DAY 2
Week 1
LIGHTNING RIDGE (New South Wales, AUS) to ECHUCA (Victoria, AUS)
Thursday December 21st, 2017
TODAYS MILEAGE – 633 miles or 1,019 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 1,524 miles or 2,453 kilometres
My plan today was to head off nice and early as I am planned another big day on the road. I departed Lightning Ridge way before dawn only to sit on between 30-40 mph (60-70 kph), for about an hour & ½, until the sun had the opportunity to fully embrace the new day.
In the time it took for the sun to rise, I reckon I must’ve come across 30 or 40 large kangaroos, 20 or so head of cattle and a few lost sheep thrown in for good measure. For someone who just wants to get in a vehicle and just punch out the miles in getting somewhere, the slow pace was so foreign to me, but if the truth be told, its way better than the alternative - adding to my roadkill count. 
It is around 9 AM that I arrived in the regional town of Dubbo, by which time the worms were well and truly biting. I decided to go grab a bite to eat i.e. a late breakfast and take a 'butcher's hook' at the damage my vehicle sustained last night, now that it’s full daylight. Although not happy with the damage, I was grateful that the aftermarket custom sidesteps that I had fitted, looked have taken most of the impact, even though the door panel would require replacing.
Whilst I really didn’t have much of a schedule to go on, I thought I’d drop in and see my Anittel colleagues, to put some faces to the names that have been working with over the past several years. As is the case with our office, the Dubbo boys were flat out like a one-armed paper hanger, so it was just basically a meet & greet and I was back on the road again.
After four and half hours on the Newell Highway I can see for myself why there are so many accidents involving passenger and heavy vehicles. In my short time travelling that section, I must’ve witnessed at least a dozen near misses from what appeared to be impatient car drivers. Kudos to the heavy vehicle operators that were behaving as professional drivers, who in the instances I saw, were doing their best to avoid any potential incidents caused by dickhead drivers.
Lunch today was in the small town of Narrandera where I was well chuffed with the steak sandwich that Café Shazaray knocked up for me. One of the best steak sangers I've had in a long while and it was made correctly with toasted homemade bread. Much to the disappointment of my dietician, I also indulged in a fresh banana milkshake is absolutely brilliant. How did I find the place you ask??? I used the age old tactic of seeing where the locals were stacked up in town. So with ute & driver fuelled up ..... we took to the road - headed for Echuca.
My accommodations for the next couple of days would be the Echuca Nirebo Motel which I arrived at just after 5 PM. I had a bit of a yarn with the receptionist, who gave me some recommendations of some of the sites that were in walking distance to the motel as well as some dining options. Much to my surprise she threw in a free upgrade to a Queen size Suite for my entire stay - just goes to show how good it is to take the time and have a 'chinwag' with the locals.
I unloaded the ute, got all my gear sorter which saw the 'hickory-dickory' just striking 6 o’clock and all I wanted was a couple of ice cold beers and a feed. I walked down to Ceres and while the food was so-so, the service was practically non-existent. From there I wandered up to the American Hotel where I got into a 'shout' with a couple of backpackers and had a good time to time 'chewing the fat' with mixed company.
Only just over 630 miles (1,000 kilometres) today and no suicidal fauna to speak of, although a few roo's tried adding their silhouettes to the bulbar, I’m quite content necking a few Coopers Sparkling Ales of the festive season, as I'm done driving for a while - at least a couple of days.
• DUBBO ~ Roo Damage (New South Wales, AUS)
• NARRANDERA ~ Café Shazaray (New South Wales, AUS)