26 Oct - 1 Nov Sydney then homeward bound

I am now down to 3 nails, I feel naked without them. I have not done a very good job fixing them myself. Shirley will need to give me some more lessons before we go away again.

Rain and wind all day Monday at Hawks Nest, so we stayed inside and read books, what else can you do. On Tuesday we drove to Stroud which is a lovely old town, heritage listed. It was built by AAC as a company town. By that evening there were 13 vans in the park near us, up from 3 in the morning. Everyone is running for cover because of the wind.

Wednesday we went for a ferry ride to Nelson Bay and walked around the town a little before heading back on the ferry. Dolphins followed us for part of the way. In the afternoon we went for a walk along Jimmy's beach, then back to the van to pack a few things for tomorrow's trip to Sydney.

The trip to Sydney was good, the roads now are nearly all two lanes. After surviving the Pennant Hills Road horrors we arrived at Parklea and set up, then visited mum. Later that afternoon we visited Aunty Joan and then went onto the Blue Gum pub and had dinner with Joan, Stephen, Shaunagh, Brent and their families.

Friday was a busy day, first Stephen visited us at the van, then we met Geoff W for lunch at Mt Druitt, then back for Annie and the girls visit and that night to Dee and Geoff's for dinner.

Saturday we visited mum again and then Brett visited us at the van in the afternoon. He told us about a great Chinese restaurant at Winston Hills so we went there for dinner.

Sunday it is home and unpack the van. It was a big warm and muggy so we were worn out by the time we finished. We left the van parked out the front overnight and some )(mailto:*%5E$#@$# people threw a full beer bottle at the back of the van and put a big hole in it. They also threw eggs at the land cruiser which was still hitched up to the van. We were not impressed and it left us with a bad feeling after such a great trip. We have reported it to the police and now will have to go through the insurance turmoil and get it fixed. We have parked the van at Mathew's after giving it a thorough wash inside and out. It looks like a new van except for the hole in the back.

No more travelling for a while. We will settle in at home for a few months at least. First job (after I make an appointment to get some more nails) is to clean the back patio and get rid of all that dust.

13 - 25 October - Iluka to Hawks Nest

We have settled into Iluka but it has been very hot and windy today. We went for a walk to the seafood coop in the morning, along the path near the water. Lovely scenery and walk. It blew a gale all day and we ended up taking the awning down in the afternoon. Very hot (for us anyway) - our new weather station confirmed 32 outside, 31 inside. The van rocked and rolled, and two ducks took refuge under the back of the van. At 5.30 we went back to the coop and bought fish and chips for dinner. There are three bunnies that live at this park and they hop around all day in and out of various sites.

On Wednesday the wind started up again mid morning.

We went for a drive to MacLean – the Scottish town of Australia. They have 200 poles with Scottish tartans painted onto them. We round the Robertson and Macfarlane ones and took a photo.

Into Brooms Head, checked out the caravan park –it goes right along the beach, with lots of tents. Then into Yamba and had lunch and did some shopping. Lots of houses for rent here; it is a real tourist haven. The wind blew like mad all afternoon and stopped finally about 6pm. There are big fires at Brooms Head tonight.

Thursday the wind dropped away and everything is real calm. I went for a walk along the walkway, Ian resorted the van’s boots. After lunch we went into Yamba on the ferry, walked around Yamba then back on the ferry. No wind this afternoon it is calm and quiet. Lovely. Bbq dinner on the bbq near our site. Fires at Brooms Head are under control, but there is smoke all around mixed with the dust haze.

The fires at Brooms head flared again overnight and the campers were evacuated.

Saturday we packed up and drove to South West Rocks. Tried the Horseshoe Bay caravan park but it looked crowded and with small sites so we left there and went to South West Rocks tourist park, picked a site down the back under the trees, not many vans around and it faces onto a creek. Its a bit of a hike to the amenities but the walk will be good for us.

Over the next few days we visited the various tourist attractions. One day it was Trial Bay gaol which was built to house the prisoners while they built a breakwater – they weren’t successful after 17 years and the gaol was closed. Opened again in WW1 to house internees. Then closed again to rot away with the weather. We shopped of course, We went for walks along the beach.

