Ewingar - Wednesday 29 August 2018
A lovely relaxing day. We awoke to a cool morning but opening the blinds to let the sunshine in soon had the van temperature increasing. Parked on a rare flat piece of land at Andrew and Courtney's afforded me a delightful view down the valley from my bed. We joined the others in the house for a big fry up for brunch while we contemplated what we might do with the day. Andrew took Greg to the shed to show off his new tools while I tried to fix my coffee machine. I then joined them on the tour of the completed orchard, which is now completely enclosed and houses the chooks as well, and the vegie garden which is undergoing a revitalisation. We then decided on a walk down to the hollow - the clearest spot on their property which is in a valley and where they have been growing some vegetables and crops. Greg opted not to install his "bush bashing" cane tip and so he managed admirably up hill and down dale. The hollow is a lovely spot and is currently growing broad beans, brocoli, cabbage, onions and a few others.
After this good walk, it was time for beers and nibbles before progressing onto lovely home made pizzas. A lovely day spent with family.
Blackbutt to Ewingar via Caboolture
Recognising that today was going to be a big day's drive - although not much more than 400km but plenty of hills - we got up early thinking if we got to Caboolture early we could leave there a bit earlier. So the diesel heater went on at 6:30am given it was 9C in the van and we did all our morning activities, including filling our water tanks, emptying the toilet and pack up. We drove out of the showgrounds before 8:30am but stopped just around the corner at the Blackbutt Bakery for breakfast, which was pretty good indeed. Then we hit the road for the 103km to Sunland Caravans in Caboolture. We bought our van from them in 2016 because they won "Best of the best caravan" in 2015 and their off road van is really a good offroad van. And it has served us very well. But we had a slight issue with the power management system (which manages our solar, lithium batteries, inverter and 240V power when we are plugged in) 18 months ago and it never got fixed properly so we decided to go to the source - the manufacturers - to get it properly fixed. We had an 11am appointment but got there before 10:30am, hoping we could be on the road earlier as well, for the trek to Andrew's place. James - the Service Manager - loves a good challenge and this did present him with that. However, 50 minutes later he solved the problem and our inverter was back in business - not only running the toaster but also my hairdryer! Hooray!
So we were back on the road by 11:30am, hoping to get a few more miles under our belt before lunch. This was true urban driving - the freeway (and tollway) around Brisbane including over the Gateway Bridge. 100 or so kilometres later when we turned onto a much smaller highway and pulled in to get some fuel and have a quick lunch. But not long after that the fun roads started. The Mt Lindsey Highway is not a great highway, and the road surface deteriorated as the road became windy. Not a great combination when you're towing a 3 tonne van.
We stopped for afternoon tea at a pretty little rest area, but decided to do them as takeaways, as we were keen to get to Andrew's before dark - there was no way I was driving up his road in the dark! Not much further on we were stopped for roadworks and a bushfire but it did mean I got to drink my coffee in comfort with this outlook for my view.
On the road again, the road certainly didn't improve and our average speed of 30 km/hr kept pushing our arrival time further out. Ever so slowly, the kilometres to go decreased. We passed through small towns but the road didn't really improve much. Finally we came out on the Bruxner Highway and knew we were getting close. A quick stop at the Tabulam Pub for some beer for Greg and for me to stretch my muscles as my back was hurting a lot after that drive.
Ironically, the 38km drive out to Andrew's place on a very narrow strip of bitumem - in places, gravel the rest - was better than most of the preceeding 150km. The sun was setting as we turned into Andrew's driveway and we carefully navigated the van up the narrow winding driveway. Andrew has improved it since our last visit though and we were greeted at the house yard by two super excited dogs. Driving in, we managed to park the van on a rare piece of flat ground which also offers me a lovely view in the morning and then it was time for a well deserved drink and catch up chin wag with Andrew and Courtney. Jamie and Roy - the dogs - were also pleased to see us.
