Off on another cricket adventure

In 2024 the Australian Over 70s Cricket Championships were held in Dubbo in Central New South Wales. 

On Saturday 16 November we therefore set off to drive to Dubbo. The first stage of the journey was from Melbourne to Albury. 

We drove to Albury via Lilydale and the Yarra Valley until joining the Hume Highway before we reached Benalla. Along the way we saw a lot of roadkill including at least ten l0 kangaroos.

In Albury we stayed at the Seaton Arms Motor Inn which was next door to the SS&A.

Albury was very quiet on a Saturday afternoon.

We visited a chocolate shop, The Chocolate Labrador, that we had frequented when the national championships were held in Albury and Wodonga in 2019.

The Albury Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen's Club (SS&A) is a popular entertainment venue in Albury. We went there for dinner.

In the grounds are memorials to those from the Albury area who have served in the armed forces.

Next day we continued the journey to Dubbo. We left the motor inn carpark  at 7am just as the rain started. For much of the first part of the journey visibility was poor as the rain pelted down. We stopped the car at Uranquinty until the rain eased. The rain finally stopped by the time we reached the Wagga Wagga turnoff.

At Uranquinty I took a photograph of a grain silo situated near the railway station.

Driving along the Newell Highway the land on either side of the road was flat and stretched into the distance. Wheat, oats and barley are some of the grain crops grown.  There were many bails of hay stacked  in the paddocks waiting to be collected. Canola is another crop now grown in the region. Sheep grazed in many paddocks while some paddocks had cattle grazing. This is an important  agricultural region of New South Wales.

The flat land is prone to flooding. Flood markers regularly appear at the side of the road indicating the depth to which the nearby rivers flood. On one short stretch of road there were pairs of small barriers, probably sandbags, held in place with metal poles. This is possibly an experiment to control the flow of the water along the side of the road. We saw the groynes in action on a small section of the road on the homeward journey.

We stopped at Temora for brunch - Robin had an egg and bacon sandwich while I enjoyed a zucchini slice with salad. We also had coffee and hot chocolate, of course. The cafe in the main street is located in the former Man Sing & Co building which reopened in December 2020. The building dates to 1912.

As well as being a cafe the building sells vintage and hand-made items which are displayed throughout the building along with this mural of saws and a painting of the family of the original store owners.

Eventually we arrived in Dubbo where the cricket championships were to staged.

Dubbo

Our accommodation at Dubbo was The Oxley Motel. This was the motel where most of the Victorian cricketers stayed.

Once we had settled in we went for a brief walk, but as the radar showed that a storm was approaching we purchased some take-away from the Chinese restaurant - Fortune Kitchen - around the corner from the motel.

The severe storm lasted for a couple of hours with heavy rain, thunder and lightning and some hail. We were glad that we were not on the road during this storm.

 Jacarandas line the streets in Dubbo. After the storm the footpaths were covered with purple flowers.

The motel was within easy walking distance of the shopping centre and the cricket grounds where the games were played, although we drove to the grounds on match days.

The Western Plains Cultural Centre is near Victoria Park.

The museum displays were excellent. Each exhibit related to an aspect of the history of the local area. The stand out piece was a very large wagon used to transport wool across the country.

One  of the exhibits was about a resident who had taken part in the Sudan War in 1885 when a contingent from NSW was sent to the region.

The art gallery had a temporary display of items entered in the 2024 Wynne Prize which is awarded annually for 'the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists'. The exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales was on tour throughout the state.

I revisited the Cultural Centre when a cricket match was being played at Victoria Park to look at the Rabbit Plague exhibition that had been installed since our previous visit.

I also purchased a cake from the cafe -delicious.

We then explored Dubbo.

The Dubbo Municipal Office (above) and Kangaroo paw in Darling Street (below).

Pastoral Hotel - one of the many country style pubs in Dubbo.

The post office was still an important building in Dubbo.

The Dubbo Public Library is open seven days a week.

Exploring Old Dubbo Gaol is popular with many visitors to the town.

Dubbo (part 2)

The Dubbo RSL was the building where the Meet and Greet on the Wednesday evening and the National Championship dinner on the Saturday evening was held.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Brisbane Street. The first Anglican church was established in Dubbo in 1859. The church was built in the current location in 1875.

There are a number of church buildings in the church grounds.

On these cricket trips we always look for a chocolate shop where we can buy a good hot chocolate for me and coffee for Robin. On this trip we found 'Cocao'. It was closed when we first discovered it but we did enjoy hot drinks there several days later.

 

Sculptures of rhinos appear in different locations in Dubbo streets.

They get lots of attention from passers-by.

Dubbo Railway Station.

Nineteenth century mansion near the station.

View of silos near the  railway station.

Dubbo War Memorial in Victoria Park.

Avenue of jacarandas.

There are a number of memorials in the area making it a special place of remembrance.

Another section of Victoria Park has picturesque gardens where people and birds can relax.

Castlereagh Hotel in Talbragar Street where the Victorian White team dinner was held.Once again it was easy walking distance from our motel.

Dubbo is situated on the Macquarie River.

These photos were taken near the Pavans Park cricket ground where two of the matches were played.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

First day in Dubbo. On a fine sunny morning we explored part of Dubbo including locating Victoria Park. Some of the competition matches were played on the three cricket grounds in the park. We then visited the information centre before going to the zoo.

The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is located approximately six kilometres from the town.

We purchased our entrance tickets and then drove the car into the viewing area. As there were lots of car parks we parked the car near the enclosures we wanted to visit and then walked around them before driving to the next group of enclosures.

A major feature of the park is the variety of rhinoceros living there.
Information about the rhinoceros project is provided near a model of one type of rhinoceros.

 At the zoo we saw a variety of animals, big and small.

Animals included elephants, giraffes, zebras, tigers, rhinos, lions, meerkats, Tasmanian devil, otters, addax and Barbary sheep.