Some of the drone videos as part of Geoffs 70th birthday drone video

Left home around midday about 29 degrees. Before we even got out of Paradise Road the fault lights came on the car. Fortunately Geoff has a fault code app so reset it and all was good. Still deciding which way will we go to get to Melbourne. Decided eventually that we would come in from the east Princes Highway at Cann River. Quite warm driving got over Cunninghams Gap with not too much difficulty. Stopped at a nice little picnic area just over Cunninghams Gap about a kilometre south. Lovely spot with Bellbirds and there was a large tree that had come down with the wind and hovering over the walking track so we called the national park service to report it. It had been very very windy as a result of the tail wind from the cyclone Oma. As we got a late start we thought it might be a bit too long to drive to get to an overnight stop closer to Goondiwindi so we turned at Warwick onto the New England and headed for Beardy Creek rest area at Glen Innes. As we approached Tenterfield we could see smoke in the distance and it was another 20kms before was passed, it was large. Probably the fire east of Tenterfield which had been brought under control and flared up again due to the strong winds. There were helicopters and a BA2000 fire fighting plane and as we passed we could see the wide fire base in the middle of farming country and houses. By 4.30pm we were concerned about wildlife on the road so stopped at Bluff rock rest area. Just a paved car park on a rest area over looking the New England Highway and a large rock Bluff rock in the distance. Very pretty environment but we took a long long time to level the van as it's all sloped. Had a reasonable night's sleep, traffic wasn't too bad, 1 car arrived at 11:30 p.m. and left before we arose in the morning.

Was quite windy last night and the wind was subsiding as we woke at about 6:30 a.m. As we were packing up dark clouds were coming from the east but no rain. Headed off about 7:30 which was actually 8:30 daylight saving time. Clouds stayed black for the trip right through to Glen Innes, got petrol at Glen Innes. (Puma was the cheapest in the town north side) Actually good driving weather as it wasn't sunny. As we climbed the range the temperature went down, by the time we got to Guyra the highest town on the New England it was 13 degrees and very cold so half the temperature that it would be in Brisbane right now. As we headed closer to Armidale the clouds were breaking up and patches of sun. Armidale 25o by arvo 28o at Tamworth and drove through shopping precinct for first time. At 3.00pm stopped at Wallabadah for shower and decided to stay instead of doing two more hours driving. Been here before, nice, back off road, not crowded. Grassed, hot showers, First Fleet memorial (see previous diaries). Still windy. Spent a bit of time checking different roads suitable for caravans not taken before.

The wind gradually subsided during the evening and it was very still in the morning. Headed off about 9 am and got fuel at the tiniest service station in Aberdeen. The lovely old lady who ran the place, Lorna, was very talkative. Travelled further down the new England and turned off at Muswellbrook to go to Sandy Hollow. It is a back road but it was a good sealed road at least half of the land along that 15 kilometre road was all open cut mining, huge area carved out. It is the Hunter Valley afterall. From Sandy Hollow we turned onto the Bylong way which runs between the Goulburn national park and the Woolemi national park. We stopped at the first picnic area and Geoff did some videos of some unusual rock formation. Expected mid 20s temperature today which is good. Further along the road we came to Cox's Gap which is a steep climb up and then just as steep coming down, there is a railroad tunnel going right underneath that bit of mountain and we stopped at a clearing obviously a railway works clearing down the other side of the and we finally got to see the actual tunnel where the trains come through, they're all mining trains very long. All this area is windy, but sealed roads. A couple more passes we needed to go up and down but the road remained fairly good and had an uneventful trip down into Rhylstone where we had been before and the road from there on travelled through to Kandos and past Telford and we had intended to go via Sofala to Bathurst and then on to Black Springs but it was getting late and once again we were concerned about wildlife on the road at dusk. We went straight south from Ilford to Wallerwarang not far from the Great Western Highway. Reports were very good it's on a lake hot showers toilets little did we know that it was in mining country and a power station overlooked the lake, however it was quite pleasant. (Toilets said open between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. but they were still open at 6). Site was dusty. Overall a parklands settings. Toilets a long walk from camp.

Awoke to very thick fog this morning. Last night had been much cooler and we had the two doonas on. Left around 9:30 but had a nice hot shower. Took a turn onto a road we hoped would be sealed which it was, quite up and down but it was a good cut a cross onto the road to Oberon a cute little place, we continued on until we got to Black Springs. Stopped at Black Springs where we had intended to stop last night, pleasant park like area with drop loos shady trees in the middle of a tiny little town. Stopped there for a break, continued along very good road towards Goulburn. Near Porters Retreat the road went down very very steeply just as steep as the Toowoomba range, up the other side was not quite so bad then backup onto the plateau. Overall the road has been very good partly rough in places but i don't think i'd like to go in the other direction with the van up that sleep hill towards Porters Retreat. The road takes us between Abercrombie national park and the Blue Mountains national park. A lot of it is pine forest or just general forest so a very pleasant trip even though the roads were winding with many up and down to and from the plateau, so more challenging a drive but still much better than being on highway. Stopped at Talgarra another nice little town with an avenue of very large poplars. Moving into the town Geoff flew his quadcopter. Arrived at Goulburn found a parallel park not far away from the supermarkets then fuelled up and then after a confusing exit proceeded to go down the Hume then onto the Federal Highway bypassing Queanbeyan and Canberra. We knew we wouldn't make Cann River tonight so stopped at Newmerella rest area just north of Cooma for the night. Upper level is a large, level gravel area with about 6 other vans, the backdrop is piles of dirt but we are a little lower from the highway and even though there is Highway noise it is muffled somewhat. Looking out to the west is just beautiful looking over a green plain with poplars there is a little river at the back but fairly overgrown. Windy loos which don't smell bad, bonus. Weather today 13 degrees in Wallerawong when we left at 9:30 this morning, it then gradually went up to around 33 degrees as we bypassed Canberra.

Cold overnight and sun didn't come up till 7 a.m. plus as we were behind a cutting it took a while for the sun to heat up the van. Had a nice, short 2 hour trip through Cooma, Nimmitabel and Bombala and down the Monaro Highway through lovely winding forest down to Cann River. Arrived at Cann River around 12:30pm and filled up with deisel again. United petrol station was the cheapest in town, went to the ex-caravan park just over the bridge and found a spot. it's a lovely environment individual sites, town water taps to each side, flushing loos and cold showers and lots of shade. A restful afternoon fixing up our electronic gear and waypoints, speaking with other campers and went for a walk into the township, about 3 cafes, a pub, and not much else but welcoming. It was nice not to have to rush and just had some relaxing time. Used the solar shower for the first time on the trip just to take the chill out of the cold water and used it in that amenities shower block.

It was little cool at night and about 13 in the morning - still can't get used to the sun not coming up until 7am. Had breakfast and took our time and left just before 9. Dropped in to see Auntie Lois in Orbost with the weather expected to be 35 degrees today. Back on the road and we stopped at a picnic area right next to the Nowa Nowa River, it was quite pleasant but it was getting very hot. Back on the road and took the Nowa Nowa to Bruthen Road to bypass Lakes Entrance couple of kilometres shorter, a little bit more up and down but avoids having to go through slowly Lakes Entrance. Not far out of Bairnsdale and the temperature is now 38 degrees. By the time we got to Bairnsdale it was down to 31 degrees. Not far out of Bairnsdale and the temperature has gone up to 37 go figure. It remained 37-38 degrees until we arrived at Willow Park at Rosedale about 30kms east of Sale. Couldn't find a level shady spot so we had to sit in the sun for a while hot and distressed then the clouds came over and by 6 p.m. It was cloudy with thunderstorms threatening from the north. New loos and shelter being built at the park. It has been dry as one of the Willows has been cut out - they were the feature of the park and the remaining ones are looking very dry and sparse. Overall it's been a hot day today and the cars air conditioning has been intermittently not working for the last couple of days so we need to check that out. Temporary loo was over full and pretty ordinary Geoff tried to top it up with a bucket of water but the toilet was actually full and needed to be cleared out - other campers said it had been reported 3 days earlier. We always have a contingency plan. The weather cooled a little and was a bit more comfortable, this is a lovely park but there is constant noise from the traffic as the highway is elevated and particularly as traffic goes over the bridge the noise echoes but hey it's a free camp.

