Dubbo Zoo On A Rainy, Rainy Day

  • May 26, 2026

I woke to the sound of extremely heavy rain outside the motel room, and later the morning news said it would be the wettest day of the year so far.

So naturally we headed to Dubbo Zoo 🙂

As it turns out, aside from the torrential rain and regional flooding, this was a great day to see animals! As we would learn on the safari bus, the animals enjoy the rain and are more active. This was not a day when the animals just lazed around in the shade!

Dubbo Zoo is large and spread out and visitors drive around in either rented carts or their own cars. We saw one group wearing ponchos and using the rented cart and it would have been miserable! While most animals can be viewed from the car, you get a better look outside so we had to park and brave the rain frequently.

The above snap was taken on a safari bus ride where we got very close to many animals including giraffes, rhinos and a few types of antelope. This was a couple of hours into our visit, and by this point despite umbrellas our shoes and pants were sodden.

There was water everywhere, and some of the paths were flooded, and it was remarkable how unbothered the animals were by the heavy rain. And this even included animals out of the enclosures, by which I mean these guys:

Look closely at the middle one: she’s got a baby!

Look how raggedy this wet beast is! As wondrous as all the other animals in the zoo were, these uninvited guests were my favorites. One zoo employee told me they come and go and even get into (and out of) the animal enclosures!

The zoo was great. Yes it was comically wet, but we saw lots of active animals and since there were very few other guests today we didn’t have to deal with crowds of other visitors 🙂

As a bonus, here’s a photo taken from the car this morning of another pack of roos hopping alongside the road:

Eight Antiques

  • May 25, 2026

Today we drove from Katoomba to Dubbo via Orange, and the total trip took about 6 hours (including charging stop) and I took nary a photo! So instead, today I’ll showcase a few interesting items I saw at antique shops these past two days…

Typewriters are a surprisingly common items at antique shops here, but this one in particular caught my eye due to the Kmart badge on it. The tag identifies it as a ‘Nakajima’ brand device from the 1970s and says it’s been restored and tested. In other words, you could write a book with it!

I know even without opening the box that this would have the thinnest of gameplay and contain fragile paper game pieces and a near-generic board. But licensed games like this one always catch my eye, and remind me of how undemanding we were as fans back in the ancient age.

Even though this was a common style back in the early 1980s, this one reminded me a lot of the devices that Bernard and I had as kids. This one appeared to be in extraordinary condition, but it didn’t say whether it actually worked or not.

I’ve never seen a Commodore 64 game for sale at an antique (or retro game) store in the USA, so it’s always a treat to see them here. But $75 for this? It was part of a larger collection of (mostly PC) Microprose games, all of which seemed overpriced.

I was tempted by these Japanese phone cards, but the store was a bit fancy and they didn’t have a price so I moved on. Years ago when I went to the stamp show while I was here there were also Japanese phone card vendors so it seems collecting these this was a (niche I’m sure) hobby in Australia at some point.

The store had three different sets of these, all labeled at $150 and the red one described as ‘incomplete’. The price was outrageous for the condition, but I would have liked to see inside regardless. Perhaps I should have asked?

I don’t remember ever seeing anything like this when I was young. Like most of the world, Australia no longer broadcasts analogue TV signals so this would be useless for TV viewing, but it very likely has an RF connector on the back so could work as a portable monitor for a retro game system. As a child, something like this would have been the dream!

This is the English version of a Japanese fantasy board game from 1986. The game asks players to survive a haunted house and apparently plays like a simplified version of Talisman. It has a beautiful big board, hundreds of tokens and cards and a large plastic spinner with an evil face on it.

The copy at the antique store wasn’t in perfect condition, and the spinner was extremely dirty, but had I seen this in America I would have been tempted even without knowing it was complete. Since the store hadn’t been able to verify that yet, it wasn’t yet priced or on sale.

The Three Sisters

  • May 24, 2026

Today we drove to Katoomba, and immediately went to view a famous landmark called The Three Sisters. Here they are from the Echo Point lookout:

We walked along a short trail for a closer view of this famous rock formation. It was early in the day but sunny and warm and the views down into the valley were wondrous.

The trail ended at an overlook just above the formation, at which point we noticed a bridge some distance below:

There was very steep staircase leading down from this overlook. It was the beginning of an infamous trail called ‘The Giant’s Staircase” and even though I was still aching from all yesterdays walking I couldn’t resist giving it a go!

This was a perilous trail! Narrow steep steps wound down the cliffside, and even walking down was a challenge. There were a fair amount of people navigating this trail, and it was clear from the looks on their faces it was more than they expected.

After a few hundred steps I got to the bridge we’d seen from above, only to find it was blocked off by a fence! It seems people are no longer permitted to cross over to the sister itself. The steps continued beyond that point, but they were even steeper and more perilous. I turned around and headed back up to where Sue was waiting. The climb was strenuous but not as bad as some of the other tourists made it seem. I suppose I’m made of sterner stuff.

There’s a lot of history here at Katoomba, and much of it is based around The Three Sisters, an attraction people have been visiting for well over 100 years. I’ve been before but remembered almost none of it, and I’m glad we went today.

Afterwards we visited many antique shops in Katoomba (watch for a future blog post about some things we saw) while Sue’s new car was charging. Lunch was at the local RSL club, before we headed to the amusingly large converted convent we’re staying at tonight. It’s been a tiring few days, so there’ll be lounging tonight!

I ate half the bag before I realized I’d lost control of myself, and made the decision to throw the other half away. That’s the power of Toobs!