Dubbo the value

We arrived at Dubbo with uncertainty, we have been told that is not safe, we have been told to see the zoo and keep driving, so based on this, we booked a caravan park for two nights only. This caravan park had great reviews, close to the zoo and safe and to tell you the truth it was quite impressive, it had a pool, jumping pillow, play ground, off leash area for the dogs, modern clean ammenities but the best thing was the price, to this day I still think they made an error and charged us as a couple and not a family of five. We set up camp and had look, second day we felt quite safe and comfortable and based on the price decided to book a week (stay 7 nights pay for 6).

The zoo was our first stop, I had my reservations, since our visit to Kruger park in South Africa, everything else seems, well, not as great. The Taronga Western plains zoo was surprisingly ok, the enclosures were large, bigger than any other zoo I’ve visited and their breeding programs have been quite successful, especially with the black rhinos. Something I really enjoyed about the zoo was the optimism of all the caretakers regarding conservation and gratitude towards everyone visiting the zoo and by doing so supporting them in their cause. Great emphasis was also made on the use of palm oil and the consequence it has on the habitat of many animals, risking extinction. The zoo was also very organised, the one way circuit was easy to follow but it also assisted us in not missing out in any of the talks. I have to say that I’ve never been so close to a hippo before, not even in South Africa.

Our second stop, the Old Dubbo Gaol, highly recommended and I can tell why. The gaol has been very well preserved but it is also very interactive and very creepy in doing so. They also do late night tours…not for me thanks. We walked through the solitary cell, used for punishment, until they realised that it did more harm than good, that was incredible, I could not see anything, pitch black. The walls were thicker and the roof out of steel, to block out the sun, the room itself was within another room so when they got fed, no light would filter in. Prisoners would pull the buttons off their shirts and play games throwing them against the wall and trying to find them.

Most of the cells in the prison had mannequins dressed up as prisoners, some with recordings of their stories, some just for show but the most interesting fact I learnt was the story about “nosey”. At the back of the prison there was a theatre with an interactive/3d live story of nosey, the executor, he assisted 64 executions and the nickname nosey was as a result of loosing his nose from an incident with a horse where he got kicked on the face, I cannot image what he looked like, needless to say, cannot imagine what it would have been like to do his job. Very interesting place, very well done but not my cup of tea.

We did a few short trips here and there, we went to Narromine, a small little town about 30min from Dubbo, went to the aviation museum but the most interesting fact was that it was the town where Glen McGrath, the cricketer was born. The lady at the counter had her kids go to school with Glen and she spent a good 20 minutes talking about him! The town is very proud of his achievements and have a statue of of him at the centre of town.

We visited the Botanical gardens in Dubbo, very nice and calm, under renovations and like many country towns hoping for rain as many of the trees are drying out.

Pubs need a mention too as they were great and had amazing deals which were cheap and substantial, great value for money.

Scouts

We always been such a great supporter of scouts since noticing the impact it has had my boys, they are growing up being more independent, capable and respectful not only towards others but also to the environment. In Bathurst they were warmly welcomed and now that we had decided to stay longer we thought we would try Dubbo scouts. Unfortunately, Noah had already missed out as scouts meet on Mondays but for Raf and Josh they would have no problem as they meet on Wednesday. We took them down and as always we were welcomed, made us feel very comfortable and the boys had a blast learning about first aid. While having a chat to one of the leaders named Gavin he mentioned a weekend camp that weekend and invited Noah to attend, we got back, spoke to him and he was very keen. We extended our stay once more to two more days and we sent him off on Friday.

The camp was about 20 minutes from Dubbo, scouts had to set up their tents, I gave Noah a kiss not showing any of the concerns I was actually feeing and said goodbye, it reminded me a little when I dropped Noah off at kinder for the first time, say goodbye, keep walking and DO NOT look back. Noah was about to spend a weekend in a strange place, with kids and adults he had never met in his life, I could not help but feel a little nervous. As the days went by we started receiving photos of Noah from the leaders, he had fitted right in and was doing so well, and on the last night Noah sent us a message saying he was having so much fun. We picked him up on Sunday and we were told by Gavin and Adam how Noah had done so well, in fact he had earned a badge, done a 5km hike using gps (geocaching ), emergency shelter building, swimming…and as he was telling us this my heart just swelled with joy and pride but also I felt so grateful of the opportunity 1st Dubbo Scout group had given to Noah in the first place. All scouts leaders give so much to these kids and is really making a difference in moulding our future. Scouts truly is such a big family and we feel blessed to be part of it.

The week we were there a large group, mostly retirees, came in the caravan park, they have been getting together for the last 12 years. While on this meet one of the members suddenly died, an ambulance came to the caravan park and we weren’t sure what had happened until we spoke to our neighbour who was a member. Unfortunately it was a very sad meet, what they all kept telling us was to live life, many of them wished they could have done more sooner, so the message is out there, live to the fullest!

Five weeks into our trip and our skin has gained a healthy olive glow, our kids cannot get enough of us, lots of hugs and kisses, I’ve identified strengths and weaknesses in the kids knowledge/education, and most noticeably we have lost sense of time and days. Focussing on living in the moment.

Dubbo was very good to us and its a place I can definitely see myself re visiting.