Mild night last night but no rain. Drove directly to Mary and Jim's house via Warragul shops and the temperature gradually rose to 38 degrees by early afternoon. Ivan and Marg dropped in in afternoon on their way back from Pakenham as they left we noticed a large smoke plume to the north.

It had been an extremely hot night and by morning the fire had escalated in the Bunyip State Forest and 900 hectares had been burnt. It was decided that we would evacuate to Lee's house in Berwick. The fire was only a couple of kilometres to the east but the wind was heading south and blowing away from Mary's house but we were worried about ember attacks. Lee had only just left the day before for Germany so we set up house at his place. Lyn had come over on the ferry from Queenscliff so we met her at Lee's. The three of us had the emergency Vic app on our phones and spent the day keeping an eye on emergency notifications. Again a very hot day probably about 39 degrees and the fire was still out of control and the Princes Highway was fully blocked between the Nar Nar Goon interchange and Drouin turn off for the second day so we were lucky we left when we did and we got through before the highway was closed. Throughout the day we watched the number of hectares burnt rise significantly and it was about 10,000 hectares. We parked the van out the front of Lee's in the street and leveled it slightly and slept out there.

It was a very warm night and another hot day. Lyn left to go home mid afternoon. Hectares burnt during the day rose to around 11500. Mary Jim and Steven drove back via a back road that a neighbour had said was still open so they collected bedding etcetera and there will still power on at the time. Later in the day Mary got a notification to say the power had been cut off. Geoff, Jim and I walked over to Woolies in the heat just to get out of the house. Cool change came through about 8 p.m. so was much more comfortable sleeping although the traffic noise is a bit loud.

As with Melbourne weather generally, the change brought much cooler weather and fully cloudy. Hectares burnt had risen to over 12,400 and the fire was still out of control. Fire front is gradually moving further and further away from Mary and Jim's house so all being well pending any dramatic wind change we think they will be safe but can't go home until the power is restored because they have no water because they have to pump the water from the tank. Power won't be restored until before 10 p.m. tonight.

As the power was most likely back on, Jim went home to check and Mary was preparing to go home later if it was on. We decided instead of going back to Mary and Jim's and set the van up for one night we would continue on towards Chris and Sue's. Said our goodbyes to Mary and Jim and the kids then dropped in to see Robyn and Phil and then over to Geoff's sister Diane as she just injured her ankle a few days before and was not going to be at the dinner on Wednesday night. Followed Mrs Googles directions through many many many new housing estates coming across from Doreen to Greenvale and had fish and chips for dinner at a shopping centre which was somewhere near South Morang. We are yet to check the track but the fish and chips were lovely and crunchy and fresh. Arrived at Chris and Sue's about 9pm and set up the van in the dark.

Continued to get notifications from emerhency Victoria and so far in hectares burnt was 15,500. Did some van housekeeping and caught up with Sue, she wasn't working that day. Geoff started to walk to our block to do some quadcoptering and came across Sue's dad, Russell, who offered him a lift. It later started to rain and Sue jumped in the car to go and pick up Geoff but came back empty-handed. Geoff had found the local shops but he still came back looking like a drowned rat. He then did some quadcoptering over Chris and Sue's house and her dad came down and Geoff chatted with him for almost an hour. Mary confirmed that they stayed at Lee's again Tuesday night and she dropped the kids at school on Wednesday and then home for Wednesday night. It had rained a bit during the day which ensured they will be totally out of danger. Had dinner at the Highlands Hotel in Craigieburn with Dave and Trish, Robyn and Shaun and Ray and Joh who luckily were in Melbourne at the time. A pleasant night was had by all.

Geoff found we had a flat tyre in the car. We have enough air in the tyre to get us to the petrol station to top it up then went to Roxburgh Park and found Somerton tyres just over the railway overpass who fixed it (a nail was the culprit) went to do some shopping at Roxburgh Park and got home around 4:30 p.m. And then the Murphy's left at various times to do their Thursday basketball and we prepared the van for an early departure the next day.

We had set both alarms for 4:45 a.m. However an alarm went off at 1:52 a.m. and we still haven't been able to work out what it was but dual alarms did go off at 4:45 a.m. As we had pulled the roof down, hooked up the van to the car and put the legs up to save time and prevent noise in the morning, all we needed to do was take the van off the ramp and take the jockey wheel off so left Chris and Sue's at around 5:15 a.m. Mrs Google took us via Westfield Drive next to the Westfield shopping centre because she said part of the Western Ring Road was blocked but there were cars on it but we got to where we needed to go anyway. On arrival there were vans lined up and as we came out of a side street through the roundabout they had to give way to us so we weren't far from the start. The last of the arrivals of the boat had just left and we started to move into the dock boarding area. Quarantine check, they searched the van, the boot of the car in the back of the front seats. As I had re-defined the length of our car at booking time it only registered for one leg so there was a difference in length. We paid the additional $80 but I thought it would be $91 so it was ok. The Spirit of Tasmania is actually not too bad, the trip over was relatively smooth but the propellers need realigning as they whired and hummed and vibrated the whole time. Arrived at Devonport at around 7 p.m. and we headed straight for Forth as our first stop. We didn't realise that the long weekend was also in Tasmania so there were a lot of vans but we managed to find a spot. We thought the weather would be cold as it was only 10 degrees just south of Hobart but driving to our first destination it was 19 degrees and so far it has been a relatively mild evening, but it is Tassie.

Had a late start this morning about 9 a.m. Some vans started to go around 6:15am obviously catching the ferry back. Forth stop is supposed to be self contained but there were toilets not too far away. We took the coast road from Ulverstone to Penguin and stopped at a few places along the way. Very pleasant seaside scenery and a lovely drive. Instead of stopping at the supermarket at Ulverstone we thought we would do that at Burnie but that was a big mistake. Burnie doesn't seem to cater for caravan parking and could not find a car park to suit the van. There was supposed to be showers but being in the middle of the large town or city we really couldn't get any where near it or the Coles supermarket. We had to go out of town to a Woolies and then had difficulty as the hilly side streets are no standing but as we managed a u-turn in the little street then did a u turn on the main street and found a 30 minute parallel park so we pulled up right out the front of Woolies after all that. Back on the road and it was lunch time we were heading for Stanley which was another 85 km away. We stopped at a lookout will check the name on the track later and only just managed to do a u turn up in the top car park. Back on the highway we passed through Wynyard town and stopped at a small reserve overlooking the river for lunch and Geoff did some droning. It was looking like it would be really late by the time we returned back and then head back into the mountains for our next stop but just up ahead was Boat Harbour Beach and decided to go to the loo but realised it was an overnight rest stop but all reports said it was very busy and being a long weekend we thought it would be chockers. However when we got there there was one spot left easy peasy, however trying to get it level was another story. After using all the blocks of wood we had and too large boulders from the beach we failed to get van high enough to make it level so we decided to unhook the car and just managed to get the van level. Boat Harbour Beach is just beautiful we backed into a mostly grassy spot that literally looks over a rocky beach. There are toilets in the picnic area and the other side is a beautiful white sandy beach and magnificent turquoise water that would be more suited to North Queensland very surprising. It was about 22 degrees today, mostly sunny it was very pleasant, so Geoff went for his first paddle about 4:30pm just as it was starting to get a bit cooler. It is so nice we will stay tomorrow night also and there is a walk we can take up on the point.

Another late start (can't get used to it being dark at 7 in the morning) which was good and we spent the best part of an hour in the morning speaking to Harold and Cathy in the small van beside us, both originally from Scotland (but Wynyard locals) so Geoff was in his element. Was cloudy most of the day until about 3:15pm where the sun started to break through. It was probably around 17 to 18 degrees but still reasonably pleasant. Went for a walk out to the headland and Geoff took a couple of videos with the drone. Headed back about 2pm and had lunch, just a lazy afternoon which was good. A little bit more windy today but nowhere near as bad as we expected, it was just a breeze but did increased a little later in the day so we were lucky. The geology of the area is quite interesting. The little bay we look out onto is mostly all rocky sandstone, shale with black rocks, sandy stone rocks and other smooth boulders all making it at low tide very moonscape looking and the tide goes out a fair way. Directly around from the headland is the beach which has white sand and the water is a beautiful azure which would match any tropical beach. The rocks on the head land itself have a bright orange lichen which makes a spectacular overall view of the rocks. Today was, according to Kathy, (they live not far away and came for a couple of months) going to be a regatta. It turned out it was a group of people with funny boats blow up boats and people dressed up in funny costumes there was the lady dressed as Wonder Woman and a few other Delights. We missed the race because we went back to get the camera by the time we got back over they were already back at shore but I think it must have been very cold in. Kathy and Harold departed for home and the wind was dropping a little.

