed that (Tailem Bend Solar Power Project) . According to Wikipedia it is owned by Vena energy (Singapore owned) Apparently the energy from here goes to Snowy Hydro and is resold under its Lumo Energy brand.
As we came closer to home we had a light drizzle and 17 degrees. What a change from the humidity of Qld!!
We pulled in to the driveway at 2:25pm after a total of 5116 km. The Prado hadn’t missed a beat. Fuel had cost us $652,69. (with another 120 or so litres required to return to a full tank)
It’s always good to get home after a long trip and this return was no different. Ben had done a great job of keeping the house plants alive and bringing in the mail. The grass didn’t even look out of control!
We weren’t as exhausted as we sometimes are on return. It’s funny how the body gets used to the long drives over time, and they just start to feel normal.
We have learnt a lot this trip. It has been interesting to observe the state of the country, wonderful to catch up with some of our distant friends and relations and, of course, a whole new world of bird observing has been opened up. On the way home we continued to observe the birds that we saw in a different way – attempting to listen to their sounds and observe the finer points of their colour and form in order to correctly identify them.. We have a very long way to go to become competent bird identifiers, but remain interested in seeing where this might take us.
It was interesting to see what drought looks like in different states. Parts of Queensland were literally running with water after recent flooding but still “in drought” whereas the Vic and SA areas we came through were crispy dry. As always when we are close to the river system we worry about the state of the river and the consideration (or lack of) for the lower levels which is given by the interstate managers of this huge country.
The Pilliga area would bear more investigation on another trip – we feel that there are more treasures in that area to discover and enjoy.
As we grow older we seem to be more interested in the natural life of this amazing country and the history of it too. Maybe we just have the room in our brains now without work to fit that stuff in, or maybe it takes different perspective as we age???
Luvapuzzle 