ONCE AGAIN THERE IS A LOT OF DETAIL AS IT IS OUR RECORD, BUT YOU MAY BE INTERESTED
Left around 10am. Went through Toowomba up the range, bit scary, but shorter than Cunninghams Gap, but seemed steeper. Many trucks doing literally walking pace. Missed all the big storms but we could see them. Got a sprinkle here and there and heavy for 30 seconds. Very lucky considering the battering everyone else got today. Weather very hot, but cooler with the fronts. Caravan park (can't think of the name - same place we stayed at once in a cabin). Nice grassed sites, some trees. Unpowered near camp kitchen had everything we needed, microwave, kettle, toaster, 2 full stove/ovens, barbecue, TV, old piano, tea towels, washing liquid and wash cloths. $22pn. Good value. Amenities : relocatable building but it was clean. Camp kitchen was clean. Camp backs on to dam/big pond (yes, 2 words) with ducks. Very pleasant. A little highway noise, not too bad (Leichart hwy).
Lightly cloudy, good for driving. Quite warm. No rain so far. Wind started out northerly (tail wind), then changed to head-wind. So hard going again. New by-pass at Moree, comes out at the river and roundabout other side of town. On to Narribri and stopped to talk to agent. Corinda now rented. Saw a swagman, with many swags, all plastic bags. Got petrol at Coonabarabran. Newell highway has many large pot holes from the recent floods. Stopped at Binnaway, 30kms sE of Coonabarabran. Small town, seen busier days, history and old buildings. Went for a walk into town. No take-away, small grocers, 3 real estate agents, butcher, two pubs, school and swimming pool. Old real estate sign from 1927 selling land. Land on one side of the railway line was Town Blocks, the others across the railway line were Suburban Blocks, probably an extra 30 seconds walk to the town blocks, around 30-40 pounds, a lot for those days. Camp is in town along Castlereagh River (high up so no flooding problem). Could see how high the river got with debris quite high and large logs wedged. Camp: Power $2 for 3hrs (4 powered sites), hot showers $2, free bbc, toilets, grassed sites, well kept, some tall trees. Weather cooled considerably and remained cloudy all day. Wind got up more today. No rain so far.
Having all sorts of difficulties getting Telstra internet to work. Almost impossible. A connection just after leaving and a quick email, then for the rest of the day could not connect. Wind got strong and partly tail, partly cross-wind. After navigating another petrol station, got petrol at Dubbo and could see where the river had got up really high under the railway bridge. Good thing we didn't leave a few days earlier. Headed straight to Parkes then on to Forbes. Some heavy rain for a short period and a few farm machinery large loads to go around. Geoff decided he wanted to see the Aircraft Museum in Temora so we decided to go to the Weddin Mountain National Park for the night (where we had stayed at in April), so headed south east towards Grenfell. Flood signs everywhere, but just a couple of shallow fords still with water in them. Turned off towards National Park and inadvertently chose the longer unmade road. All was good and we were on our last leg with the sign into the National Park just 100 metres up the road, until we came across water across the road. Geoff tested the water, it wasn't deep, but there were pot holes and the sides were muddy/slusht. Being a dirt road, we might have got stuck so decided to keep driving to Temora. Arrived at about 5.30pm, went to the Aircraft Museum (which was closed) to see what time it was open next day. They have a caravan park at the airport so booked in there. Had fish and chips for tea (Geoff missed out on Friday as Binnaway didn't have a take-away store). Lovely grassed sites, newish amenities (relocatable type buildings), camp kitchen with fridge, kettle and free BBQ. Basic but nice. $15pn unpowered ($25powered). Temora is a nice medium town (we spent a few very hot lunch stopovers at the park near the pool on our travels to Melbourne over the years), old buildings, small shops (but does have a Woolies and Harvey Norman). Temora airfield was the training ground for pilots during the war. Old photos and information in the fish and chips shop.
Interesting airfield. Council has sold off a lot of the land, so there are houses with huge hangars at the back and people can drive their planes out of their sheds straight on to the taxiways. Some people must be keen. Geoff went to the Aircraft Museum (unfortunately he missed the flying day yesterday). We did see a Spitfire take off and a crop duster woke us around 7.45am. The weather today has been interesting. Windy, mostly thunderstorms and lightening and gale-force winds and heavy rain with 5 minutes of sun in between the cells. I'm glad we were not on the road.