It's was cold again last night but the wind has dropped right down and it was a beautiful sunny morning. We decided not to continue to Stanley but we did go to Sisters Beach a little bit further along. Absolutely beautiful, it's near the Sandy Cape national park, it is a little town at the end of the road on the beach with a little estuary running out to the sea. All surrounded by and amongst trees. The calm water beach is in a very large bay surrounded by rocky headlands. Went back into Wynyard to get fuel and supplies then headed inland and arrived at Hellyer Gorge just after lunch time. Road in was sealed and very good and it was windy and then became very very winding going down to the river and the gorge. We camped on the side of the road that has the toilet with camp spots on the other side of the road also, both camp spots being in amongst trees. After navigating the van on some uneven ground we walked along the river. It is beautiful in amongst tall trees and many many large tree ferns. Unfortunately we didn't see any platypus. In Wynyard it was 19 degrees, on arrival at Hellyer gorge was 13 degrees. The sun came out occasionally but mostly overcast and we are expecting a cold night we have the gas heater ready. Flush loos, non potable water tap, shelter.

Put the gas heater on briefly to warm up the van last night. Started to rain early in the morning but didn't get too wet packing up. Left at about 7:30 as today would be a long drive through Zeehan and then Queenstown. Diverted to Cradle Mountain instead of doing it later in the trip. It was 4 degrees at Cradle Mountain. Can't take the van (or cars) any further than the visitors centre but there are shuttle buses that taking people to Dove lake and the foot of Cradle Mountain and stops along the way where you can do various walks. We got to Dove lake, took a quick photo of Cradle Mountain in the mist and stayed on the bus and then got out at the ranger station. We did two beautiful short walks through moss covered glade, a couple of waterfalls and a beautiful river it was lovely. The other walks were out on the open (probably ski fields) and not for the faint hearted. Caught the shuttle bus back and were back on the road to resume our journey just after 11 am but well worth the divert. There were lots of people coming in as we left so the busses would we getting a lot more crowded at least we did not have to wait at all. Got back to our original route and passed through Rosebery where we had lunch and looked at Stitt falls - it was raining on and off. Rosebery is a mining town, we still didn't work out what they're mining. Moved on to Zeehan. Not much in this town, was another old mining town but had lots of lovely old buildings, a cafe and I think that's all. There was even the petrol station self service. I think there were only tourists in the street. Geoff wanted to look at the same engine which was on display outside a building apparently the museum cost $25 and $2O concession, as we were running very short of time we declined. (Found out later that we had missed an old mining tunnel that we could have visited but we were way behind with our brochure reading). We still needed to get to Queenstown and beyond and it was already 3 p.m. we had not intended to go to Strahan but decided to go and just 13 kilometres (half of the way solid gravel)south was Macquarie heads with a beautiful little camping area. $7 was very cheap for a camping area but there were only drop loos in a cobwebed timber hut, a tap under a tank and no drinking water. However the environment and the view over the bay/harbour made up for it. Lovely grassed sites protected from the wind which was howelling through at the waters edge. Geoff and I sat on a log, soaking up the last of the afternoon sun watching the little birds (either wrens or robins) flitting around.

The night was cold again of course and we put a little gas heater on to warm up the van in the morning. Drove down further along the track towards the heads then walked past the other little loos on a sandy track out onto a wide beach, it was just beautiful. Walked a bit further towards the heads (I think they call this Hell's Gate) until we could see waves of the ocean but it was really cold so went back to the car. Headed back towards Strahan and went out to the ocean beach which is the southern ocean and the actual west coast of tasmania. I think it was one of the better days, it was only 10 degrees but the rain clouds had cleared and it was quite sunny and it wasn't too windy. Geoff did some droning from the beach and I watched from up in the car park. As there was no one around on this isolated beach he was able to go further afield. He was having a ball with the drone, went out beyond wave breaks and zoomed along the beach and it would have been a fantastic video had he remembered to turn on record, ahh. The second flight with record on was a little shorter but we are hoping that he will have captured the vision he was after. Back into Strahan as we had not checked out the town last night. We had a hot shower at the boat harbour and bought two pieces of huon pine and we will sand those back and oil them up as mementos of our trip. The little woodworking shop that was selling slabs for tables, benches even cutting boards sourced them from wood laying in the forest as this timber is now rare and protected and not allowed to be harvested so the timber they are selling may be hundreds of years old and still smells fantastic. Strahan is a very pretty town on a small harbour inset from the huge Macquarie Harbour which looks a bit like Port Phillip Bay. A nice little harbour, the gordon river tours go for here and there are some lovely old buildings. Headed towards Queenstown and the road was very winding but very picturesque. Arrived at Queenstown and eventually found a car park up the hill went to a small iga to get Geoff's potatoes for friday night and some other groceries. we then went down a backstreet so Geoff could fly his drone away from people however where we pulled up was opposite a house where two old 'codgers' were sitting on the veranda having a cuppa. they didn't seem to mind at all actually showed no interest so Geoff could fly in the park without bothering anyone. Queenstown being and old mining town had some very old houses (some dumpy) many built into the side of the hills that's around the town and some old historic buildings. We then drove to the famous football field that has no grass and then headed towards derwent bridge. We stopped at a look out half way up the hill out of queenstown and compared present day with a photo we took in 1974 it is a bit greener now but not lush and probably with acacia which are short lived. Interesting how long sulphur stays in the soil that prevents regrowth. climbing further out through the hills they are still very bare but they have their own beauty with varying colours of yellow through to orange. Geoff remembers this road out of queenstown as been unmade when we came down 45 years ago. I don't remember because i was taking the photos from the back of the bike. As we had a few stops to make, a look out and waterfalls, rivers, etc we decided that derwent bridge may be too far today. we stopped at Thureau boat ramp which is also a camping area. we met other campers there peter and teresa and another van and an older gentleman on a camping trip with his two sons apparently he is quite ill and he'll be returning to have radiation therapy hope he is ok. One of his son's caught a rainbow trout and peter wanted a photo to send back pretending that it was his. We walked down the boat ramp and it is a very large lake, picturesque, managed by hydro tasmania. level is down at the moment and as there is no drought in this area it is probably something to do with electricity demand. Although sunny and cold this morning, it was cloudy the rest of today and probably didn't get above 12 degrees i had my parker and scarf on nearly all day i think the heater will be out again tonight. We are at a higher elevation than last night which was at sea level. Six other vans tonight. Ended up speaking with pat and gary and peter and teresa for about an hour. what a rowdy bunch they are, Geoff could hardly get a word in! But we had some laughs. we finally came into our van just after 7 p.m. for dinner. Generally now frozen chicken different in the fridge during the day journey her river we didn't count on the cold weather it was still frozen when we arrive even know you had only the new message all day. We have been using the jaffle iron a lot and found inventive ways of cooking meals in it instead of the large caste iron pan.

Very cold night but we had the heater for the morning took off and more winding scenic roads very beautiful stopped at Nelson Falls just beautiful short walk to the falls the falls a lovely all tree ferns a long way a couple on the walk who had been behind us told us our left brake light was not working so Jeff checked and discovered that the globe had blown we moved on 2 the Franklin River where the Rafters go in and come out at Macquarie heads or on the Gordon River another nature trail with tree ferns next to another part of the Franklin River another stop doors, Donaghy's hill. I thought it said 10 minutes return but it was actually 40 minutes return wonder guide The Trap kept going quite steep near the end but the view was magnificent. Only did 97 km when we arrived at Derwent Bridge Wilderness Hotel. After unhitching we went the 5 km down the road to Lake St Clair. It was really a nostalgic trip and where the car park used to be leading down to the lake. unfortunately a huge visitor centre is there instead. Jeff had old photos of our last trip and the national park lady was very keen for him to email this to her. did a quick walk around what did not go on any long walks. dropped in to look at the derwent basin and assuming the beginning of the derwent river on the way back. On arrival back at the hotel there were about 3 van spots left and there were about 30 vans there overnight so we are glad we unhitched and left the van there.

