One of my favourite movies is The Dish but it has been far too long since I visited Parkes to see the radio telescope for myself.
I packed the F6, Tamron 15-30mm, 45mm and 90mm lenses, and a few rolls of Portra 400 exposed at E.I. 250.
We stayed in Junee on the first night. There was a time when this was the most important railway town between Sydney and Melbourne. Times have changed but the magnificent station, rail yards and 42 bay roundhouse remain.
There was no time to visit the roundhouse this time but a quiet walk around the station and yards showed that freight rail in Australia is still going strong. There was a good variety of engines to see and plenty of shunting action.
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Forbes was our first stop on the 2nd day, lunching at the 150 year old Vandenburg Hotel then taking a walk through this historic town.
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Our visit to the Parkes Radio Telescope was of course the highlight of the trip. The excellent education centre featured details of the dish including part of the set used for the movie, an informative video about the construction in 1961 and a well stocked science-based souvenir shop.
The steam locomotive on display in the town was a bonus!
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