Sparks in Parkes
After a chilled out weekend in Sydney, we decided to leave the hustle & bustle of the city and head further inland in a hire car. We'd seen the weather reports and it was supposed to be rubbish for the next couple of days. It seems the report was accurate as it was absolutely tipping it down. Glad we decided against the beach this time. The car was from a national company this time (I did try local, unsuccessfully), but this meant the car was of a much higher quality. It was an automatic, which I remembered being easy to drive last time. I obviously remembered this at a time when I'd had about 4 weeks practice. This time, I drove straight out of the car hire place into the busy streets of Sydney and suddenly realised I'd forgotten how to drive auto. I'd got so used to our rubbish manual from Brisbane that I faltered for a few junctions until I remembered the rules. Thankfully Chris was on hand to navigate and remind me of the differences (2 pedals, no clutch, that kind of thing!)...
Our destination for the next 2 days was to be a place called Parkes, famous for its radio telescope that helped with the moon landings in 1969. It was made more famous by a film, The Dish, released in 2000 (starring Sam Neill, the guy from Jurassic Park, and Kevin Harrington, Harold Bishop's son in Neighbours). However, unbeknown to me, this isn't the only thing that Parkes are particularly proud of. Oh no, it turns out the people of Parkes-shire are also massive Elvis fans! In January it gets packed out as they hold celebrations and everything! It appears the moon landings are nothing in comparison to the works of 'the king'.
Anyway, we knew it was supposed to be about a 4.5-5 hour car journey to Parkes from Sydney. This didn't account for the rubbish weather and not-so-great Sat Nav we hired with the car. It took us absolutely bloomin' ages to get out of the city, and when we were nearly on the road to take us out, I managed to take a wrong turn thanks to the Sat Nav's poor timing at giving directions. "Bear left" when you've already been passing the line of traffic in the left hand lane for about 2kms is not enough warning to get me into a lane! So we took a minor de-tour, although it may not have done us any harm as it stayed busy everywhere for quite some time.
We eventually arrived at our destination in Parkes over 5.5 hours later, without stopping once. It was a great drive though - loads of brilliant scenery. I was glad to be out of the big cities for a couple of days. We had booked a motel for our time here. We could've got a train but it was going to be more expensive for the car hire and I feared Parkes would have very little in the way of public transport. I was right, public transport was nearly non-existent, but there were lots of taxis so perhaps we'd have been ok. Anyhow, I was happy to have the car.
We slept in the next day before we ventured off to the Telescope visitor centre. I was very excited about this before we even got there. When we arrived, I saw a sign for 'Whispering Dishes'. These are basically 2 semi-circle dishes facing each other, but quite far apart. I don't remember anything like this when I did science at school - if I did I may've been more interested and gotten better grades! Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but for the benefit of those more like me, let me explain the principle. Basically, one of you whispers into one dish while the other stands at the other dish, and vice versa. Because of the way they're facing, you can hear each other really clearly. Chris had to explain it to me and help me demonstrate its functionality - it's so clever! I was even more totally impressed and this was before we'd even set foot inside the visitor centre!!
Having set foot in the centre, we were presented with a few other scientific displays, including a floating pen. It was using magnetic fields to float. Then there were the funny mirrors, the sort you get in Paulton's Park and other kids fun parks, that reflect you in different and warped shapes. They were trying to represent how the radio-telescope worked. I didn't fully understand, but again, it was fun so I didn't mind! We went for a 3D experience (a trip to Mars and various other stars and stuff in our solar system and beyond). It was quite cheesy but none-the-less enhanced my experience and appreciation for all things astronomy-related. After watching another non-3D presentation and looking at the various displays of how the telescope has changed over the years, and how the film The Dish didn't really give a true representation of the moon landings (for example, Cricket was never really played on the Dish and there were far more scientists present than the film led us to believe), we headed out to get some lunch and pictures of 'The Dish' (visitors are not allowed into the control rooms at the telescope as it is still an active instrument for astronomers). We went for lunch in the cafe there and soaked up the scene.
All-in-all it was a great day, I'm glad we made the venture out here. We even went to Forbes afterwards, which is where much of the filming was done away from the telescope (apparently they felt it hadn't aged as much in 30 years compared to Parkes
We went out to dinner a couple of times in Parkes and if you're ever in that neck of the woods, let me know - I can recommend an excellent Chinese with lovely hosts!
This morning we got up early and made the 5.5 hour journey back to Sydney. We were making excellent time until the Sat Nav mucked up again and made us go wrong several times. Unfortunately we were in the vicinity of several toll roads so goodness knows how much the upcoming credit card bill will be! I'm going to blame it on the Sat Nav... what sat nav sends you into a toll-road tunnel without clear instructions when it knows it's going to lose satellite signal?? Stupid thing. Grrr. Anyhow, Chris and I are now back on talking terms - if our experiences are anything to go by I reckon Sat Navs are probably a considerable factor in many break ups and divorces - we get along brilliantly until you get one of us behind the wheel of a car and the other controlling the sat nav!
