Western Plains

FRIDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2016

Rain clouds over the Western Plains

Tuesday was spent on a very soggy Sunshine Coast – don’t know where the name “Sunshine” comes from.  We have now spent twelve days on the Sunshine Coast in the last two years and seen the sun on only one day.  Our day was filled in by visiting the bowls shop for some new shoes, after which we filled in time at the Sunshine Plaza.  Early in the day, I removed some frozen lamb from the freezer but when I removed the peas to cook later in the day, they felt decidedly soft.  Hoped it was simply because the freezer door may not have been shut properly but next morning the peas had reached the mushy stage and the remainder of my meat had nearly thawed.  We weren’t sure if the electric element (2 years old, just) had blown or it simply wasn’t working because the caravan was so uneven.  Gas will need to be used until we reach home and can test the frig properly.

Wednesday, the rain stopped and we headed south to Warwick, with a stop at Caboolture to buy a special rafter that Himself decided we had to have.  Continued through Brisbane, sticking to the motorways and contributing to the coffee of GoVia.  Shortly before reaching Ipswich, we turned onto the Cunningham Highway, which quickly became very bumpy and uneven – not pleasant, considering it is a major highway for interstate trucks, connecting the New England and Newell Highways to Brisbane.  After climbing the Great Dividing Range and crossing it at Cunningham Gap, we arrived at Warwick about lunch time and spent the night at the Big4 Oasis Caravan Park, which was clean, dry and flat!

Thursday, we continued on the Cunningham Highway to Goondiwindi before turning south onto the Newell Highway and continuing to Moree.  The country flattened out dramatically, with cotton and wheat farms.  The weather continued to be fine, with the temperature around the 23 degree mark.  We booked into the Gwydir Caravan Park with its four thermal pools, plus lap pool.  Sites here are very narrow and our overnight drive-thru was only five metres wide.  It was here that we unexpectedly met up with Helen and Vince, who had been our neighbours for many years.

We were away early on Friday morning for the drive to Dubbo and it wasn’t long before moisture appeared on the windscreen and followed us for most of the day.  We did have a bit of variety in scenery today, with not only wheat, but “normal” farms, some hills and bush.  We treated ourselves to lunch at a Gilgandra Roadhouse (not having much in the cupboard!) before arriving at the Big4 Dubbo about 1.30.  Once again, we were allocated a narrow, drive-thru site for the night, only we discovered it was virtually underwater, very muddy and had large puddles which made getting into the caravan impossible without gumboots.  Site change happened but we had to unhitch so that we could refuel.  The weather is very cool and damp, but something is refusing to put his shorts away.