It blew a gale all night again and the rain continued. Woke to a dry morning. Had a headwind all the way and we tried to slipstream some trucks - moderate success as most overtook us and went faster or were just not there. Stopped in Wagga Wagga to get the internet working - SIM card was playing up. The caravan where we stayed previously had been flooded out and all the cabins were in a big area next to the info centre. You could see how high the river had got. Not that far from the levee wall. Sturt Hwy was still closed, but we turned off earlier onto the Olympic Hwy. Stopped for lunch at Henty and couldn't find a swamp in the tourist info. But saw a huge lake as we headed out, must have been it as we have never seen a lake there beforehand. Luckily this road did not appear to be affected by the floods, but obviously the swamp was. From Henty we went to Walla Walla and visited another bushranger's hideout - yes, up in the rocks again. A bit hairy getting the van up the unmade, sometimes-steep road, through two gates, but we got there. Headed on through Albury and then on to Allan's Flat where there was supposed to be a fre-camp. But the sign said 'No camping', so on to Yackandandah. Small, beautiful English treed and grassed setting. Had been flooded as creek is behind. We were looking for unpowered, but owner said they only had powered sites and many were soggy, in the end he found us a dry spot and charged the low-season rate - $25 (high season $30). Camp kitchen not operating, light in amenities push button and only stays on for 3 mins. So don't shower at night! Amenities clean, large shower cubicle. Went for a walk in the town, one small street. Quaint historic buildings and found a FoodWorks supermarket behind the main buildings. Very discreetly hidden and the main street looks just the same as it would 100 years or so ago. This is first night we have power and I have use the heater (this morning was only 13 degrees at Temora when we left at 9.30am)
Weather improving. Decided not to go through Beechworth (had been there before and I hadn't done any Christmas shopping) Stopped in Wangaratta to do some Christmas shopping. Wang is a nice large town (or is it a city?). Found a 2hr van parking spot which made it easy. Again, could see where the river had flooded only a few days before. Then we headed directly to Michael and Val's as Murrindindi. We have described their property in our previous travel diaries, but it is a magic place by the Yea river. Enjoyed Michael and Val's hospitality for two nights.
Again travelled through Kinglake to get to Melbourne. Still amazed at the extent of where the bushfires had gone. Mind-boggling. Arrived in Melbourne, unhooked the van, went to Gladstone Park for more Christmas shopping, accompanied Kristi to drop off her hire car, spent an hour there discussing a dent in the car then headed back to Glenroy to catch up with Glen and Claire. Said good-bye to Claire who was spending Christmas with her family in Brisbane, then later Glen and Geoff again manoeuvred the van on to the front lawn. We had arrived again in Melbourne.
(skip to Day 22 for continuance of travels)
Last minute shopping at Broadmeadows and Pipeworks (our old haunt) then met Dave and Trish for dinner at Il Divo.
Christmas Day at Rob and Shauns, dinner at Chris and Sue's and caught up with all the families.
All four of us went to Mary and Jim's and had lunch with them and Lyn & Tom, Steven, Jacquie, Tyler and Renesmee. Very windy but was great out on the deck. Miserable day. Glen stayed the day and Lyn & Tom, Kristi, Geoff and Marg stayed over night. DAY 12 : (Mon 27/12/10) Nar Nar Goon : Went to Steven and Jackies' house and the boys assembled the trampolene and the bike - WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS!! Dropped into Lee's house and THE BAR. Fantastic. Also saw Lee's new house purchase. Weather improved. DAY 13: (Tues 28/12/10) Nar Nar Goon : Kristi's 32nd birthday. Went to Steven and Jackie's for Renesmee's birthday. Jacquie also baked a birthday cake for Kristi in the shape of a guitar. It was an artistic masterpiece and Kristi was surprised and thought it was fantastic. We arrived back in Melbourne and in keeping with the guitar theme, Glen gave Kristi a beautiful miniature guitar, which was similar to her first guitar. Kristi and Glen and some friends went out for dinner. Weather was very pleasant, partly cloudy.
Rest Day, photo downloading, van sorting. Weather nice.
Rest Day, shopping, visited Peter Gibbs (Stockfeed) (old customer), 3km walk. Weather nice.
Went to Sunbury to inspect property. Tenant vacating 26/1/11. Agent closed till 4/1/11. New Year's Eve at Glenroy - Marg, Geoff and Glen. Kristi went out with Asha. Got to 40 degrees and strong northerly winds. Change came through about 9pm. Great day for drying washing if you could keep it on the line.
More van sorting, pruned roses and various plants. Weather about 24 degrees
Visited Aunty Gwen for lunch. Geoff went through the old photos with her and there was good reminiscing. Weather around 22 degrees and mostly sunny, but breezy.
Dropped Kristi off for Asha's birthday at Fairfield Boathouse, so Geoff and I did a tour of the Yarra Bend parklands, including the old Fairlee prison and the Insane Asylum remnants (the gatepost). Then did a tour of Northcote visiting Geoff's old haunts including his old school, Michael, Ivan and Dave's old houses, Geoff's old house and various houses his mum, dad and grandparents used to live in. Kristi returned to Brisbane in the evening.
