Day 14 - Bethungra Dam to Koorawatha (119km)
Today was all about timing - and weather!
The day dawned hot and windy at Bethungra Dam. We had worried the wind would affect our ability to have a fry up, because Sunday mornings are fry-up breakfasts! But nothing an induction cooktop, an airfryer and an indoor gas cooktop couldn't fix - doesn't really sound like camping, does it?! So we enjoyed our breakfast and contemplated what to do. The wind was coming from the direction we needed to go in so we knew that would impact fuel consumption. Rain and thunderstorms were forecast for hundres of kilometres north of us. But we didn't really want to stay where we were because it was on top of a hill and a bit too close to trees. so we bit the road a bit after 10am, with the view that we'd stop when the weather got bad.
Cootamundra was our stop for elevenses. It was still pretty hot although the wind was less vigorous there than where we'd come from. We enjoyed our elevenses in the park where the Cricket Captains Walk was. Now this was very well done - bronze bust sculptures of every Test Captain since the beginning in a walk around a life size statue of Bradman batting, because Cootamundra is the birthplace of Don Bradman. Now this is a much more interesting reason to visit Cootamundra than my childhood visits here - to see stallions at horse studs. Apparently not even a good enough incentive for my cricket mad brother though (because he is undoubtedly still scarred from our childhood visits).
Not long after we left, we had the first rain drops on the windscreen. We had identified a few potential camp sites to pull off into if the weather got too bad, but we made it to here at Koorawatha with black skies to the west of us. We got into position at the Showgrounds literally just as it started to rain. And boy did it storm. Thunder, lightning and torrential rain - we were so glad we were off the road.
A bit of lunch, some reading and housekeeping and then the skies cleared so we though we'd go for a walk - also because we had to pay our camp fees at the pub. We did get a few more drops of rain fall on us but we got to the pub unscathed and amused ourselves watching the Sunday Euchre Championship underway. The pub was formerly known as the Bang Bang Hotel (established in 1894) and "famous" for a failed hold up by renowned bushranger Ben Hall. After our beer and perhaps snobbish conclusion that this pub was not for us, we went for a walk around town. There are absolutely no shops or anything left - just lots of empty buildings and some historic houses. Population last census was 450.
The rain cleared in the late afternoon so we emerged feeling optimistic we could have drinks and nibbles by the fire, and maybe even dinner. As the evening wore on, the skies darkened considerably to the west and the BOM radar showed heavy rain and thunderstorms by 8:10pm. We finished our dinner, and sat spellbound by the amazing thunder and lightning show all around us - until the rain really did start and we retrated indoors again. What a show!
(despite the hundreds of photos I took, I couldn't manage one with the lightning in it!)
Day 13 - Police Paddocks to Bethungra Dam (224km)
A day of twists and turns. The biggest one is that our music festival we were booked into from Thursday in the Clarence Valley has been cancelled due to the weather. This is really disappointing, not least because Greg had chosen this festival back in January and we really wanted to honour him by going. We haven't quite worked out what we'll do instead.
It was a warm night overnight near the Murray - I slept with all the windows open and the fan on and was just right! In fact, I had the best sleep I have had on this trip! Possibly because it was so quiet. And who can go wrong with waking to this view from bed.
However, it very quickly warmed up and was 30C before we left! We did fit in a short walk before leaving but it really was pretty warm. We headed up some country roads for just under an hour, before stopping for elevenses in the very sleepy town of Brocklesby which had a very fancy recreation reserve. Fun fact - the town is "famous" for an RAAF plane crash in 1940 where two planes crashed into each other but managed to land because one plane got stuck to the top of the other and nobody died. We continued up the road and by the time we got to Yerong Creek for lunch, it was 34C! Yerong Creek was a very sad little town with next to no buildings open but a very pretty garden and water mural.
Today was the biggest driving day of this trip and despite it only being 224km, it seemed to take us a long time! We did try to avoid the main highways. It turns out the big driving days get a bit lonely when you're the only one in the car. I have a great audio book and Neill and Jude at the other end of the CB radio, but it's definitely not the same.
We pulled into Bethungra Dam at 4pm, when it was still pretty hot. A nice reserve with plenty of spots to camp but not many of them are level and being a weekend, it was pretty full. In the end, we found ourselves a spot on top of the hill with great views and away from the people. Some drinks, a great walk to the lookout and dam wall before pre-dinner nibbles and Thai Sticky Chicken for dinner. The sunset was pretty, it cooled down to a pleasant temperature and again we lit the fire for ambience. We're doing well so far in finding camp sites we haven't been to before but will now have to rethink our itinerary with the cancellation of the music event - and the forecast rain for tomorrow.
