Coming Home

5th October – Monday

No sleeps left – we leave tonight on the Spirit, arriving in Devonport tomorrow morning at 6.00 am. Cat has been quite anxious all morning and had his overnight bag packed quite early ready to help hitch up.

The day has really been spent sorting out the “goodies” under the bed (there are sure to be a few children come to visit after school tomorrow), removing the remaining fresh fruit and vegetables from the caravan, deciding what to wear (especially after seeing the weather forecast for Hobart tomorrow!) and making sure all is secure.

We will take Aunty Pat out for a light lunch (we have eaten soooo much since we arrived in Melbourne) before heading out later this afternoon.

This is Pauline, Les and Cat signing off until next year.

Sunday

4th October – Sunday

Dinner last night was very nice – we went to the Aero Club at Moorabbin Airport. Fortunately, Gary and Sue knew about the dining room (so did lots of other people!), because we would never have found it otherwise.

Today we headed to Portarlington for lunch. To get to this town on the Bellarine Peninsula, we had to travel through Geelong – I think the Geelong Football Club must have won a football match recently! We also had a nice, warm and sunny day, which made a nice change.

We had lunch at the golf club with more cousins, this time it was Norm, Milton and Margaret. We spent a very pleasant few hours eating, talking and looking out over the bay.

The two hour trip back to Melbourne took rather longer owing to roadworks on the West Gate Freeway – very, very slow going in very, very heavy traffic. Thank goodness we didn’t have the caravan attached!

Saturday

3rd October – Saturday

The weather was a bit milder today, although overcast most of the time.

We didn’t do a great deal today – headed to DFO this morning for a wander (and even managed a little Christmas shopping). Apart from a couple of shops, most of the clothing is aimed at the young set and overall, prices are generally not much cheaper than normal.

This afternoon we spent a couple of hours with Les’ cousin, Wendy, and this evening we have going out for a meal with Sue and Gary. My cousin, Linda, is getting married today and Aunty Pat has gone to her wedding.

A Social Day

2nd October – Friday

A very cool and cloudy day, only reached about 15 degrees.

A very social day, first of all catching up with a couple we met at Cairns. They live at Traralgon but were in Melbourne when we passed the town. Therefore, we met this morning at Chadstone Shopping Centre for a coffee and chat before they headed home. An hour and a half disappeared very quickly! Chadstone has changed in the last four months, with a lot of shops being altered/refurbished ready for new tenants. The centre is becoming much more up-market – and much, much bigger.

After leaving Rob and Barb, we headed to Williamstown to meet, for the very first time, a distant cousin and his wife – David and Francoise. The solicitor and psychiatrist were an extremely nice couple and Francoise was very easy to talk to and understand, with a gorgeous French accent. They very kindly took us out to lunch at a lovely restaurant on the edge of Port Philip Bay – the food was divine! We have never been to this area of Melbourne before and were very surprised at how trendy the area is. Following lunch, we returned to their house and spent the remainder of the time talking about our common ancestors.

A most surprisingly pleasant and enjoyable day.

A Circle

1st October – Thursday

A mild but overcast morning as we left Lakes Entrance for Melbourne. Fortunately, the road today was mostly flat and straight through Gippsland. The drought has definitely broken in this part of Victoria, with rivers in flood and the farms very green and lush – very happy looking cows, too.

We realised today we were definitely getting close to the “big smoke” as the number of trucks and cars increased, and the road widened to a four lane freeway. We soon switched the two way radios off – truck driver conversation generally leaves a little to be desired at times!

We stopped at Moe for a lunch break before the final run into Melbourne without any problems. The circle has been completed. Aunty Cath and Uncle Bill will be having dinner with us tonight, as this will probably be the only chance we will have to all get together this weekend.

Lakes Entrance

30th September – Wednesday

We left Merimbula shortly after 8.00 am for the drive to Lakes Entrance. The weather was very mild, no wind and sunny – the temperature reached about 25 degrees this afternoon.

The road was similar to that from Batemans Bay to Merimbula – very hilly and windy, as well as being quite lumpy and bumpy. These two days would have to be the most uncomfortable we have endured since leaving Tasmania in May! The countryside was mainly forest, with some very lush, green pasture in the Orbost area. We have left the Bega cows behind and are now in Devondale cow territory!

We are staying in the Waters Edge Holiday Park at Lakes Entrance, on the Esplanade across the road from one of the lakes. A smallish caravan park with quite a few permanent holiday caravans, but very good amenities and close to shops. The beach is only a short walk away via a footbridge across the lake – Bass Strait is very peaceful this afternoon, keep the fingers crossed it stays that way! It is possible to hire peddle boats to use on the lake, it is also a sheltered waterway for littlies to play in.

Victorian schools are on holiday this week, therefore lots of school age youngsters about.

Tonight will be our final night on the road, as tomorrow we will be back at Aunty Pat’s.

Merimbula

29th September – Tuesday

This time next week, we will be home!

This morning we woke to blue skies, sunshine and no wind – Merimbula looks so much nicer in the sunshine!

This morning we made our first stop to the surf beach to the north of the caravan park’s headland and watched the waves rolling in and a couple of hardy souls in wetsuits and on surfboards. I doubt that this beach would be suitable for young children wanting a swim – it did look a bit dangerous.

Our next stop was at the Merimbula Lake – this is more an estuarine lake, with just a small opening to the sea. There is a boardwalk which winds it way along the edge of the lake for nearly 2 kms (return the same way). This was a very pleasant walk, with lots of stops to look at the bird life, both on the water and in the trees, as well as watching fish eating blue crabs. The water was so incredibly clear, which probably accounts for the large number of oyster farms in the lake. A most enjoyable morning!

This afternoon was a bit of a relax, watching for whales from the cliff edge of the caravan park (the whales decided to stay underwater), a spot of ironing, a wander around a few shops and sampling the local ice cream.

There is a large hedge of bottlebrush behind our caravan and this is like a gourmet meal to a large number of very noisy rainbow lorikeets and wattle birds.

Rain and More Rain

28th September – Monday

Much warmer this morning as we packed up before the rain set in, again. Unfortunately, the temperature did drop as the day became wetter!

