Today we’re heading from Bourke to Orange, it’s about 5 and a half hours, but on sealed roads. Luxury! We make a few stops along the way to hunt for stickers and iron-on patches.

We stop at a signposted tourist information centre, but it turns out to be an aeroplane museum and not really a tourist information stop at all. We pull up in Nyngan, their tourist centre is closed, but the local shop sells the stickers and patches that Joe and Kathlyne are looking for. When the lady in the shop hears that we’re heading to Orange she exclaims “oh cold country!”, and after the 30 degree days and warm nights of the outback, it certainly will be.

We take a few tourist snaps at the “Big Bogan” and then hit the road again. A successful lunch stop in Dubbo, and then down to Orange.

The landscape gradually changes throughout the day, from the flat sunburnt red of the outback to rolling green hills.

We have planned to stay with friends in Orange, and after a long day on the road we’re looking forward to a pub meal and a catchup.

We arrive late at Jed and John’s and head straight out for dinner, sharing all the tales of our travels. It seems that I can’t stop talking about the first section of the trip, our opal mining adventures, and opal mining host.

“Sound’s like he really made your trip” Jed notes.

I reckon he did.

In the morning, John makes fresh scones for breakfast with cream and jam and a large pot of coffee. We pack up, say our goodbyes and make our way back to Sydney, stopping at the Orange tourist information centre for a sticker and patch, of course.

The four hours on the road seem to fly by, or at least, they are a blur in my memory.

At home, I begin the slow task of unpacking, cleaning and putting my things away.

I rinse down my tent in the bath tub. The water runs a deep sunburnt red.