Locally known as the dish, this is the radio telescope that relayed the TV signals of the Apollo 11 moon landings to the world on the 21st of July 1969. There’s a well maintained visitor centre, and we had scones and home made fig jam and cream in the cafe. (Recommended by a local, naughty but nice!)

The telescope is used and controlled remotely by scientists all over the world to collect any minute radio signals from furthest space, some of which are so weak that visitors are asked to turn off any electronic devices which could cause interference on the site.

https://csiropedia.csiro.au/parkes-radio-telescope-and-the-apollo-11-moon-landing/

The Movie The Dish fact or fiction? https://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/visiting/parkes/looselybased.html

These are members of bands who had come to play at a charity event at the town show ground on Saturday night in aid of farmers affected by the current drought here in Australia. They were given a VIP tour of the Dish in thanks, we tried to get on a tour but it seems they don’t do it for members of the public, c’est la vie! If only we’d known they were so famous we might have taken more notice in the cafe. https://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/visiting/parkes/looselybased.html

The town is very pretty at the moment, the jacarandas are in flower, this is a residential street, see how wide it is. It’s spring here, so the gardens are looking good as well.

Golden mantled rosella, poor photo but the first one we’ve seen.

Father of the Federation

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Parkes