TomTom estimated that the 170 km drive from Batemans Bay to Merimbula would take us three hours – and she was right. The road, although good, was very hilly and windy (one of us was in desperate need of a lay down when we arrived!), with a fair bit of traffic. We were surprised at how dry the countryside was – lots of farms and bush.

We spotted the Bega Cheese Factory (bit hard to miss, actually) as we drove through Bega but were a bit mystified at the “Cheese Training Centre.” Do they train the cheeses to roll over on command? It would certainly solve some labour problems!

We are staying at the Merimbula Beach Holiday Park, which is on top of a headland, consequently a “bit” breezy. It is a gorgeous park, probably aimed at the family market, with lots of activities for children, as well as three beautiful swimming pools, volleyball court, jumping pillow and a tennis court. Whilst the caravan sites are very wide, with a double slab, they are a bit shallow for bigger caravans. (It is hard to imagine that we paid $35 a night for an extremely ordinary park in Canberra and only paying $27.90 here.) The awning was extended for a short while only, before the decision was quickly made to roll it back up!

Apart from finding a friendly optometrist who would repair the broken glasses, we haven’t really done much today – will check out the sights of Merimbula tomorrow. It looks a very nice town, with tourism as its main industry.

Brakes

27th September – Sunday

An absolutely freezing night and morning – snow and sleet not very far away and forecast for Sunday in Canberra. Thank goodness we are leaving for a warmer climate on the coast.

It was extremely windy for the whole journey but we were lucky enough to avoid the rain. The trip to Batemans Bay was only about 150 kms, most of which was fairly hilly and windy, with a very steep descend for about 5 – 10 kms shortly before Batemans Bay. We have made this road trip once before about 30 years ago and at that time we were also towing a my parents’ caravan with their car. At that time we ended up on a safety ramp because Father had disconnected the caravan brakes (as we found out later!). This year we made the same journey towing a caravan and unbelievably, the electric caravan brakes FAILED just after we commenced the descent! Fortunately, the Pajero handled the conditions much better than the Commodore and we made it easily to the bottom of the hill using the engine and car brakes. Of course, we couldn’t find anywhere to safely pull off the road until we reach the bottom of the hill. The caravan lights checked out okay and when the plug was jiggled, the brakes re-activated! Perhaps it was some of the dust from the last few days causing the problem.

The Batemans Bay Beach Resort is a lovely caravan park, right on the beach (first time we have seen the sea since Cardwell, in far north Queensland). It is a very large park with a large number of permanent holiday on-site caravans and cabins, but these are all in one area and very well maintained. We have a large grass site (a bit sandy) and the amenities are very modern and new. Lots of playground equipment for children and a jumping pillow. Unfortunately, the strong wind ruled out a long walk along the beach.

We have now emptied most of the water from our tanks (no sense adding to the weight being towed) as the water quality will be good from here to Melbourne. Whilst reaching under the caravan to turn off the drainage tap, Les bumped his glasses and a lens fell out – tomorrow we will be on the lookout for an optometrist. He is also very adamant that he doesn’t require glasses for driving!

Cold and Wet

26th September – Saturday

Bad luck Saints – next year hopefully the Swans v Saints!

Oh boy, is it cold!!! One really admires the people who live in Canberra – it was 5 degrees at 2.30 pm. Overnight, we had another dust storm, with the car and caravan absolutely covered in red dust, which quickly turned to mud in the cold rain. It was necessary to wash the car windows before we went anywhere.

Last night we had a very pleasant evening with a distant cousin, Gayle, and her family. As we are both interested in family history, most of the evening was spent catching up on the family tree and ideas for possible future research.

Today, we had been invited by James and Maureen to join them for a barbecue (in this weather???) lunch before watching the AFL Grand Final. James was very prepared for a wet barbecue and had an enclosed area complete with gas heater to keep the boys warm while the ladies kept an eye on the salads indoors! We had a lovely afternoon and it was great to sit in a chair and watch a big television screen. If only St Kilda had won …

Sleet and snow is forecast for tonight. I am definitely moaning about the weather!!!

(The photos were taken at Floriade - when the sun was shining.)

Floriade

25th September – Friday

Fine, cool and breezy today with a top temperature about 20 degrees.

We set out for Floriade this morning and were early enough to get a parking spot without any difficulty. Despite the dust, wind and rain this week, the flowers were in amazing condition, with the tulips and irises in full bloom. Last week’s Iceland poppies were history, as were the “ladies” in their flower dresses, unfortunately. The ferris wheel gave Cat and I a good view of the flowers, and it was much easier to see the chequerboard effect in one of the garden beds from a height. We spent most of our time wandering around the grounds, which looked magnificent, as well as spending some time (and not much money) in the market stalls. There really were some very nice things for sale (apart from glass bead jewellery) and one man spent quite some time attempting to sell us the most amazing machine which would take away all our aches and pains! It really was a lovely place to visit.

With a couple of hours to spare, we decided to visit the Australian Mint and once again, TomTom proved how useful she was! The Mint was very interesting with lots of static displays, a film featuring Andy Muirhead, which explained how coins were made and viewing windows so we could watch the process. It was remarkable to watch the robots at work, collecting the blanks from storage and then loading them into the hoppers to be imprinted. We were quite sure that samples would have been offered, but no such luck.

It really is astonishing that all these attractions in Canberra have no admission charges!!!

Canberra

24th September – Thursday

No rain, no dust, cold wind and sun – the weather for today. The heater has been pulled out from under the bed and is now working flat out!

James and Maureen had invited us to join them for a game of bowls, so it was off to the Queanbeyan Women’s Bowls Club this morning – and what a lovely club! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. All the ladies bring a plate (and the men wash up afterwards!), we started playing about 9.30 am and after the game, all players return to the clubhouse for a coffee/tea and the contents of the plates. Guess who won the lucky door prize??? Fortunately, this was a basket of fruit and not half a sheep!

This afternoon we decided to have a little drive and look at some of Canberra’s sights. As we drove past Duntroon Military College, we noticed a sign pointing towards a lookout. Never having been on the grounds of Duntroon before, and no guard posts visible, we decided to check out the lookout. After driving around, looking at lots of soldiers, the parade ground, rabbits and buildings, we decided we were rather geographically disorientated! Eventually found an exit from the grounds and realised we had driven in one side and out the other.