Lyn, Mary and Marg had lunch with cousin Joan
Sorted stuff with the car in the morning and then home to prepare for tomorrow's departure. Glen got his new home theatre set up and we looked at his NZ cruise photos. _
After manoeuvring the van out of the front yard of Glenroy, we headed out from Glenroy about 12.40pm and stopped in at Sunbury to the real estate agent. It seems every time we go away one of our tenants leaves. Reminisced going through Sunbury again and then headed out on to the Calder Highway toward Vaughn Springs near Castlemaine. It was getting late and would have stopped at Daylesford, but no powered sites at Jubilee Lake camping area and non-powered not suitable for caravans, so decided to move on. Daylesford is a lovely place and stopped briefly at the Botantic Gardens on the hill. Really beautiful with mostly English trees, many planted in the mid-1800's. As it was getting late we didn't go to Hepburn Springs (but did see the chocolate mill on the way out) and thought we'd stop at Mt. Franklin for a look. It has a free camp and part of the Hepburn Regional area so decided to stay. Drop loo, 210 steps from the van, but nice spot away from the generators and little kids. Lots of campers, but plenty of room. Beautiful large mostly English trees, plenty of shade. We'll stay tomorrow night also and do the walk to the summit tomorrow. The camp is in the crater of an old (hopefully extinct) volcano. It was 30 degrees when we left this morning and still hot when we got to Mt. Franklin. However, being in the crater with the rim just behind us, the sun went down early and the cool air descended well before the sunset. So should be a comfortable night. Only problem was we hadn't shopped for food, but had plenty of cheese, biscuits, dip, noodles, pasta packets, bread, vegemite and Kristi's birthday cake. We had plenty of water and power and will probably open our emergency can of Irish Stew tomorrow night. All is good.
Stayed another night at Mt.Franklin. Downside was smoke from camp fires. Not a huge problem, but I do like fresh air. Also road around camp is powdery dust, but luckily the wind blew in the other direction most times. Went for the walk to the summit in the morning, but the trees had grown so much you couldn't see out the lookout. Geoff spoke to John the fire watcher for quite a while and realised why we had got such good reception, both Telstra and Optus. There was a mobile phone thingy on the fire tower. Walked back and finally got to use our gazebo. 20 minutes to put up, but next time will be quicker. Very handy given the amount of mosquitos around. Weather was hot again today but the shade was wonderful and we really enjoyed this spot.
Thought maybe we'd stay another night as it might be difficult getting in somewhere being a Saturday, but it was time to move on. Headed off to Vaughn Springs, halfway between Daylesford and Castlemaine, about 20kms up the road. Much better than the hundreds we usually do. Got to Vaughn Springs, pretty place down a bit of a hole to the Loddon River. Picnic area with a rotunda (which apparently was almost underwater and few weeks ago), the mineral springs pump (of course) and a quite a few shady trees. Old area dates back to the mid-1800's The camp area is directly above that on a plateau with no shade and you walk 212 steps to the loo - steep descent and climb back. Formed sites with 1 tap (not drinkable - river water only which was brackish). Only about 6 sites. Found a spot and met 6 fellow travellers during the time. Day was a stinker, about 36 degrees. As we had eaten our emergency can of Curry stew we went to Castlemaine (only about 20km away) and visited old gold diggings along the way. Went to the old railway station and saw an old steam engine in use, got some water from the botanical gardens loo taps and headed back to camp. Camp was full when we returned and it was still very hot, but the change came through and turned much cooler and very windy, so we folded up the back and side annexes. Had another comfortable night.
Headed off to Maldon, again not too far to travel. Stopped at Cairn Curren reservoir when we had stayed some 35 years ago, but didn't know which road it was, so we saw the reservoir anyway. Finally got to Butts Reserve, but alas there was a bike race on and the camp was closed off with campers and cars associated with the bike race on the other side of the barrier. So booked into the caravan park then set off for our tour of the old gold diggings around Maldon. Saw many of the old diggings and remnant buildings and machinery. Maldon is very much preserved in time, you could film a scene in the main street and not see anything later than the 1800's. We decided to stay another night and see the rest of the sights the next day. Alas, it started to rain on and off in the morning and continued all day, but we still got to see the rest of Maldon and Geoff and quite a long conversation with a train mechanic at the historic railway station. Went back to the caravan park about 3pm to eat and then did a walk around the main street. Even the local IGA store still has the original narrow double glass entry door with a brass handle. Obviously everything is heritage listed. The rain got heavier and it rained all night. ($22pn, bit rundown, amenities just OK, camp kitchen seen better days - crappy toaster, m/v was clean, bbq NEVER been cleaned but unpowered caravan site overlooked parkland camping area nice)
Still raining this morning and packed up in the rain. Headed to Maryborough for fuel, supplies and the information bureau, which was all done in heavy rain. Then went to Avoca were we set up, in the rain, on an open area beside the Avoca river. We were a little concerned about how much rain up stream might cause flooding and then 3 separate locals confirmed they were expecting the river to flood. The hills upstream had had 100mm and 96mm over the last 2 days, so packed up at 6pm, in the rain, and continued on to Ararat where we found Green Hill Lake and set up, again in the rain. The rain got heavier then the wind blew up and it continued overnight. We pulled up the side awning but left the back awing up as it protected us from the rain into the van.
