Gismo Queen and her King

Although we are nearing the end of this trip - which normally saddens my heart even though all good things must come to an end - tonight’s campsite is such a gem that my heart is singing. As we all were around the best campfire of the whole trip!

It was a drizzly grey morning in Canberra as we packed up. So efficient were we in our packing that we were on the road earlier than planned, much to Jude’s chagrin.

The rain really settled in as we headed out of the ACT and turned onto the Hume. I kept an eye on all cars overtaking as we expected Doug and Ruth to overtake us, given they left at a similar time. But we turned off at Jugiong for elevenses so they must have gone past then.

The cafe in Jugiong was a pleasant surprise. Incredibly busy for 10:30 on a Monday morning in a one-horse town by passed by the freeway. We enjoyed our morning tea very much before it was back on the freeway. An hour later we turned off towards Wagga Wagga. Driving towards and through Australia’s largest inland city, the rain strated to ease and we were looking for a lunch spot. Just the other side of Wagga Wagga, we pulled up in a rest area and although it was now 5C warmer than when we left Canberra, it was still cold. We worried we wouldn’t be sitting around the campfire much tonight.....

The clouds started to part as we drove west, and then turned off towards Lockhart and Urana. First mission was to find some firewood so when Neill turned off on a little side road, I figured we were searching for wood. Passing a creek, I commented to Greg about what a nice looking campsite that was. Neill turned us around at some cattleyards and brought us back - to this very campsite! I thought it was a fluke but no, this was where we were heading! And so much better than expected. On the banks of a creek, with plentiful red gum firewood (we did cut a fair bit for a really big fire), not a cloud in the sky, sun shine and peace and quiet. This ranks highly as far as campsites go.

Jude made scones while we got the fire going, then we settled into the warmth as the sun went down. There was music, singing, burritos for dinner - a great night.