Maryborough to Blackbutt
Today was a trip down memory lane for Greg. Places and people with whom he spent so much time when he lived up this way.
We set off from Maryborugh on a brilliant sunny morning (the shorts were back on) after the caravan park pack up. As we drove through Maryborough I commented on the excessive amount of traffic going the other way. After all, it is a country town. Turning the UHF on revealed the cause - an accident on the Bruce Highway had northbound traffic closed so they were all coming through town. Glad we were heading south.
Given Greg knows this countryside so well, I didn't have to describe much to him (he did more to me, especially navigating). But for those playing along at home, sugar cane fields gave way to bush which became more hilly the further we travelled. It is obviously all still very dry but still quite pretty.
Coming into Kilkivan, a truckie had some less than complimentary things to say about my driving (which I was annoyed at, because I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was doing the speed limit) but he did point out something we didn't know - that one of our indicators on the van wasn't working. A few attempts at fixing it ourselves didn't work until I spied the Kilkivan Auto Centre just up the road so I went to chat to the mechanic who happily fixed our little issue and we were back on the road. The lost time did require a morning tea stop then which we did at a local cafe.
Heading on through the hills, we pulled into Blackbutt at about 2pm. Got the van set up at the local showgrounds before we headed out to the farm where Greg spent so much of his time. Reunions were had, tours were undertaken, drinks were shared and much reminiscing took place. We shared a delicious meal with Andy and Mayo cooked on the fire and got a little surprised at how cold it got out there. This has definitely been our coolest night for quite some time. We said our goodbyes and headed back to town to turn on the heater and kettle in our van to help warm us up. Think we might need the diesel heater in the morning!!
Maryborough - Sunday 26th August 2018
A lovely quiet day catching up with Janne and Bevan. We had a very lazy morning in the van as it rained so much, we couldn't get outside! So much rain that we even turned on the rainwater collection from our roof! There was thunder and lightning with it, and gusts of wind, which ripped the awning off a van behind us. Good thing we hadn't put our awning out.
By the time it eased, we packed up our washing to take to Janne's and headed out for lunch, having a sticky beak at the boys' house from House Rules on the way!
The afternoon was very relaxing, apart from my two loads of washing not drying! However, that's what the dryer is for back here. So nice to spend time with Janne, talk a lot, laugh a lot and drink red wine!
Maryborough/Hevey Bay - Saturday 25th August 2018
Sometimes it's good to be reminded how awesome mother nature is!
Today I went whale watching! It was so awesome, so amazing, so much better than any theatrical performance because none of this was staged. The whales came so close to the boat, almost like they wanted to play or put on a show for us. We saw males, females and some younger ones, although none of this year's babies. One of the males was trying to impress the other three females in the pod. One of the females was heavily pregnant so she was very mellow, just relaxing in the water. Obviously, I couldn't tell any of this but Trish on the boat was very knowledgable. She has been doing this for thirty years, and has been involved with the uni in whale research. They have been very fortunate to have observed one female for almost thirty years. Narla has been coming to Hervey Bay every year in this time, usually with a calf so she is a good breeder. This is undoubtedly helping the humpback whale population as numbers are getting close to those around Australia before whaling.
All of this happened off Fraser Island, off the north west coast of the island. It took us over an hour to get there, and even there, we would keep moving around, as more whales were sighted. While with them though, the motor is turned off and we just bob around in the water, so we can see and hear the whales playing. While we didn't see a whale breech, we saw so much so close that we could have almost touched the whales. I wasn't in the least bit disappointed as the whole experience was so amazing. I'll add some videos when I have better reception (only one bar out here at the famstay) because the videos were so much better thtan the photos.
I chose the boat/tour operator Tasman Venture because we used them for a Fraser Island adventure tour on Christmas Eve almost four years ago. Not only were they awesome with Greg but when I lost our GoPro while donuting, they went diving for it to try and retrieve. They didn't but it was such good service that I thought I'd reward them with loyalty. It was a good decision, as Trish did remember us (not for Greg, but because of the lost GoPro!) and also there was only about 30 people on board so it was nice and intimate.
