Into Victoria

11 December Sunday

Rain in the night didnt last long, bit overcast this morning. (Rose is still losing weight, all those clothes she didnt bring cos they were too tight).Took spuds to other couple (Linda and Feff) and got talking to them till gone 11 Had a coffee) really interesting couple who gave us lots of advice. Finally left camp at 11 45 and left the easy way this time along Imlay Rd(no wonder they got a caravan up there) and onto Princess Highway till we got to the turn for Mallacoota. It is a very old fashioned seaside town,

We met a lovely English lady in the information center,

 she'd kept her accent even after 50+ years in Oz. Decide as we'd had such a late start to stay at the rest area at Genoa. (back on Princess Highway), Nice place and cold showers if you want them. Had a walk into town over the historic bridge, but it really is only a few houses.

12th December Monday

Away by 9.30 back on Princess Highway till we took the road to Cape Conran as thought it would be nice to drive alongthe coast road to Marlo. Stopped at Point Ricardo car park and walked to beach, waves amazing,

 beach goes on for ever. At Marlo

bought some tobacco for Colin before rejoining Highway to Lakes Entrance, what a beautiful spot. The sea is behind the dunes which are infront of inland lake/port.

And the sun is trying to come out. Decided to go to Bairnsdale for 2 nights at the Mitchell Gardens Holiday Park ($48), it is a lovely setting by the river and it has a pool (looks cold). Used camp kitchen to cook dinner and sat in there catching up on Emails and getting blog up to date.

13th December Tuesday

Thought it might be noisy being so close to the road but not too bad at all. Just pootled around in the morning and got gas bottle filled($11), had a walk round town in the afternoon, it is much bigger than we thought,we got our food shopping for the week at the same time. Weather would be warm except for the chill wind. Colin did some checking over the motor. Catted with neighbour before bed to warm up and get out of the rain.

14th December Wednesday

Warmer this morning , left site about 9.30 and went to library to upload photos onto blog, quickest WiFi yet , got feul then back on road by 10.30 Drove through Stratford ou the Avon, bit disappointing as it has such a famous name. Through Sale and down to Yarram, we stopped at port Welshpool for lunch, it is a fishing port

which also services the oil industry, it has an old fashioned feel to it and also has a very long and very old jetty.

 Carried on to Foster and got a local map before heading onto camp site for the next couple of days at Bear Gully Reserve. We can see the sea from our tent, it is approx 100 meters away.

 For a site site that is only suitable for small vehicles there's an awfull lot of caravans and big campers.


15th December Thursday

Woke to an orange glow in the tent, sunrising, should have got up but went back to sleep till 8am. Very hot sunny day.  I went for a walk to see where one of the tracks went and came across a near black Wallaby having a feed, don't know who was more surprised, went and got Colin to see.  Later the English neighbours Eve and Eric called us through to see an Akidna

wandering through the camp.
Just read and chatted rest of day.

16th December Friday

Said goodbye to Eve and Eric our neighbours as they had to go as they had run out of water and electricity for the fridge, after chatting to Colin they are going to buy a solar panel to keep battery topped up. We decided to go to Fish Creek as they are the nearest shops 35k away as Colin needed fag papers, it is a very quaint village. Stopped at Waratah Bay for lunch on the beach, very windy ended up with sand in our sarnies and everywhere else, pitty as its a very nice beach.Drove onto the Cape Liptrap Lighthouse

(there was a bird on the road sunning itself, but it did not move, our very own roadkill) amazing views can see curvature of the earth again, also can see over to Wilsons Prometory which is southern most tip of mainland Oz.

 Later back at site, more campers comming in for the weekend. Had a chat and nibbles with local couple Peter and Marj, they had lived in NZ a couple of times with work, Marj loved the country. By the time we finished dinner it was dark so went to bed.