We found the wrecks of the three former Sydney ferries on the beach and in the water. They were beached in 1972 while under tow to the Philipines. Hard to believe it was only that long ago. The Kalang and Koondooloo were built as car ferries prior to the Harbour Bridge. When it opened, Kalang, after a number of variations, became the Sydney Queen showboat. Koondooloo was moved to Newcastle to ferry traffic across the Hunter. Meanwhile, the Lurgurena was built for use in Hobart, then moved to Newcastle. When no longer needed, they were sold off. For many years they have been covered by water and sand, but a storm in Aug 09 uncovered their remains.

It is still a bit windy and cool at night outside, but the days are lovely. I read another book.

We visited the maritime museum at South West Rocks. Wednesday we drove to Hat Head and then into Kempsey for lunch. Smaller than we thought and spread out quite a bit into east, west, south, north Kempsey. Took the car to Toyota for 5000 oil change and waited while they did it.

Thursday we packed and moved onto Hawks Nest for a week. No more long walks to the loo. Decided to stay at Hawks nest cp rather than Jimmy’s as the write up for Jimmy’s was a bit suss. They gave us a grassy site on request and we changed it after looking at it under the tree. There are lots of holiday vans in the park but well kept and spread around the edges of the park. In the afternoon we went for a drive – glad we stayed where we did as Jimmy’s is crowded and lots of holiday vans that are not well kept. That evening we went into Tea Gardens pub for dinner. Met a couple who used to live in Canberra and have retired to Tea Gardens. After dinner went for a walk along the water then home. We can hear the surf from our van when it is quiet.

More walks along the beach, the life savers closed the surfers beach because of a shark siting - we wont be going for a swim in that water. Sunday it rained most of the day, Ian watched the car races and I read some more books.

2-12 October, Gympie - Brisbane

We arrived in Gympie early in the afternoon on Friday. The road into Gympie wasn’t too bad, bit rock & rolly. there was lots of road works near the Caravan park and the address in molly (GPS) wasnt the right one. After we set up we went into the info centre, drove around the streets, lovely old Queenslanders, very very hilly. Over the next few days we went for a drive around Imbil, - Kenilworth to cheese factory, and the other smaller villages around there. We called into the Mary River "Stop the dam" protest information centre and bought a sticker for the car and got a copy of the protest letters to stop the dam. It doesnt make sense to build a dam where they plan to. One afternoon we met up with a couple that we met on the forum and had coffee at their home.

Another day we went on the valley rattler. Wonderful old train, goes from Gympie to Imbil, stopping at Kandanga for some small markets, then to Imbil for 2 hours, where we had lunch and they had more markets. On the way back the train stopped at Dagan and there was wine and cheese tasting, bought some chocolate port and mango slush.

Monday we left for Brisbane and arrived at Morse's place 12 ish, and put the van up the side of their house then spent the afternoon with her. Russ came home from work and we had champagne before going to Scott’s.

Ian’s birthday Tuesday. We visited Scott’s new house and viewed from the outside. Jordie and Lachie came after school to help celebrate Ian's birthday; Jordan is nearly as tall as Ian now.

Wednesday we visited Ann and Harrison. A little fatty he is and a beautiful boy. And Annie is a natural born 'Mum'. Thursday evening we went into South Bank to a Turkish restaurant and met with Jane and Jason for dinner, then went for a walk around South Bank. It has changed since we were there last.

Shopping day on Friday with Karen, Emma, Matthew, Moureen and we went to North Lakes. Ian went for a massage at Albany Creek. Lovely day, Morse and Karen know where the bargains are.

On Satuday Scott picked the boys up to spend the day with us. We went to Brett’s Wharf and onto the city cat to South Bank. Had lunch then a walk around, although the guys made sure we missed the markets that were set up. Back on the city cat and to New Farm Park. What a great park, it also has a banyan tree like Maryborough, but much bigger and with walkways built around for the kids to climb on, plus a big rope puzzle for climbing. There were lots of people in the park, playing drums, hurling, soccer, and having parties. Late afternoon we jumped on the city cat, back to the car at Brett’s wharf and home. Curry night tonight and Moureen and Russell came over. Lovely night, we all ate and drank too much.

