24 June 2026

 24 Jun 2026

A fresh start to the day, temperatures were just right for a heavy dew overnight, which meant the windows of the car needed to be wiped down before much else could happen. Then another round of trunnion greasing was called for. The easiest way to get to the upper trunnion grease points is to turn the steering wheel to lock on one side and then grease the point opposite, so turn the steering left and grease right. Unfortunately, doing this must have moved the moved something it shouldn't have, and thus a relatively slow leak in the tyre resulted. Luckily, the greasing had already been finished, so by the time I had dragged the spare wheel out of the boot, the tyre was as flat as it could get. Another plus point was that I had bought a new jack that actually fit under the car, and I was able to change over to the spare. 

Quite a few of the fellow guests were heading out by this time, and a lot stopped for a chat, but the owners of the motel and some of the cleaning staff came over to check that everything was ok. One of the cleaners had a son who worked at a tyre dealer's shop, so I was given directions and headed down that way, where they fixed the tyre in no time and even refitted it for me!

Anyway, now that was done, and seeing that the car has been going through a ridiculous amount of oil (not burning it, just blowing it out of the real oil seal), I decided to stop by Supercheap Auto Goondiwindi for some more of the expensive oil it uses. I parked out the front and a lady walking her dog stopped in front of the car and stood watching me. As I got out, she said she'd stopped just to see how I got out of the car, as she thought it was too small for me!  We had a chat for a while; she and her pup were travelling in a van so travelling stories and destinations were swapped. 

Today was always going to be a relatively short day's drive anyway, so the morning's delays weren't too much of an issue. I had originally planned to head to Thallon to see some other silo art, but had been told the road between Goondiwindi and Thallon wasn't sealed and was quite rough. So I decided that two flat tyres were enough for one trip and changed the route for the day, re-routing through Moree and Collarenebri to stay the night at Walgett, a shorter, more direct route, and only 340 kilometres. 

 

Driving into Walgett was all very pretty and calm so I stopped for a pic next to the town sign (which isn't much different to the Collarenebri sign)

It's a small town and not a whole lot going on by the looks of it. Took a few minutes to do a lap of the main street and then head to the motel to check in for the night. 

Motel for the night (pic taken later in the evening)

An interesting place, and I was shown the key to get me back in the main 8-foot-high gates if I happened to stay out past 8pm (as the gates are locked at night; may have something to do with the notice from the police inside the room). Anyway, given it was only about 1pm, I decided to re-grease the car and fill the oil, then headed out for the 45 kilometre drive up to Lightning Ridge for a look. 

I did a quick lap of the town and had a look around, then headed back to Walgett, stopping on the way to get reacquainted with Stanley by the roadside.

And just in case anyone wonders how big Stanley actually is, that is a full-size Volkswagen Beetle as his body. Leaving Stanley, a quiet drive back to Walgett and park up at the motel, where the car park was almost full of roadworkers' utes, so another early morning tomorrow, as they always leave early.