Day 7 – Farmstay near Parkes to Mirrool Hotel

It was a freezing cold night and we woke to a frosty paddock outside. Our house batteries are nearly the end of their useful life and were not holding their charge so we put the stove on to heat the kettle and warm up the motorhome. We all snuggled in bed and played eye spy while we waited for it to warm up.

All our devices were flat so we had to use Victors phone to take some photos as it was charged up first. We got some photos of the motorhome in the paddock and next to Rosie the old truck. The owner of the Farmstay had written a poem about Rosie and stuck it on the window of Rosie. See photo below.

It was 10am before we set off southwards. The Farmstay is only 100m from the Newell Highway and we were quickly back out onto the main road heading to Forbes.

I had to clear the Check Engine light again before we set off.

It’s only 31km from Parkes to Forbes along the Newell Highway. We both commented on the lack of traffic especially as it’s school holidays. Of course there is the usual assortment of big rigs on the road but there are not as many RV’s travelling as we expected. Most caravan parks we’ve been past have plenty of empty sites. At the Farmstay overnight we were the only ones there and it is such a lovely spot for self contained RV’s.

There were a few grocery items we needed such as fresh bread so we stopped in Forbes and parked in a large carpark behind the Woolies. Victor was please to see it was opposite the skate park!

We quickly picked up what we needed and Victor charmed the check out lady with his chatty personality. Pa and I took our cuppas across the to the skate park to watch Victor. The Forbes skate park is quite a large one and had lots of challenges for the scooter riders. Two other boys of similar age to Victor came along with their grandfather so the three boys had fun while us oldies sat and watched.

Victor declared the Forbes skate park the best so far, even better than the one in Gilgandra. When we asked why he replied that there was more tricks and jumps. So that’s it folks if you build a skate park make it big enough and add lots of jumps!

By 11am it was still a brisk 9 degrees but there were no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. A lovely chilly winter day.

We continued on and stopped at the truck stop on the outskirts of West Wyalong to swap our empty gas bottle that had run out the night before. $30 and we had a new one to put in. Rich took care of the gas bottle while I made use of the time to put a little more air in the drivers rear tyres. Our TPMS said they were a little down so I topped them back up to 69psi using our little Makita air compressor.

The boys decided they’d like leftover lasagne for lunch so we pulled up in a sunny spot next to McCann Park and I set the lasagne in the oven to warm up whilst Victor went for a play and a scoot in the park.

We left West Wyalong at 3pm and continued our way southwards on the Newell Highway. We decided to stop for the night at the tiny village of Mirrool. The small community has set up a fabulous RV camp. There are tennis courts, a playground, a small history museum, toilets and showers, communal fire pit with wood supplied, and a large graveled area for camping. There are 11 powered sites. You choose you site then if you want power you go across to the Hotel and pay $20 for the key to your numbered power box. If you return the key you get $10 back.

We arrive around 3pm and there was already three other campers there. Victor and I had a busy afternoon playing Grip Ball and after we found some tennis raquets in the camp kitchen we had a game of tennis as well. We checked out the little history museum and victor was amazed at some of the ‘olden days’ stuff. During the afternoon more RV’s rolled in and by the time we went back to our motorhome there were 11 RV’s set up for the night. Victor is very good at going over and introducing himself to the new arrivals, especially the ones with dogs. He loves to meet the dogs. I think he was missing his Jack Russell Jimmy!

Dinner at the pub sounded like a good idea for our last night of our trip so we got changed into our finest clothes and headed over the road to the Mirrool Hotel. Most of the people who’d arrived also went to the pub for dinner. It was good pub grub and we all enjoyed our dinner.

Back in our little house on wheels we all changed into our PJ’s and snuggled in bed and watched a movie. Victor chose the Disney movie called Turbo, about a snail who dreams of being fast. It was funny.