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.