Gael and I went back to North Lakes to change some of Scott's birthday present. The lady was very vocal about my having destroyed the shirts by taking the price tag off them. It rained today and they really need it here. Scott and Ian watched the Bathurst race while we went shopping.

Monday we got up early to say goodbye to Scott and co, 6:45am - yawn. We packed the car with all our stuff and went to Morse to get the van. Coffee and cake with Morse and left Brissie time 9:45, (NSW time 10:45), stopping for lunch at Ballina. The road out of Brisbane was good via the gateway. Into Iluka and picked out our site on the water. We had some trouble parking as there was a shed opposite which wouldn’t allow Ian to swing properly. Power finally on at 4.00 NSW time. Bit windy here, so Ian has tied the awning down securely. Light dinner as we have done nothing but eat and drink all week. We met a couple here that we were next to at Agnes Waters and had drinks with them beside the water, they are leaving tomorrow.

Sept 18 Sept - 1 Oct, Mt Morgan - Hervey Bay

Friday 18 Sept we left Lake Maraboon around 9:10 - the road varied along the way, and there were lots of road trains. We arrived at Mt Morgan just after lunch and then went into town to the information centre, checked out the lookout, dam (saw some free campers at the dam and had a talk to then). The suburbs are spread out all over the town from when there were 16000 people here, now there are only close to 4000. Walked the one remaining suspension bridge – there used to be 6 in the town. Just before we walked over it we saw 3 teenagers with their horse walk over it!!!

The town has a town tour so we booked a tour for tomorrow and rang the blink man re the Internet connection. Very warm tonight, we will need to take the doona off soon.

This is a dark park, very dry all around, they need rain badly.

On Saturday we went on the TMC tour of Mt Morgan. Well worth it. The tour goes around the town, highlighting the suburbs that used to be eg Tipperary, Glen Gordon, named after the different nationalities that converged on the town when the mine was in full swing. There were 27 pubs in the town at the peak, 4 soft drink companies over the years, plus numerous lodges eg druids, masons, orange, royal blacks. Each year the town runs a Running the Cutter festival to celebrate the Running of the cutter that happened during the mines heyday. As the miners left the mine after a shift, a runner would be sent to the pubs with a billy, fill it up and it would be given to the miner, who then sat outside the pub drinking it before going home. The mine produced gold, silver and copper over the years. The tour also goes to the mine and we were shown the first drawings plus pictures of the first workings and then the open cut. Then down to the caverns and the dinosaur prints in the ceiling, bats also live in the caverns so it was a bit smelly. An excellent tour.

Sunday we rested it the morning (as you do on Sunday's) then went into town to the bakery and had a pie for lunch, then off to the historical museum. Well it was a surprise. The exhibits were excellent and they had stories to go with most of the items so it brought it to life. 2 hours later we left and we drove around and took some photos of the buildings in the town. Checked out the road out of town then back to the van.

Monday I used the dump point before we left, although it is a bit off putting having it there in the middle of the clothes line. The road out was steep and bumpy. A kombi van was burnt out along the road near Marmoor and we were in a traffic jam for 40 mins before we could pass.

I am still waving to all the trucks; they probably think ‘who is this weird woman waving at me’. Some wave back. Finally filled up at Miriam vale then onto Agnes Water Discovery Park which is just out of Agnes Water. Set up within 1/2 an hour, we are getting good at this. Nice park, nearly full, shady trees everywhere, we cannot use toilet to empty van toilet at they cannot take chemicals in their system. Very eco friendly park.

Agnes Water is the bigger of the two, 1770 really just a small fishing village. The 1770 camping ground is full of tents, lucky we didn’t go there. The other park at 1770 also looked full and is on a big sloping hill so glad we didn’t go there either.

Wednesday we took the doona off and left just the cover on as we were hot the night before.

During the next week we drove to 1770 most days and walked along the beach to the camping ground then back. A couple of days there were some wind surfers who were skating on the water with a parachute in the air. The wind was really strong and they were pelting along. Ian went fishing on some rocks – no luck. Met two girls from Holland who are on holidays, they were hoping to see the sunset over 1770 but we told them the camping ground was probably full so they went off to have a look.

We were a bit cold the night after we took the doona off so we put the green blanket on, see how that goes.

