Saturday - and we are in Port Augusta.

Ready to go.

Darn - rain!

Driving through the Hunter

Wattle lines the roads

The Bogan River at sunset - Nyngan

We drove from Broken Hill to Port Augusta today. It was a really pleasant drive and the countryside is amazingly green after all of the rains. We just ambled along and stopped from time to time to take a few pics and have a cup of coffee. It is easy to underestimate the beauty of the tiny roadside flowers and it is not until you stop that you see them in their full glory. Although it was getting late we managed to get lunch in The Royal Hotel in Peterborough. The owners have spent a lot of money on renovating this beautiful old building - I only hope the tourist dollars are there to repay their invstment.Beside the van tonight there is a beautiful flowering gum but the light disappeared this afternoon before I could get a decent photo. Hopefully the morning sun will be in the right position. Today's discovery - if you park under a tree you cannot raise the TV antenna. Now that's a surprise!

Away we go - late August 2011

The last few months have been somewhat exhausting and we have had little time to remove ourselves from the daily grind and enjoy the world we live in. We are all surviving the changes that have occurred in our lives and Tony and I have taken a break, packed the van and set off. Day 1 of our trip saw us driving up to Emily's work to say farewell to her for a short time and then heading through the Upper Hunter for our first night away - Sandy Hollow. Then to Nyngan. Some of you who know Nyngan may ask "why?" - it is actually very pleasant here by the river and we are enjoying the quiet and the end of winter in Western NSW. The wattle is magnificent this year and the roads are lined with beautiful yellow flowers. There are lots of calves and lambs in the paddocks and the fruit trees are beginning to blosssom beautifully.

Tonight I need to make sure all the fresh fruit and vegetables have been frozen or eaten before we pass the fruit fly zone check tomorrow.

I have a hideous cold and cough - a few more days and I will be cured!

Now it is Friday - I tried 4 times to get that uploaded last night. Perhaps Nyngan is not a centre of blogging activity. Today we have driven to Broken Hill. So far we have seen only one live kangaroo, about 20 emus and a million feral goats. I have never seen so many before along the highway. Photos have been few and far between so far due to the weather.

It is drizzling and has been on and off since we left home. It doesn't matter!

At Lake Cargelligo

We have had a wonderful time at Lake Cargelligo. The caravan park here must be about the cheapest in Australia – powered sites $18 a night. We have a green and grassy spot and a view of the lake. It is so good to see the lake full of water and to see all of the gardens green and the plants growing. The past few years out here have been very dry but life is good now.

Last night we went with Kevin and Colleen to the Sports Club – service is a bit slow but our meal was most enjoyable. This morning we started the day with a fundraiser breakfast for the Cancer Support Group, then morning tea with Auntie Betty and Uncle Bill, lunch with Kevin and Colleen, afternoon tea with cousin Maureen and dinner with Kevin and Colleen!

In the middle of all that we went for a drive and spent some time at Curlew Waters, drove to Euabalong and Euabalong West and took quite a few photos.

Tomorrow morning we are heading towards home and will either be there tomorrow night if we don’t stop for too long along the way or we will be home on Tuesday.

Heading for The Lake

The tree ferns are growing and the bush is showing signs of recovery









The leaves are beginning to turn


The Ovens River at Bright









I am really Indiana Jones!





Healesville was a very comfortable place to stay and we enjoyed our time there very much. We went wandering, found a great shop and added to my steadily growing little collection of material. We caught up on the washing on a beautifully sunny day and then after 2 days set forth for Bright – what a town!

The leaves are just beginning to turn and they make this a beautiful place to be. On our first night we walked into the Alpine Hotel for a really great meal – they have a Sri Lankan chef. We found more shops!.......and the pile grew a little higher.

The town has been well signposted and it is well equipped with paths and walks. We did some of The Rail Trail and completed the very pleasant Canyon Walk which runs beside the Ovens River. We went searching for the resident platypus in the reservoir at dusk but sadly we were unsuccessful.

The bush shows many signs of recovery and all of the recent rains have meant that bushfire recovery is perhaps better than it may otherwise have been. Driving north today towards Griffith took us through some very wonderful scenery and the historical towns of Beechworth (great vanilla slices), Rutherglen and Chiltern (no time for wine), Corowa (good food) and then Jerilderie (pretty good coffee).