New South Wales the final leg

3rd December Saturday

A truck came onto site in the middle of the night, very noisy with air brakes , reversing and leaving the engine running, also very cold last night. It is sunny this morning but with a nip in the air (just like home). Left site at 10am heading to Tamworth, stopped at info centre, again very helpful. Popped into Coles for fresh meat, then on way out of town stopped at Big Golden Guitar

(Tamworth is country & western capitol of Oz). Colin spotted a memorial area to Truckers on the same road.

 we left on the Werris Creek Rd and stopped at Carrabubula rest area for lunch before arriving at the Australian Railway Monument & museum at Werris Creek. Colin had a go at the train simulator and ended up going backwards. Nice little place. Onwards along Gap Rd to Caroona before joining the Quirindi Premer Rd to the Lions Pk for the night ($7) The drive today has been through the Plains of Plenty - very flat arrable land,(makes a change from hills). Saw lots of Cockatoos in the trees. Spent the evening catching up on journal and charging battery(on the picnic benches until it got too dark to see the keys)

4th December Sunday

Rose bitten again.

Woken in night by neighbours talking till 4am. We got up at 8am and while Rose went for a shower Colin banged a few doors to make sure they woke up(cool). They just woke up got out of their Swags and drove off (dont mess with the Brits). Watching the Gallahs landing on the overhead wires, they keep losing their balance and hanging upside down then flapping to get upright again. Left 9.30ish on road to Coonabarabran where we joined the Oxley Highway to Gilandra where we stopped for lunch at the info centre and Coo-ee Heritage Centre. We had a look round the heritage centre which is full of memorabilia of the Coo-ee march of 1915 in which 25 men , given no support from the army, marched the 500kms from Gilandra to Sydney to enlist for WW1, along the way they recruted over 200 men, announcing their arrival with a call of Coo-ee. The march sparked several others such marches from other country towns. It was quite moving as one of the leaders of the marches William Hitchen was ill when he arrived in England and died at Harefield hospital, never having seen service. Joined the Newell Highway, which is the main roadtrain route to Melbourne, we saw a few, but dorring the week it is full of them. Stopped for the night just before Dubbo at Terramungamine reserve. there are a lot of campers at this site, and including us 3 tents, one of the neighbours told us about a website for casual work which might be useful to us if we can get board and lodging in the future.

5th December Monday

Very windy night, cold as well. Left just after 9.30 heading towards Dubbo where we stopped for oil, bbq beads and bread before dropping onto Mitchell Highway to Wellington, turned off onto Burrendong Way hopefully a bit more scenic.

 It is farming country and very dry. At Orange got back onto Mitchell Highway and stopped for lunch, we decided to make for Bathurst and stop for 2 nights at the Big4 campsite($26) but it is a very good site with all the facilities including a pool. Sat in the sun for a while but wind got up and it turned chilly. Colin made a list of jobs to do in the morning. Used the camp kitchen and sat in the TV lounge for a bit in the evening before going to bed.

Rose slipped on the grass earlier and is a bit sore all down one side (no sympathy from Colin all he said was "thought i heard something").

6th December Tuesday

Better nights sleep, warmer with both sleeping bags on and not so noisy. Started out cloudy but sun did come out. Colin doing jobs on LR, gearbox oil, sorting oil leak, and new umbrella clip (old one broke) whilst Rose did the laundry made breakfast and just general dogsbody. Rose also trimmed her fringe again, but not bothering with the rest yet, as when its hot just clip it up,(dont let anybody tell you its hot all the time in Oz, they lie). Went out to racetrack at Mount Panorama,

 where they hold the Bathurst 1000,

 it has been a race track since 1938 and used as a venue for the Australian GP in the 50s. The endurance race came to Bathurst in 1963 when the track at Phillip Island needed substantial repairs,originally over 500mls (805kms) but later changed to 1000kms in 1973.The Land Rover covered the course in probably the slowest time ever.

 The track is a public road and you have to stay within the speed limits, easy for us.

 The mounting stage is very steep and twisty,

 still it was a lot of fun. Had a look round the centre of Bathurst, some of the buildings are very pretty,

cant get over how wide the streets are. Back to camp to do the ironing (Rose not me). After dinner in tv lounge (warm)me on computer Colin on the PS2, we got chucked out at 8.30pm.