Woke to howeling winds as we were in an open area, but we hadn't float away. The rain had stopped but the winds increased. The caretaker arrived just in time for the three of us to hold down the awing so Geoff could roll it up. Decided to stay another night and found a more protected spot. About midday the cloud partly cleared and I was able to hang out all my clothes that got damp on the trip the day before (yes we have a leak, probably from the window). Went for a walk to the lookout tower and the spillway and my late afternoon the wind had stopped and most of the clouds had gone. Sunset was magic. Caretake said they were expecting more of the same tomorrow (i.e. rain and wind). ($5pn, flush toilets, powerpoint 7am to 7pm, warm showers- must hold tap on)
*—-We have been following the flood situation in Brisbane, Toowoomba and north and feel we are the lucky ones here. Our sincere thanks to all those who have rung or emailed to make sure we were OK either here or at Forestdale and to advise of any problem areas we might encounter on our return trip. We have had some internet coverage enough to seen some footage and to keep an eye on our local weather for the trip —-*
Light rain started around 8am on and off, so checked radar and another big cell was coming, so packed up before showers and breakfast, luckily. By the time we left it was again pelting down. Our next stop would have been Halls Gap and the Grampians, but they had got 100+mm two days before and campers has been swamped. So headed for Hamilton and bought raincoats (our others were not very serviceable). It was still pelting down. The camping shop was an old picture theatre, still with the balcony and fancy artwork - of course Geoff got pictures. On the road again and the pelting stopped and it was just normal rain. Went to Nigreta Falls which is in full flood as it is fed from the Grampians. Arrived at Wannon Falls Reserve and AGAIN set up in the rain (we are getting good at that now). Mozzie heaven again. Will do the walk to the falls tomorrow. Free camp, drop loos, very clean, limited to 1 night supposedly.
News today says the road we took the other day is now blocked (Avoca to Ararat) and that the Grampians got 132mm last night which feed into the Wannon, but We are safe here, quite a steep descent to the falls. Also heard many other areas we went through are either flooded or roads blocked. I think Nana has kept us safe for her birthday. Hoping we can report some holiday information soon. Turned sunny this afternoon and we walked to the falls, along with all the locals who obviously hadn't seem the falls this full for a while and then walked to the old township of Wannon to see the house that wasn't there (apparently the publican couldn't pay his taxes so his patrons put the house on a bullock dray and the house wasn't the when the baillif arrived). We also saw where the old school had been and where the old post office had been. Very interesting blocks of vacant land!! Stayed at Wannon Falls again.
Foggy morning and beautiful sunny day by 9am. Beautiful holiday weather. Heard reports of severe floods throughout central and western Victoria. Luckily we were further south and headed off into the sunshine. Stopped at the old station at Coleraine and then stopped again at Casterton. Bought bananas - silly me only about 20km from the SA border where you can't take fruit in. Walked to the cricket match then spoke to a local with Parkinsons Disease (and has had 3 strokes) in a motorised chair who apparently picks up all the rubbish in the town. Ironically the kids at the skate park pick up the rubbish for him to put in his basket and yet they are the ones who drop it in the first place. The Glenelg river had flooded one of the streets, but other than that all was safe at Casterton. Caught up with Rob and Phil for about 10 minutes then headed off in different directions from Casterton. With our tummy's full of fruit and our petrol tank just about empty we arrived at Mt Gambier and set up at the Central Caravan Park ($26pn). Bit squeezy, right in the town, one road noisy, but still pleasant with shade.
Did a walk through the town today, lovely old buildings all with Mt. Gambier limestone (it is the Limestone Coast after all). Walked to City Cave, a sink hole very deep right in the middle of the town next to the city hall in a park (used as drinking water in the 1800's), visited the old railway station and found their shopping centre at the back of the main street. In the afternoon drove to Umpherstons Sink Hole, magnificant with its hanging ivy and gardens below in this huge sink hole. First developed back in the 1800's. There are lots of lookouts, got to Engelbrecht's cave too late to do a tour. Lots to see in Mt. Gambier. Got all my washing done, even if you needed to cross a city road to the other section. Oh by the way the laudromat is housed in a building which was the first home of the Bank of S.A. in Mt. Gamier, modest but historic. The wind had increased today and got stronger.
Left Mt. Gambier with a headwind and got some help from trucks. Stopped at Southend our first view of ocean for the whole trip and for S.A.. A small sea side town with two sqeezy caravan parks, and fairly well full. Nice views from the point and the sea is very blue, like the seas on the great barrier reef, a torquiose colour. Town is mainly housing, much like the many sea side towns along the NSW coast, has one small take-away store next to caravan park and no other shops. Probably regarded as a distant suburb of Mt. Gambier. It has a large marina and a few old buildings. Continued on to Beachport, very historic with National Trust buildings, main street with large pines, a group of small shops. Booked in to the Southern Oceans tourist park, $28pn powered. 3/4 full but very large park (approx 200 sites) nearly all grassed, many with shade. Did the tourist drive along the coast a bit, lookouts over the town, walked the 700m jetty (built in 1916 it was planned to be twice as long but construction had its bumps along the way, mainly political), the water colour was still beautiful and in the town there are lots of old relics of the bygone era, including the railway water pump and tourist signposts, etc. a very pleasant town open to tourists. Not too busy being the other end of January. The wind had continued all day - very strong.
