Friday, August 29th to Monday September 1st, 2025 - 'Welcome to Country', Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia

 

Here at Last!

I'll admit, Dubbo, New South Wales, is a rather odd destination to choose at the end of a 36 hour journey from Florida. It's just an hour plane ride north-west of Sydney and I decided to spend my 'jet lag recovery' here instead of the bustle of the city. I may have driven through Dubbo as a child, but I was curious to discover a new place.

Propellors - Oh, My!

The journey from Florida went as well as one could hope, in spite of a potentially disruptive delay in Dallas. The Economy Sky Couch offered by Air New Zealand allowed me to rest and sleep pretty well on the twelve hour flight from Los Angeles, so I was happy to land in Sydney, knowing there was just one hour left. The little plane that took us to Dubbo was a turboprop. It has been many years since I've seen propellors!

Sydney - Cell Phone Through Hazy Window.

It was a beautiful day - puffy clouds floated above. One rarely sees the full extent of Sydney Harbor, otherwise known as Port Jackson. Here you can see that it is a drowned river valley which extends about 12 miles inland, but the shoreline offers 150 miles for prime property and docking. You can see the CBD (Central Business District) right of center in the photo.

Green! - Notice the Yellow Wattles

I was astounded to see how green everything was. Dubbo is the hub of a geographic area they call the Great Western Plains, a vast region of gently undulating land west of the Great Dividing Range. (I'm noticing a theme here with all those 'GREATS'!) Usually, the Australian landscape is more of a browned off grass color but this year they had had an unusually wet winter. It almost felt English! Someone told me one week of solid hot sun will brown it off pretty quickly.

Wattle - Australia's National Flower

I was thrilled to be able to see the wattle from the plane, and relished being up close and personal with those lovely, fluffy yellow balls of golden color. It helped me understand why the national colors of Australia are green and yellow - although the green should be a somewhat khaki color to reflect the eucalypts.

Spring is Sprung

I have not been in Australia for a spring in decades, so was delighted to find some streets already in bloom with exotic pear trees.

Pear Blossoms

It lifted my heart to see the fluffy white blossoms falling like snow and announcing a year of new growth. Although it is spring, it is still quite cold - getting down to the mid-30's at night. The locals say it is a convergence of two cold fronts and is unusually cold for this time of year.

Pink Magnolia

I was also pretty happy to find a pink magnolia downtown, outside a law office on Macquarie Street. In Florida we get the beautiful creamy yellow variety and I had forgotten that anything else exists. These flowers were not as open and downward facing as the ones in Florida, so without a step ladder, we can't see its inner beauty.

CBD - Macquarie Street

Spring hasn't arrived everywhere, though. The trees downtown were waiting their turn.

The Old Bank

As is the case with many smallish Australian towns there are remnants from the early days of settlement. This old bank building was built in 1867 - just a few years before Dubbo officially became a gazetted 'village'. It is 'old' for this part of the world.

Not Historical!

Sadly, the few charming remnants form the past were scattered about and new development did not appear to be limited in appearance to preserve or enhance a historic feel. I'm grateful that we don't see signage like this in Fernandina! (My Florida locals might appreciate that the Coca Cola sign on Centre Street in Fernandina might have been considered repugnant at some point in Fernandina history - now it's iconic! Perhaps this pharmacy sign could meet the same fate? ) 

Macquarie River

Dubbo, with a population of over 43,000 is located on the Macquarie River and is the largest city and hub of this region. It is where three major highways meet and has a rail line stop. The name is believed by many to mean 'red earth' in the Wiradjuri language and before European settlement this was an important area for the Indigenous Australians to obtain ochre for art, ceremonial practices and other culturally important uses. (According to Google AI, the word means 'headdress', so I'm not sure what is accurate. I like red earth better!)

Aboriginal Artwork on Old Railway Pylons

In spite of it having been important to the First Nations People, I didn't see much evidence of that ancient culture beyond this lovely art work on the old railway pylons that were created by local people. I thought them very lovely.

