Day 13 - Wilcannia to Dubbo

Wilcannia, NSW to Dubbo, NSW - 557 kms 5:45 hours.

With the space saver tyre on, I slowly limped back home to Sydney. The 1 day trip from Wilcannia to Sydney now became a two day trip with a stopover at Dubbo. This was to allow for travelling at the space saver tyre's limit of 80 kmph plus frequent stops to avoid it from overheating.

I did lose some time last night and got up late in the morning. I would be reaching Dubbo late in the night. Besides having to drive at dusk, yet again, I would reach my hotel late.

The drive to Dubbo was slow and steady. I was on the lookout for roos but all I saw were an occasional goat crossing the road. The variety of feral animals in Australia never ceases to amaze me.

On the way, I came upon yet another car crashed on the roadside. It was old enough for its wheels to been ripped off and is not that unusual. But it is always a sobering experience and reminds one about the risks on the road and the need to be ever-vigilant.

Dusk soon fell and this made me increasingly nervous as animals on the road are most common during dawn and dusk but the drive proved uneventful.

I had messaged ahead, asking for a late checkin and checkout. But the message did not get through from the booking platform to the hotel manager. When I got there, there was no trace of the keys. I got in touch with the manager, who said he had messaged me about it and I did not get it. The room was good. I freshened up and then went out in search of dinner. It was too late for a restaurant so I ended up with KFC takeaway. I had run out of beer now and bought a can or two. Looks like my beer can count when I set off was too spot on - the extra day meant an extra can. I had some office work to catch up on so I had asked for a late checkout of 1 PM. I was planning on getting up at leisure, working for a few hours and then checking out.