Rockhampton

The expedition halted at Rockhampton for a light lunch and to take on supplies.

We discovered a proper Bogan vehicle parked on the riverfront.  Note the license plate that reads “MI UTE.”  That is Bogan for “my passenger vehicle with a box fitted to the rear where a second row of seats should be located.”

The bed attached to the rear of the Bogan passenger vehicle.  It is business in the front and party in the back, as it were.

The Road to Parkes

Having successfully crossed the Blue Mountains in our Suzuki Vitara (a modern-day version of the camel trains of old), the expedition marched onward toward Parkes.  Expedition co-leader, Lord Admiral Bailey salutes oncoming traffic from the right-hand drive car.  Writing this nearly three months after my first taste of driving on the left side of the road, I can say that I still haven’t quite adapted back to driving on the right.

Yes, the cars are on the wrong side of the road.

The expedition’s progress was impeded by a coal train in the middle of a rain storm.  Note the El Camino-esque car in front of us.  This was one of our early Bogan vehicle sightings.

As the sun sank low into the west, the expedition sped onward toward The Dish just outside of Parkes.

The expedition halts to make scientific recordings of the surrounding countryside.

Lord Admiral Bailey documenting the indigenous Bogan agriculture.

Squall lines swept through the countryside around Parkes, bathing the land in cool rain and greenery.

The expedition continued toward The Dish.