We continued on past the War Memorial and Parliament House to the Embassy circuit and drove slowly around looking at all the rather palatial buildings. The US Embassy looked to be quite secure and our photos have probably been stored forever in their archives.

TomTom was put to work to get us back to the caravan park – Canberra can be a little confusing to navigate.

Hail

23rd September – Wednesday

Late yesterday afternoon a severe thunderstorm moved in, with virtually continuous lightning and thunder for more than five hours, as well as rain and high winds. Shortly after 6.00 pm, the rain turned to hail – the size of the hailstones were nothing like we have in Tasmania! It was a rather nervous time standing at a window, listening to the large hailstones hit the roof and Perspex windows, and also watching them bounce off the car. (The photo is of a few hailstones grabbed quickly from the door mat.) The wind shook the caravan all night and Les even got out of bed about 5.00 am to check we were still secure. Daylight brought more wind and rain – and also showed us a very muddy car!

Fortunately, the dust had moved on to Sydney overnight and we sat about waiting until nearly 9.00 am before deciding to hook up and leave. The wind was still very gusty, but coming from the west – the rain just came down. The drive to Canberra was fairly tense owing to the conditions, and the actions of one driver who tried to overtake in the face of an oncoming truck and then ran out of room. Another coat of duco and we would probably still be upside down on the side of the road. Some very ungentlemanly language was heard to be uttered!!!

TomTom navigated us safely through Canberra to the Crestview Caravan Park at Queanbeyan. In the last couple of weeks, she has started notifying us of nearby churches – not sure if there is a message there! We didn’t do much this afternoon, made sure we knew where the bowls club is for tomorrow’s game and wandered around a shopping centre for an hour, even managed a bit of Christmas shopping.

Dust & Don

22nd September – Tuesday

The rain did eventuate yesterday afternoon, although not a great amount. We did get some rather spectacular lightning and thunder, though. The night was very windy and we discovered this morning that there had been a dust storm during the night – all the caravans and vehicles were a lovely shade of reddish brown! Water restrictions meant that only the car windows could be washed off, as well.

As we headed east from Griffith, the clear morning very quickly closed in, with the dust hanging in the air like a thick fog. As the temperature has increased during the day (26 degrees), so has the dust. It is quite incredible – no wind at all, just the increasingly thick dust.

This morning we passed through Barellan, the childhood home of Evonne Goolagong – another small country town surrounded by grain fields. In fact, the whole area from Griffith to Cootamundra has been grain or canola, with a few lupins and most small towns have very large grain storage facilities. The road was pretty good, apart from a section of the minor road into Cootamundra, and this wasn’t as bad as some of the developmental roads in Queensland.

The caravan park at Cootamundra is quite small, with good sized grass sites. Unfortunately, some of them have quite a bit of dirt where the grass has been worn away. With only a couple of sites available, we have ended up on one of the grass and dirt sites.

Next door to the caravan park is Jubilee Park, which contains bronze busts of most of the Australian Cricket Team captains, with busts being added as funds become available. Some of the sculpting is a bit ordinary, but the majority is good and the men easily recognisable. Ricky Ponting was lucky enough to get one of the better sculptors! Following a walk in the park, we visited the birthplace of Donald Bradman – he was born in Cootamundra, lived at Yeo Yeo (a few miles away) for a couple of years and then moved to Bowral. His birthplace was actually a type of lying-in hospital operated by a midwife and we were able to stand in the actual room of his birth – very moving!!! The cottage has been restored and now operates as a small museum to Don Bradman. It was really very interesting.

Cootamundra seems to be a nice town of about 5,000 people, with all the usual amenities.

Mondayitis

21st September – Monday

Another cold night followed by a cool day – only reach 22 degrees, with rain forecast for late in the afternoon.

We had a quiet day today, catching up on laundry and shopping. Even though we only bought food, it was nice to wander around a shopping centre again. We did get the feeling though, that it was quite obvious we weren’t locals. Four different people asked us if were travelling through, where were we from, etc. All very friendly people.

There are actually five couples from Tasmania in the caravan park, even another couple from Kingston. The stories about TT Line and the problems people are having with the reservation conditions certainly compound the problems we had. One couple had to wait three weeks (at this time of the year!) before being allowed to travel with a trailer – despite the overall length being less than two cars! Michelle O’Byrne and Michael Hodgman might get letters after we return.

The remainder of the afternoon has been spent watching and waiting for the rain to eventuate.

20th September – Sunday

Griffith, like Canberra, was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, and he used the same circular design for both cities. With a population of over 16,000, Griffith definitely rates as civilisation – there is a Woolworths, Coles, Bunning and McDonalds! And there are certainly some BIG houses in the district!

This morning we set out to see the sights of Griffith and started with the weekly Rotary market at the showgrounds. There were plenty of fresh oranges for sale, along with a good variety of vegetables, breads, home made tomato sauces and, of course, bead jewellery.

The Information Centre is directly opposite Mackay’s Furniture, with a bust of Donald Mackay enjoying centre stage in the central island of the main street. A very helpful and well-informed young lady loaded us up with lots of pamphlets and colour-coded maps and we set out for Lake Wyangen (or something like that) and a beautiful, large picnic area on the edge of the man-made lake. We then retraced our steps, stopping for a bearded dragon sunning itself in the middle of the road and quite determined not to move. We walked right up to it and the only response was a puffing out of the body and extending the beard – and it still stayed in the middle of the road!

Our next stop was at a lookout (there is actually a hill in Griffith) with a hermit’s cave in the rocks below. After scrambling down through rocks and broken glass, we still couldn’t find the cave, so gave up – a lack of signage didn’t help. We discovered a pamphlet later which showed we were probably in the wrong area, but it still wasn’t very helpful.

The “highlight” of the tour was probably a visit to the cemetery. There is a large, and wealthy, Italian community in Griffith, and this is certainly reflected in the size and opulence of the mausoleums! There was even a “For Sale” sign outside one – where had the residents gone???

We even decided to have lunch at one of the league clubs in town and made a small donation via a couple of poker machines. It’s hard to know if people actually understand them, or just sit and push buttons until nothing happens!

We have not found the change in climate to our liking - 22 degrees is a little uncomfortable and we know it is only going to get worse. Hopefully, we wont have to wear shoes until we get to Canberra.

