Although the Castlereagh River is now fast flowing and in flood, normally it's a dry sandy riverbed with its water flowing through and under the sand -- plentiful enough to supply over 10 thousand people in six towns with all their water requirements. Gilgandra means long waterhole. We've never seen it in flood before, so a 4 km walk along its banks allowed us to witness its swiftly flowing current and the debris it carries, including a heavy load of orange-coloured silt. The caravan park here at Gilgandra is set amongst a collection of magnificent mature trees, my favourites being lemon-scented gums whose aroma hangs heavy in the air around their massive white trunks. Crushing a leaf between my fingers reminds me of keeping emperor gum caterpillars as a child and watching their amazing metamorphosis into a large velvety moth. The Castlereagh River is one of the few rivers in Australia that flows east, south, west and then north in the form of a semicircle, like the number 6. Gilgandra sits near the base of the northern part, with Coonamble near the top. At present, 1000 people in Coonamble are ready to evacuate and many roads are closed.
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