The wind had died down a little and, again, lucky to get a slipstream from a truck. Turned off to look at the Woakwine Cutting. In 1957 some guy decided to drain in his peat paddock and now it is a lovely furtile field, but he moved hundreds of thousands of tons of rock to create a cutting about 1km long and 20+ mtrs deep. Bit of an overkill if you ask met, let alone changing the ecology of the place. Moved on to Robe where we again caught up with Rob, Phil, Charlotte and Flynn and Phil's parents and brother and family. The kids were having a ball and Flynn loved the wagon attached to the bike. They were in the indoor pool (under supervision of course) as we left. Their caravan park was across the road from the beach over the dunes and again the colour of the sea water was magic. Drove into the town which is a very pretty place, bigger than Southport and two petrol stations, an IGA and other shops, cafe's etc. Has a big marina and lots of historic buildings. The loo in the park is in an old water tank - we'll add that to our collection.
As we headed out on the A1 (Princes Hwy) the sun finally came out. We then stopped at Kingston S.E. a small, spread out town, pretty esplanade with pines (reminded me of Torquay), had a small fish sales place on the water, very wide area for picnics, parking, boat ramp, could do with a few more trees, recreation/playground and loos, very nice quiet place. The wind was again howling off the ocean so had a quick lunch in the van and headed out and found the main town which is actually fairly large, but a long way from anywhere.
Headed towards Cooryong National Park and turned off at the brown tourist sign which said The Granites. 3km (only 1km of dirt road). Arrived at the beach car park and two vans were stopped. Turns out it is a free stop so, being about 3.30pm decided to stay overnight. Wind was howling but got some protection from the other van. NEXT PARA NOT FOR THE SQUEEMISH, BUT FOR OUR RECORD: No loo so first time experimenting with bucket and bury. If anyone had seen us walking down the dunes track, they'd probably think we were off to have a picnic and a drink with our 'Pina Colada mix' bucket (which has a lid by the way). The Granites, as it turns out are 3 or 4 large granite boulders sitting in the sand at the shoreline. I'd love a kitchen benchtop from it. The shoreline here is dead straight as far as the eye can see to the north with Cape Jaffa only just visible to the south. Interesting that the ocean colour here is the normal green you'd see at Torquay and it is not a surf beach as such. There are no trees anywhere just normal dunes vegetation. It continued windy into the evening.
The wind had died down completely and swung around and the sea was calm. It started cloudy but then fined up. After getting caravan tips from another couple, we headed for the Murray lakes. Stopped at a lookout near the breeding grounds of pelicans in the Cooryong National Park and arrived at Meningie at around 3.30pm. Caravan park right on Lake Albert an offshoot of Lake Alexandrina. Picked the grassy unpowered sites near the amenities. Lovely site. $22pn unpowered. Camp kitchen (m/w, kettle, toaster, fridge, hot plates and little oven, tea towel, dishwashing detergent, wettex) laundry - these and all amenities all very clean and lots of trees, even though we didn't have any shade, but didn't matter. Walked into town and back and bought bananas and fish for dinner. Turned out a beautiful sunny day, at last. A little windy but we were protected. Although not waterfront we can see the lake. It's the smaller of the two, and a long way across to the other side, bald hills no trees around the lake, but where it meets Alexandrina it looks the extent of an ocean, quite impressive. It's not particularly a pretty area, but we are here for the legend, not the scenery. Once Geoff has seen the Murray mouth he will be happy, but it means travelling 150km around the lake to see it.
Woke to a beautiful morning which finished off my washing on the clothes line. Stopped at the small grocers in Meningie on the way and turned off at Wellington where there is a free ferry across the Murray. It is here about 100 metres down that the Murray ends and Lake Alexandrina starts. Then started the round trip of 160kms to see the Murray Mouth. Along the way we went through dry, saltbush land, then heaps of vineyards. We took the scenic route through Malinga on the edge. Used to be a bussling steampaddle port, but is now a sleepy town with very wide streets, lots of empty blocks and some historic buildings. By this time it was about 35 degrees and getting warmer. Moved on to Goolwa which is a large town which has an old railway station, a marina and again lots of historic buildings. We took the bridge across to Hindemarsh Island (the one that nearly didn't get built because of 'secret women's business') and headed for the Murray Mouth. After another 11kms we arrived, finally, at the Murray mouth. As I said before we were going because of the legend, not the scenery. Such a piddly disturbance where the fresh water meets the ocean, but a few waves, but of course it has a huge lake behind it so nothing seems to move very fast here. I guess it would have been 35 and 40 degrees so walked down to the waters egde, some sand, then mud, but we did stand in the Murray. Across the sand bar was the excavator doing its job and the barge. So we made it. In restrospect Hindemarsh Island should have been kept in Aboriginal memory as it was, it now have a huge residential canal system with houses that match the Gold Coast mansions and not a tree in sight, but I guess it's for the Adelaide elite and their boats. It surrounds a huge marina which we didn't bother to visit. Got petrol at Goolwa, got the run around in some streets finding the picnic, tourist area and left for Strathalbyn. A smaller town, again historic, got some groceries and found the petrol cheaper than Goolwa the larger town. (By the way on the A1 Limestone Coast, Kingston SE has cheaper petrol than Robe, if you are travelling that way - Robe 143.9c, Kingston SE 127.9c on the same day - of course we didn't know till after we filled up in Robe). On with the story. Left Strathalbyn after going into more dead end streets and stopped at Langhorn Creek (Frank Potts Reserve) surrounded on all sides by vineyards and wineries and a small pub. Free stop, drop loo (new hybrid flush), huge area and lots of trees and many other vans. At 6pm it was still 37 degrees in the van and 35 degrees outside. As the evening wore on a change came through and cooled down. At 2.20pm a car pulls up with radio blaring and people talking for about 15mins and then drove away, thank goodness as I had just fallen asleep to the hum of the vineyard machinery which went all night and the occasional car and truck which thundered by…after all we were next to a main road.