Civilisation Again

19th September – Saturday

Departed Cobar by 8.15 am for the 365 km drive to Griffith – a nice, clear, sunny morning with an expected top temperature of about 25 degrees.

The road was very good for most of the way, with only a few bumpy spots. For the first time in many days, we actually encountered some small undulations. Until we reached Hillston, the countryside was mainly scrubby timber with lots of Patterson’s Curse and cape weed as we neared Griffith. The area from Hillston to Griffith was all farming – huge paddocks of wheat, with citrus groves and vineyards close to Griffith.

We stopped at a rest area in Merriwagga for lunch. Merriwagga is a very small town with about four houses, a pub, a post office and a very large grain storage facility. We discovered when we pulled up that the community was having a spring fair today, so decided to check out the stalls and activities. Unfortunately, we were a bit late arriving for Cat to take part in the cutest animal competition (he would have won, hands down!) but the Griffith City Band were keeping everyone entertained with some great music. One of the locals (from about 150 kms away) had even brought their motorhome for people to have a look at, which we did, of course. It was a very nice Wirraway and the internal panelling was all genuine Tasmanian myrtle timber – just gorgeous.

We had parked our caravan beside the heritage park (all towns have a heritage park!!!) and Cat discovered a memorial to pioneer women which he felt should have been to pioneer women and their cats.

We are staying at the Griffith Tourist Caravan Park, which is okay, so far. There are only a limited number of powered sites as the majority of sites have en-suites. Therefore, we have been put on an en-suite site, without use of the en-suite. (Lots of “en-suites” in the last couple of sentences!) The only downside is that we cannot extend our awning fully, but at least we have a grassy area under a tree for our chairs and don’t have to sit and look at a bathroom.

We may stay here for three nights, as we are a day ahead of our schedule to reach Canberra on Wednesday.

Cobar

18th September – Friday

Yesterday’s wind and dust storm finally abated enough for us to safely lower the awning about 8.15 pm last night, after spending many hours listening, looking and hoping!

This morning was clear and crisp, just as the weather has proved to be – 22 degrees is certainly a big difference to the temperatures of the last few weeks! We left Bourke and headed south to Cobar, driving through low scrubby trees most of the way. There are an amazing number of wild flowers blooming (just low ground covering plants) in yellows and whites, as well as a shrubby local acacia which is in full bloom. The road was long and flat and in good condition, with little traffic.

The caravan park at Cobar took a bit of finding but is very nice, although it doesn’t have the rose gardens of Kidman’s Camp at Bourke. We actually have a double concrete slab, which means the caravan is parked on the slab.

After lunch we visited the Heritage and Tourist Information Centre, which is located right next to the original copper mine (Cobar is a copper mining town), and also has a nice park with sculptures and old mining features. We then drove out of town to have a look at the new open cut mine and could see other copper and gold mines in the region.

Cobar seems to be quite a prosperous little town, much different to Bourke.

Cruising Down the River ...

17th September – Thursday

A bit blowy this morning as we set out for our cruise on the PV Jandra along the Darling River. The paddleboat leaves from a mooring near the caravan park, so we didn’t have far to go. It was a very pleasant way to fill in an hour and as there were only a few tourists on board, we had plenty of room and choice of seats. We travelled upstream (or maybe it was downstream) for nearly half an hour before turning and paddling back the other way until we came to the old bridge. This hasn’t been opened since 1929 and because the wind was more than 20 kmh, we were unable to pass underneath. Apart from the flies, a most enjoyable morning. The only downside was to discover that Bourke’s water supply comes direct from the river, although the drinking water is filtered. We are now drinking bottled water!

Fred Hollows is buried in the cemetery at Bourke, so we decided to pay our respects. His grave is topped with an enormous granite boulder and the area is marked out in the shape of an eye. Quite moving, actually.

By 11.00 am the temperature had risen to 35 degrees and the wind made it extremely unpleasant walking down the main street to the post office and supermarket. It is quite sad, really, that this town is virtually held to ransom by an unruly minority with no respect for others – any shops that do have windows (most don’t have any!) have steel shutters and doors to protect them.

The afternoon was spent sitting inside with the air conditioner going and hoping the awning didn’t blow away – we had quite a severe wind storm, with huge dust clouds on the horizon. Quite a stressful afternoon, actually. One little thrill, though, were the four red rumped parrots which came to bathe in a puddle made by the hose – such beautiful coloured birds!

Back of Bourke

16th September – Wednesday

A cold night followed by a very hot and dry day, again around the 30 degree mark.

This morning we headed into the town of Bourke to check out the Information Centre. Bourke reminds us of Moree, in that most of the businesses have steel shutters or security grills over any windows and large security fences around car parks. There would appear to be a huge social problem in the town.

After checking the local attractions with the nice lady at the information centre, we headed out to the Darling River and the weir, together with the only lock on the Darling River. This lock is no longer in use, but has been left as a reminder of the paddle steamer traffic which plied the waterway. The water, of course, was the brown colour typical of the inland rivers we have seen in the last week.

We then set out to find a stockade built by Major Mitchell – the only fort ever built in Australia, supposedly. On the way we passed a HUGE irrigation dam to supply water to the cotton fields – this was only one of many in this large cotton-growing district. No wonder there isn’t much water left in the Murray/Darling system! We turned off the main road, drove through a gate and along a farm track for a few kilometres, along the top of a levee bank, through some scrub, past a billabong and eventually arrived at the site of the (replica) stockade. Such a small structure to be a fort! On the return, we headed down an even smaller track to get to the edge of a billabong – this also gave someone a chance to undertake some 4 wheel driving, albeit of a gentle nature. Lots of bird life on and around the billabong, which very quickly brought out the binoculars and bird book.

When we returned to Bourke, we stopped at the old wharf for a bit of a wander, also to look at the Crossler Engine which is started up each day for an hour. This engine was originally used to generate electricity in Sydney and after a varied career, has ended up in Bourke.

Too hot this afternoon to do anything!

South of the Border

15th September – Tuesday

The Bilby Experience last night was lovely. The captive breeding programme is conducted at the Parks & Wildlife premises and the Bilby Experience is operated by volunteers in an effort to raise money towards saving the bilby from extinction. We were given a little talk and then watched a DVD of “Australian Story” on the work of two men and their efforts to create a haven for the safe release of bilbies into the wild. It was all very interesting and informative. Following that, we were able to see the bilbies (using a red light) used in the breeding programme – females and youngsters. All very cute. Of course, exit was via the obligatory gift shop!

