Goondiwindi

Friday, 12 September 2014

 

Convoy; not much room for the caravan

Victoria Hotel

The weather continues to be clear, sunny, very hot (over 30 degrees today) with very low humidity, and also very still.  This all makes for perfect driving conditions.

The sunrise this morning was quite spectacular in the bush, with the dawn chorus happening and the usual crew of birds arriving at our door in the hope of some food.  We left Possum Park about 8.20 am , with our estimated time of arrival in Goondiwindi being 11.05 am.  The compass bearing in the car once again said “South,” with a quick stop at Miles for fuel and then onwards and southwards to Condamine and Moonie.  The road was very good as far as Condamine, then the rot set in!  Although the surface was good, the road bed was nothing but continuous lumps and bumps, with the occasional smooth section which had been recently resealed.  We were travelling between 60-65 kmh for most of the way from Condamine to Goondiwindi; thankfully there wasn’t much traffic so we were able to drive like the locals – straddling the centre line.  South of Moonie we did meet two trucks with heavy mining equipment heading north, complete with four escort vehicles and two police vehicles.  Luckily, we saw the oncoming convoy just as we came to a small rest area and we able to pull off completely.  The two police cars were actually forcing oncoming traffic off the road.

Unfortunately, Doris TomTom hadn’t been told about the road condition and it was just on noon when we arrived at Goondiwindi (pronounced GUNdiwindi, we have been told!) and checked into the Big4 Goondiwindi.  This park has new owners but nothing has changed much.  The receptionist wasn’t very informative (didn’t even offer advice on how to operate the boom gates) and the damper and tea at happy hour doesn’t happen after the end of August, despite the park being nearly full each night.  However, the artesian spa is still here and still nice and clean – and warm.

After setting up, we headed into the town centre for some lunch and some groceries and Himself managed to increase his shirt collection.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting quietly in the shade, until we felt it was cool enough (about 27 degrees) to cope with a soak in the spa.  It was also nice to talk to our grandson via Skype, now that he is home from hospital and resting on the couch.