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The morning started off cool and cloudy. Headed back to Wellington and another trip across the Murray on the ferry. Went to Tailem Bend for fuel and took off on a very boring drive of 275km to Ouyen. Stopped at Lameroo for lunch and caught the slipstream of a couple of trucks for a while as we had a strong headwind. Stopped about 30kms short of Ouyen at Walpeup. A very small town with a take-away store, grain silo and a picnic/camp ground. $10pn powered, water, hot showers, washing machines in public toilets and another toilet cubicle in the shower room. Very clean amenities, free bbq and playground. Best value for money. Other caravaners (3) were those working at the grain facility. Graham, the caretaker had a very very old land rover with the door hanging off and no tread on is front tyres at all and was a grain farmer for 50 years. He collected the fee on behalf of the council. It was very hot again today and still in the 30's at 9pm. Graham said he has never seen rain like they had over the last two weeks and got half the annual rainfall in one day. This is the dry part of the state. From tomorrow on we will be dodging flooded areas to the south and north of us, so we have a fine window of opportunity and will double check at the information centre in Ouyen tomorrow before heading off. So many National Parks have been inaccessible which is dissappointing, but now we need to ensure we can get through on the roads.
The morning was coolish but sunny. Packed up and said good-bye to another set of couples/caravans. Another trek in the dry. Stopped at Ouyen to get fuel. The town seems smaller than when I went through about 40 odd years ago. Got some groceries and the toilets next to the council building has showers - noted for another time. Route today is Ouyen, Piangil/Tooleybuc on the Murray, Balranald on the Murrumbidgee and Hay on the same river. Nothing to see for 295kms, but the Hay Plains are actually green except for the cut wheat was yellow of course. Again we had been lucky, they had such heavy rains just recently but all the roads were open, some of the floods still very near the roads (from flash flooding not the Murray river). Arrived at Hay and was still around 36 degrees. Stopped at Sandy Point reserve (free camp) on the Murrumbidgee, the signs still said road closed but the road was now open. Had been flooded. Wide circular camping area ('camping welcome' said the sign) only really two shady trees. One other van got the other one. It is now 7pm and still 36 degrees in the van. The camping area is across from the day picnic area, re-developed last June. Free BBQ, covered picnic tables, flush toilets, a launching ramp (for when it gets so hot in the van you want to dump it). It's saturday so heaps of people with their boats, skiers, families, etc. Walked to the waters edge. Still tempted to go for a swim. Whole reserve is natural bushland, no grass and sandy/dusty on the road in and around picnic area. Magnificant River Red Gums. Only about 200mtrs of dusty road from the paved road. Right on the edge of town. Easily walkable to town centre on a cooler day. Got some good sunset photos.
Nice warm morning, but hotting up fast. Council guy said they had 5“ of rain and washed away most of their new picnic area. Got fuel in Hay. Bit embarrassing, decided to get enough fuel to get to Griffith (considering the 16c/ltr difference between a small town and big town). This petrol station had one person cleaning the windscreen and another putting in the petrol, then Geoff used their loo, all for $20 fuel. We did shop at the supermarket though. On the road of nothingness again, but it was green. This area had also had recent flooding. Can't believe how lucky we have been dodging all the floods. Passed through Darlington Point on turn-off to Griffith. Pretty place on the Murrumbidgee. Continued to Griffith, orange groves, vinyards, etc. everywhere. Parked to go shopping and found we were out the front of the (Donald) Macky Furniture shop…really eerie. The shop is still operating after around 40yrs since his murder. We've never been to Griffith before, perhaps because of the stigma. Seems a nice place, very large town. Headed for Lake Wyangan and the temp around 37 degrees, another stinker. Finally found a little piece of shade. The camp area is very wide, but on a gentle slope to the lake and uneven, mostly dirt. Entry to the lake was the boat ramp so went to have a cold shower, which was warm, at least there was a shower. Hibernated for a while then walked around to the picnic area a few hundred metres away and found no entry to the lake, just reeds. Eventually went for a swim at the boat ramp and felt cool at last, but the shower to get clean again was warmer. Once the Sunday visitors and their boats had left around 8.30pm, it was quiet. It stayed hot until about 10pm, but the van seems to retain its heat from the frigde. Woke to rain, so got up to close the flaps, jammed my finger in the door, got back into bed and then the rain stopped. Plenty of disturbances at night : automatic shotgun fire to keep the birds away all night, cicadas, sheep, goats bleeting all night (there is a deer farm immediately next to the camp), peacocks quarking, but the other camps were very quiet.
