On top of the world

Mt Kaputar is the king of the Nandewar Range.  Located in the Mt Kaputar National Park, the summit's about 50 kms from Narrabri, after 20 kms of not so good road, most of it tarred, but narrow and twisty.  Last time we couldn't go all the way to the top because of bushfires but today we made it and enjoyed the amazing views.  They say you can see one tenth of NSW on a good day- today was hazy so we didn't see that far, but it's still fantastic.

We then visited the Visitors' Centre, handily located on the highway through Narrabri, and well worth a visit. You will find all you ever wanted to know about cotton, including being able to see one of those giant harvesters they use.  Not sure if you can actually climb on it.  They have samples of cotton so you can feel what that looks like just out of the boll, too.  There's plenty of parking behind the centre for caravans and other vehicles and a nice riverside park.

We'd noticed a strange set of buildings called Mac Village on the edge of town, apparently it's housing for mine workers built by one of the local coal mines.  About 20 or 30 buildings there already and apparently another 80 planned.

On to the CSIRO Australian Compact Array of radio telescopes, located about 20 kms from town.  Quite interesting, these huge things can move about on tracks and can be used in tandem to monitor deep space or used individually. There's an unstaffed visitor centre and video program, all free.

 
A few kilometres further along, you find a delightful picnic or camping place called Yarrie Lake.  Quite shallow, not that large, but used for waterskiing, it's a pretty area with sandy beaches and grassed sites, with water on tap in many places, and toilets in the main area which seemed to be reserved for caravans today - or maybe it's just that the caravanners snagged these sites for Easter.  Lovely spot where we watched a big striped goanna up a tree pretending he was invisible, but the birds above were not silly enough to believe him. Eventually he gave up in disgust and walked away.

Narrabri is a pleasant town on the Namoi River, with wide pleasant streets, some houses with character, a couple of nice parks, and friendly people. We've stayed here before and we always enjoy it.

Tomorrow we will do a day trip to Sawn Rocks via Terry Hie Hie, a name that's always fascinated me. This is in the direction of Bingara, east of Narrabri.  The following day we'll move on to Mungindi.

In case we don't get a chance to update beforehand, Happy Easter to all.