This morning we set off for Cunnamulla, deciding we wouldn’t stay at Bailey Bar Caravan Park again (too cramped and dogs not required to be under control!). Similar country to the previous days’ travel, nice and flat and not quite as much roadkill.

We arrived at Cunnamulla shortly after 11.00 am, found the caravan park without any trouble and then couldn’t find anyone to book us in. Wandered around, talked to a lady who advised us not to stay at that end of the park as someone plays the drums every night. We backed onto a site (still no one had appeared) and before we unhitched, the female member of the family decided she didn’t like the feel of the caravan park and the town and wasn’t going to stay in Cunnamulla. In fact, wanted to leave as soon as possible. So we just drove out, stopped at a shop for some bread, then kept on driving to Bourke.

Good road all the way, apart from a few bumpy patches. We saw lots of emus today, even a few groups of chicks – we even had to stop for one group to get off the road. In fact, emus were becoming a bit ho-hum by the end of the day. We got the most amusement from watching the lizards (frilled necks, I think) sunning themselves on the hot road and doing their funny waddling run to get out of the way. We even saw a magnificent big red kangaroo bound away from the edge of the road – these aren’t usually seen in the middle of the day.

We are staying at Kidmans Camp Country Resort, just north of Bourke. It is a caravan park which has been developed on a station on the banks of the Darling River and is a real gem. We have palm trees, native trees, lawn, rose gardens, two beautiful swimming pools and new amenities. We are soooo glad we didn’t stay at Cunnamulla and was well worth a 450 km day.

Another beautiful day, up to 30 degrees, and lots of flies!

Star Gazing

14th September – Monday

Late yesterday afternoon we were entertained by an Aboriginal descendent who told us about his grandmother, showed some very old Aboriginal artefacts, together with his own art works and played a number of didgeridoos. A very interesting hour spent behind our caravan. Tonight a bush poet will attempt to amuse us.

Last night we went star gazing at the Cosmos Observatory on the outskirts of Charleville. This has developed over the last 30 years from a man sitting in the middle of a paddock with his telescope to be a well organised tourist attraction. The observatory currently has three 12 inch telescopes with a 20 inch due to be installed within the next few years. We were ushered into a dark, tin shed and sat while all was explained. Then the roof opened, or rather, the shed walls and roof rolled completely away! Wow! We looked at five different stars and clusters, plus Jupiter. It was possible to make out four of Jupiter’s moons – the first time we have seen Jupiter through a telescope. It was a very dark night, no moon, just endless stars.

Housework and laundry first thing this morning, before it became too hot. Then it was a quick trip into town to mail some postcards to the grandchildren and use a public telephone to make reservations for Canberra, Batemans Bay, Merimbula and Lakes Entrance.

We even managed to find a section of the Warrego River with some water present. The caravan park owner assures us the fishing is great and the fish are great eating. After seeing the water (looks like this ALL the time), we weren’t quite sure about the fish story.

A park has been set up with a lake, ducks and geese (why do authorities put geese on lakes where kids like to feed ducks?) and a nice walk among special planted outback trees with information boards for each variety.

A bit of final shopping before we head south tomorrow to Cunnamulla, then it was back to the ironing (washing doesn’t take very long to dry!).

Tonight we are going to enjoy a Bilby Experience.

I have a new fragrance to wear each day - Eau de Aerogard!

Bowls & Sheep

13th September – Sunday

This morning we spent at the local bowls club, enjoying (well, one of us anyway) a game of social bowls. Fortunately, they commenced at 9.30 am before it became too hot, although I was told it isn’t hot yet! We played pairs over 18 ends and it was a very casual affair – and very drawn out. A fair amount of time was taken with players (not us!) wandering into the bar for another beer or rolling another cigarette. Of course, with such huge quantities of beer being consumed, other breaks became necessary as well! It seemed to be the accepted practise to bowl with a cigarette in the mouth and an enormous stubby in one hand.

However, alls well that ends well. Following the game, we retired to the clubhouse and Leslie immediately won the raffle – half a sheep!!! After explaining that our freezer wasn’t quite large enough, the sheep transformed into a carton of beer. Then when all the score cards were entered and the computer picked a lucky number, the same person shared the jackpot of $182 with his playing partner (not me, unfortunately). We did turn a nice little profit for our $14 outlay.

We have decided we have a few days up our sleeve, so to speak, therefore will head to Canberra and check out Floriade. Better get the good china out, James and Maureen! We will then travel back to Melbourne via Batemans Bay and Merimbula. This afternoon has been spent checking out if sites will be available in Canberra around the 23rd to 27th September and still waiting for replies.

This evening we are off to look at the stars.

Another day of 30 degrees.

Rain Guns

12 September – Saturday

Very cold night – about 4 degrees at 6.00 am and 24 degrees at 8.30 am! Very clear and hot today with the temperature reaching at least 30 degrees and the humidity only 6%.

As we hadn’t unhitched the caravan yesterday, it didn’t take long to pack up this morning as we headed for Charleville. The road was good apart from a couple of bumpy patches and we did pass a number of road trains. We have found the road train drivers to be very courteous and always pull well over, as we do also, of course. Cars pulling camper trailers are generally the most discourteous, never slowing or pulling over – they don’t worry about how many stones they toss around!

A bit of live wildlife today, all of the feathered variety - brolgas, bustards and emus. There was still plenty of kangaroo and wild pig roadkill to keep the crows and kites happy, as well.

We called into Augathella for a break beside the Warrego River – another upside down river. The information sign told us that Warrego is the Aboriginal word for dry, sandy river! Augathella is a small country town with a number of murals decorating buildings. A big mural of Smiley made us think that perhaps this is the area in which the Smiley film was set.

As we continued to Charleville, the black soil grass downs suddenly gave way to beautiful red dirt and mallee scrub.

Charleville is about the same size as Longreach, or perhaps a little bit bigger, and we have booked into the Bailey Bar Caravan Park. Mmmmm. Very friendly owners, we have a nice shady site with its own personal herb garden, fairly cramped, a lady with a very loud, coarse voice and who loves loud country and western music in a caravan opposite, and lots and lots of small, snarly, yapping dogs. We have had so many dogs around us lately!

