Orange

Dear Family and Friends



We may have started the day by heading towards Parkes but we took a slight detour through Orange to catch up with Mum and Dad. They are both well and as always we have had a lovely couple of days. The weather has been absolutely wonderful. It has rained almost constantly and very heavily since we arrived and seeing their water supply is at drasticly low levels every drop is precious. The silicone you put around the hatch, Justin, has been put to the test and not a drop leaked in.

Dad tells us that the dams that supply Orange (a city of almost 40,000 people) are at 20% capacity and most of that is just mud. And as Mum says if they don't get rain and a lot of it now Orange is in serious trouble come summer. The council are building stormwater drainage areas to make use of this water resource but it doesn't do very much in the overall problem but at least it is something.


Although Orange and the immediate surrounding areas are still in a severe drought situation places further afield are showing signs of significant recent rains. Around the city of Cooma it is very, very dry and the land is still brown and arid and it stays that way till the ACT, but when you leave the ACT and going toward Yass things improve a little. From Boorowa through Cowra and on to Canowindra things begin to look totally different. The first thing you notice is that the dams are full to overflowing. The ground looks rich and fertile rather than the dustbowls we have seen in this area for so long. The local crops of Canola are in various early stages of growing. You can tell which crops were planted first and which were planted last. Later in the summer if you drive through this region it will be a mass of yellow flowers and come harvesting time at night you will see paddocks a blaze of lights as they reap their crops.

Today, our plans are to go to Church and then head off straight after and go on to Parkes and further afield. Because we know this area really well we will travel as far as we can till we stop for the night.

For now love to all

Ken and Lyn