Stayed today also. Much quieter with day visitors gone. The Council guys came around and turned the sprinklers on for the only grass they have left after the heavy rain. They really tend the park well, it's not just an isolated piece of area. The lake had been nearly empty for many years, but now full, bit like Eppalock. Had long conversations with both Council guys, one a long term wheat farmer. Again this district had seen unprecedented rain and the weather had been just warm until this week. Another hot one, around 39 degrees. Went for another swim in the lake, not the clearest but it is only mud, probably better out a little. Thank goodness for the lake and the showers.
A shortish drive SE and then north to this tiny town. Free camp at the town park. Arrived with one other van already there and headed for the only small piece of shade in this big open area set aside for overnight vans. This was around 41 degrees. Colin (the Cafe owner, part-time park cleaner and street sweeper) came over and directed us to a much shadier spot next to the bbq and playground (black track pants and black top, the heat didn't seem to bother him but he has lived there all his life). He told us about the pub and co-op and said they were having Australia Day celebrations tomorrow at the pool. There were toilets, a shower room with another toilet - all spotless and newish (even comes with it's own resident Huntsman), a clothes line and free bbq. Colin said to hook up the van's power to the pp on the bbq. Then Rhonda dropped over to tell us about the Australia Day celebrations. She was born in the house across from the park 77 years ago (it used to be a hospital), now she lives 4 houses away. A sign on the pool said to get the key from somwhere. We didn't need any food, but felt I should buy something, so I went to the cafe to buy bread and asked about the pool. Before I could say 'don't make a special effort', Colin rang Mandy and she came over to open the pool. We felt badly as she must stay whilst we were there, but she said she had to open anyway and it's usually open but her boss is away on holidays. Mandy works at the huge feedlot up the road and is secretary of the pool committee. Anyway others arrived and we felt better. Not many places to stay where you can get power, free bbq, hot showers, toilets, local information, a sparkling clean pool all for $7.80 (including a loaf of bread). We were going to go to the pub for dinner but it was just too hot to walk the 100mtrs (and the other couple who'd had a beer there said the pub had no meals) and the Co-op was closed so we couldn't spend any more money at the town and do the right thing.
Colin came over again to ask if we were going to the Australia Day celebrations. We felt badly to say 'no' but it was going to be 45 degrees there today. The town has made a real effort to attract people to stop and support the town and we would have stayed, but for the heat. And unfortunately the Co-op was still closed as it was a Public Holiday. We needed to start heading east to see if it could be a little cooler than 45 degrees. As we left colin was sweeping the gutters and had placed his wheelbarrow almost in the interestion of the main cross road, bit of a traffic hazard for the 10 or so cars which may go through each day.
Went through Condobolin, lovely old town. Saw Gum Bend lake (possible free stop). Nice on a cool day. Moved on to Parkes where it was around 40 degrees, at least it wasn't 45. Headed north on the Newell Hwy and turned off at Tomingley (short of Dubbo) and went into the Goobang National Park. We were the only ones there, got a spot which was mostly shade about 3.30pm and just sat out the heat. It's official, the van does not cool down because the fridge struggles so much that the sink above is almost too hot to touch, so the heat is continuously coming into the van. So the van is always about 3 degrees hotter than ouside. Again a nice spot on a nice day. Only drop loos and no water, but we had our own. Cooked dinner on the free bbq. Too hot to go for a walk. Decided we needed to continue to head east tomorrow.