SO, what did Greg do while I was up close and personal with whales? He hung out with Janne! Apparently they did a lot of catching up and had a lovely day together. I was gone for most of the day, as I had my nails done in Hervey Bay before whale watching, and we were late getting back in so I literally walked into Janne's in time for dinner!
Maryborough/Hervey Bay
We were enjoying our morning cuppa sitting in the sunshine, when the clouds started to roll in. This disappointed us - although everyone around here needs rain, we who have had too much didn't need to see anymore while on holidays. WE headed into Hervey Bay, thinking the weather might be better there!
And it was! Our first stop was ARB, to get the UHF radio fixed and the fog lights. We were taking a chance that they would be able to fit us in and thankfully they weren't busy so we occupied ourselves for an hour or so looking around the shop while these two little jobs were done. Greg was much happier with his powerful UHF afterwards (we had been using the handheld one on this trip so far).
Lunch was next, and fish and chips on the esplanade was on the agenda. Local barramundi was today's fish of the day and we really enjoyed our fish and chips sitting in the park on the beach.
Next, we planned to catch up with some CFA friends from Victoria. The joke was that it takes Hervery Bay to bring us together from Seymour (Victoria) and Tasmania! we met up for coffee and this was ur view while we chatted and caught up nd swapped travelling stories.
While we were sipping our coffees, two or three dolphins were spotted out from the beach. They were just playing but it as lovely to see, and I'm now even more so looking forward to my whalewatching tour tomorrow.
It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon, and it was after 4:30pm before we were heading back to Maryborough. A quick stop at the van to pick up dinner which I had prepared in the Dream Pot earlier, and then we headed back to Janne's for another lovely evening.
Yeppoon to Maryborough
And so it was time to head south. For 430km anyway! This morning was the usual caravan park pack up but we must be getting better at it as we were on the road by 9:22am!
Driving through Rockhampton made us realise how big a town it is but soon we were back in the countryside, on the Bruce Highway. We stopped for morning tea in Mt Larcom, which has a very nice little rest area opposite a cafe. So we decided to support the cafe's business and bought coffees and morning tea. That filled us up, equipping us for several hours more of driving. At least the countryside is a lot more varied now, with hills and trees and curves in the road. But the cattle in the paddocks are still Brahman or Droughtmaster so we know we're still north.
We pulled up at the Gin Gin Rest Area for a loo break and a snack, as we weren't hungry enough for lunch after our morning tea. Quite a nice rest area but what amazed us the most was the near on 40 caravans set up for the night already! We kept driving.
The Maryborough turn off soon beckoned and we followed the sat nav directions to this farm stay. I don't think it was ever a big farm but they have converted a few paddocks to camping areas, some with power and water. They've established a bar in a shed, converted a tank to a pool and it's pretty quiet. We got set up, changed clothes for the cooling night air and headed into Maryborough to meet with Janne, Greg's aunt.
We had a lovely evening together before the 6km drive back here - and I even found my way in the dark. Should be nice and quiet for a good night's sleep!
Yeppoon - Wednesday 22nd August 2018
What a wonderful end to a fabulous week with these two amazing women! How lucky were we to be seated near these two on the country music cruise last year?! And that brought us to their home towns as part of this holiday.
We went out for dinner tonight and ate delicious seafood (washed down with Jansz - must be a good restaurant here in Yeppoon if they are serving Jansz!!) and laughed some more. Today was all about seafood as Greg and I had fish and chips on the beach for lunch and that was pretty amazing too.
Maggy and Ally were busy today so Greg and I did a few housekeeping jobs around the van, went for a drive around Yeppoon, got our fish and chips, walked along the beach and had a lovely relaxing day in the sunshine. Our local beach is only 150m from our caravan so we spent some time there today too.
