During our five weeks in the centre of NSW, we played as much as we worked. Greg and Jo invited us into their home and their lives and we were lucky to be so warmly welcomed by all of their family, friends and the wonderful town of Tottenham. Lola had a ball playing with the kids Ben, Alice, Harry and Kate and we had a wonderful opportunity to taste life living and working on a farm.
In our downtime, we enjoyed lunch at the local Rabbit Trap Hotel, loved fossicking around the old farmhouses on the families properties. Lola and I headed in to Dubbo for shopping regularly and a visit to the Old Dubbo Gaol.
All the way from Townsville to Nyngan we stopped everywhere trying to get hold of an old gas bottle to convert to a fire and finally found one in little old Tottenham. So Brad set to work and yippee, we now have a self contained camp fire.
We never tired of the magnificent view from the bus - cattle in the morning, birds in the afternoon and gorgeous sunsets every night. A little morning frost, but for the most part the winter weather was great with lots of lovely sunny days.
We spent an afternoon at the Cairn - the geographical centre of NSW. The Cairn materials were donated by our host's grandfather and of course we engaged in little soccer game the country way, in the middle of the road.
We received a very codial written invitation from the Radfords to join them for a game of Glenora Croquet....needless to say our experienced host thrashed us.
We picked the kids up from school in the bus on our last day in town, the town kids thought it was pretty cool. Then on our way out heading south, we stopped off to share the local excitement of the Yellow Mountain bike race. 280 dirt backs riding from Tottenham to Condobolin and back again. Great fun to watch. Then when it was finally time to leave and our friends walk over to wave us farewell and uh oh, the bus won't start. No worries, Brad pops out to solve the problem, but no go. Luckily, the bike race happened to have a team of mechanical experts who got us on the road again........a quick starter motor rework and we are off.
Thanks guys, we made it safely to Condobolin, and although she started up again this morning, we've decided to stay another night. After a night of -5 degrees here, we are clearly stalling to head further south.
We have had a fabulous time in the centre of NSW and recommend our fellow travellers call in to the friendly town of Tottenham and get to know these lovely locals.