Cumulative distance: 17,230 kms
It was pretty cool overnight so we donned all our warm clothes before venturing out to have breakfast at a local cafe. The motel's kitchen was out of action due to renovations? The Warrumbungle National Park is only 33kms from Coonabarabran and on the way there is the Anglo Australia Telescope (AAT) at Siding Springs. 
The observatory is located on the top of a hill/mountain at 1140 metres and has a great view of the surrounding countryside. It is funded jointly by the Australian and UK governments and is run by the Australian National University in Canberra. We went to the visitors gallery to view the telescope itself. Because it was daytime nothing was going on and the roof was closed. 
There was a small exhibition detailing the history of the telescope but it was not very inspiring. The mirror took four years to polish into the correct shape and has 2.5 gms of aluminium as the reflective surface. It is resurfaced on site every year. After the observatory we visited the national park itself. We checked at the visitors centre for some relatively easy walks as we reckon we had done the hard yards at Carnarvon Gorge. We took a 6.4 km walk to the Spirey View lookout and back. The path was in some disrepair from flood damage. A couple of bridges were damaged and we had to cross the creek by rock hopping. 
We actually came across a wild kangaroo feeding by the side of the track. 
Most wild life we have seen has either been in a zoo or running away at a vast rate of knots. The weather clouded over and started to cover some of the rock formations. We got to Spirey Lookout just as it started to rain so we took the mandatory photos and beat a hasty retreat back to the carpark. 
We returned to the visitor centre for afternoon tea consisting of a Magnum Classic ice cream. On the way back to the motel in Coonabarbaran it started to rain/drizzle so we put the hammer down to get there quickly. Tonight we are dining out at the local pub!!!
The observatory is located on the top of a hill/mountain at 1140 metres and has a great view of the surrounding countryside. It is funded jointly by the Australian and UK governments and is run by the Australian National University in Canberra. We went to the visitors gallery to view the telescope itself. Because it was daytime nothing was going on and the roof was closed. 
There was a small exhibition detailing the history of the telescope but it was not very inspiring. The mirror took four years to polish into the correct shape and has 2.5 gms of aluminium as the reflective surface. It is resurfaced on site every year. After the observatory we visited the national park itself. We checked at the visitors centre for some relatively easy walks as we reckon we had done the hard yards at Carnarvon Gorge. We took a 6.4 km walk to the Spirey View lookout and back. The path was in some disrepair from flood damage. A couple of bridges were damaged and we had to cross the creek by rock hopping. 
We actually came across a wild kangaroo feeding by the side of the track. 
Most wild life we have seen has either been in a zoo or running away at a vast rate of knots. The weather clouded over and started to cover some of the rock formations. We got to Spirey Lookout just as it started to rain so we took the mandatory photos and beat a hasty retreat back to the carpark. 
We returned to the visitor centre for afternoon tea consisting of a Magnum Classic ice cream. On the way back to the motel in Coonabarbaran it started to rain/drizzle so we put the hammer down to get there quickly. Tonight we are dining out at the local pub!!!
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