7 December wednesday

Another cold night

 down to 6 degrees. Sunny when we got up and left site just after 10am. Took photo of the Big Gold Panner

then took road to Oberon, farming country still. after Black Springs scenery changed to logging country

 then twisty very steep roads, now we are in rolling hills between the Abercrombie National Park and the Blue Mountains, it is windy and a bit chilly and we have all the windows and vents closed. Stopped in Goulburn for shopping and took a photo of the Big Merino,

headed down the federal Highway towards Canberra, we couldn't find the rest area we wanted so carried onto the Canberra Exhibition Park for the night. They have a track for Harness racing(horses) and whilst we were eating dinner some of the teams came out to practice,

 lovely sunny evening.

8 December Thursday

very grey sky this morning but not cold. Tried to top up dongle but credit card rejected, rang Telstra and after a bit of waiting was told it is a problem their end, as a sorry the girl gave me 1GB for the next month for free (result), but she advised I top up with a voucher next month.

Left the site after 10am and drove into Canberra to Parliament House (they have underground parking for tall vehicles) we had to go through security xrays before entering the building. It is a very modern building

 which has a nice feel to it, they have taken some ideas from the British Parliament in that the House of Representatives chamber is green

 and the Senate is red.

 No politicians about as they are on their long break. As you walk away from the building you can see the Old Parliament House (white building).

 It was an enjoyable couple of hours. we headed out to teh Kings Highway towards Batemans Bay, the road surface is better than we've seen for a while, which is good as the road is very twisty up and down with some very sharp bends (25km limit), drove through Braidwood where the film Ned Kelly was filmed (with Mick jagger). when we reached Batemans bay

 dropped onto Beach Road till Broulee then picked up Priness Highway to Waldrons Swamp rest area for the night. We were the only ones on the site for a while but quite a few other travellers have pulled in. The weather has brightened up and is warmer, it is staying light longer.

9th December Friday

Lovely sunny hot start to the day. Stopped at Moruya library to upload some photos, the WiFi was very slow so copied the photos onto a memory stick then used library computers. Had a short walk round the town, another interesting town. ON the road again and just past Bodella we hit a traffic jam, 2 cars had collided head on, 1 dead and 1 still trapped in car, so we pulled off into a layby and had some lunch(very carring arnt we). Got talking to a Dutch couple who are over here for 7 weeks in a camper van, they are also finding it very expensive.We were held up for about 50 mins. Carried on through Narooma, it looked very picturesque,

before we stopped at Pambula for fuel and decided to head to Wallagaraugh River Rest Area, but it was right beside the road also couldnt pitch tent beside the Land Rover, so we decided to go to Newtons Crossing Picnic Area instead, we decided to trust the SatNav and map and drive to it from Broadaxe Rd., took a right turn into O'Neils River Rd that took us right through a forrest on tracks just wide enough for vehicle, that took us to the top of a mountain, we had to use 4WD for quite a lot of the time. An hour later than planned we arrived at the site, what an adventure. We are in the trees, no grass and Colin said the pegs feel like going into concrete.

 (Very long tiring day). We really are in the middle of nowhere and all alone.

10 December Saturday

Very tired still, Rose stayed in bed and went back to sleep till 8 30. Blue skies through the trees. Saw a small Monitor lizard, took a walk through the trees to the river

but couldnt quite get to it as fallentrees in the way. Another couple turned up with their off road caravan, intending to stay a few days. They were retired (mid 50s) and decided to travell Oz. Very slow chilled day. Had shower in the afternoon with hot water from solar shower. About 6pm it started to cloud over and heard thunder, just after 7 it started to rain so we got into bed and read till sleep.

.

The New England Journey

29 November Tuesday

We are leaving today, sad to go but we need to start the long trek. Said our goodbyes to Marion before she went to work. We left Laurie just before 10 am, a bit emotional, but we will be back next year.