Given this is as far north as we are coming on this trip, tomorrow we head a little bit south. The weather shoud still be warm though! Farewell Yeppoon!
Yeppoon - Tuesday 21st August 2018
Today was all about food, friends and relaxing - exactly what holidays should be about.
We had a relaxing morning around the van, although I did also walk to the little shopping centre nearby to get a few things from the supermarket. Then Maggy picked us up for lunch, where we headed to the Keppel Bay Sailing Club and enjoyed seafood while taking in this view.
Ally joined us for lunch and we were the last to leave - reminiscent of the cruise where our table was always the last the leave the dining room at night too!
We then headed down the coast a bit to see the renovations Ally and Terry are doing to their beach house. It is quite unique, with Ally taking on a Moroccan style. Absolutely amazing, although they are all working furiously to have it finished before the party for Terry's birthday next week.
Before we got in their way too much, Maggy took us for a drive down the coast a bit further. It really is a beautiful spot - not too overdeveloped or commercialised but with enough facilities for anyone to have a nice holiday.
We then headed back to the caravan park and did a few odd jobs and got changed as the nights have been a bit cool before heading up the hill to Maggy's house for dinner. Lots of laughs and lovely friendship.
Emerald to Yeppoon
It was time to hit the road again, so we pulled out of Ally's driveway a bit after 9:30am for the 312km trip to Yeppoon. It was a nice straight road so the miles melted away as we listened to our current book. Finding a rest area was a little harder so we pulled into the small town of Bluff for our crumpets and cappucino and watched the coal trains pass us on the other side of the road.
On the road again, the drive was still pretty boring. We stopped for lunch at Westwood and then arrived in the biggest town for quite some time, Rockhampton! Driving through, it is obvious that Rockhampton is the regional city for a large area with many retailers and service providers. Soon we were out the other side of town, heading for the coast. A couple of kilometres out from Yeppoon we crested a small hill, and could see the beautiful blue water of the beach. We arived at our little caravan park and got set up. Sitting under the awning, the weather was the coolest we have had for a while - only about 20C. Admittedly, this is still a lot warmer than the snowy 4C of home!
Driving up the hill to Maggy's house (Maggy is the other half of Ally and Maggy wo we met on our cruise last year), I could see why there was no way we were going to get a caravan up there! However, the views are amazing!
Ally came and joined us for dinner, together with her two builders (Ally and Terry are renovating their beach house here in Yeppoon) and we had a delicious meal with lots of laughs. As people who have all lived around Emerald for a long time, there were plenty of yarns about the locals. Like the story of Jack and Elsie who were driving home to their farm one night after dinner. Jack stopped the car about 100km from home to have a pee on the roadside. Getting back in, he kept driving until he got to their front gate and asked Elsie to get out and open the gate. Elsie didn't move, so Jack looked over to her seat and she wasn't there! He backtracked the 100km and found Elsie in the middle of the road - she too had got out to pee and Jack had driven off without realising! Needless to say, Elsie wasn't real impressed!!!
There were several stories like this which had us all laughing. It was a great night.
Emerald - Sunday 19th August
Today was possibly Greg's favourite day of the trip so far, even though we had to say goodbye to Neill and Jude - for a few weeks anyway.
We were up early as a caravan park pack up takes longer than a roadside stop. We waved Neill and Jude off at 8:45am and drove out of the park ourselves quarter of an hour later. The shortest day's drive of our trip so far saw us pulling into Ally and Terry's backyard 20 minutes later. a quick set up and then we jumped into Ally's car for the drive out to their farm, Glencoe.
Glencoe is a 10,000 acre dryland farm north of Emerald, where Terry and Ally are currently growing wheat and chickpeas, and have just harvested sorghum. It was quite pretty as it wasn't just flat paddocks of crops - there are some slight hills, the magnificent Peak Range in the background, the odd spot of vegetatin (which now has to be managed) - like these bottle trees - and of course the gently waving crops.