It was cold again overnight and when we were hitching up it was very fine rain it was so fine it was falling like snow very gently. Check the van lights as part of our checklist and found we had no brake lights and still didn't work after jess fiddled around checking for a blown light globe and using the multimeter to check the voltage. It was still drizzling rain as we set off prepared to turn the park light on every time jeff braked. On the way to some towns we stopped at a monument which marks the centre of tasmania and it was buy a lagoon.(putting about leaving the van door open and losing my cup) when we were there we spoke to another caravan guy who gave us a tip about separating the pins to see if that would help with the brake light. unfortunately that didn't work. We thought we might buy a new globe as Ouse or Hamilton but there was nothing the towns are too small. petrol at hamilton only self service and it was not working, but we had enough fuel to get to the national park so just filled up on the way. From derwent bridge land came out of forest with rolling hills all the way to mount field national park introverted to windy treed roads. And the sun has been shining most of the day we were delighted when did win tub to 17 degrees. Mount field national park is beautiful and at the base is the campground and lovely camp area. it is 17 kilometres further along to the ski fields. We settled the van and then did our walk to russell falls and again compared a photo of when we were there last. there are boundaries around the falls so you can't walk where we walked 45 years ago and it is all overgrown with tree ferns but we got a picture. we continued along the walk through the tall trees walk and then on to lady barron falls. walk back up was 293 steps straight up so i was exhausted by the end of the day, 7 kilometres all up. Walk was spectacular tree ferns everywhere they are almost like weeds they are just beautiful. The sun has been shining all day and the still relatively mild in the evening compared to previous nights. Campground have showers and laundry but the laundry was still wet in the morning. $16 on powered $20 powered.

Not quite as cold but still very chilly this morning very overcast was supposed to be 26 degrees we checked the van lights and we found that we have no brake lights now. Ran into peter and teresa the couple we had met at Thureau dam so we chatted a bit more it turnd out they have also been at derwent bridge the night before but we missed each other even know we were a couple of vans up from each, other small world. Headed for gordon damn and the road is very picturesque we went through a few kilometres of where they had recent fires and it is very sad to see the forest burnt like that we stopped at a few places and jeff was able to do some quadcopter ring as you're not allowed to do it in the national park. Decided to stop short at lake pedder and will do gordon damn tomorrow as it was about 80 kilometres to gordon dan from mount field national park and return as there are no other road out. Ted's beach is in the national park and has a small camping area and both ramp as we got there early we had no trouble finding a spot geoff went for a paddle on lake pedder and he explored everything that could be explored along the shoreline and little island as i think lake pedder had been inundated to be created that was the subject of protest back in the 70s. As my washing had not dried overnight at the national park it was a good opportunity to hang the washing out i checked the car temperature in the afternoon and it was 24 degrees it was a magnificent day and i believe it that is rare particularly on the wild west wilderness so we were there lucky. Lake pedder is a very tanin colour and at Ted's beach which has all white rocks large and small to very fine pebbles. it is a stunning view particularily when the brown Tamin water washes overly white rock. There is a short walk along the beach and onto a boardwalk with 3 wooden landings looking over the water and button grass in landscape again very pretty. Met sam and yong and a couple of others. After the sun had set with a few clouds the sky turned pink and the colour on the lake was stunning.

Sunrise on the lake pedder was beautiful with fog in the valley. Got an early start and headed towards gordon dam on the way was a beautiful lookout over the lake and it was sunny but frog lower down in the valley and on the water. we arrived at gordon dam and it was all foggy we waited there for about 45 minutes and the fog came and went we did got a couple of photos of the dam during the fog break we saw sam and yong once again. When the fog did clear occasionally you could see how deep the gorge is and it was a bit scary. It felt like you were looking down from a mountain. it was going to be a long drive today we drove the hundred kilometres back past mount field national park (and a loo break) and headed into hobart stopping briefly at new norfolk for a supermarket the trip. Driving through hobart was relatively easy but we still made one wrong turn. Is was mrs google fault. we climbed out of hobart on what seems to be a new highway at least since 1974 and headed on down to huonville franklin and other areas. These are old boat building areas Port Huon is where all the apples would be exported, Franklin has a history of wooden boat building. Huonville is the most southern largish town in Australia, so i guess its Woolies store is most southern store in australia. we had intended to get to Cockle Creek but 19 km before that it became a gravel road so we stopped at gillams beach. Smallish area but we set up and there were clean toilets next to us. I met a lady walking along the road which was unusual as it was out in the middle of nowhere. i spoke to her and she said the main camping area was 100mtrs further along because we had setup we decided to stay but it was good to know there were 5 other vans close by. Gilham's beach is on Rechurche bay and is part of the national park. The beach was literally across the road from our caravan. Beach is between 2 rocky headlands and it was really beautiful. it would have been really good to go to cockle creek as that is the farthest you can drive south in australia but at least we made it to 4 kms short of that.

It had drizzle rain overnight. Took some Sunrise photos and then headed back the 12 km of gravel road it was about 13 degrees and mostly sunny. We stopped in at Geeveston with the intention of doing the Tarkune nature walk where the tall trees are but there had been large bushfires over the last couple of months the lady at the information centre said that unfortunately many of the large trees had been destroyed in the fire and had fallen. the centurion tree which is the tallest flowering tree in the world they had feared was burnt they now believe that it has survived she said there are no tracks to the tree and when I asked if the public are allowed to trek in on the land she said yes if you can find the coordinates so obviously the national parks people do not want anyone going near the tree it's location is secret and it explains why I couldn't find it's location on the internet. We went along the Platypus walk but there were none to be seen only Ripples and splashes in the river so no trees and no platypus. We got fuel and Geoff bought 3 brake light globes he replaced the globes then tested the brake lights again and thankfully one brake light was now working so we will wait till we get back to Brisbane before we get an auto electrician. Stop at Huonville Woolies the next stop was Mount Wellington. We came in the back way a long a very winding up and down Road and tried to do a u-turn at one stage which was not successful got eventually to the top of Mount Wellington very steep but the views are magnificent probably took a photo of every rock formation to try and capture the one I had my photo photo taken when I was down with the sports carnival in 1968. We were up in the clouds which were passing very quickly so we eventually got some really good shots of Hobart below including the Wrest Point casino and the Tasman Bridge. Travelled down through Hobart and even though it was 15 the traffic was not too bad and we got to the Tasman Bridge quite easily and headed north east we stopped at Triabunna and had fish and chips at the little fishing town and then moved on to Mayfield Conservation Area we arrived about 5:30 p.m. and very lucky to get a spot up the back and I think it was the last spot in amongst a lot of other vans but at least we didn't need to move. It is right on a beautiful beach with rocky headlands at either the end of the beach. Geoff flew his drone again and we saw a seal flapping his flippers in the water but didn't see him again so did not get a photo. Lovely beach but very cramped camping area and sloping track right down to the toilets.