My Favorite Pylon

This was my favorite. I liked the dreamy feel and the fact that the colors used were probably very similar to those that have been available for millennia. I also love the hand-prints. I had first seen similar stencils of hands when I was a child and was very impressed that someone could blow the paint out from their mouth to create them.

(A note on language - in the past, I grew up referring to indigenous people as 'aborigine'. Times have changed and this is no longer considered respectful, especially without being capitalized. I am still figuring out the rules. The terminology 'First Nations People' seems a little bit wordy, but is a bit more user friendly than the most accurate terminology which is 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples'. Even Indigenous Australians is not fully correct - the addition of the word 'Peoples' acknowledges the great variety of culture and language that exists within that designation. Please allow me to stumble my way through and hope I can do so without offense.)

Diprotodon - Giant Wombat at Wellington Caves

Saturday was cold and windy, so I decided that visiting nearby caves was a great idea. The Wellington Caves were only an hour south and are noteworthy for being the site where the first Diprotodon fossil was found. It gave evidence of the existence of giant 'cousins' to the animals that remain here today - not just wombats, but kangaroos, goannas, birds and many more  . It was a time when the climate was wetter, so vegetation was abundant for supporting the massive animals. They died out around 40,000 years ago and it is thought that increased aridity, more frequent fires and possibly the arrival of humans led to their demise. The guide pointed out that the bricks on the right of the steps would be the size of this creatures 'scat' (that's their poop)! (He suggested this, as wombats are peculiar for creating cubic poop!)

Cave Bacon - Gaden Cave

I visited Gaden Cave, which had some nice formations. It was small and is actually two separate chambers. The limestone was formed when atolls developed around a series of volcanoes offshore from the ancient coastline of Gondwanaland, which is the supercontinent that broke up around 180 million years ago. 

Rillenkarren on Limestone

The topography around the caves is referred to as 'karst', but unlike the beautiful vertical landscapes that have drawn me to the places like Halong Bay in Vietnam, the drama of this karst is underground, within the caves. The surface is fairly flat, but rocks like this one reveal what might lie below. The channels you see here are called 'rillenkarren' or grooved rocks. They form when slightly acidic rain rolls down the surface and follows small grooves created by the previous flows which dissolved the limestone. This is the solution that then evaporates in the caves below and creates the stalagmites and stalactites etc. (About now, you might be regretting that you are reading the blog of a former science teacher! LOL!)

Wellington Waste Warrior

One of my favorite things at the caves was the 'Waste Warrior', made by local kids from tetra packs (Juice boxes) and coffee cups. The motto was 'I Choose to Refuse' - on the back it says to refuse single use coffee cups and other packaging, in order to to reduce landfill. Considering that 'refuse' also means 'rubbish', it is a lovely play on words. 

Crested Pigeon - Dubbo Regional Botanic Gardens

Although I came here to rest and 'do' jet lag, I found there were many activities and sights to see. Fortunately, jet lag is best dealt with by being out and about in the sunshine, so I headed to the botanic gardens, a Cultural Centre and a lovely old homestead from the 1830's. This meant that I rejected the much touted Taronga Western Plains Zoo, The Old Dubbo Gaol (Jail) and Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Experience.

Sandstone Frog Sculpture - Dubbo Regional Botanic Gardens by Brett Garling

I was a little disappointed in the botanic gardens. Pride of place was a Japanese garden which was being tended to carefully. Other cultivated areas looked unhappy - but perhaps I'm unkind, as they are emerging from winter. I did enjoy a series of lovely sandstone sculptures of larger than life animals - perhaps an echo of that megafauna! The sculptor, Brett Garling, is a local.

Gymea Lilies at Western Plains Cultural Centre

The Cultural Center had both an art gallery and museum, but my first excitement was these amazing, enormously tall red flowers outside the building. They are called gymea lilies and are normally found near the coast. They bloom one flower per year, so I felt fortunate to see them in bloom.

