Day 11 Wednesday 15/6/2022 Trundle to Narromine, an icy 0 – 17

We wake to a glorious morning. There’s a layer of frost and the weather app says it’s been zero degrees for hours. Gee, the bed is warm though. We have a late start to let the sun warm the hoses so they can be rolled up.

We’re thinking of heading north past Dubbo to Eumungerie or a bit further today but as we reach the Main Street of Trundle the GPS tries to send us south. It did this last year and then we took the wrong road north which became unmade for many kilometres. Not wanting to repeat the situation I bale out of the car at the Op Shop. Two ladies are out front under the verandah drinking coffee in the warm sun. They tell me that if we don’t want the dirt road, we should take the Bogan Way north. I told them we were familiar with the dirt road and once was enough!

At Tullamore the GPS flips out and requests that we do circles of the town. And it’s a very small town.

We encounter a lot of sections where there is residual water over the road and potholes from recent floods. 44kms out of Narromine on a back road called the McGrane Way, Elle calls on the radio to say that they have car trouble. It’s 11:00 in the morning. After one hesitant start they stop on what verge there is and we hot foot it towards Narromine in the hope of getting a phone signal to call the RACV/NRMA. Halfway in we get enough signal to call the RACV who then log the call with NRMA. Robyn at RACV is most helpful and understanding. After she contacts NRMA, she rings us back to assure us that the call has been logged. Back at the roadside Elle was able to get a signal standing outside the car and no doubt waving her arm in the air. We wait for them in Narromine, walking, having lunch in the van, reading and pacing nevously. We ring the Rockwall Caravan Park and explain our predicament, ‘we’re waiting for our friends we don’t know how long they’ll be or how serious the problem is etc’…”We’re Breakdown Alley here” says a welcoming Ann. When we hear that Narromine (not Dubbo) will be the destination for the tow truck, we check into the Caravan Park and set up. Managers Ann & Sid are so helpful. It is a lovely small park and is bordered by a horse paddock. We’re texting back and forth to a frustrated and stressed El Prado and Elle as they wait. They are disappointed that no passing motorists stop to offer help, not even the local police who pass by twice. Even a g’day would have been nice. The tow truck eventually meets them at 5:00pm driven by a spritely and cheery 76 year old. A really nice bloke. By the time that they arrive back here at the Caravan Park and the van is unhooked on their site, it is 7:00pm. The Toyota is trucked into town.

With the stove out of bounds due to the advertised gas problems with Swift Stoves we steam some dumplings on the portable hot plates and cook calamari and spring rolls in the air fryer for an almost instant dinner for us all while we recap what was one hell of a day. It’s an early night for everyone.

Accom: $35.00 (power, water, toilets, showers, dump point) a pleasant park in stressful times

Towing Kms: 122kms

Unusual place names: Blue Letter Box Lane (and the last position we noted before the breakdown)