This afternoon we just did a recce of the town, looked at the Vortex Rain Guns which were supposed to save the town from drought in 1902, visited the information centre and booked into the Observatory for tomorrow night and the Bilby Experience on Monday night. Tomorrow is National Bilby Day and every other year there has been a market, parade and fireworks in Charleville to celebrate – this year they are having a fun run!!!

The Black Stump

11th September – Friday

Beautiful day again, about 28 degrees, and the sky is so blue!

Left Barcaldine for Blackall, intending to stay the night there. However, we arrived before 10.00 am, so decided to look at the sights and then continue to Tambo.

Blackall is the home of the Big Sheep (another to add to our collection of “Bigs”), is the town where Jackie Howe set the shearing record and is also the site of The Black Stump. The Black Stump really exists, or did, until it burnt down and was replaced by a petrified tree stump. There is a piece of petrified tree in the middle of the main street, but the actual site of the official stump is in a side street.

(Another person has just asked, “Did you come across on the ferry? How much does it cost?” Honestly, how else could we get here???)

Tambo is a small town of about 300 people and here we discovered a gem of a caravan park attached to the motel. It is amazing how good these little parks are. It didn’t really take long to “do” Tambo – really just walk down one side of the street and back up the other. However, the old telegraph station was rather interesting, a nice lake at the end of the street (lots of bird life) and a lovely teddy bear shop. All the sheep skin teddies are hand made in the shop and Goliath was sitting outside inviting tourists to enter. A street sign even warned, “Teddies Crossing!”

The road from Longreach to Tambo has been pretty good with just a few bumpy places in flood prone areas. However, it does seem to be suicide alley for kangaroos and wild pigs. We have never seen so much roadkill! The 300 kms has been a real slalom event, weaving around in an effort to avoid the mess. One doesn’t really want to run over a dead animal – bones through tyres aren’t desirable – but Les did manage to add to the kangaroo remains already under the caravan! We saw at least eight dead wild pigs today – at least this would make the farmers happy, if not the truck or car drivers!

We saw the most beautiful sight this morning – an emu with five small chicks walking along the side of the road. We managed to pull off (fortunately no traffic) and watched until they disappeared into the long grass.

Knowledge

10th September – Thursday

Cold night and a clear, sunny and warm day – temperature around 27 degrees, humidity 10%.

Departed Longreach about 9.00 am for the short drive of less than 110 kms to Barcaldine. We stopped on the way at Ilfracombe, the birthplace of Quentin Bryce, our Governor General. This was a lovely little town where there are no entry charges to any attractions, even the swimming pool and spa. As it was still fairly early in the day, we decided to pass up a dip in the hot artesian spa. Ilfracombe also has a mile long display of old machinery – even some old tractors not seen before by someone who knows about old farm machinery!

The Barcaldine Tourist Park is a real gem! We have a drive through site, grass, palm trees, free washing machines (wish I knew this yesterday!), free wireless internet and free entertainment with billy tea and damper. All this for only $20!!!

Barcaldine is an interesting little town with lots of character. Its main claim to fame is as the birth place of the Labor Party, following on from the shearers’ strikes. There is a large Australian Workers’ Heritage Centre (with an equally large admission fee), however, we decided to give this a miss. The most notable attraction, however, is the Tree of Knowledge outside the railway station. This tree is supposed to have witnessed the turmoil of the strikes, etc, but unfortunately, died in 2006 (believed to have been poisoned). Using the dead tree as a base, a new “tree” has been erected and was opened in May this year. Two months later the site was sealed off as a nut (as in nuts and bolts) fell to the ground and it was deemed dangerous! The best way to describe this “tree” is a gigantic wind chime with large pieces of wood suspended to give the form of a large tree. It is really quite incredible.

Barcaldine is also the site of the first free-flowing artesian bore and the first town to reticulate artesian water. The old windmill has been relocated to the main street and still works, pumping water into a fountain.

The majority of these small outback towns have a Masonic Lodge and the one at Barcaldine is a two storey corrugated iron structure. However, the front has been painted to resemble brick work.

A nice place to spend the night.

Farm Experience

9th September – Wednesday

A clear night (there are just so many stars in the sky) which meant cold temperatures and a cooler start to the day before reaching about 30 degrees.

Went for a walk this morning before it became too hot and discovered Longreach’s botanic garden – this is an area 2.5 kms long between the old and new highways. It has been planted out with natives, has a pathway through the centre with lots of signage and hints on sustaining a water friendly garden. Very pleasant.

This morning we visited the Australian Agricultural College, or Longreach Pastoral College, for a guided tour of the campus. This is a residential college for post secondary students and trains them for jobs as jackaroos, or jillaroos. Their current enrolment is 75% female. Students are trained over two years in all aspects of life on a property and includes subjects like learning how to ride a horse and motorbike, drive a 4WD, management of cattle, sheep and goats (big business, evidently, for the export market), undertake mechanical repairs and maintenance, building maintenance, fencing, showing animals, etc. Students who study for a diploma also learn business and farm management.

A nice young lady from administration showed us around and explained the various courses undertaken by the students. (Dress code for the office was blue jeans, boots and shirt.) We were shown through the dormitories, classrooms, shearing shed, machinery sheds and workshops, barns, stables, cattle yards, even the old slaughterhouse. Health regulations prohibit entry to the new slaughterhouse, thank goodness. The college owns about 40,000 acres around Longreach and runs this property as a business as well as providing practical experience for the students.

A really interesting and enjoyable visit.

Stockmen

8th September – Tuesday

Beautiful, clear morning after a cool night – we actually had to pull up the blanket during the night!

This morning we headed for the Stockmen's Hall of Fame, the other major attraction in Longreach. Also the most popular – there were quite a few people there. We were surprised that the Hall of Fame probably devotes more space to the history and exploration of Australia in general, with a focus on the outback. Of the five exhibition galleries, only the final one is devoted to the work of the actual stockman on the stations and droving. One would need a couple of days to read all the story boards and information on display. Probably the highlight of the day was the R M Williams show during the morning when we were entertained by a “stockman” who talked about life as a stockman, his horses and dogs. He had a number of sheepdogs who were very enthusiastic about working a small flock of sheep.