Of all the hot days we had, every one of the nights after it cooled a little around 10pm, got quite cool so was good to sleep. Same again for last night. Packed up and headed east. Decided to go on an unsealed road for a short distance and can into Yeoval. Another old town, small but nice. The river had previously flooded very high. Had Checked out another free camp for the future and in the process backed over a star stake (how could we possibly do that, we always check first). Had done a U-turn so knew things were clear, but as we backed up (so I could get a better photo) we backed a little off the road. Luckily is only cut into the covering of the van brakes and not the wires themselves, a cut along the underside of the floor and small gouges on the sill where it first hit. Geoff had to hold it down as I drove forward. I thought we would be stranded. Continued on to Wellington where there was no provision for van parking so their supermarkets missed out. Stopped at Flirtation Hill Lookout at Gulgong. It has the narrowest streets and is again a very old town. Stopped under a tree to have lunch, but it was so hot we took off and ate in the car. At least this trip was more scenic with hills and trees, so was quite pretty. Went through Merriwa and on to Scone. Got petrol, found a tree to park under and walked across the road to Woolies (but seemed miles in the heat). I really didn't need to buy anything, we just needed relief from the heat. Weather at Scone was 40 degrees, so much for heading east. Only had travelled a few kms out of Scone when the little white car in front of us swerved on to the road shoulder, in a flash we wondered why was it doing that and then saw the truck on our side of the road. Geoff swerved also on to the shoulder just as the truck came back into his own lane. It only takes a second. We were heading for a free stop south of Tamworth which meant off the highway again, thank goodness. At Wallabadah we saw another free camp, but it was fairly full being on the highway. Would have stopped but most of the shade was taken. Marked this one for future. Turned off the highway (actually the tourist road to Tamworth). Beautiful country, undulating hills, climbing quite high in some places. Not hugely treed but nice and not many cars. Came to Chaffey Dam ($2 pp p/n, $1 shower) huge area and swim in the lake. Long grass and road dusty so moved on and marked this for future. Arrived at Woolomin, huge area, lots of vans, but still room. All nice grass. Bounded by the river. Sun was setting so plenty of shade. Walked down to the river and dunked ourselves. We had arrived about 6.30pm and it was still 38 degrees, BUT it is only expected to get to 31 tomorrow (whereas the other areas will again be high 30s low 40s). I can live with that. We travelled around 450kms today but would only have been sitting in the heat if we stopped shorter. General store was closed so no hamburgers tonight. Cooked the fish outside and had a choice of biting insects outside or sitting in a still very hot van. Again it started to cool around 10pm and we had a good night sleep.
Sunny and wind increasing, but just warm enough. Today we will relax and perhaps another paddle/dunk in the river. Shade came over after midday so van wasn't too bad. This is a lovely spot and could explore other areas, but we just wanted to chill out for a bit. The decision to head east was the right one, as towns inland more were still to experience high 30s+ temps for the next few days. Finally got our hamburger from the general store and did a short walk around the town, then had another swim in the river. Only got to around 30 degrees today. Woolowin is 35km SW of Tamworth on the Peel River. It has a General Store (post office, liquor, petrol, take-away, newsagent, gifts, ice-creams, and basic groceries, tools and accessories) and that's it, except for a few houses. The reserve is accessible by a road a few doors up from the General Store and is unmade for about 100mtrs. It is a huge area, all grassed, some trees with a short, steep track down to the river. River stones and pebbles, very little silt so great to sit and lay in without getting muddy. A little brown, but very clear. There are two power points and I think it's $5 per night power and free otherwise. There were about eight other vans, with enough room to spread out over the area. Flush toilets, paper and hand towels. Geoff met an old work colleague from when he worked at the Port of Brisbane and this guy has been coming here for 13 years. I think this area gets full when the Country Music Festival in Tamworth is on.
Headed off and by-passed Tamworth and travelled on the New England Hwy up the Moonbi Hills (so much for thinking we were lucky to by-pass Cunningham's Gap or the Toowomba range to get home). Went to Armidale to get fuel and re-fill the gas bottle. Beautiful day, crisp, sunny around 24 degrees, we'd beaten the heat. On the way down to Grafton, stopped at the Oxley Wild Rivers national park to view the falls and gorge and then the Arbor Falls. The road down to Grafton was windy, a few uphill bits, but mostly down, beautiful country. Got fuel at Grafton where it was about 28 degrees, but we had drop over 4,000 feet. Headed for Casino and checked out another free camp along the way. Travelled on to Lismore where we got our second takeway for the trip, and went down a street which didn't say 'no through road' and luckily being 6.30pm on a Sunday we were able to go into an empty car park to turn around. The road was actually the back of shops on both sides with separate little car parks behind each building.
The countryside between Lismore and Bangalow (which is on the Princes Hwy) is beautiful, lush, green, vineyards, orchards, etc. It's not far from Byron Bay so would be very expensive. Finally got on to the hwy at Bangalow and that was the end of the countryside. Traffic on the hwy, even through Tweed Heads and Gold Coast was reasonable so the trip was uneventful. Arrived home about 9.30pm (ehh 8.30pm Brisbane time).
Had extremes of weather, torrential rain, managed to dodge floods in NSW coming down, Victoria (just ahead of them) in both central and on the Murray, then 40+ degree heat for around 7 days. We meet heaps of other travellers and after you pull up you just start talking as if you knew them, exchanging tips of locations, van ideas or problems and many you talk about your families. However, we have found on our two short trips that despite the easy communication with people, everyone respects everyone's privacy and you do your own thing. Spoke to a lot townspeople and good to get an insight into the relevant area. The free camps for the most part are not just stopping on the side of the road and you feel safe. Small towns/councils are realising that to keep their towns alive they need to encourage people to stop, not just drive through.