Next day, well that didnt work last night we were absolutely freezing, I got up and put the little blue blanket on, then our jackets on top, then a warm nightie (Ian didn’t have a nightie so he put on a tee shirt). This morning we put the doona back on so it will probably be hot tonight.

There are lots of kookaburras singing their songs in the mornings.

The sun set over the water at 1770 which was very nice although the dust reduced the red glow.

Sunday we moved onto Hervey Bay and that evening we had yummy lamb shanks for dinner cooked in the shuttle chef.

Monday we met with Trish and Terry and they took us to a shopping centre to buy some more books (I have read 14 books since the beginning of the trip so we needed at top up).

Tuesday we were off for a whale watching boat ride with the Tasman Venture. Saw lots of whales, one male standing on his head with tail out of the water and he was singing, he came up every 10 mins then back down again on his head.

There were lots of babies showing off, hitting the water with their tails and jumping up and falling down. One got really close and was laying on his back and his mum came over and took him away. I cant show the other pictures as they are just the splashes after the tail slapping etc.

On Wednesday Ian hired a bike and went for a ride to Urganda pier and back, 19kms. Then we visited Trish and Terry again and went to lunch. Late afternoon Ian went for another ride on his bike. they are picking the bike up in the morning so he is getting his money's worth.

Thursday we drove to Maryborough for the day. What a lovely park they have in town, huge Banyan/Indian national tree, some branches held up by struts. They have market day every Thursday and close off their main street, Sunday in the park is the last Sunday in the month with bands playing and trains running. Lots of lovely old buildings, pubs. Beautiful old Queenslanders everywhere.

Sept 8-16, St George - Lake Maraboon

After leaving St George we travelled to Surat where we visited the Cobb & Co museum. The last Cobb & Co coach left here before everything then went by train. They used 6000 horses a day in Australia while Cobb & Co was working.

Onto Roma and found our CP and set up. Geoff and Nancye arrived about 3 and we had coffee outside our tent with them and chatted for a couple of hours. This is a nice park, the man said they have been full all week.

On Wednesday we went to the Big Rig with Nancye and Geoff. Ian and I did a tour of the oil patch, showing how oil and gas were found in Roma and continue to be drilled for. Very interesting. In the evening we had a BBQ and sat outside for awhile with Geoff and Nancye then went to their van and had port. Gee this is a hard life.

Thursday we went to the sale yards but missed the sales as there were only 700 head of cattle today. So we watched the weighing and sorting. Lots of gates and pushing and prodding of cattle.

After the yards we went to the Roma Bush gardens and walked around the small pond with Geoff and Nancye.

Ian can’t find his wallet and has searched the van and tug. He hurt is back last night stepping down from the van and found a massage therapist in town so he went to try her out. There is a small winery near the park so we went for a tasting in the afternoon. Only bought two bottles this time. Port with Nancye and Geoff in their van again. Yum

On Friday while we were hitching up, Ian found his wallet behind the TV when he was putting the TV away. Thank god we hadn’t reported it anywhere. So off we went to Carnarvon. The road was tar most of the way and we saw lots of emus. Surprisingly there was only 12kms of gravel, as the last we heard there was around 29kms. In some spots it was pretty corrugated and bad but the van handled it well. Before we hit the gravel we stuck some newspaper in the gauze door to stop the dust. Saw lots of wallabies on the side of the road on the way in.
Very dusty everywhere. At 7pm we went to a ranger slide show in the clearing just near us. Very interesting, he showed us how the gorge was formed and talked about the fauna and flora.


Saturday was walking day so we made a casserole in the shuttle chef before setting off for the information centre back up the road. Then from there we walked 3.5kms, over 8 creek crossings and thru very beautiful forests. We saw a wallaby standing on the path and had to shoo him to get him to move. We walked to a branch off the main track which took us 650mts to mossy gardens. This is where the sandstone leaks making lovely moss gardens. A beautiful waterfall nearby and little runoffs from the pool. The area was lovely and cool and the water freezing. We were tired when we got there and spent some time cooling down. There were lots of steep steps both up and down to get there and our legs were telling us so.

On the way back we met a number of people who had walked many if not all of the other walks i.e. 9.7kms one way plus, and were on their way back. By the time we got back to the car we had walked over 8kms and my bunion and Ian’s shins were letting us know we had walked that far. That evening we sat outside and had dinner with a bottle of red wine.