First, we had smoko in the shed (where Greg had shed envy at the size of the shed - but when you need to park seeders and hervesters the size of those, you need a very big shed) and then set off for the tour of the farm. Given how long it is since they have had rain, the crops were looking very good. Terry provided a very interesting commentary and we appreciated the scale of this sort of farming.
Then it was time to leave Terry to his farming duties for the afternoon and we headed back to Emerald for lunch. Ally took us via Capella, a small town nearby where she was born and showed us her childhood haunts.
Ally left us when we got back as she was heading to Yeppoon today. We had a pleasant lunch in the sun, did some washing, reading and general relaxing before we joined Terry for dinner at the house. Another lovely evening swapping stories - including discovering we had Rotary in common. Tomorrow we head to Yeppoon to catch up with Maggy and Ally.
Emerald - Saturday 18 August 2018
What a lovely relaxing day! A beautiful sleep in, smoked salmon bagels for breakfast (even home made bagels brought all the way from Tasmania!), morning coffee out in the sun with Neill and Jude and so we pondered the day ahead. We decided on some quiet time reading and catching up on domestic duties (I even vacuumed the van with my 12V vacuum cleaner!) while Neill and Jude went to check out Emerald.
I made fried rice for lunch on the outside cooker and our lunchtime entertainment was watching two very small vans ignoring the instructions of the park assistant trying to reverse into their spots - "not that right, your other right"!!!
Sitting in the sun, reading, relaxing - it seems hard to believe we were not even on the boat the same time a week ago!
In the evening, we all headed into Ally and Terry's for dinner. It was a very entertaining evening with some very clever and funny people, good food, fun with the dogs, enjoying our drinks in their beautiful garden. We laughed and laughed and had a great night before Jude and I played spotter for Neill on the drive home to avoid kangaroos and cattle. Tomorrow we're off to the farm after moving our van into Ally and Terry's back yard while Neill and Jude head south. Our little soujourn together has come to an end and while not as long and eventful as some of our trips, we're very grateful we got to spend this time together.
Emerald - Friday 17 August 2018
Ahhh, the joys of not having to drive today! After a beautiful sleep on the warmest night we have had so far (even leaving the door open and several vents), we awoke to the deliciousness of knowing we didn't have to drive 500km today! It was a beautifully warm, sunny day with no wind. Morning cuppas were had in bed before showers and the joy of a fry up breakfast with Neill and Jude. Eggs (from my chooks back home), bacon, hash browns and baked beans all cooked outside - yum, yum, yum! These lorikeets thought they would help Neill cook the eggs.....
Sitting outside in the sun, drinking post breakie coffee - life doesn't get much better than this. After a while, we headed into Emerald to meet up with Ally. Got to see the thriving metropolis of Emerald on the way as I came into town via the wrong road. Emerald is a nice bustling town, quite the regional centre serving a large rural district. Ally and Terry's house is a beautiful old Queenslander, set amongst lovely gardens and a further 13 acres of lawn that is rather brown at the moment. It was good to catch up with Ally and meet Terry when he came home for lunch and we made some plans for the weekend. Afterwards, Greg and I did a spot of shopping before heading back to camp on the right road this time, taking in the views of Lake Maraboon (which is only at 20% capacity) along the way, as we drove on the dam wall.
From our campsite, the water is too far out to see it but there's obviously enough water still for all the boaties who are camped here. Our neighbours have been trying to catch redclaw (the local speciality, a bigger version of a yabby) and got some on one of the days.
Back at camp, it was gin and tonic time/cold beers for others. Nibblies followed, then the campfire was lit then I fired up our new outdoor stove for a divine seafood dinner, washed down with Jansz. We wonder what the poor people are doing.......
