Day 4 – Pilliga to Narrabri

What a great start to the day…..a long soak in the hot artesian baths. We had a soak before we even had breakfast. There was a cold mist coming off the creek and it was freezing cold as we walked across to the pool area but once we were in the warm water we were glad we did it.

While in the pool I asked a few people if they’d been able to pay and none of them had because the website wasn’t working. One lady even said ‘don’t worry about it’. I thought of all the camping fees the council was missing out on and the facility is such a good one. There were signs saying the pool is cleaned every Friday morning and I assume all the toilets and BBQs are too as it was all very neat and clean. Pretty good value for $7.50 we thought!

I think all of us travellers can afford to pay $7.50 to support these tiny towns and keep some people employed plus we benefit by having these great spots to camp

After packing up camp we headed off towards Narrabri passing through the little town of Wee Waa. Wee Waa’s claim to fame is it is known as the Australian Cotton Capital. Billions of dollars of cotton is grown in the region each year in the Namoi Valley. Namoi Cotton has a huge cotton gin in the town and I’m guessing it would be a major employer. Water to irrigate the cotton comes from the Namoi River and bores that tap into the Great Artesian Basin.

White settlement began with stock followed by cropping such as wheat. In the 1800’s bores were sunk to provide water for the population and for irrigation. In the 1960’s two Californian families moved to the area and brought their experience of growing cotton with them. Growing cotton is now the major industry for Wee Waa area.

In the middle of the Main Street is a sculpture representing cotton balls growing. We pulled over so I could get a photo.

We arrived in Narrabri and parked up behind the visitors centre. Here we went in and paid our fee for camping at Pilliga Bore Baths. I explained that their website wasn’t working and that there were at least 50 RV’s camped there overnight and no one was able to pay. The lovely ladies said they had already contacted their IT people so I hope they can get it fixed quickly as they are missing out on significant fees.

Next was a quick visit to Woolies across the road for a few necessary supplies such as a bag of marshmallows and then we all wandered down to the skate park so Victor could practice his scooter skills.

Back in the motorhome we drove across the bridge across the Namoi River to a little park pin the other side that had a playground for Victor to play in while I made lunch.

We arrived at Pete & Tracey’s farm a few km out of Narrabri in the middle of the afternoon. Pete & Tracey are the parents of our beautiful daughter-in-law and are long time residents of Narrabri. Erin and her three children were visiting the farm and we were not surprised to find the kids waiting in the 4 wheel ATV near the front gate. They were eagerly waiting for us to arrive and led the way down the long driveway to the house. Who doesn’t love big hugs from your grandchildren?

Victor was very excited to see his cousins and explore the farm. The kids quickly left us to scooter around the house, ride the ATV, chop wood at the fire, throw clods in the dam and generally mess about.

After setting up the motorhome Zara took me on a farm tour on the ATV. She was a great little tour guide showing me the crops in the paddocks, the cattle yards, the shed, the creek, and mooing at the herd of fat cattle over the back neighbours fence.

We enjoyed a lovely family BBQ dinner together and generally catching up. After dark the kids played a game of murder in the dark around the garden. Sounded fun from the noise they were making!

We departed to bed early and Henry (aged 9) came for a sleepover in the motorhome. The two boys slept up in the top bed in the Luton. They talked and talked before and eventually falling asleep. We had power so we could have the heater on and it was very cozy inside.

We’d had another great day on our School Holiday Trip.