The biggest cheer of the morning was for the unfortunate, and completely unaware, woman sitting next to me. Just after the show started, her phone rang and, in a loud voice (because she was outside and the man in the ring was talking loudly), answered it. Then told her husband, in the same loud voice, that it had dropped out. Of course, the phone rang again immediately, so she answered it again and started chatting. The poor fellow trying to entertain us offered to wait why she conducted her obviously important call. Completely unaware of her inappropriate actions, she kept talking until the attendant arrived and asked her to hang up or leave. Her comment? “Didn’t know I wasn’t allowed use my mobile phone!” Big cheer and applause from the crowd.

My gripe for the day: I wish men (usually the more mature version) would shower each morning and use deodorant! Getting rather sick and tired and having to stand or sit next to pongy people.

I Still Call Australia Home

7th September – Monday

Today was spent at the Qantas Founders Museum. This museum and attraction was superb – so well done and very enjoyable. There are a number of options available which include the museum, a tour of a 747-200, a tour of the original 707 and a walk along the wing of the 747. We opted for the first three, feeling the cost of a wing walk wasn’t really warranted.

The museum contained displays outlining the history and foundation of Qantas, including the lives of the men responsible. There was even a replica of the original Avro, the first plane in Qantas’ fleet. Lots of other memorabilia, of course, including engines. Large models of the first five or six planes circled the room suspended from a track.

The tour of the 747-200 (the plane is 30 years old and no longer airworthy) took us underneath the belly of the plane and explained what all the little bits and pieces are for. Once inside, we saw the “black box” tucked away in the tail (last bit to reach the ground in case of an emergency), sat is business class seats (have improved dramatically in the last 30 years) and had a look in the cockpit.

The 707 was the first jet plane purchased by Qantas and was recovered and returned to Australia in 2009. The previous owner was a Saudi diplomat at the UN and the contract of sale doesn’t allow any further details of him to be made available. Also, places he ate at in the plane have been required to be removed and no photos may be taken inside the aircraft, unfortunately. Some of the taboo fittings have been removed but enough remains to show how the other half travel. Maximum number of seats – 14; timber panelling throughout, including galley; wooden dining table and large cocktail cabinet in guests’ cabin; queen size bed, lounge and ensuite in master quarters, and this includes a bidet as well as a couple of padded toilets. The toilets actually look like thickly padded, leather armchairs and even the pilot has his own!

The original Qantas hangar and workshop are also open for viewing, complete with different workshop areas, engines and a plane. Departure is through the gift shop, of course.

The caravan park provides entertainment a number of times during the week and this afternoon it was Ron Pearce’s Australiana and Cockatoos – performing cockatoos and a 4 metre carpet python. Whilst looking for postcards in the caravan park office this afternoon, we discovered four very large snakes in cages among the souvenirs and bickies!

Father's Day

6th September – Sunday

Happy Father’s Day to all those fathers out there!

The last two nights in the caravan park we were kept amused by two female bush poets – great entertainment from a couple of women with an amazing memory for reciting poetry and yarns, and also making them relevant to the audience. Of course, being in Banjo Patterson country, there was a Banjo poem each night.

The majority of caravan parks in the outback allow dogs (under control, of course) and we haven’t really been bothered by them much until the last week. A couple at Hughenden had a snarly terrier who was not tied up and allowed to do his droppings under our awning (not amused) and only some were picked up. These turned up at Winton yesterday, along with a large number of other travellers with dogs, and they have now followed us to Longreach! We also had a family with four children under the age of six pull in beside us yesterday afternoon. Two of the children were twins about 2 years old and they all drank coke and cordial all afternoon. Not hard to imagine what they were like by 6.00 pm!

This morning we travelled to Longreach – all of 180 kms and a good road all the way. We were rather surprised, though, at the large number of road trains we met. The Mitchell Grass plains continued and we saw a herd (is that the word?) of pigs in a muddy pool beside the road, some kangaroos and a couple of bustards. There is evidently an emu plague in the district as we saw another couple this morning – that makes 14 in four days!

The Discovery Caravan Park at Longreach is quite acceptable – a very large park, all gravel, of course, and we have a drive through site. There are even three very nice spa pools, but the water isn’t heated. Even with the temperature hovering around the 32 degree mark, I still don’t consider this hot enough for unheated water! The air is also extremely dry, with a humidity of only 8%. This certainly dries out the skin very rapidly, as well as the nasal passages.

A quick tour of Longreach quickly revealed that NOTHING happens on Sunday and even the Information Centre was closed. All the streets have bird names, are very wide and have the power poles running down the middle of the road. Intersections are a bit tricky with a great power pole fair in the middle!

Digging With Dinosaurs

5th September – Saturday

Another day of dinosaur hunting! Today we headed to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, which has only been open for two months. This is a not-for-profit organisation which digs up and prepares dinosaur bones. The digs take place on a property to the north of Winton and the bones are then removed to a laboratory on top of a jump up about 25 kms east of Winton.

We had a wonderful guided tour by a very nice young man who is currently working on bone preparation. We learnt about the finds of three dinosaurs – Matilda, Banjo and Wade – and saw the actual bones recovered from these dinosaurs. We were told how they were excavated, encased in a plaster jacket and removed to the laboratory to be prepared for study and display. We were shown the tools used in the painstaking process of removing the stone surrounding the bone, plus a piece of vertebrae that had been worked on for two years so far and still had a long way to go!

We were also amazed that the project is virtually entirely self funded, apart from a Government grant to build the workshop. The Queensland Museum palaeontologists assist with specimen identification, but there is no research being undertaken by any of the universities. Unbelievable!!!

As a means of fund raising, and supplementing the workforce, it is possible to pay a fee of $70 and actually spend a day in the lab helping with the painstaking work of removing stone from the bones. If one is keener on working on a dig, getting dirty and fighting flies all day, this can happen for a charge of anywhere between approximately $1700 and $3500.

The photos are of Matilda's front leg and part of the bone stockpile.

A very clear day, no clouds, a light breeze and the temperature in the low 30s.

Walking With Dinosaurs

4th September – Friday

Woke to a cloudy morning for our big excursion to Lark Quarry, site of the only known dinosaur stampede in the world. We decided to take the caravan park’s organised bus tour, which worked out about the same price as taking our own car. The fact that the 110 km road is only sealed for about 50 kms certainly helped with the decision!