It was quite mild overnight relatively speaking left about 9 a.m. and it was cloudy but dry. Did not do the divert to Coles Bay and Freycinet peninsula which was on the opposite side of where we had camped last night. The highway was a good run mostly at sea level or just above. The hills Mountains just inland had cloud below the tops and we could see we were travelling into Iranian area it was 20 degrees but slowly went down to around 19 or 20 which is still pretty good for what we had been used to. Stopped at a lookout which is provided by the local winery and a lovely view of moulting Bay further along the road Jeff could hear a noise in the car he had stopped to check out if the mud flap was rubbing on the wheel but there was nothing when he got back into the car he could still hear it and then I could hear it so he pulled over and when he turned the engine off the noise was still there and getting louder with thought it was something under the engine or the fire wall I was about to get out and had an inkling so I turn the radio off and the noise stopped it was just static from the radio thank goodness. We stopped at Bicheno Blowhole which was interesting and Grosvenor Island which is just a huge rock or series of rocks just off the beach and Bicheno is basically a fishing Port. Lovely glimpses of the coastline as we went along went through Scamander which is a another fishing Port and on into St Helens. From there we headed towards Binalong Bay and then turned off to the Bay of Fires where there are large boulders on the beach and orange lichen which brightens up the rocks but apparently it was named because some Explorer for Aboriginal fires from the beach and called it Bay of fires. Stopped in at the first campsite Gina it campsite but the available spots were a little small or uneven as we were there about 12:30 we thought there may be something more suitable down the road as there are three other campsites we gave the second campsite and this and went for the Third again fairly busy as it is a 28 day limit so not many people leaving we found a spot and decided to prop but of course I was always wondering what the other campsite looked like. Just walked quickly to the beach which is just over a gym and it is beautiful the water is really blue the sand is white the bold as a large and have that same orange lichen on them walking back to the car it started to drizzle and then rained for about an hour or so so I think we had been driving into the rain just before 4 p.m. the rain stopped but it is still cloudy the campsite appears to be black sand but we are camped under a conifer so underfoot there are a lot of Nettles so a little bit cleaner under foot. During the rainy time I had plenty to do with updating the waypoints on the computer and doing this travel diary and checking out where to stay for the last two nights on the road the last night before we leave we will go back to Forth where we stopped the first night. Went for a walk along the beach there are large Boulder out crops in three separate places and bright orange with the lichin over it checked out the other camping areas as I do the coastline is just beautiful and more interesting than just a straight Long Beach. Jeff flew his drone and hopefully got some good shots as it was raining earlier and not much visibility.

It's drizzled on and off overnight but was just Misty very fine rain in the morning we packed up and went and checked out the other camp spots that we hadn't seen yesterday we then went into St Helens there is a drinking water tap just before you get back into St Helens from the Binalong Bay Road there are toilets next to the RSL right behind the shopping centre car park. We then went in search for the motel that Jeff and I had stayed out in 1974 we went around the corner saw some units which were slightly different and then as we drove drove off we looked down a side way and saw what looked like the units we pulled over went past a number of units and they were exactly the same went around the corner and dear we found unit 23 which is the one we had stayed in I wanted to do one very quick photo as there was no car out the front so I assumed it was empty but Jeff being Jeff wanted to make sure that it was empty so he peeked through the window I was not impressed I bolted off back down to the van in case they had video surveillance. Jeff didn't see the problem in looking through the window of a motel room but luckily there was no one in there. As we were parked in a long vehicle Park a lady came up and asked us where abouts from Queensland movie she has a house in St Helens but lives in Cleveland in Brisbane and we chatted her for a while her name is Betty she invited us for a cuppa but we needed to get back on the road. Headed out on the A3 highway and it was still very Misty and light rainbut started to clear even though the clouds were low on the hills we were heading for. The A3 is a sealed road all the way through to Scottsdale but windy but beautiful scenery it comes out into rolling hills and farms at the foot of the hills and then through the hills through the tree fern windy roads very nice. We stopped at Pyegana for a shower it is a free camp and a huge area it is such a pretty place not much shade that surrounded by farmland and cows shower was good $2 for 3 minutes and hot we would have stayed but we needed to move on closer to Scottsdale tonight. We stopped at a lookout that wasn't a lookout any more as trees it overgrown and spoke to David and Anne Marie they were heading to St Helens to meet up with friends for five days. We continued on through winding Fern Tree lined roads and undulating Fields dodging at least one van that was on the wrong side of the road going around the tight bend. We passed through the little town of Derby where there were road bike race is on and had past two lots of riders going in the opposite direction Derby is a lovely little town with historic buildings the free camp there was very busy but probably because of the bike races there are two shops in the town with bikes out the front so obviously it is a bicycle town. We moved on to our destination which was branxholme. Centenary Park another free stop a smaller area backing onto houses but plenty of greenery to separate the two they also had showers there and electric barbecues pizza across the road and a little IGA it is a lovely little spot it is the town park and also the site for the swimming pool which is now closed for the season but apparently is free this area I think is an ex caravan park there is some Road noise but I believe it gets quieter during the evening. Geoff flew his drone again. We got there about 2:30 p.m. and there are a couple of tents that look like they have been there for a while. Turns out it is 14 days camping but we still keep our distance. one guy who is sitting in A 4wd when we arrived what still sitting there all afternoon and was sitting in his car in the morning. Geoff had spoken to him and he said he was prospecting and waiting for a friend. he was probably just a drifter and he did say the person in the tent down the back around the corner was a bit of a troublemaker so Geoff didn't pursue that one. I was quite pleased when 5 other vans arrived for the night. We had patches of sun in the afternoon and temperature was around 23 degrees. and then the misty rain started again. It was a peaceful night so all was good. The park has toilets and paid showers soap for washing hands and showers and paper towel and toilet paper and excellent flush loos very clean and new. And the other end of the park it also had toilets and a laundry in an old brick toilet block. Across the road was a pizza place and iga and an italian cafe restaurant. Not long after we arrived Geoff had another go at fixing the break lights he fiddled with a wire that was loose and bingo all the break lights are now working woohoo.

Being on the A3 which is a main highway even though there was little traffic there were quite a few trucks going past so it was somewhat noisy from about 5am in the morning but it was a free camp and we were not complaining. It have been drizzling a bit overnight and there were low clouds and fog in the mountains around us quite stunning. We headed towards scottsdale with the mist still hanging around and as the road was climbing became quite foggy in parts. We diverted into Ledgerwood township to see the wooden figures which were carved out of old trees. These trees were planted in 1918 and around 1990 it was discovered that they were dying so they called in a wood sculture and he carved figures of world war 1 soldiers and residents. it was well worth the little divert off the highway. note for file there is a free camp just behind the sculptures and just behind the toilets where the old railway carriage is. behind that is a fence and cows so maybe it would be a better option next time unless you needed a shower. There is a big shed and some factory beside with trucks so i guess the trucks start early in the morning from there as well. Moved on and the road climbed up the mountains even though it is the highway it is very windy and goes up very high. Stopped at Sideling lookout but the mountains and fog and clouds blocked the view and you could only just see a little bit of shoreline on the coast. At least it was now sunny. More treefern lined winding road up and down mountains. Stop just out of scottsdale at tuggerah(check spelling) for fuel which was $0.10 cheaper than in scottsdale it was the united self serve. the last united self service did not work and this one seem to be the same. Only put in $2 worth and then cut out. but Geoff put in his credit card again and it worked. Stopped at scottsdale woolies for a potato and grapes and beans but needed to be careful not to buy too much as we may not be able to take it back on the boat. Continued on to launceston where it was sunny and very warm and we went directly to cataract gorge however mrs google took us out of the traffic but to some very steep roads including one that said no caravans but we had already been halfway up the hill when i saw the sign nevertheless we arrived safely Geoff had of photos for 1974 and we compared those with now we went for a walk across the suspension bridge and discovered they had showers (obviously for the pool goers) as he's visitor centre. after that we headed to city park where we had a photo of Geoff taken on a train. We found the location but the trains have been moved for restoration. Mrs google once again to come up a very steep road to bypass the centre city traffic but we got onto the highway without any difficulties with stayed on the highway for about 20 kilometres and we headed for liffey campground. Road was sealed most of the way except for the last two or 3 kilometres bus it was a good gravel road.. Wasn't sure what to expect that it is beautiful it is not terribly big probably fits about 12:15 vans but we found a spot not far from the toilet and spent some time negotiating uneven ground but we got the van lebel. jeff did some quadcopterring and then we went for a walk through the Liffey river reserve. Bob brown who used to live not far from here at oura oura and to properties became available for sale and he thought that the loging companies would buy it up to log the timber so he borrowed money and bought the two properties and then established heritage bush association where he gifted the land to them. there is beautiful tree ferns everywhere myrtle beach and sassafras forest you just couldn't imagine it being logged the liffey river runs through it and it is a little shallow rocky river There is supposed to be platypus here but we didn't see any. With a ride about 2:30 and there were a couple of spots left some of which we didn't see immediately. so far there are people with vans, motorhomes and a family so hopefully it will be a pistol night. But would probably get busy at the weekend with the locals. unfortunately there is no mobile service but there are flush loos. A very pleasant night for our second last night in tasmania. Temperature got up to about 25 degrees today partly cloudy but in the afternoon the clouds came over and it's got a little cool but no rain on horizon as yet.