Sunday is rest day so that is what we did.

Monday we walked to the Rock Pool, then drove to the Mickey Creek carpark and walked to Mickey Creek gorge and Warrumbah gorge. Then back and went to baloon cave where there are rock paintings. Very nice. All up we did about 4,5 kms. Back about 11:15 and had lunch then partly packed up some of the van for departure tomorrow.


We left Carnarvon Gorge around 9am, along with many other vans. Once we reached the tar Ian stopped by the side of the road and put more air in Tom’s tyres. It was much warmer today. Stopped at Springsure for lunch and a look around. Lots of emus along the way, more photos. We saw a caravan that had rolled into a ditch on the road between Carnarvon and Rolleston. The vehicle wasn’t there and there were two men cleaning up.

We decided to stay at Lake Maraboon instead of into Emerald as the two van parks in Emerald didn’t have good write ups anywhere.. We set up and then went into Emerald to wash Tom, do some shopping and have dinner at a pub. We had lambs fry and bacon at the Emerald hotel, yum yum.

Wednesday is clean up day, washing of clothes, van both inside and out. Surprisingly there isn’t much dust inside so the van is well ventilated. The parrots here are amazing and hop all around the grass, drinking from the taps, chasing each other into trees.

Thursday we went into Emerald and Ian had the Jockey wheel fixed, then we went to the Botanic gardens and checked out the sculptured marbles, federation pillars and trees. Very dry gardens even though Emerald was flooded a few months ago. We also had a look at the mosaic footpath at the information centre, they have put a lot of work into their tourist items in this town.

Sept 1-7, Canberra to Lightning Ridge

At last we're leaving. We stopped for lunch at Cowra and then visited Mrs Blackstock at Parkes. She is mum’s old friend and they have been writing to each other for 69 years, but haven’t seen each other for nearly 60 years. What a lovely lady, and 90 years old. It is Parkes' show day so we decided to go thru to Peak Hill for our first stop.


Along the way I started to wave to all the truckies on the way and 1 out of 5 would wave back. I reckon this is a good way to help the truckies to like caravaners.

We left Peak Hill around 9:30am and passed 90 caravans from Peak Hill to Gilgandra going south,about 130kms. Plus dozens of trucks. Ian started calling the ones going north on the cb to let them know when to pass. They all thanked us. I continued to wave to those going south and was having some success.


After setting up in Gilgandra we went into town. This is a small town with not many shops. Some had burnt down recently and there were renovations going on for a big IGA. We visited the Cooee info centre. Site of one of the marches for recruits in WW1. It was very windy overnight.


We had a blackout Tuesday night for about 2 hours; Ian wondered why the lights were out when he went to the loo. It was very windy leaving Gilgandra and got worse as we drove on, then the rain started so we had both. We could only drive about 80kph it was so bad. The roads were also bumpy and uncomfortable. . A few things got shuffled around in the van.










Coming into Gulargambone we were intrigued to see large galah's made from corrugated iron high on poles along the side of the road and in the park in town. The toilets also had large galah's painted on them and the caravan park's sign had them as well,. we saw hundreds of real birds, along with cockatoos, all around the town and on the roads into and out of.


We arrived in Lightning Ridge mid afternoon and after setting up we went to the info centre and checked out the town.


Today, the day we thought was Thursday but is actually Friday (this is what retirement does to you), we went on a red and yellow car door tour in LR. These tours you do from your own car and they have car doors marking where to turn etc. great, and all they cost is $1 from the info centre for the directions.


We travelled around some of the mine sites and there are caravans, tin sheds, old trucks and anything else you can think of that people live in while on the opal fields.



















Then we went on the Chamber of the Black Hand tour. A mine that has been converted into a series of caves and the owner has sculptures into the walls. He started about 8 years ago and he has Egyptian, animals, cartoon characters, musicians and many more, It is fabulous.






















They also sell opals from their mine and other mines in LR either as opals or in jewellery. Beautiful. They gave us demonstrations on how the miners used to dig out these mines, coming down the shafts by holes in the wall, wow, it was hard work. The guide told us it gets to about 25 degrees in the summer in the mines, when it is 45 -50 outside. He said the town empties out in summer and most of the people leave town to cooler climates.