Day 12 - Euroa to Police Paddocks (Rutherglen)
Holidays are normally about sleeping in, slow mornings and relaxing. This morning was not. Two excited little girls were at the caravan door just after 7am and apparently Tracey's caravan was more exciting than Bubby and Pa's. Clare left them to have breakfast with us so she could go to work early and after admiring all the red in my caravan, they thought it was hilarious to "order" breakfast through the cafe window (aka my dining window) to Pa. While Pa made their porridge (because Tracey doesn't do porridge), Chloe started the menu at Greg's cafe, which we all thought was rather beautiful. After porridge (from Pa) and ham toasties (from Tracey) it was time to do the school run and although I thought that would be my quiet time so I could start the pack up, the request was that I do the school run. So in the car, then I had to be shown Chloe's classroom and teacher, then to childcare for Heidi's kindy. Back to the vans by 9:10am for pack up.
So we were a little late leaving the caravan park, and given Neill and Jude had to do some grocery shopping, we drove into the centre of Euroa and parked before having early elevenses in a cafe and then some grocery shopping. By 11:45am, we were on the Hume Highway heading north. We did decide we didn't need to do a big day's driving today so we aimed for here, the Police Paddocks campground, arriving at about 1:30pm. We are looking at an island, where the police used to rest their horses in the late 1800's. Although right on the water, it was still pretty warm. We had lunch, some chatter before it was rest time.
As it vaguely started to cool, we had drinks and pre-dinner nibbles on the banks of the river. Then I cooked up Tasmanian scallops for our dinner, which we enjoyed by the fire, which was for ambience rather than warmth. The moon rose in front of us, as the water in the river babbled. A very peaceful night ahead, although still quite warm.
Day 11 - Mansfield to Euroa
A big day's driving today - all of 71km! Although there was a section of windy roads but thankfully on a pretty quiet road.
It was action stations in the Mansfield Showgrounds this morning, with the first van that I saw leaving at about 7:20am. I still had my coffee in bed, and breakfast, and did my inside housekeeping before venturing outside to pack up and hitch up. I was pulling out of the Showgrounds at 9:41am! So it was only about an hour later that I pulled up in front of the Euroa Caravan Park, a place we have camped before when visiting Clare and the girls. I sorted the early check in and had almost finished unhitching when Neill and Jude drove in. Travels are now comfortable - I have my crew alongside me again!
Elevenses, some washing, and child entertaining when Clare and Heidi came by. The day got pretty warm and so Heidi wanted to go swimming in the caravan park pool, but had to wait until her big sister had finished school.
At 4:30ish, we had Alice who Neill and I used to work with, and her husband Len come to visit. We had arranged to have dinner with them given it is about 10 years since we all left City of Whittlesea. So pre-dinner drinks and nibbles in the shade of the caravans and then a very short stroll to the pub for dinner. It was much fun catching up, swapping caravan stories and reminiscing. So glad we got to do this, as Alice and Len had lived not far from us when we were in Broadford and so they had both met Greg.
Neill, Jude and I finished the evening with our cups of tea in the warm evening air on the banks of this creek in the caravan park.
Day 10 - Mansfield
And so the gathering comes to an end. Our last day in Mansfield today and it was a pretty quiet day. We had a group session on all things communications, toilets and defribillators which was well attended and triggered lots of good discussion. I then went into town for fuel and a few groceries. Back to the van for lunch, and then a quiet afternoon saying goodbye to some people as they started to trickle out this afternoon. By 4pm it was yappy hour again but I still didn't win anything in the raffle! Lots of chatter, cleaning up, I managed to acquire some firewood for the next stage of the trip, and then it was dinner time. It got pretty hot this afternoon so I had to eat dinner outside as it was too warm in the van. Down to the Games night to learn another game which was a lot of fun. And that is that.
Here's an aerial shot from earlier in the week when everyone was here, although this still doesn't cover all the Sunland caravans. Mine is in the row at the top of the photo (along the road), second from the end in from the straight driveway.
Day 9 - Mansfield
A day to be grateful - for wonderful family, for my fantastic team back home at work, for the new friends I am making here and for great service from a car dealer!