It rained quite steadily for a couple of hours last night but it still wasn't cold. It would be a lovely place to stay for a couple of nights in more sunny weather. Heading back to Forth for our last night as it is only about 9 kilometres from devonport and we need to leave at about 5:30 in the morning to catch the boat. We took the slow Road and stopped in at Mole Creek karst National Park to find some Caves we didn't find any Caves but another beautiful little rocky stream with tree ferns everywhere we continued and went to King Solomon Caves but it was 12:45 and the next tour was 2.30 and we didn't have time plus it was not the place that we took the photo in 1974 we continued on through the hills more treeferned roads up and down valleys and Tassie continues to be hilly hilly hilly, past dams, lakes and lookouts. Headed up towards Wilmot where the first GJ Coles store once stood. there is supposed to be a plaque and a replacement building but I think the school bus was hiding it and it was a bit difficult to do a u-turn in the van to go back and find it so we just moved on. After leaving Willmott the landscape changed to rolling hills and Barnes with The Towering mountains in the background getting further away from us or at least we will getting further away from them. Arrived at forth at around 3:45 p.m. And did some housekeeping and prepared for the boat trip tomorrow. Met Margaret and Peter and we compared vans, they had a larger Coromal van than ours and exchanged travel stories.

Heading back to devonport to catch the boat back to melbourne. Left Forth at around 5:30am and had a good run into the Devonport port, in the dark. it was only 9 kms so very convenient. Note for file. They let you take fruit on board (out of tassie) but will probably check on disembarkation in melbourne, whereas coming over from melbourne you were not allowed to take any fruit on board at all. It was 16 degrees as we sat in the line waiting to board and the first show of light on the horizon was at 7 a.m. sat waiting till after 8 a.m. as there was a lot of freight to unload but watched a lovely sunrise. Basically one of the first there but one of the last 10 on board, go figure. Met Bill and Marlene from Longford spent most of the day chatting on and off they were a lovely couple he had done mountain biking at Derby and he and Jeff had a lot in common so it was easy and we just read when we wanted to. We expected the trip to be a little rough with strong winds near in Melbourne but it was actually a smooth Crossing and 32 when we arrived in Melbourne. although we were one of the last to board we were the second row to disembark and we were back to Chris and Sue's fairly early after getting a pizza yum at Gladstone Park.

Did the property inspection at Glenroy. We got the set of keys back we got the set of keys back and spoke to one of the other occupiers who was quite respectful and we will send the report back to the tenant on the lease shortly still needs a lot of work but they did make some effort I felt more comfortable about the effort being made than the actual result. Went back to Roxburgh Park to buy a couple more bath mats for the van, a poor man's carpets so to speak. Said our goodbyes to Chris Sue and the kids and headed down to Lyn's at Point Lonsdale to her new house. It was very very windy the whole trip.

A lazy day in amongst my doing loads of washing. we went into Queenscliff to pick up the ANZAC poppies from the news agency and then delivered them to the local school. Today it was gale force winds throughout Melbourne and a dust storm that came through Geelong and a lot of things inside Lyn's house and garage were covered in dust.

Jeff went to visit his cousins Marilyn; and Lynn and I went to the local Nursery and bought a couple of plants for her backyard one of which was a housewarming gift from us. Lovely grey soft leaves with tiny purple Bell flowers. In the afternoon Lyn went to a meeting and I did more washing. It was lovely to catch up with Lyn again after the brief visit we had before we left for Tassie.

Had a last cuppa with Lyn and then headed off towards Mary and Jims seeing as we were going to ra and jo's we would catch up with mary and jim one last time as last time we were evacuated from Nar Nar Goon. Traffic going into and through the city was not too bad the accident noted on Google Maps had gone and the traffic was relatively light for Melbourne traffic although Mrs Google sent us down a busy local street to get onto the Monash freeway at Burke Road. Got fuel at Clough's servo and arrived about 12:30 p.m. Had a cuppa and then went down with Mary to pick the kids up from school and Jeff and the two boys flew the quadcopter in the football field across the road from the school. A very pleasant today around 21 degrees and no wind

Mary worked today and Jim was home Jim and Jeff went to Lee's place at Berwick and I did some computer work and housekeeping. Much windier today but not too bad and expected to be around 26 to 27 degrees. Wind blew all day and got up to high 20's. It was a lovely sunset with hills surrounding Mary and Jim's house.

Said goodbye to Mary just after 11:30am. we followed google instructions and went Dore road, Morrison road onto the Healesville-Koo wee rup road. About the same distance as going straight up Bessie Creek road but less gravel road and better gravel road. Stopped at Seville at the supermarkets and then proceeded onto Ra and Jo's. the wind was very very strong and continued after we had arrived and only subsided about 6:30 p.m. when everything went still. Ra, Jo and Geoff went to Mansfield to listen to a talk in the library and I stayed back to do some more housekeeping and pottering around. Ray had pointed out an echidna near the dam and when I was there on my own were many many Crimson rosellas and Galaghs and kangaroos all around. It is very peaceful here with the occasional car kicking up dust along the road. Ra and Jo have a beautiful view of lake Eildon and the hills behind, from their bedroom and there decking. Temperature stayed in high twenties all afternoon but can hold as it was expected to be 5 degrees at eildon overnight and only 15 tomorrow. It rained briefly and then hailed briefly but not enough rain for the garden or tanks.

As predicted it was a cold night but we had power so we had a heater. today was cold and it was around 10 or 11 degrees at bonnie doon. we all went for a walk through their property, up to the back of the hill over the other side to an area that Ray and joh are clearing so that friends and grandkids can have a beach area on the lake without having to go to the lakeside area down the road where people leave rubbish and broken bottles and generally misbehave as people do. Ray and I suited up and went to check the bee hives, Ray and Geoff later drove back to collect the rubbish we had brought out of their property. Then Megan and Frank arrived with little Charlie who is gorgeous. They are going to a wedding so charlie will be staying overnight here. Ski afternoon remind very cold and light drizzle came and went.

Still cold overnight and cloudy miserable morning. Today heading for greens lake just south of echuca/Moama today and stay for 2 nights. (Mike and Val will not be back to moana until late tomorrow night and then we'll catch up with them on tuesday hopefully). hoping the weather will improve and just maybe able to go for a paddle. we discovered this morning that the van battery is on it's last legs so will try and get a battery in either euroa or shepparton. Checked battery at Euroa and van battery is charging to a certain extent so decided to move on to Greens Lake as we can still get a battery in Echuca if necessary. Arrived at Greens Lake is a very pretty spot a few shade trees but very dusty everywhere because it has been so dry. Parked on a narrow grassy strip just next to the beach and Lake and settled in. Jeff met Dan who has been recently weather we'd who has a small Hobie Cat so just spoke to him for some time. So Geoff spoke to him for some time. The wind calm down a little and was nowhere near as bad as it had been the last couple of days. We had dinner early and Dan came over and invited us to join him and another group of van campers so we spent a couple of hours sitting with another 6 people it was quite pleasant actually (Sandra, Gilbert, Ann, Diane, Ken and Peter). Ken played the violin and Peter played the ukulele and they had a Songbook so it was nice sitting around the fire (contained in their ex-washing machine cylinder) but of course you had to steer clear of the smoke but there wasn't much anyway. Too late for our Silent Witness program tonight. Pitch black tonight so we had dual torches to find our way along the track which was an interesting experience but we found our way there and back.