We are now set up in a pretty ordinary caravan park in Griffith – we have dined on lamb shanks (cooked and frozen at home) etc which we warmed up in our new Estelle camping saucepan from Bright. They were delicious. The real problem when we get home is to decide whether to move the pot to the house or whether to leave it ready and waiting in the van.

Tomorrow – Lake Cargelligo and family.

The journey continues

We wandered along through the beautiful south coast and headed through the east Gippsland forests. We really enjoyed our visit to The Stony Creek Trestle Bridge – a most impressive site and sight.

As we headed through assorted towns we encountered the usual problem of nowhere to park. Rosedale in Victoria was a treat – a sign outside town announced they had long vehicle parking so we were very happy. We found an amazing patchwork shop – a very helpful owner and material to die for. Didn’t buy any as I have no idea what I am doing but I still managed to use the credit card for some other purchases. She also has a website and does mail order. The food in Rosedale is also excellent and there is a really good park with the facilities required! We will definitely stop there on future trips.

http://www.lilylane.com.au/

And onwards we went to Walhalla – what a wonderful place. We had last visited in the early 1970s and Mum and Dad were with us and sleeping in their car. Matthew was a very small boy and the town was virtually non existent. Now there are many reconstructions, lots of places to eat, a pub with excellent counter meals (Chicken Walhalla was great!) and a free camping area. We spent 2 nights there – no electricity or other facilities except for a toilet but we had a wonderful time. We rode their little train, enjoyed the superb scenery and explored the many historical spots that were all very well sign posted.

We are now in Healesville, having driven through the back roads of West Gippsland. The land is lush and the scenery magnificent!

Photos of the trip south - never seen the Snowy so full!!!!!

Heading south from Canberra towards Cooma


The flooded Snowy River not far from Orbost


The Old Pump House beside the Snowy in Orbost


The flooded Snowy


The Snowy enters the sea through this narrow gap in the sand dunes at Marlo - hard to see amid the spray and the waves. Tons of debris are floating downstream towards this spot.



Stony Creek Trestle Bridge in Gippsland - the best trestle bridge I have ever seen!


There were lots of frogs hiding in the forest pools - I did not see a single one!


We explored around the bridge very thoroughly even though it was raining - fortunately we didn't meet an oncoming car on the road on the way into the area where the bridge was located in the forest.



It is always fun driving through the wonderful forests of southern Australia

The KK sets out - the shakedown trip begins.

This trip that we are currently on is no where near as glamorous as our last but the way it has started it may just turn out to be more exciting. The packing and preparation phase was a disaster – rain….rain….. rain. So plans went out the window – the new electrical system was not tested and we ended up throwing everything in the car when the rain stopped and headed off on Tuesday for Canberra to celebrate Matthew’s birthday. We had our clothes in the fridgie bag so didn’t open the van until the next day after we headed down the Monaro Highway. That was very useful and made an early start easy.

We stopped at Colinton on the Cooma Road for a cuppa and discovered a muffler rattle – back to Canberra or continue? Cooma won and we headed for the camping area and the exhaust shop. Fortunately they fitted us in and a mere $340 later we were repaired. It had been a tight fit into the space at the park and this morning as we were moving out the tow bar demonstrated inherent weaknesses. Hammer job! – car nearly escaped complete with van in tow but all under control and back to the same car repairer for some welding!

We were impressed with the service and the state of Cooma – good repairs, excellent parking for vans, good patchwork shop (new scissors, needles and cotton!) and pleasant staff everywhere.

Down the highway to Marlo – (our destination of Thurra River was abandoned due to unknown state of the road) and we set up again. And the information centre was closed

Oops – should have tested that electrical system. The van isn’t charging from the car – problem traced to faulty device purchased from Victoria. We may take it straight back to them!

However the smoke detector works and we are happily set up having feasted on steak and many vegetables. We are listening to the Sleepless in Seattle Soundtrack and when I have finished this I am going to sew hexagons while we watch a DVD. OK – we used to camp and do it tough – at the moment we are enjoying our electricity, our computer, flat screen TV , etc. We are still travelling in a fold out device but this one is a tad more luxurious than the old “portable princess palace” that we used to have.

Now – if I could find the camera to computer cord we could have photos. I have also just realised that I need to update my favourite sites on my page and add a few more bits and pieces!