Gismo Queen and her King

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.

posted by Tracey @ 9:56 pm