Had about 9 hours sleep last night and it wasn't as cold as it had been. Gas ran out so switched over. There was not a Breath of Wind and at 7:15 am the sun was not quite up yet but the sky was beautiful and it was a lovely sunrise over the mirrored lake. Not a huge amount of birdlife but a couple of pelicans a few seagulls some water birds and plenty of the Grey cheeky birds. The galaghs were a little noisy at sunset last night and there were a few corellas around which always reminds you you're in the country near water. When we had join the other campers last night we noticed a sign saying the road in front of us was an access Lane 4 the lake but because the signs were about to run 200 m apart and we had arrived in the middle we didn't realise so this morning as Jeff decided it was good paddling weather we move the van outside design area and found another grassy spot next to the lake. It is such a beautiful day hardly any wind and no clouds so far so we're pleased that we stayed Jeff went out for a pedal and then Ken and Diane came along and we ended up speaking for about an hour and they left just before Jeff arrived back on shore at the same time speaking to Kristi on the mobile we could also hear Dan and on his yacht on his mobile phone it's actually amazing how noise carries across the water he was probably 500 m away and we could hear him say can I ring you back please. The reception was really good out on the lake but a little sketchy on shore. Jeff did some running repairs tightening bolts etc and we just relaxed in the afternoon and went for a walk along the Shoreline around the lake. The battery held up and charged our phones etc. My chair which Jeff had made repairs to at Lake Pedder finally collapsed all together so we'll buy a new one at Echuca we also need to get gas which ran out during the night but the bread was still frozen so it may not have been off for too long. The gas heater bottle is running low so we'll try and use that up so we don't get caught short when we go on a cold trip. we expect the rest of our trip home not to be too cold. Geoff joined the other campers again in the evening and I watched Silent Witness.

Better sunrise this morning as we cleaned our van windows yesterday. Headed for Moama. Stopped to look at the silo murals at Rochester, bought a new van battery at Supercheap in Echuca (deep cycle $275) and a gas exchange at Bunnings, then some groceries and the to Mike and Val's at Moama. Geoff had a great afternoon seeing all Michael's handywork who even gave us a prototype of a fold out table which was great. In the evening Val and I went to see the comedian Ross Noble at the Echuca cinema.

Went for a walk and the weather was getting very warm. Michael did some panel beating repairs on one of Geoff's trophy dents in the car which was much appreciated. Went for a drive to Deep Creek to see houseboats, to the Men's Shed, Echuca port and the library which was having a community awareness Day with all types of associations giving out info. We had a free sausage sizzle (as entree for dinner) then got ready and went to the Rich River Golf Club for dinner. From our table we had a view of the greens and sprinklers. Newly renovated, it was quite nice and meals were quite reasonable. And luckily they had half serves and my half roast was huge and Geoff had the half Barramundi which was more than enough. Topped off by a soft serve in the cafe. A lovely environment. Later that night felt as if a cold was coming on but we can't figure out how he got it.

After 2 more nights in a lovely comfortable bed we said goodbye and were back on the road. I had given Geoff an antihistamine and as we drove along he felt drowsy so I drove. As he wanted to sleep and couldn't do it in the car we pulled into Tanner's Bend overnight stop on the Murray River. Finley side of river in Finley Regional Park. Drop loos, byo paper. Was one spot overlooking the river. Plenty of people on the Tocumwal side with the beach, as it was the Thursday before school holidays and Easter is tagged on to the end so expect it to get really busy. We stayed up the top near the main road but the noise is not too bad. Geoff went straight to sleep in the van and slept for 4 hours. I went for a walk down the track where there were a number of vans on our side of the river, then took a shortcut along the rivers edge. The river is going fairly fast so would not be any good for paddling not that jeff was intending to do so.

We're going work before the sun came up packed up and left about 8:30am. Went in to tocumwal to have a quick look then headed out towards narrandera and heading for weddin mountains today. Stop briefly at Finley a nice little overnight stop behind the shops next to the railway station so is a good stop at a pinch. We travel through jerilderie but i can't remember what was the town was like think it was the one with the very high street lighting thay you could see coming into the town. Stop at narrandera at Coles and checked out the free camp as we crossed the bridge another one to remember. The Newell highway bypassed grong grong but believe there is a nice overnight stop with showers. we then turned off the highway to Ardelthan for lunch. There is an overnight stop behind the park with power $2 for 12 hours. we got fuel and turned out it was less expensive than narrandera and west wyalong. We did around 400 kms today was a long drive but really not much in between unless we headed east but we're on a path to weddin mountains, Ben Hall campground. We had a head wind all day. After google took us on 6 kilometres of gravel road we arrived at the national park we were hoping it wouldn't be full as it's a start of school holidays however when we arrived there was no other campers and one couple who had just come back from the walk. We cooked chicken kiev on the bbq Geoff thought he had oil for friday night chips but disaster has truck and he had probably used it all up previously. It's was a beautiful sunset and there was not a breath of wind and as of 8pm we were the only ones here. The Weddin Mountains national park is at the base of the mountains in the middle of very flat central new south wales dry land in between wyalong and grenfell. Camp ground is flat with bollarded campsites/parking areas a couple deep enough for caravans. The camping area is mostly treed with eucalypt box and red gums and the occasional mature Kurrajong tree. Didn't see much wildlife only one small kangaroo at dusk and a magpie that followed me from the toilet to our van.

It was a very mild night. The wind did start to blow until about 5 in the morning and continued to get windier throughout the day. Didn't see the sun until after 8 a.m. as it climbed higher above the mountain backdrop. Our very hungry magpie was outside to greet us when we sat outside. As we had no mobile signal we walked up the hill behind the campground to a water tank. It was a lovely view and we got a signal and checked and sent emails. Geoff was still feeling the effects of his cold so i walked to Seaton's farm which is part of the national park. it is an old 1930 farm which has been abandoned and it shows the hardship people endured in this hot, dry part of NSW. It still had the house basically which was a group of rooms made from corrugated iron and timber logs plus all the outbuildings including the chook and sheep pens the machinery building and had a lot of old farm machinery. Each area had an interpretive sign. It had a beautiful avenue of Kurrajong trees. We had been here 8 years earlier but it was still interesting but because Geoff had seen it before he had a sleep in the van. After lunch we walked back up the hill to make phone calls and check emails. We saw what we weren't sure to be either smoke or dust and because he had a signal we checked the fire alerts for nsw. there were no alerts for this area so we assumed it to be dust. Spent the afternoon sitting by the van watching our magpie come and go and was also visited by two currawong birds also looking for a feed. one car turned up with a little tent and 3 or 4 cars came during the day to do the walks of which there were 4 but it was going to be 31 degrees today and it was getting hot. Just spent a peaceful afternoon.

Daylight savings ends so got another hour, just as well as we got a late start. On way out just as I mentioned we hadn't seen any kangaroos 3 jumped straight in front of the car, luckily we were doing about 20kms. Went into Grenfell which has some beautiful old buildings and the birthplace of Henry Lawson. We visited the tree planted by his daughter at the sight of his birthplace and Jeff flew his drone in the oval next to it. Moved on to Goolagong and had a shower it is another lovely old historic place but much smaller. Travelled via Cudal, and Molong and Wellington and ended up at Ponto Falls. The campground follows and overlooks the river. There are huge red gums mostly overhanging the river and safe place to camp but no shade from the North. One drop loo and very dusty track. Parking underfoot was all grassy luckily. Some vans on the lower Road right next to the river but no shade there. Hundreds of Corellas and a lot of cockatoos so you can imagine the noise late afternoon.

A very quiet night and a lovely sunrise but a bit too cold to go out and take a photo. We have a long drive today so had breakfast and headed out. Didn't go in to Dubbo but headed East and travelled through Dunedoo and Coolah past the black stump and from around that point the road although it was sealed was very rough turned on to the Oxley Highway and headed towards Gunnedah. We had intended to stay at a rest area just out of Gunnedah but although it was back off the road a little and there were some shade trees, it would have been too noisy with the traffic overnight. So at 2pm we decided to do another hundred or so kilometres to get to a spot that was off the highway we headed towards Manila and then through to Barraba, got fuel. the road was sealed and very good. at cobbadah we turned left and headed up to Upper Horton on a very good sealed road for 20 km. Upper Horton is just a tiny little town with a few houses and a sports club which I think is only open one day a week. the camping area is in the town just next to the bridge and is grassed and there was one other van there. we parked further up the back and as usual took a little while to level the van. we could not get access to the creek but could see glimpses. flush toilets didn't look like they had been serviced for a while as it turned out the stains were rust marks and people left the lids up and it was a haven for mosquitoes. Dogs barked from nearby properties pretty much on and off all afternoon. During the night another group of dogs barked persistently all throughout the night at least the cockatoos new when to sleep. other than the dogs it would have been a very peaceful night, no traffic, didn't see any locals. It was 33 degrees today.