We set out in an old Toyota 12 seater bus that was nearly more dust than bus, and with only four passengers, we had plenty of room. The driver informed us that the best way to travel over corrugations was at speed, because we wouldn’t feel them. He was wrong!!! The countryside changed very quickly from grass plains to mulga and spinifex bush with plenty of kangaroos – plus we saw another four emus. The land was still very flat but with what the locals call “jump ups” and everyone else calls mesas. Beautiful red colours in the earth.

The dinosaur stampede at Lark Quarry is truly mind blowing! The first footprint was discovered in the 1960s and they weren’t really excavated until the 1990s. A large building has now been erected over the site to preserve the area. It is so hard to imagine that these footprints were made over a period of only about two minutes and 95 million years ago. It is so amazing. Three types of dinosaurs were involved – over 130 dinosaurs of two different types of small dinosaurs (one about the size of a large chook, the other about 80 cms tall) were feeding on the mud flat beside a waterhole when a large carnivorous dinosaur attacked and the small ones scatted in all directions. The footprints of the large dinosaur are very clear and it is even possible to tell when he started to run. Over 33,000 footprints have been individually cast and numbered for studying. It is unbelievable that all these footprints have remained intact under layers of silt which turned to rock, and these layers of rocks have been removed to show the footprints exactly as they happened. Just incredible!

This stampede was the inspiration for the dinosaur stampede in “Jurassic Park.”

This afternoon we explored a bit more of Winton and found Arno’s Wall. This is a large wall surrounding a house and it is made of concrete and junk – the wall contains a large variety of things like fuel stoves, sinks, microwaves, motor bikes, machinery and general junk. The gates are decorated with wheel caps and frying pans. Not sure if I would like it around my house, though.

Then it was past the Winton Club, birthplace of Qantas. Evidently, Qantas was conceived in Cloncurry, given birth to in Winton and grew up in Longreach. We then discovered the Musical Fence on the outskirts of town – a couple of wire fences have been constructed to make musical notes when struck, along with a number of other pieces of junk put together to make musical instruments. Someone got rather carried away on the drum set!

Once a Jolly Swagman ...

3rd September – Thursday

A hot night followed by another scorcher of a day – it was 34 degrees by 10.30 am!

We were awake bright and early again as the trains across the road started shunting at 4.00 am and that was about the end of sleep for the night. We were on the road to Winton well before 8.00.

The Kennedy Developmental Road was generally very good, two lanes and sealed. Unfortunately, there was a section of about 50 kms that had been badly damaged during the big wet earlier this year and the shoulders were severely eroded in places. However, as the traffic was quite light (we only saw 22 vehicles in 3 hours!), driving down the middle of the road, dodging bad sections and potholes wasn’t really a problem. The road was also a bit bumpy at times.

For 212 kms we saw Mitchell Downs grass, Mitchell Downs grass and more Mitchell Downs grass! In fact, it was just a big grassy prairie. There wasn’t even a lot of wildlife and very few birds. We did see quite a few dead kangaroos, three dead pigs and one very much alive pig, two live kangaroos, three bustards, two brolgas and two emus – the first we have seen this trip.

Winton is another outback town where life moves slowly – it is too hot to move fast! The caravan park is right on the edge of town and we look out our window across a large expanse of grass. Instead of grass or a concrete slab, we have a large piece of carpet to park the caravan beside (works well!).

This afternoon we visited the Waltzing Matilda Centre – a large tourist development devoted to a song, as well as the history of Winton. It was so well done, with lots of displays and artefacts relating to Banjo Patterson and Waltzing Matilda. The self guided tour starts beside the billabong and the Winton Mayor, plus the Federal MP for Townsville both came in and sat beside us and we spent some time talking to them after the billabong show. We spent well over three hours here, looking at all their displays, which did include the obligatory old farm machinery and an interesting merry go round that was impossible to climb onto!

About five minutes after arriving back at the caravan and just walking inside with the dry laundry, a dust storm blew up, obliterated everything for a few minutes and caused a bit of a mad rush to shut windows and hatches. It passed as quickly as it came

What was the jolly swagman's name?

Andy, of course!

Andy sang,

Andy watched,

Andy waited 'til his billy boiled ...

Dinosaurs

2nd September – Wednesday

Forgot to mention that I found my gold and diamond pendant before we left Cairns. As I walked to the caravan draw bar to reverse Les, looked down and there it was on the grass!

It was lovely last night to sit outside the caravan after the sun was about to set, the temperature was a pleasant 28 degrees and the ants had gone home. We sat with a glass of wine and watched all the birds come home for the night – fig birds, blue faced honey eater, lorikeets and galahs. Then, as the sky darkened, the flying foxes appeared in their hundreds – such massive bats and so silent!

Today we travelled from Charters Towers to Hughenden, which is part of the Dinosaur Triangle. Muttaburrasaurus was discovered not very far from here, in fact.

The road was great for about 70 kms and then became quite bumpy, although the actual surface was in good repair. Long flat straights, a few small hills, not many road trains and not a great deal of traffic. Red dirt and eagles made us realise that we were definitely outback again.

As we pulled into the caravan park, there were two more caravans right behind us. We drove in as far as possible so at least one more could get in the drive and as I got out to go to reception, the woman in the car behind jumped out and ran for the door to beat me inside. I’m sure she was frightened I was going to get the last site available. The owner realised, served her then told her they would have to wait because our car was blocking the drive – justice! Plenty of sites and they were all large and drive through.

Today it is hot again – about 35 degrees. According to the locals, this is just early spring weather and an average summer day is about 50 degrees! Very dry air and the district doesn’t get a lot of rain, even in summer.

Dinosaurs are the definite theme for Hughenden, with a museum at the information centre which contains a model of the muttaburrasaurus skeleton and lots of very authentic fossils and some allosaurus footprints. Of course, there are lots of dinosaur models and sculptures around the town, as well. A short film explained, in a very easy to understand way, why sandstone can be so many different colours. Due to the heat, we decided to give 60 km drive, plus the walk, to Porcupine Gorge a miss.

Hughenden also has a coolabah tree which was blazed by people searching for Burke and Wills. The Flinders River (named after Matthew Flinders) is another upside down river.