Hi Readers, it has been a while since my last post due to unreliable or very slow Internet connection so meanwhile:
(Wednesday 27th February 2013)
One word to describe Moree and that's Boring! The biggest Town since Armidale with a Population of 14400. There were the first set of Traffic Lights (there are actually 2 sets) since then, a Mackas and KFC, so I suppose it is civilised, yet I couldn't find any Buildings that were worth a photo (a relief, some may say, if sick of my passion for Heritage).
The road from Warialda brought me down to the Moree Plains, finally leaving the New England Tablelands Behind. Moree is at 212 mtrs above Sea Level but it gets lower still further West.The Gwydir here is straight and flat with the occasional Hill in the distance. The district is the largest Cotton producing region an Australia, supplying about 20% of it's needs.One side of the road is bushy scrub and the other a contrast of thousands of acres of ploughed fields that I expect are ready for Cotton planting. Wheat is the second most important crop followed by Canola and Pecans. 85% of Australia's Pecans are grown here, with the Stahmann Farm having 85,000 trees. Cattle raising completes the land use.
Situated on the Great Artesian Basin, it is the first Town that boasts of Hot Springs as a Tourist attraction. Most towns within a few hundred kilometres of here do likewise. there are 2 Van Parks, both advertising Hot Artesian Spas. I stayed at the Mehi River Park, the smaller of the two. I think there was a River there somewhere behind the 7 foot Barbed Wire Fence! The other, Gwydir Van Park was too commercial for me. I think that there are a couple of basic Free Camps in the area but I had read that they may be a bit unsafe. I didn't try the Hot Baths as they where just swimming pools at 41c with a few bubbles, which I figured that was a good temperature to breed bugs so I may wait until I find a place with natural hot springs.
One thing that I did notice was the reasonably large Aboriginal population in Town when compared to other places that I have been. I expect this to become the norm as I move further West.
Tomorrow is the longest daily drive to date, about 220k so I will try and get some early sleep tonight.
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