25deg at 9am on leaving Lake Burrendong for Dubbo via Wellington. Named after the Duke of Wellington it is a pleasant little town with lovely buildings & park. It is bounded by the Bell River which adds to its charm. Journeying on through sheep country with rolling hills till we reach Dubbo, a go ahead city with wide streets which show off the fine colonial buildings as well as modern structures which are evidence of its recent growth. The site for Dubbo was decided in the 1840's beside the Macquarie River & became a stopping place for mobs being driven south to Victorian Markets.
It's time to stay in a caravan park to refill with water & do washing etc, & find that the one chosen is cheaper than expected ($27) & it even has a pool. Stuart needs to buy two new batteries for the van - one has a failed cell & that has affected the second one as they were run in tandem. He has now changed the system to run one at a time & we need power to charge them both up. While he is away I have time to do my chores & relax with my e-book as it's too hot to do much else. Our plan is to vacate the park next morning .
Just out of the city is the Taronga Western Plains Zoo which is the first open range zoo established in Australia . It is some years since we have visited a zoo & probably wouldn't bother, but this one is different in that it is possible to cycle right around it, approximately 6kms or more if you follow all the extra tracks, & we feel the exercise will be good for us. However the big attraction for me is that it's possible to handfeed the giraffes (my favourite African animal) although not touch them. Apparently they are not keen on that. For a extra fee it was also possible to feed the Sumatran tiger but that's definitely not my scene. Anyway we arrived at 89am on the dot trying to beat the heat. It proves to be well worth the visit - there are no high fences & the country is so like Africa in the dry of summer, so the animals all look quite at home & so close - great for photos. There were talks by young lady zoo keepers who were really great & so knowledgeable, especially the one with the Meerkats - she could name & identify every one of them (about 18). They are amazing little creatures with the breeding female getting pregnant again just a matter of weeks after her last litter of 3 or 4 pups (or should that be kits???) Actually they are related to the mongoose so I'm not sure what I should call them. Unlike rabbits there is only one breeding female in each group & she stops breeding when the group is getting too large. Sounds sensible to me.
The highlight is definitely feeding the giraffes who are really greedy for carrots & so funny with their long........... blue tongues. Stuart took photos so I have the proof. The next highlight was being so close to a very large, very old Galapagos tortoise that I was able to gaze right into it's rheumy old eyes which looked so sad & wise. In an area on it's own was a hatchling of 3 years old which is the first bred here. It was the opposite extreme - so small it was hard to imagine it ever growing to the size of the other one & so cute to watch it in it's tiny basin of water trying to eat it's greens. All in all a most enjoyable morning but we were happy to leave & get out of the heat by lunchtime.
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| Black Rhino |
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| Aren't I Cute. |
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| A dream come true |
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| The face of wisdom |
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