In the afternoon we went to the Bottle House. A house made of bottles. It was started by a man many years ago and he slept in the loft above the one room. God it must have been hot in the summer. The present owner has built additional rooms on and added more collections – Avon bottles (now worth $70+), petrified wood, all sorts of gems, opals and of course bottles.


Later that afternoon we had a huge storm – lightning, thunder and pouring rain. In the middle of the storm Ian saw a man come running out of his caravan with a towel around his waist, run to his van and grab some material or towels and run back to his van. While running back he lost his towel and Ian saw his bare bum. We assume there was a leak in the man’s van, but don’t even want to go to reasons why he didn’t have any pants on. It rained for about 2 hours and the park was awash, with little rivers running everywhere and the cabins surrounded by water.

Saturday we went to the walk in mine and went down the mine. Watched a video on mining and had a demonstration on different opals etc., bought Ian a watch and some books on opals. In the evening we went to a Dig In camp oven dinner just out of town Beef stroganoff, lamb stew with bush herbs, potatoes, cauli and broccoli, and choc cake. Cooked by two aboriginal men who also entertained us with yarns and didgeridoo.

Sunday we spent an hour at the mineral baths and the afternoon washing. Beautiful day, clear blue sky, warm enough to be comfortable but not hot.

August 23 - 27 Broken Hill

This is the second leg of our goal to put 5000kms on Tom before we hook up the van.


We left on Sunday and were very surprised at how green the countryside was - crops, grass, hills, and the trees are all in flower, wattle everywhere too. First stop Junee for a ploughman’s lunch (the last time there it was great) but no; they don’t have it anymore, very disappointed. So we bought some chocolate and licorice anyway.

Stopped at Griffith and went to West End wineries for more tastes and bought another case. This time we kept a list of the ones we want for Christmas.

Our first stop was Hillston motel. Not much to pick from in this town. Spots of rain overnight but it didn’t stay on the ground for long. Ian spoke to the NRMA man and the council about the roads and they said all ok. They haven’t had any real rain for ages. We left Hillston and set off to Ivanhoe. 100kms of dirt road, bad for the first bit but then softened out.


Ivanhoe is a small town and while there we bought some postcards for mum and the girls. The lady was washing the floor of the shop, so I had to wait over in the corner to pick the postcards and then pay for them. Then onto Menindee, more dirt road for another 200km. We pulled over to the side of the road and had lunch and watched a dozen cars pass by. There were also numerous emus, goats, sheep and cattle. They were working on the road and it was bad at first and very rocky, then smoothed out. The landscape varied from desert, to scrub, to trees. There were lots of wildflowers we just don’t know which ones, so I took some photos.


Menindee lakes are empty; we drove to the lookout and couldn’t see any water. Ian wanted to drive down to the bottom over the railway line but I wouldn’t let him so he found another road to go down.

Stayed at Broken Hill overnight. It was very windy driving into BH and also overnight and as we left town the wind was still blowing.



Called into the Wentworth gaol on the way and also checked out the spot where the Darling and Murray Rivers join.






Then thru to Mildura – what huge trees they have in the main street. On the way to Moulamein we saw various vegetation, changing all the time from trees, shrubs, grasses and back again to trees, we also saw what we thought were tumbleweeds. Decided not to stop overnight at Moulamein as it didn’t look very enticing, so we drove thru to Deniliquin.
In the morning we checked out the Ute on the pole (Deni is the ute capital of the 'world') and the Ute covered in mosaics (the Arts school decorated a ute with mosaic tiles and it took them 2 1/2 years), and totem poles in park (don’t know why they were there). Drove thru to Mulwala lakes – dead trees in lake, very spooky, checked out the CPs in Lake Mulwala and Yarrawonga for future trips.



Onto Rutherglen, stopping at Pfeiffer and Cofield wines then into Rutherglen and found a motel. More wineries, All Saints and Morris (Ian found a tokay he would like for Christmas) and later on a great dinner at the Poacher's Pub. The following day we set off for Canberra, there is lots of roadwork along the way (Sturt highway and Albury), dozens of caravans heading south.


Achieved out goal and did 4973kms on the two trips and over 5000kms if you count what we did in between. Next week its off north - YEAH.