Old Classroom in Western Plains Cultural Centre

When I walked into this classroom, which was one of the museum displays, I was astonished to recognize it as the very same as those I sat in more than sixty years ago. I was taken aback to realize that I am old enough to be museum-worthy! I can't fit into the desks any more, but the ink wells took me right back. We used to use pens with nibs - I always ended up with ink stains on my fingers and clothes and probably splats of it on my papers. Blotting paper was my friend. When refillable fountain pens became a 'thing' - by the time I was in middle school -  they were seen as very modern. Biros only started appearing late in my high school years.  Girls with long braids were at risk of having their braids dipped into the ink if they had a mischievous boy behind them!

House Banners and Iconic Maps - Western Plains Cultural Centre

The back of the classroom held the banners of the 'houses' that we were divided into. I don't know how that was done - it wasn't a ceremony like in Harry Potter. Generally they tried to assign siblings to the same house. I believe the intent was to bring in some excitement and competition into sporting events and create a smaller community identity within the larger student body. The maps on the wall were identical to those that had hung in the classrooms of my childhood.

Globite School Cases - Western Plains Cultural Centre

The final, fun, memory jogger was this little collection of Globite school cases that we used to carry our supplies in.  They were sturdy and made a very satisfying and accomplished 'click' as one opened them. They also made excellent stools when turned on end, especially if one had to wait for a bus. They also nearly ripped your arm out of your socket if books were heavy! We had a particularly large and robust, blue science book that was a nightmare to haul around. I think the introduction of back packs for school supplies was an excellent improvement, other than losing an always available seat.

Dundullimal Homestead - Built 1850's

My last destination was this lovely old homestead, which is believed to be the oldest surviving slab house in Australia. The name of the property came from the group of around 40 First Nations People who lived and slept on this site. The word means 'thunderstorm'.

'Slab' refers to buildings that were constructed by materials that were all sourced locally. Without skilled woodworkers, it was a common form of putting up a hut in the earliest of days. Everything here (other than furnishings) was gathered from within a half mile of the structure. The 'slab' consists of thick pieces of split or sawn timber that are placed vertically into a horizontal 'grooved' piece of wood and secured at the top with another horizontal piece to secure it. There are wooden shingles under the corrugated iron roof. (The corrugated iron was ballast on a ship!) There was a wing on either side of this structure - one side burned down, the other was destroyed by a flood.

The first owner was a squatter - people who just took and settled the land without any papers to signify ownership. The second owner, bought title to the land for ten pounds. He had come from India, so unlike may others early buildings,  he maximized its position on the property for best cooling and breezes.

Dining Room - Dundullimal Homestead

When it was first settled, the homestead was the furthermost outpost from 'civilization', about a days ride from the nearest town of Molong. The second owner was a wealthy man - he arrived in Sydney with five thousand pounds - a lot of money in those days. He extended the holdings to 26,000 acres and upgraded the homestead to reflect his wealth and social standing. It was on its way to becoming totally derelict, used by sheep for shelter and falling down. It was rescued and renovated by the National Trust in 1982. The furnishings in the dining room pictured above, represent the very high quality of life they were able to accomplish so far from the developed world.

Bedroom - Dundullimal Homestead

The bedroom was also very lovely. Homesteaders were expected to provide food and accommodation to anyone who came past, but the guests did not sleep inside the house, unless they were known by the owners. The guest room was off the porch, so the householders could secure themselves at night. There was no telling who some of these 'guests' might be!

Horse Stables - Dundullimal Homestead

By the 1860's there was a stonemason in the area, so they were able to construct this beautiful sandstone horse stables. It includes a blacksmith's workshop and rooms for the groom who was responsible for caring for the horses.

The Old Dubbo Gaol

And, so ended my time here in Dubbo. I leave you with a photo of the jail that I decided not to visit. When he woman told me there were very good displays about how the prisoners were mistreated, I decided we don't seem to have learned much from history, as even today these types of abuse are being perpetuated. I decided to leave my brain and soul uninformed!

My sister Nadine will be joining me for the next step of the journey, when the two of us travel about two hours north to the Warrumbungle National Park, where we had bushwalked with our father in 1960. More on that later. I hope you will join me.