Mungalalla to Lake Maraboon
You can tell you're back in the warmth when:-
- the beer (or gin and tonic) needs to be REALLY cold
- the mozzies are biting me
- we're sitting around outside until 10pm
- oh, and the sun is shining and it's 30C!
Today was another big day of driving (so big, we even got up early!) but the outcome was worth it, as we were meeting up with Neill and Jude. Some of our biggest and best road trips have been with Neill and Jude and they did want us to accompany them on their trip this time, with some other friends, back to the Big Red Bash in Birdsville, amongst other places. But the problem with starting a new job is not enough leave and even though City of Launceston has been very generous with some unpaid leave, I didn't want to push it. So we arranged for this mini catch up on the shores of Lake Maraboon, just outside Emerald. Emerald was one of our destinaions anyway, to catch up with the lovely Ally we met on our cruise last year so this time with Neill and Jude has been a bonus.
So, we set the alarm for 6:30am - not to get up at that time - just to turn the heater on so the van warmed up sufficiently to get up. Even so, we were on the road before 8:30am - a very rare occurence for us! 132km down the road, we stopped in Roma for fuel but it was still too early for elevenses so we kept going.
The countryside was getting more interesting, with a few small hills, trees and less kangaroos and emus! Still plenty of cattle in the long paddock though, and we had to stop for one herd. We arrived in Injune just after 11 o clock, and what a lovely little town it is. We decided to support the local economy and buy a couple of coffees, then some tonic water for my G&T (still, got the limes though, Michelle!), then we decided we may as well have an early lunch so bought a few more goodies. Back on the road by 12pm and it was full steam ahead. We encountered some road works, then a very steep descent which was quite different to the roads of the last few days and one the road trains didn't like nearly as much!
A stretch and loo break at Rolleston and we were under a 100km to go. We pulled into the Lake Maraboon Holiday Village before 4pm to a lovely reception from Neill and Jude, cold drinks and lots of catch up chatter. Jude cooked a lovely corned beef in the dream pot and we lit a fire for ambience more than warmth. Soooo nice to be with good friends in the warmth.
Enngonia South to Mungallala
Today was all about driving. Oh, and there was a camel burger. The end.
Well, that's what it felt like anyway! We had every intention of getting going earlier but only managed to save 20 minutes on yesterday's departure time! More of the same countryside - lots of red dirt, goats, emus and kangaroos. Elevenses was in a very boring roadside stop - so boring that I made traveller tea and coffee in our KeepCups and we took them in the car. Crossing the Queensland border, the weather rising to 27C, we were feeling good. We saw advertisements for the Cunamulla Camel Burger as we approached that town so thought that would make an interesting lunch. Unfortunataely, their advertising must be so good they were flat out busy so it took half an hour to make the two burgers! They were good, but perhaps not worth that long a wait.
On the road again, heading for Charleville. We crossed a new bridge that replaced the one blown up by an exploding truck a year or two again - there's a nice memorial to the emergency services there. Once in Charleville, we had to decide whether to continue north and then go east, or go east and then head north - aiming for Emerald. We decided on the east option and wanted to get a few more kilometres under the belt to reduce tomorrow's travels - when we get to meet up with our frequent travelling companions Neill and Jude. We pulled up on the banks of Mungallala Creek as the sun set and drank our beers in the still warm evening, watching kangaroos feeding on the banks of the creek in front of us.
Goolgowi to Enngonia South
After some planning phone calls to friends last night, we have decided to put in a few big days driving to get to our destination ahead of schedule. So we woke up at
7:30am after a good night’s sleep - the traffic was quite minimal. After breakfast and ablutions, I was doing the dishes while Greg torqued the wheel nuts. I thought he was taking a really long time so after I put everything away, I went outside to see what the hold up was. Greg had found a new “have a chat” mate and was busy talking about who knows what! After introducing myself, I said to Greg I was ready to go (as his cue to get ready). Greg went inside to finish up but I got left with “have a chat!” . Hence, it was
9:45am before we got away.