Our destination for the next 2 days was to be a place called Parkes, famous for its radio telescope that helped with the moon landings in 1969. It was made more famous by a film, The Dish, released in 2000 (starring Sam Neill, the guy from Jurassic Park, and Kevin Harrington, Harold Bishop's son in Neighbours). However, unbeknown to me, this isn't the only thing that Parkes are particularly proud of. Oh no, it turns out the people of Parkes-shire are also massive Elvis fans! In January it gets packed out as they hold celebrations and everything! It appears the moon landings are nothing in comparison to the works of 'the king'.
Anyway, we knew it was supposed to be about a 4.5-5 hour car journey to Parkes from Sydney. This didn't account for the rubbish weather and not-so-great Sat Nav we hired with the car. It took us absolutely bloomin' ages to get out of the city, and when we were nearly on the road to take us out, I managed to take a wrong turn thanks to the Sat Nav's poor timing at giving directions. "Bear left" when you've already been passing the line of traffic in the left hand lane for about 2kms is not enough warning to get me into a lane! So we took a minor de-tour, although it may not have done us any harm as it stayed busy everywhere for quite some time.
We eventually arrived at our destination in Parkes over 5.5 hours later, without stopping once. It was a great drive though - loads of brilliant scenery. I was glad to be out of the big cities for a couple of days. We had booked a motel for our time here. We could've got a train but it was going to be more expensive for the car hire and I feared Parkes would have very little in the way of public transport. I was right, public transport was nearly non-existent, but there were lots of taxis so perhaps we'd have been ok. Anyhow, I was happy to have the car.
We slept in the next day before we ventured off to the Telescope visitor centre. I was very excited about this before we even got there. When we arrived, I saw a sign for 'Whispering Dishes'. These are basically 2 semi-circle dishes facing each other, but quite far apart. I don't remember anything like this when I did science at school - if I did I may've been more interested and gotten better grades! Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but for the benefit of those more like me, let me explain the principle. Basically, one of you whispers into one dish while the other stands at the other dish, and vice versa. Because of the way they're facing, you can hear each other really clearly. Chris had to explain it to me and help me demonstrate its functionality - it's so clever! I was even more totally impressed and this was before we'd even set foot inside the visitor centre!!
Having set foot in the centre, we were presented with a few other scientific displays, including a floating pen. It was using magnetic fields to float. Then there were the funny mirrors, the sort you get in Paulton's Park and other kids fun parks, that reflect you in different and warped shapes. They were trying to represent how the radio-telescope worked. I didn't fully understand, but again, it was fun so I didn't mind! We went for a 3D experience (a trip to Mars and various other stars and stuff in our solar system and beyond). It was quite cheesy but none-the-less enhanced my experience and appreciation for all things astronomy-related. After watching another non-3D presentation and looking at the various displays of how the telescope has changed over the years, and how the film The Dish didn't really give a true representation of the moon landings (for example, Cricket was never really played on the Dish and there were far more scientists present than the film led us to believe), we headed out to get some lunch and pictures of 'The Dish' (visitors are not allowed into the control rooms at the telescope as it is still an active instrument for astronomers). We went for lunch in the cafe there and soaked up the scene.
All-in-all it was a great day, I'm glad we made the venture out here. We even went to Forbes afterwards, which is where much of the filming was done away from the telescope (apparently they felt it hadn't aged as much in 30 years compared to Parkes
We went out to dinner a couple of times in Parkes and if you're ever in that neck of the woods, let me know - I can recommend an excellent Chinese with lovely hosts!
This morning we got up early and made the 5.5 hour journey back to Sydney. We were making excellent time until the Sat Nav mucked up again and made us go wrong several times. Unfortunately we were in the vicinity of several toll roads so goodness knows how much the upcoming credit card bill will be! I'm going to blame it on the Sat Nav... what sat nav sends you into a toll-road tunnel without clear instructions when it knows it's going to lose satellite signal?? Stupid thing. Grrr. Anyhow, Chris and I are now back on talking terms - if our experiences are anything to go by I reckon Sat Navs are probably a considerable factor in many break ups and divorces - we get along brilliantly until you get one of us behind the wheel of a car and the other controlling the sat nav!
posted by wobblepop at 7:26 am
2 Comments:
Have you never been to St Pauls' cathedral?
They have a whispering gallery!
Also, there is a new invention out, it's a bit like a sat Nav but on paper. the great thing about it is it doesn't require a signal, so you don;t have to wait for it to catch up.
Hope your both having a great time.
We love that invention more, trust me. But with a country as big as Australia, it's nearly as expensive to buy enough of them as it is to rent a Sat Nav! Plus, the map doesn't tell you where you are when you get lost (like we so regularly do over here in the big cities)... I don't like to give them credit, but credit where credit's due and all that...!
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