Monday, 23 March 2009

Whistle-Stop Tours

Am I mad? I hope not, but I seem to rush from one event to another with little room for rest, personal reflection, or appreciation of surroundings. Another week, another place. This time I was on the road to the small dusty town of Warren about 550 km south-west of here (Armidale). Fortunately, I was chauffeur-driven and could at least take in the varied scenery along with my colleague, Bernice.

The aim was to conduct some interviews with local leaders as part of our Cotton CRC project, and I must admit we met some friendly and informative people. Warren
is on the Oxley Highway (named after an early explorer who went that way) just before it joins the Barrier Highway stretching another 500 km or so to Broken Hill. The surrounding countryside is as flat as a tack around the Macquarie River. This is one of the major watercourses of the Murray-Darling system and flows into the Macquarie Marshes (a major wetland full of wildlife) near Warren. It also helps irrigate some of Australia's cotton crops.

How long did this excursion take? Exactly 36 hours for 1100 km on the road, the interviews and a night in a motel.

AS

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