Star Gazing About

28 October 2024 / story by Felicity Harden and Gail King, Photo's by Wendy Mulholland

Day 1 A drive to Coonabarabran.
We departed McDonalds Kurri Kurri at 9:30 and headed out to our first stop at Jerrys plains for a brief comfort stop before heading through the Bylong Valley so green and pretty at present thanks to all the rain and had our morning tea break at the Bylong Valley sports ground shady areas were popular for parking spots as the day became quite warm. Then it was off to Coola for nice lunch at the Black Stump Hotel then our last leg to Coonabarabran to the Clock Tower Motel where we relaxed for a bit after unpacking and enjoyed a pre-dinner drink before heading to the local Chinese for a very tasty dinner.

Day 2  Milroy Observatory for a Night of Guided Star Gazing
So our intrepid band assembled at 9:15 pm in the Hotel car park and set off to learn the mysteries of the universe with a very cautious trip out to the Milroy Observatory the only to end up in a traffic jam at the observatory as the prior group ran over time and were departing as we arrived once we untangled the groups we were led through an interesting talk about various constellations and the distances involved and each of us took a turn viewing various Stars and Nebula through the telescopes this included seeing Saturn complete with rings and a close up look at the moons surface, we also were told about the refurbishing of the large telescope and that it would be hopefully be operating sometime next year.
We then proceeded back to the Motel very cautiously after being informed of wild pigs and wombats all in all an interesting night.

Day 3 Drive to Tamworth

We departed the Clock Tower Motel in Coonababran at 8.35am.  It was a cooler morning, sunny and cloudy and perfect for driving.  Chris spotted birds along the way and gave interesting info. First leg this morning was to Quirindi passing through rural villages of Purlwaugh, past Premer, Spring Ridge (Pauline noted it had a great Pub), Caroona which had a large Grain Exchange on the hill and onto the Kamilaroi Highway to Quirindi. We had passed cattle and then crops which included Sunflowers, Maize and Oats etc etc.  A very fertile area. At Quirindi we went to the “Who’d A Thought It” Lookout and what a view.  Spectacular!  Half way back down the hill we went to Bob’s Shed for morning tea and spent time walking through his truly incredible display of all things Holden and pre and post-war memorabilia.  Set out like a street (the hallway) with a general store, tavern, barber, train and bus memorabilia.  Well worth the visit, presented brilliantly!  Then a drive through town to a look at Silo Art.  The next leg was through Castlemountain and Wallabadah to Nundle where the landscape changed to hilly and windy roads and beautiful scenery and then lunch on the deck at the Nundle Hotel. Final leg of the day drove along Chaffey Dam to Tamworth where we checked into the Ibis Styles Motel.  The clouds were starting to gather and growing dark but quite a few of us walked to the Tudor Inn for dinner, a pleasant walk after sitting all day.  Dinner was a happy affair and HV Chapter member Steve Carter from Tamworth joined us for dinner.  It had rained while having dinner but stopped for our walk back to the Motel to rest up for the next day.

Day 4 Head home