John Carroll, aged 10

First Day          21-8-70

Left 5.45 and continued west. Mileage when left 4370. Arrived at Parramatta 6.30 am. Arrived at Penrith 6.55 am. Arrived at Katoomba at 7.40 am. Near Bathurst saw snow in pockets on the hillside and sheep and dairy cattle grazing. As we continued snow got thicker. It is in chunk of ice. We passed a track covered in snow in pine forest. Reached Bathurst at 9.15 am. Mileage was 4506. After leaving Bathurst we passed through open country spotted with a few trees. Arrived at Orange 10.35 am. From Orange we continued north. On the way saw lambs and white cows. Arrived at Dubbo at 1.00 pm and had lunch. We crossed the Macquarie River twice. Passed through Gilgandra and crossed the Castlereagh River on wooden bridge. We saw sheep on the road. We passed a dead snake and saw some rabbits. We saw a hawk on a telegraph wire at Gulargambone. We saw a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. Then we saw a crane fly past on the way to Coonamble. We saw an area covered with black soil. We saw beef cattle on the side of the road. We saw a dead bull in as field. We saw paddy melons growing on the side of the road 12 miles from Coonamble. We saw a white cockatoo. We saw a lot of galahs. We saw a willy-willy. We arrived at Coonamble 3.50. We had travelled 365 miles since home. Our mileage was 4733. We put up our tent and stayed the night.    

Second Day     22-8-70

We left at 10.30 am from Coonamble. After leaving we came to plains of dry grass and spotted trees. We past a windmill. We past a few dead kangaroos on the road side. We saw some more galahs. We passed a dried-up water hole and a few sheep. We saw a kangaroo jump through the plain. We saw some cattle and passed a few homesteads. We passed a bore named Robin’s Bore. As we went further the plains got barer. Every now and then we would drive through a clump of trees. We saw some dead sheep. We passed some more sheep being mustered. We passed some wheat being grown. We arrived at Walgett at 11.50 am. When we left we crossed the Namoi River. We crossed the Barwon River. We passed a carcass of a dead sheep with a crow eating at it. We passed some sheep grazing. We passed a dead lamb and bull. As we went on the country got barer. As we went on we came to an area where it was almost just dirt. We stopped to look at an emu with five chicks. We saw a dead dingo. We arrived at Lightening Ridge at 2.05 pm. Our mileage was 4853. We had travelled 483 miles. We put up a tent in a Caravan Park. Then we went to the Lightening Ridge Bore Baths. Then we searched for opals around the Caravan Park. Then we had tea and went to bed.

Third Day         23-8-70

We got up in the morning and showered and had breakfast. Then we drove to the Walk-in Mine in which were told about opals allowed to look around. After that we looked around some mines seeking stones. I found a small opal chip while I was there. Then we drove a few miles to a place where people puddle opals. On the way we stopped to look at three emus on the side of the road. At the puddling place we searched for opals. I found one. After that we saw four emus. When we got back to the tent we had lunch. The temperature was about 90 degrees F. We went to the bottle house where there were opals on display, and other rocks and various tools. Then we drove to three-mile digging where we had a look around. When we came back it started to sprinkle so we had to pack up before it poured. Our original plan was to stay till morning then leave for Moree. We left at about five o’clock and headed for Walgett. On the way we saw three emus on the side of the road. We arrived in Walgett at about 6.20 pm. We stayed at the Motel Walgett.

Fourth Day      24-8-70

We left at about 9.00 am for Moree. After we gone for a little while we had to cross through a lot of mud. Our car was covered in mud. It took about an hour. We arrived in Moree at about 1.00 pm. We set up tent and had lunch. Then we went to a museum but no one was there so we went to the Artesian Baths. Then we had tea and went to bed.

Fifth Day         25-8-70

In the morning we had breakfast. Then we went to a Radio Telescope about 6 miles out of Moree. At the Radio Telescope we were told and shown around it. After that we went to Garah which is about 30 miles out of Moree. Then we headed for Narrabri. We arrived at Narrabri at 1.00 pm and hired a caravan because it was raining. Then we had tea in a restaurant and went to bed.

Sixth Day         26-8-70

We got up in the morning and had breakfast and then went to the Shire Council to find out about the Mount Kaputar National Park and then we did some shopping. At last we headed for the National park. It was a dirt road most of the way. We saw quite a lot of snow on the roadside. At about 4,600 feet we put up our tent in the Dawson Spring camping area. Tony and I had a snow fight.  After lunch we went on a walk to the top of Mt Kaputar. It was 4,949 feet high. In the view you could see the New England Plateau in the east, the Warrumbungle Ranges in the south. You could see almost a hundred miles. When we came back we built a fire and had tea. Mummy and Daddy were up a lot in the night making sure the radiator of the car hadn’t frozen. At one time it was 38 degree F. The wind blew hard most of the night.

Seventh Day    27-8-70

In the morning we packed up the tent and headed for Coonabarabran near the Warrumbungle Ranges. We had lunch on the way. On the way it rained. We were on a dirt road. We arrived at about 2.30 pm and got in a Motel. We got some pamphlets from the tourist bureau. Then at the Motel I watched TV till we had tea in the Motel Restaurant. Then I wrote up notes and went to sleep.

Eighth Day       28-8-70

We had breakfast and left. When we left our mileage was 5353. We had travelled 983 miles since home.  Altogether we had crossed the Castlereagh River, Macquarie River, Namoi River, Gwydir River, Narrabri Creek, the Nepean River, and the Barwon River, Gill-Gill Creek, 35-mile-long Worumarbrol, Horse-Arm Creek and the Doctor’s Creek. We arrived at about 9.30 am and put up our tent then had lunch. Then we went on the Pichem Track. It was 3 miles long. We saw the Breadknife. After that walk which took us almost 3 hours we went on a Nature Trail with the Rangers. Altogether we saw about 55 grey kangaroos and wallaroos and one red neck wallaby.  Wallaroos are black kangaroos if male, and if female, are grey with an orange tail. Red neck wallabies are a grey colour with a red neck and a thin tail. We saw about twenty rabbits. I found a skull of a sheep and we found a volcanic rock which was blue and orange. The blue part looked like iron and the orange part was soft. We saw a dead mouse. We passed a wild pig trap with a dead wild pig, dead kangaroo, two dead rabbits and a dead cat in it. Then we came home and had tea. Then we saw films from the Rangers then we went to bed.

Ninth Day        29-8-70

We got up in the morning and had breakfast and showered. Then we packed up a nap sack and left at 11.00 am on an eight mile walk. We started at Wallaby Flats. We passed the Bread knife at 1.00. At 1.20 pm we had lunch looking at the Bread knife from the Grand High Tops. We arrived back at 4.00 pm. Then we played for a while and had tea and went to bed.

Tenth Day (Last Day)  30-8-70

We took down the tent in the morning. It was very cold and my feet froze. We saw close up a Wedge Tailed Eagle about a hundred yards from us in a tall dead tree. We were going to take a photo but it flew away. We had lunch at 12.30 pm at Mudgee. We passed through Lithgow at 2.45. We passed piles of coal. In the Blue Mountains we were caught in a traffic jam. We arrived home at 6.00 pm. Our mileage was 5691. We had travelled 1,311 miles since we left home.

Dead Things We Saw

Dead sheep

17

Dead bulls

6

Dead dingoes

2

Dead rabbits

2

Dead cats

4

Dead wild pigs

1

Dead kangaroos

13

Dead foxes

3