Dunedoo to Coolah

 Dunedoo to Coolah = 47km
Cummulative totals = 1072km and 21,073km
Coolah caravan park = $21 unpowered

We had a very restful day yesterday ... we spent most of the afternoon looking at NSW and Qld maps trying to find a way to Warwick without having to go on the Cunningham highway ... no luck and Easter is not helping us either!  Then onto Qld ... well we had intented to take a detour to Yeppon and take a weeks break and it nearl didn't happen yesterday ... we could get there no problem ... it was getting back out to Emerald that nearly had us sending our bathers back to Melbourne!  There is no rest area from Gracemere to Duringa which is about 105km apart and we are unsure of the area whether we could bush camp or not ... so in the end we decided to go back via Mt Morgan (we go there to get to Yeppon) on a different road and then onto to Dululu and the Duringa.  We were surprised that there was no rest areas along there until Duringa.
So you know how Neil bought copious amounts of ripe bananas ... well we are here at Coolah and we are still eating them!  Neil did make a cake with them ... I said get a plain cake mix ... he comes back with a chocolate cake mix ... so here he is making his cake ...

 we don't have a microwave so cooking a cake in it is new to us!

 they turned out quite nice

 here is Neil shoving a piece in his gob!

In the park there are quite a few big trees and we saw a few King Parrots

So this morning we left early simply because we were ready!  So off at 7.15am knowing this is a shortish day to Coolah.  It is cloudy and overcast and we are unsure about the rain.   If it does come it will be in the evening. 

We ride along the Golden highway for 10km and there is no one around this time of the morning.  We then take the Black Stump Way turnoff.  This is a lovely ride through a valley floor so you are gradually climbing up to about 500m above sea level and tomorrow is the climb over the range.

Last time we came up through here it was a beautiful sunny day but today all we have is cloud and a headwind!

One thing we noticed this time and not in the past is this rock on the side of a paddock and believe it or not it actually has trees growing out of it!!!

 We get to Coolah around 11am and the caravan park has changed dramatically.  The guy bought it 2 years ago and has developed it into a place where you have a home base and a massive carport to fit your mobile home or 5th wheeler for when you are not travelling ... the whole concept is to come back to here (your home)  when you want a break from travelling.  There are a few new small homes here scattered about the park so people have taken to this concept.  At the same time he has developed the area that use to be unpowered (a big neglected field) into powered sites and there are alot more tourists here compared to the other 2 times we have stayed here ... of course the price has gone up but it is okay.  He has built a new kitchen that is very noice!  He did mention to Neil that there is a 'happy hour' at 5pm outside this kitchen ... Neil said he will give that a miss!  So maybe that is why this park is so popular now as everyone loves happy hours ... just like when you go outback Qld!  So we are pitched alongside a small creek out of everyones way - there are builders and tradies everywhere!  Kouta loves it as across the little creek are some cows which came to say hello ... we remembered last time we were here the cows broke the fence and came onto the campground and hung around us and there was a little calf that Kouta tried to chase around the table and encourage it to play with him ... the calf couldn't figure Kouta out at all!

Tomorrow is a bush camp night just before Tambar Springs and then onto Gunnedah on Saturday.