dazjet 'n family: Introducing '5 by 7'...

You probably think that 5 x 7 is 35, but in this instance it is more like 49! You see, we're talking about 5 people on a 7 week trip... 49 days to be exact.

It all started last Saturday when we drove from home to Yarck for a morning coffee, popped into a friend's for lunch in Benalla before settling on a night in Yerong Creek in NSW.

Yerong Creek is on the Olympic Hwy, north of Albury and south of Wagga Wagga. We chose there because the local sports ground hosts camping including power, water and hot showers for just $15 per night.

We enjoyed a late afternoon walk - with the sun making the surroundings very golden indeed. We were the only ones camped at the reserve, and the showers were wonderful! It was a cold night too. We met the caretaker who proudly informed us he's been mowing the grass on the oval since 1962. But there has not been a football game played there since 1971. He keeps the place immaculate. Perhaps he's living in vain hope that football will return after over 40 years of absence!

On Sunday we drove to Forbes. On the way we passed through the town of 'The Rock' and stop and admired the piece of landscape the town was named after.

We stayed at the Showgrounds, as it also had power and water and hot showers. A little more expensive at $25, but way less than a caravan park for 5 people. Probably about half the cost.

We explored Forbes. It has many fine, grand buildings, particularly around the nice gardens, complete with rotunda and fountain. We also checked out the grave of infamous local bushranger, Ben Hall.

It was a windy day in Forbes and it picked up in the evening, but fortunately settled down and we enjoyed a peaceful night.

Monday morning was just a short drive through the town of Parkes, to the Parkes Observatory - or as it is often referred to 'The Dish'. It's been in the news a lot lately as it's been 50 years since the moon landing. The Dish played a significant role in beaming pictures of that event around the world.

We visited the 3D theatre where we learned that there is a star way bigger than the Sun called Gemma A, which Gemma W was quite thrilled about!

We also upgraded the TV antenna on the caravan... pity we didn't bring a TV on this trip, but reception should never be a problem again.

We then explored the museum and gift shop, the kids completed the scavenger hut and after some morning tea we continued heading north, leaving the Newell Hwy and found ourselves in Narromine. I'd read some great reviews of a small caravan park there, so rather than stay in Dubbo, we based ourselves in Narromine for a couple of nights.

The caravan park has a resident alpaca that roams around with its own posse of turkeys!

The neighbours horse visited, much to Gemma's delight.

We paid homage at the Glenn McGrath statue, as the famous fast bowler grew up this area.

The caravan park owners, Michelle and Eddie are very friendly and welcoming. They host a camp fire and put on nibblies each evening. We joined them and some other campers for happy hour which was a lot of fun.

Today we took the half hour drive into Dubbo and treated the kids to a day at Western Plains Zoo. It was a fun day. They were impressed with the noisy siamangs that we'd told them about beforehand. The family of otters were very cute. We did a lap of the zoo in the car, stopping and wandering, enjoying the many animals on display.