Finally slep soundly from around 3 or 4 in the morning. Probably the warmest overnight for a while at 15deg but still a little cool in the morning. Another sunny day and we expect it to be warm. A bunch of cows wandered in from the mini bike track behind us and happily munched on the green grass and didn't mind our presence but they kept their distance. Geoff discovered that his phone had not charged overnight and wasn't sure whether the phone was faulty or yet another cable was the culprit we have had continuous problems with the phone not charging on and off and it is hard to believe that five cables have not worked on our travels. With something like 15% battery charged on Geoff's phone we headed off and decided to go on to Bingara the back way which would be 45 kilometres as opposed to 81 kilometres if we went back to Barraba and then on to Bingara. Soon after we left it became gravel road but we decided to keep going for about 20 kilometres to highway which would take us into Bingara. the road was actually very good surface but very dusty. We normally put up the shute of the van to pressurise the van so dust cannot be sucked in through the back door. We crossed a number of cattle grids and then turned off to another road which said was impassible in wet weather but as it was dry it was no problem. We then went across a number of creek fords but the surface remained good but dusty. Well worth taking this road to save 40 kilometres. Stoped at Bingara for water and then headed towards Delungra and then on to Ashford. The road from Delungra to Graman was mostly gravell and very rough and dusty and quite corrugated. Road from Graman to Ashford was even worse and at some points we were down to first gear. All this saved 30 kilometres but was not worth the trip. next time we will come up from near Inverell on the sealed road. Passed through Ashford and arrived at the Severn river campground it was green grass but the grass was a little long so limited choice of sites. as we could not see the river from the edge we chose a grassy site with a little shade from large trees further away as we don't park under the trees for safety reasons. River is pretty but a lot of dead trees making access almost impossible. There were little Finches not zebra finches playing around in the trees and it was very pleasant. At 3:15 in the afternoon and there are three other campers arrived. A relatively short distance to travel today about 115 kilometres but we estimate about 70 kilometres of that was gravel road. Temperature stayed around the 28th degrees so was not hot. There were some rain clouds to the south and then to the north but no rain so far. Later today was a huge rain band in the east very dark but we missed it all and we got a couple of drops and saw a lovely rainbow. We went for a short walk but couldn't get access to the river from the other side of the road but noticed a track on the other side of the river and will check it out when we leave tomorrow. Jeff noticed a cockatoo in a sapling eucalypt tree and it didn't move when Jeff got closer Geoff took a couple of photos we thought perhaps it was not well as cockatoos don't usually sit that low and he was close enough to reach out and touch but it just sat there and looked at Geoff. Geoff looked around and noticed a cage on the ground next to a motorhome so we guess it was a pet being allowed to stretch his legs so to speak. It would have been embarrassing if it was David Attenborough sneaking up on this piece of Wildlife which turned out not to be wild.

Heavy dew this morning and felt quite cold and then discovered that we had left side window wide open but had only closed the curtains last night because it will still warm. As we knew the little gas cylinder was almost out of gas we got the heater out to try and use the last of it it was quite welcomed because it was still cool in the van. Another beautiful day and no wind and we took our time with Geoff recording some training videos before we headed off. We decided to keep to the sealed roads today. We passed orchards of some tree yet to be identified and cotton fields then we turned off at Mingoola to go to Glenlyon Dam meaning crossing the border into Queensland. the dam is very low and everything in this area is very dry. Geoff flew his quadcopter. headed back to the Bruxner Highway back into new south wales towards Wallangarra just north of Tenterfield. The bruxner highway is a little more hilly than the Newell hwy and surrounded by hills along the way so is a lot more picturesque and not so boring. But a lot more kangaroos to be wary of on the road. Came out to the New England Highway just north of Tenterfield near an old railway bridge and took a photo and then realised I think we've taken a photo of it on our way out at the beginning of the trip. Arrived at Wallangarra overnight stop it's a huge grassed area backing onto the local primary school after a popular spot for people passing through there was one other than + us. Near the end of the Bruxner Highway it was 26 degrees only about 15 kilometres to Wallangarra and it had dropped to 22 degrees and a stiff breeze. Drop loos and bins and a few trees.

Tried to use the last of the small gas cylinder with the heater attached but it was still going strong after we had warmed up this morning. Passed a lovely old railway station which now houses I cafe and there isn't much more in Wallangarra and it is just over the Queensland border. Dropped in to the driver reviver at the other end of town. Jeff's phone was still having trouble charging so he decided to download the talk program on to my phone which was fully charged. That way if the engine light came on to the car I could use the program to clear the fault. Because if we cannot clear the fault the car goes into limp mode and we will not be able to tow the van effectively and would have trouble getting up even small hills. We finally got onto the road about 9.30. we travel about 40 km to Stanthorpe and decided to go into the town to the information centre to check out the roads from Stanthorpe through to Woodenbong to see if they were sealed. We missed the information centre and ended up on the other side of town so went back to get the road information. I want for my keys so that we both had out these together in case one wants to be on back to the car and I couldn't find Michael I searched everywhere in the car and just searched everywhere him on his side in the car and I search the bank and I couldn't find them I was sure we had them. But then I remembered I had both sets of keys with me when I got the cup of tea from the driver reviver and I remember opening the car with one hand holding the city in the other and I then realised I must have dropped my set of keys out of my shorts pockets which are not very deep. Look up the driver reviver website the only number I could find was 1 for volunteering call that number and went to voicemail try the number later and it again went to voicemail because I wanted to try and contact the driver reviver to see if my key had been handed in. I went into the visitor information centre and ask if they do have contact the driver reviver the gentleman behind counter was very helpful but was unable to find a number for us even though he went through a number of emotions to try and find contact details. The older gentleman didn't really know much about it and then carry from the cafe came over and said try the post office all the general store so Jeff rang the general store they were unable to help us and then Jeff rang the post office number which ran out. Then Kerry, being from Wallangarra, brang a lady that she knew who was also a volunteer and that lady was going to go down to the driver reviver and see if the he has been handed in. It's a key had been handed in we will have to have gone back anyway and would have had to go back if it wasn't found because we will need to look for it. We said thank you to everyone and went back to the car ready to drive 40 kilometres back to Wallangarra. I was determined to have one more search and when i look down beside Geoff's seat i saw the green edge of the tag of my keys. I was much relieved and went back to the information centre to beg forgiveness. They were really nice about it and Kerry said she would bring the lady back and thank her for her help but someone had found keys and rang the number on them, so then we (I) didn't look so silly. Both of us were a bit frazzled and by this stage it was 11:30 and we'd only travel 40 kilometres. We thought we might stay one more night at Urbenville which we had passed through previously but coming from the easterly direction but the road we had intended to take from the west, we were advised by the guy at the info centre, was the worst he had ever driven on (and he was a former stock agent) so we decided not to travel in that direction and it all became too difficult so we decided to go straight home through Warwick and Cunninghams Gap. However we did turn off just out of Warwick and headed towards Boonah so we were off the main highway it is a good sealed road and very scenic going across from Boonah to Beaudesert. We stopped at the recently new Whyalla wrong Dam picnic area and there doesn't seem to be any lack of water it is a pleasant spot and Jeff flew his quadcopter however again forgot to focus once it had taken off. Stopped at Beaudesert Aldi and woolies but forgot to get a potato for Jess chips being Friday night. 8 Green's Road Greenbank we turned off to the right and went the back way to the Browns Plains tip with Geoff Wade the car and van and then on the way out weighed the van only and the people at the tip were happy to allow that. The Torque app worked from my phone as the fault light came on intermittently all the way home but all was OK. However just as we left the tip the engine light came on and despite dismissing it it immediately came on again so all the way home luckily just the last 10 kilometres we were continually clearing the fault particularly going up the last two hills on Johnson Road. Not a good last day for our trip but it could have been a lot worse. Arrived home to Green Grass and all my plants were alive thanks to Kristi watering them the first week we were away and they held out enough before the rains came. In total we did 7,630 kilometres.