Dubbo has long been a solid option for locums working with SFS – always open to sonographer dates and quick with the lock-in turn around. From looking at a map, you might wonder if there’s much to do…allow us to enlighten you!
Give us some Dubbo deets
Dubbo sits at the intersection of three highways in New South Wales and is a major road and rail hub for rural and remote parts of the state. Its population in 2021 was punching 43000, but the health services offer care to the wider Orana Region. It’s a 5 hour drive from Sydney but there are daily flights in and out which make it a great option for weekly FIFO (arrive Sunday night or Monday morning and skip home Friday evening), but we think it’s well worth hanging around and exploring the area.
Keep it close to town
Well first and foremost…Dubbo has an EPIC zoo. Grab a bike and cycle around to check out more than 5000 animals living in the open range Taronga Wester Plains Zoo. Open range = moats everywhere, rather than fences. HOW GOOD!
Then there’s the Old Dubbo Goal for a good dose of history and heebie geebies. It runs tours, exhibitions and performances to tell the stories of the goal, crims and wardens and has won multiple awards for their efforts.
Other bits and pieces – The Royal Flying Doctors Service has a visitor information centre and the Dubbo Observatory can help you get your bearings with the night sky before you head up to the Warrumbungles. There is a walking/cycle path that loops for 12.5kms along the Macquarie River – perfect for balancing out those clinic-bound days!
Further Afield
The town of Wellington is about 40 minutes out of Dubbo. Mount Arthur is a solid option for hiking and biking and you can also visit the Wellington Caves, where you can tour limestone caves and their formations, check out megafauna fossils and a phosphate mine.
A bit further down the road is Lake Burrendong which is popular with the locals for fishing, kayaking, stand up paddling and waterskiing. Grab some gear in town and make a day of it with a picnic on the banks!
Warrumbungle National Park is around 2 hours drive north of Dubbo. It is well know for some pretty spesh for bush walking, camping and nighttime stargazing. The wildflowers, birdwatching and unique plants are also a bit of a draw card. There’s a full list of the hikes on the NP website but the Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk sounds pretty good to us!
Feedback from sonos prior
Having the rental car meant a lot of exploring to be done on the weekends! On King’s birthday long weekend I was able to drive to the Blue Mountains and do a couple of days of hiking, which was phenomenal! Last weekend, the other locum and I booked an airbnb in a cute little town called Blayney and were able to visit some beautiful vineyards and historic towns surrounding Orange, which is only a couple of hours away. RC locum sono 2023