Off down the Mount Lindsey Highway towards Beaudesert, it is getting warmer, stopped at a rest area just before Rathdowney where and American on a motorbike stopped and asked to look at our map, he was looking for some interesting roads so showed him the road to Queen Mary Falls, he went off a happy chappy. South of Rathdowney took the road up and around Mount Lindsey

(back to twisty roads)
then the road to Tabulam, unfortunately they are doing a lot or road repairs (the road surface is terrible). decided to stop at Crooked Creek rest area for the night and just put out the back awning and sleep in the Landrover tonight (now back in New South Wales), and eat out of store cupboard. Clouding over a bit as evening draws in, and a caravan has pulled up for the night.

30 November Wednesday

Good night sleep for both of us. Caravan left early, and we moved on at 9ish heading down Bruxner Highway to Tenterfield, it is like driving in the English countryside, probably why the area is called New England.

Went straight to information centre and met a very helpful woman who gave us ideas of places to visit. Found a bakery and had breakfast and then went food shopping before booking into the showground for 2 nights (only $20), and it is short walk to town centre. Got set up and lazed around talking to other campers before going for a walk round the town, it is really pretty.

Back to stir-fry for dinner with brocolli, it was lovely followed by melon (Colin said he was going back to Brisbane as they don't have brocolli)

1 December Thursday

Bit of a chilly night and noisy with people shouting in the distance. Most of the other campers left early this morning. IT IS RAINING. Decided to visit Bald Rock

 north of Tenterfield, it is the biggest exposed granite rock in Australia. We walked through forest to the base of the rock but the surface was too wet and slippery  for us to climb which is a shame as the views are supposed to be stunning. Before we drove off spotted an adult kangaroo with a young one,
 Colin managed to get photos.

further along the road we came across some more,

so exciting, it made up for the bad weather.

We then stopped at Thunderbolt's Hideout, had lunch in Landrover whilst poured with rain. Frederick Wordsworth Ward (aka Captain Thunderbolt) (1835–25 May 1870) was an
Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushranger" and his lengthy survival, being the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history. The area is full of colossal sized Granite boulders.

This is where his hide out was, between two that formed two Caves. He could see for quite a long way!

He also used it to plan attacks on the north-south road. This area is so rocky, I think he would have been very hard to find. we started to walk back through the forest towards the Tank traps but my waterproof had given up trying to keep me dry so we went back to vehicle, I had to take off my t shirt as soaked through and put on a jumper till we got back to camp, where typically the weather is brighter. Colin started to take his boots and socks off and noticed blood on his ankles

LEECHES UGH

He has a ring of blood on both ankles, they had got to him through his thick boot socks, I was feeling smug till whilst taking off my socks I saw a big leech, then saw the blood on my legs still with leeches attached (horrible), Colin knocked them off me, one had got to just below my knee. I had the biggest but colin had the most. It took ages for the blood to stop flowing.



2nd December Friday

Rain in the night and cold, its now sunny but very windy forecast is brightening as day goes on. Rose left site with trousers on. On New England Highway, lovely road. Past a sign DUNDEE BALD KNOB RD. couldnt stop in time to take a photo. Not so lovely road further on, the pot holes are treacherous.

We stopped in Glen Innes for a look around, the buildings are lovely(for those that have been following the blog they are much better than Napier)

despite the bagpipes playing on the town hall balcony for 30 mins.(its a very Scottish town). After lunch went through Armidale, on the road south saw lots of hot rods towing tiny caravans, they must be going to a show. Stopped at Urulla for bread and to see the statue of Thunderbolt

(who is burried in the town), before carring on to our camp at Bendemeer. The site is right beside the rodeo ring and Creek river,

nice spot and the sun has come out.

It is very strange as we have driven through Dundee, Glencoe, LLangothlan, and seen a sign for Kentucky.

Went for a stroll after dinner, saw some very colourful parrots

and got talking to a couple who hade been on the site at Tenterfield, they are in a small bus and have been travelling for nearly 2 years(she is Oz and he is from Lancashire), they advised us to check road conditions to Dubbo due to the recent flooding.We now have internet so checked emails in bed.