Off to Ballarat - via West Wyalong - Day 1

This morning at 8:04 am we headed off on our annual trip south to Melbourne. Like previous years we intend to visit other places on our way. This year we intend to visit the great city of Ballarat on the way, and then travel down the great ocean road to Melbourne.

Our trip route took us inland along the Gore and Newell Highway. Generally this highway is quiet, in good shape, and highly patrolled by police which suits us. This year we stopped in Moree for a pre-packed lunch of sandwiches and tinned fish. The township was very warm in mid-day sun. 

Our car's outside temperature reading ranged from 33 to 39 degrees C over the course of the day. The landscape looked very dry, and we would normally be concerned for bush fires except there is not much to burn. The western New South Wales is in poor shape due to drought. 

Our trip took us through Dubbo, home of the world famous Dubbo Zoo. (The Dubbo Zoo is well worth a visit as the animals are spread out in park like enclosures.) The town of Dubbo is well known for its colonial era cottages and homesteads. 

We travelled through the historic towns of Parkes and Forbes. Both towns blessed with rich colonial and federation era historic buildings and homes. In Parkes, we stopped for dinner ( a quick but cheap KFC) and fuel. 

We eventually stopped at the motel of Colonial Motor Inn in West Wyalong for the night 8:03pm AEST (or 9:03pm local time). West Wyalong is a town in New South Wales, Australia which is the main town of the Bland Shire, located in the Central West region of New South Wales. It is located 467 km west of Sydney. Nice town!

It has been a long day, thankfully the motel ( Colonial Motor Inn)  is clean, comfortable and very cheap. Recommend it, as the staff seem friendly and very helpful. 

Finally, a thank you to our family and friends (taking turns to ) at house sitting  our home and dog. It is nice knowing our home is inhabited and being watched and loved.