Up at 5:30am to watch our local area on Channel 7's Sunrise weather crosses. This is the 3rd time we have worked with Channel 7 on this and they are great to collaborate with. I had done a fair chunk of the work before I left but my fantastic team put the finishing touches on it all, were on site yesterday afternoon and super early this morning and even appeared in some of the crowd shots! It went so well and I am so happy with how Northern Tasmania was represented. In between watching and cheering and sending texts, I got ready for an early departure as the car was heading to the local Ford dealer for someone else to look at the rattle.
I dropped the car off at 8:30am, went to a local cafe and was sitting down with my coffee in time to watch the final Sunrise cross on Channel 7 Live. After an hour or so, I had a call from the mechanic because he couldn't hear the noise and could I come and go for a test drive with him. So we did, and he heard it and had some ideas about pin pointing it, but didn't know if he'd have enough time today. So I left him to it and walked back to the van.
After some more birthday cake for sugary energy, I walked back into town to meet Greg and Sharon for coffee and to plan our day. We had thought of hiring e-bikes and riding on the rail trail but there were some rain showers this morning and the clouds were still ominous so we ditched that plan and considered the local winery. The biggest problem was that without my car, we only had the two seater Lancia available to transport 3 people! In the end, we decided it was still the best way to spend our day so Greg did two trips, taking me first and then coming back for Sharon. While I waited, I had a complimentary glass of sparkling rose and enjoyed this magnificent vista.
The restaurant wasn't open but the snack menu was available and that proved sufficient and tasty. Greg and I also tried several wines which was really quite nice.
Greg dropped me back to the Showgrounds before going to get Sharon and we made plans for a dinner catch up. Upon my return, I learned my lovely neighbour here had had a fall and sprained her ankle. In very sympathetic fashion - having learned over the course of the last few days that she enjoys sparkling wine and coffee as much as I do - I decided she needed some Tasmanian sparkling wine to help her recuperate. She said it helped!
Bless the lovely team at Delatite Ford here in Mansfield, they rang to say they wouldn't have time to do everything to my car, but they came and picked me up from the Showgrounds (it seems everyone in Mansfield knows we are here and why we're here!) so I could collect it. Now that's good service, even if they couldn't fix the problem.
Then it was "yappy hour" and they had obviously run out of guest speakers because they coerced me into talking - a bit about how we got Sunrise to town (I had told them all yesterday to watch!), lots about the new Spirits, and a bit about Tasmanian tourism. It turned out to be very popular - I had lots of questions and ended up speaking for about 20 minutes! Surely I can claim this trip as a tax deduction now?!?!?
Back out to Greg and Sharon's air BnB for this amazing sunset and an absolutely delicious dinner.
My direct family might be small but they are absolute gems. Greg and Sharon have been so caring since my Greg, coming over not only for his service, but to spend a weekend with me a few weeks later, and now the two days here. I am so lucky and grateful.
Day 8 - Mansfield
This stunning weather continues - I even got sunburnt today. I'm looking at it as adhering to doctor's advice. My doctor said I was low in Vitamin D so I got an extra boost today 😊 (I also realise that's irresponsible and my legs are now super warm and will probably keep me awake).
A lazy morning in the sunshine, chatting to the caravanners who didn't go out 4WDing, eating birthday cake for elevenses and doing a bit of housekeeping. My lovely cousins Greg and Sharon arrived at about 12:30pm. When they discovered they couldn't come for my birthday lunch yesterday because they were at a car rally in Albury, they decided to come here on the way home and booked two nights in an AirBnB so we could do some things together. Their car (a 1953 Lancia) attracted a bit of attention in the showgrounds although I don't think anyone thought it would be a suitable replacement tow vehicle! Being only a 2 seater meant they had to leave it here while we piled into the F truck to head out to lunch. We decided on the other pub to yesterday's birthday lunch and it was pretty good, washed down with some local beers. I then took them on my walking tour of the main street of Mansfield, which included an additional op shop and a fabulous deli cafe. They stocked up at the IGA for their 2 night stay and we were back at the Showgrounds just before 4pm for my yappy hour and for them to go and check in. Still no luck in this afternoon's raffle (shame too, because first prize was three bottles of local Shiraz). However, my delightful neighbour won third prize which included this lovely cheese board, made by one of our caravanning group and as she had already been gifted one, she gave this one to me.
Very kind of her and a delightful sourvenir of this trip.
After yappy hour, I drove out to Greg and Sharon's accommodation which is really lovely, out of town a bit with stunning views of Lake Eildon and the mountains. We drank wine and watched the sunset which was so lovely.
We chatted some more, enjoyed a light dinner after our big pub lunch and I headed home, conscious I might disturb the oldies here driving in at the late hour of 9:45pm!
