It was wonderful to wake up to no rain and see beautiful blue skies.  Before hitting the road again, we spent the morning exploring Wellington Caves.

Home for the Night

We started with an educational session to learn about the caves.

Can you imagine thousands of years ago giant wombats, giant kangaroos and even giant goannas roamed Australia?

Wellington Caves is said to be one of the most significant fossil sites in the world and contains the largest number of megafauna fossils in Australia.  The talk was geared towards kids, but we both really enjoyed it, especially as you get to see and touch real fossils, that are over a million years old.

The Diprotodon – a Giant Wombat skeleton

The weather has stopped most of the tours at Wellington Caves, but Cathedral Cave was still open, so we joined a tour to explore its chambers and learn more about its prehistoric history.

Me at Cathedral Caves

At 11am we said our goodbyes to giant wombats and goannas; and carried on our journey to the outback. Lunch was at Dubbo where we had a quick picnic next to a river, just before Sydney’s rain caught up with us.

Drive, drive, drive, we will escape the rain.

Halfway to the Outback < The Outback 436km – Sydney 436km >

Late afternoon we finally reached the edge of the outback in NSW, Nyngan.

Reaching the Edge of the Outback at Nyngan

Reaching the Edge of the Outback at Nyngan

At Nyngan, Ian needed a break from driving, so it was my turn behind the wheel.

However, it was short-lived!!!

It has been quite a while since I have driven a manual car.  I was merrily driving along when I needed to change the gear.  Hmmm, I’m not sure what happened, but I couldn’t change back down to 4th. Next thing I know the gear stick just goes limp in my hand.

Gulp! No gears were working!  

I slowly brought the car to a halt and my heart just stopped, I thought I had broken the gearbox. There was only an hour left of daylight and we were stuck on the side of the road, at least 50km from our next stop Cobar and civilisation.  It was a nightmare.  As I sheepishly got out of the driver’s seat, Ian had a few choice words to say to me.

The Soil Turns Red

Luckily, Ian can fix anything.  I don’t know, but somehow I had managed to pull the gear stick out of it’s socket.  After our initial fears of having to spend the night on the road, in the middle of nowhere, Ian performed his magic and within 5 minutes we were back on the road.

Is that a Drop Bear?

Needless to say I was banned from driving Suzie and it was a quiet, frosty drive to our stop for the night, Cobar.  Some “koalas” spotted in a rest area did help to break the ice and bring a smile to our faces.

Arrived at Cobar

On reaching our home for the night, we quickly set up camp just as the sun was setting.

What an eventful drive, hopefully, no more car adventures like that on this trip!

Setting up for the Night

Info: Day 2 – Wellington Caves to Cobar via Dubbo, distance 365km. Took 6 hours, which included stops for lunch, petrol, lots of photos and gearbox fixes. Stayed at Cobar Caravan Park. Unpowered site $37 / powered site $42.  It was the most expensive site on the trip and our least favourite.  In the outdoor camp kitchen we had to clean BBQ before use; there was no toilet paper in the men’s toilet; and no pool.

The Galahs Found our Adventure Funny