That gold rush is still remembered today as BHP operate a mine just outside the town and other mines have opened since 1980 to exploit local copper resources. Now Parkes is the hub of the FCL intermodal transport terminal enhancing its status as one of Australia’s key inland distribution centres including the Indian Pacific train that travels from Sydney to Perth.

Panoramic views of Parkes can be enjoyed from the Shrine of Remembrance on Memorial Hill where the surrounding countryside is ringed by the hills of the Cookamobil and Curumbenya ranges.

Although Parkes is in the middle of an economic boom due to mining and agriculture, it is most famous for the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope located approximately 20 kilometres north of the town. This structure is affectionately known as “The Dish”, a name coined from the Australian movie with the same name loosely based on the Parkes Observatory’s involvement in the Apollo moon landing of 1969. The spectacular edifice, easily seen from the Newell Highway, was opened in 1961 and at the time was the second largest telescope in the world. Situated in a shallow valley, protected from high winds and from man made radio interference, this huge structure’s dish is 64 metres in diameter and its purpose can be best described as “listening to the stars”. It was from this telescope that the position of the first known quasar was pinpointed and it also received the data from the Giotto probe sent to study Halley’s Comet in 1986. The Voyager spacecraft “flew” past Uranus and Neptune in 1989 and the data from that quest was received at Parkes and many astronomers who are curious about the workings of the Universe have used the Radio Telescope for many years.

Today this facility forms a major link in the “Australia Telescope”, a series of eight dishes which span 321 kilometers throughout New South Wales and it is part of the telescopic networks that cover the globe.

The visitors centre at ‘The Dish” has great interactive and informative displays, a 3D theatre where you can explore the Universe, a souvenir, science, toy and book shop and a free BBQ and picnic facilities in the surrounding grassed areas. It is from here that you can observe regular maintenance being performed on the giant telescope as the scientists “walk” on the huge dish as it moves in its never ending search for the answers to the mysteries of the Universe.

From Parkes, we continued up the Newell Highway towards Dubbo and onto Queensland.