Leaving Young we traveled through some very pretty countryside and we were thinking that it was a pity it is so far to Sydney. On reflection though, you couldn't really live in NSW because it was very hard to find the Freo Essendon game on the radio, most stations were broadcasting rugby. Freo's 140-77 thrashing of Essendon was a good follow-up to beating the Eagles, I thought. Better late than never and if they can hang on to that form, well it's the business end of the season.
Just after Parkes we swung off the highway to visit the Dish! This was the realization of a dream we've been harboring since seeing the movie about 5 years ago. Those who have seen the movie know what I'm talking about, and those who haven't should request it at your DVD/video shop. The Dish is a radio telescope that was used as a telecommunications relay centre during the 1969 moon landing. For a portion of the landing and moon walk, Parkes was the only receiver on earth that could get the signals, the other stations were on the wrong side of Earth and couldn't see the moon. Pretty exciting stuff!
From Parkes we drove through Dubbo and then the Warrumbungle mountains to Coonabarabran where we will spend the night.
