Leaving home in Melbourne on the 20th April 2021 we headed north on the journey to meet 20 other Bailey caravans in Cessnock on 26th April for our 28 day adventures with our Bailey friends.
Tocumwal
Tue 20 Apr 2021
Our 1st stop on our journey to Tagalong21 was at the Tocumwal Town Beach Camp situated on the banks of the mighty Murray River (maplink), which is a really fantastic campsite. Tocumwal is also where Merrisa’s former ANZ workmate lives so it was great to catch up with Chris & and her husband Noel.
We had a look around town; checking out the giant Murray Cod in the main street, the old rail bridge over the Murray (opened in 1895) and the famous “blowhole“, but the highlight of the stay was definitely the campground and catching up with old mates.
Parkes
Thu 22 Apr 2021
Our 2nd stop was at the Parkes Showgrounds for a night (maplink) where we met up with some Bailey mates, Sharon & Neil, Phil & Lyn and Ian & Jane, also on their way to the Tagalong21. The Showgrounds were a bit rough where we took a while to find some level ground and connection to both water & power. The facilities were new and spotless.
Leaving Parkes and heading north we stopped off at Parkes Radio Telescope Visitor’s Centre to check out the telescope facility (maplink). The history of this telescope is really impressive; the biggest is it’s involvement in the 1969 NASA Moon Landing when the observatory was used to relay communication and telemetry signals to NASA, providing coverage for when the Moon was on the Australian side of the Earth. For Australians, it’s also the movie called The Dish. If you’re travelling along the Newell Highway between Parkes and Dubbo, do yourself a favour and drop into the observatory. Entry is free.
Dubbo Zoo
Fri 23 Apr 2021
Allowing a couple of nights stay at Dubbo Midstate Caravan Park (maplink) gave us the perfect opportunity to spend a day at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo (maplink). This is truly a fantastic zoo to visit as you can drive your own car through the zoo. Plenty of things to see but our favourites were the meerkats.
Merriwa
Sun 25 Apr 2021
The final overnight stop was at Merriwa (maplink) and we booked into the smallest caravan park on the side of the highway.
The morning when we left was ANZAC Day and everything was shut, except the Dunedoo Café which was on the road down to our final destination in Cessnock – the beginning of our Bailey Tagalong21 trip.
Merriwa CP