55 km up the road, we stopped for fuel in Hillston. I got chatting to Janet, the depot manager, who was all rugged up in her polar fleece and vest. I passed comment about what nice weather it was (approaching 20C) to which her response was to ask me where I came from. When I said Tasmania, she said ahhhhh knowingly, but then proceeded to say she’d never been but her husband had and apparently he had never been so cold in his life!
Elevenses were on the banks of the Lachlan River, a very pleasant spot where we enjoyed our cappuccino and crumpet. Then it was on the road again, for plenty more boring driving of a very straight road, with only kangaroos, emus and goats along the roadside to break up the monotony. We also passed a herd of cattle being mustered down the long paddock, complete with water tanker for the cattle’s drinking water. Thankfully, we had a riveting audio book going inside the car.
Lunch was in Cobar,in the same rest area we camped in when we did this road back in 2014. A much nicer place for lunch than it was to camp. Back on the road again, it was more of the same. We did comment that it was strange to see so many kangaroos out in the daytime, and that there were a lot less goats than last time we were here. Although we did see a Landline program where they have rounding up all the feral goats to sell them for meat.
Onto Bourke, where we refuelled again and pondered whether to pull up for the night or keep going. I wanted to get more than 500km done today so we set off again, for a rest area further north that sounded good in WikiCamps. We pulled in at 5:30pm, to join two other vans. Settling into our camp chairs with a drink while watching the sunset was just lovely, in this very peaceful spot.
On the road again......Tasmania to Goolgowi
The 2018 road trip has begun! It started with the Landcruiser pulling the housesitters’ caravan out of a bog at home (we have had a LOT of rain) and two days later we find ourselves in a rest area in Goolgowi, New South Wales.
But there were 1055km in between, so let’s outline what happened along the way.
After sorting the bogged caravan and equipping the housesitters with plenty of instructions, we left home at about 2pm. A few stops enroute to the boat to stock up on Tassie treats and we arrived at the Spirit nice and early. Unfortunately, nice and early meant we were parked in the depths of the boat right at the bow. It also meant we were on board enjoying a few drinks well before sailing time. Dinner followed, then a win on the pokies before it was time for bed. However, the beds weren’t comfortable so I watched the twinkling lights of the West Gate Bridge as we docked but then it took us foreever to get off board because of where we were parked. Finally we were having coffee in St Kilda before driving down to Frankston for breakfast, on our way to pick up the van. A quick stop in to see my aunt and uncle - who are getting older so you never know when will be the last time you see them - before we got our van. It was beautifully clean, with a few little things fixed - all to make our trip as safe as possible.
Driving out of the yard I experienced the usual nerves at my first time towing after many months but as the kilometres melted away, my confidence returned. We pulled into the house of Greg’s brother to a rapturous welcome from our nieces. Then it was a lovely lunch with the rest of the family along with a few extras. The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the van, unpacking the car, grocery shopping, and catching up. A beautiful night’s sleep followed, in our very comfortable caravan bed - so beautiful I slept in until 8:30am! Breakfast, coffee and showers took a couple of hours, so it was 10:30am before we pulled out of the driveway, as the drizzle tried to turn to rain.
Such a late departure meant no elevenses - very sad! Lunch was in a pretty rest stop near Elmore, Victoria before the kilometres started melting away in the afternoon. After we crossed the border into New South Wales, the scenery turned quite boring. The Hay Plains are described so for a reason - flat and boring! Plenty of kangaroos and emus but not much else. Several times I had to give way to emus and cattle on the road! Pulling into Hay we pondered whether to set up camp or get some more miles under the belt. After deciding on the latter, we tried to beat the setting sun to Goolgowi, arriving at this rest area after the sun had set but before it got too dark (and before too many roos and emus were on the road).
A glass of wine never tasted so good! Bikkies and cheese, dinner and a cup of tea in the toasty warmth of our diesel heated van - now it's time for bed.
