McCullochs Range Rest Area to Little Topar Roadhouse via Wilcannia

Yesterday was a fairly standard day of travel, with a bit of time in Wilcannia to have coffee, dump our toilet and fill up with fresh water and fuel. The cafe was also the information centre and she told us we could use a tap at the council run caravan park on the river. The dump point was on the road and there we met up with a Salvation Army chaplain and partner (I think the husband was the chaplain, but it could have been the wife). They live in Broken Hill and filled us in on some of the things to see around BH.

The featured image shows the cafe where we had our morning tea. Never pass up the chance to sit in a comfortable arm chair!

We chose the Roadhouse for last night as rain was forecast and the area for vans had blue metal. We didn’t want to risk getting bogged. We were the first there and chose our spot where it was level. As about six other vans arrived it turned out that we were rather in the way, especially for people with very large caravans. The rain came in slowly at first, then became quite persistent at times. There was also strong wind overnight, which Stephen slept through. No leaks from hatches!

We had internet,  but WordPress wouldn’t load, so I gave up. I have a few photos to add to this post later, but they are not available to me on the iPad.

I keep forgetting to mention that we are seen a lot of emus on the roads in the last few days. Goats as well. The goats and emus don’t appear to get hit by cars, only kangaroos. We don’t see kangaroos, they must only come out at night. The goats are many different colours and actually very pretty. I just haven’t had a chance to photograph any.

Cobar to McCullochs Range Rest Area

We said goodbye to our beautiful overnight spot at around 9.30 a.m. this morning. We went into town to the Tourist Information Centre where we used the dump point and fresh water tap to fill our tank and water container. We also did some shopping at IGA.

We covered about 200 kms today. Stephen has been reluctant to drive since experiencing some dizziness a week ago, but he did some of the driving today. We stopped at a rather nice place to have our lunch. It would have made a good overnight stop, but was only about 60 kms along the road.

We had a look at a couple of places which on my app looked like places where we could have spent the night. However, this one suited us best. It would be boggy where we are parked if it rained, although we tried to aim for a stony section. We thought we would stay well off the bitumen as this is actually a designated rest area for trucks and we didn’t want to be in the way. Oddly, it actually has a little playground for kids and a covered picnic area. The playground is the first we have seen in a Rest Area.

We still have a couple of meals from the pressure cooker cookup in Cobar, but I felt like having something different, so cooked a frittata with bacon, tomato, mixed frozen veggies, onion, 2 eggs, milk and a little self raising flour, topped with cheese slices. A simple meal which is quite delicious.

It’s a little cold in the van and we can’t use the heater all the time because the diesel heater has a fan that depends on 12v power. However, we will certainly put the heater on for a while when we have our basin washes in the bathroom. Cooking the meal did help with warming the van. We tried to park in the sun when we arrived, but ended up with partial sun because of trying to have a level spot. It can take a bit of moving around to actually be able to get fairly level. We are starting to leave the curtains open as much as possible to soak up all the warmth we can before dark.

I’ve had a couple of calls about work today, and found out that I said I would be available for work again in August. I told the person it would now be September, and will contact the other person who rang to clarify the date of return to work, which I suspect won’t be until the middle of September. I only work at two places, and was offered a shift in each place, which surprised me. I am contemplating stopping work, and only the fact that I don’t expect to be offered very much makes me tempted to stay on the books for casual shifts. Maybe by next month there won’t be much work around.

Time for chocolate.

Staying in Bourke Saturday 29/7- Sunday 30/7/2017

Yesterday was, of course, Stephen’s birthday. We planned to go to the Exhibition Centre in the morning and a cruise in a paddle steamer on the Darling River in the afternoon. A fitting way of celebrating Stephen’s birthday. Our plan was to leave the Winnie at the caravan park and walk to the Exhibition Centre about 2 kms away, but we would then have needed a bus to get out to where we could catch the Jandra. When Stephen rang up, they said there was no bus, so we would need to drive ourselves, but that Sunday was a good day for the cruise as it was 2 hours long instead of 1.

We decided to stay an extra day here and do the Sunday cruise. We still walked to the Back O’Bourke Exhibition Centre, which is really a museum, but with an attractive layout. Going through the history of this area, we could better understand why such a dry area was considered to be such a find by Major Mitchell. It was thought that Bourke would become a big town. In the end, only some of the dreams were realised. We were able to read the stories of individuals who had come to the land in the early days to settle and make a living. Drought and floods came. People had to survive or give up.

Yesterday evening we joined some of the other people in our park for stew, damper, and a singer/songwriter providing live entertainment. There were a variety of stews to choose from, cooked in pots on the large campfire. It was a very enjoyable way to end the day.

This morning we made another slow start to the day, then went and did some shopping. Stephen had rung up a newsagency to reserve the Saturday paper, and was able to pick it up as the shop was nearby. We went down to the town wharf, and were pleased to see a rather nice cafe and gift shop there. Although we didn’t stay for morning tea, it was good to see something like it just in the right location. As well, they have on display the Crossley Engine, one of the first to run on diesel. It is fired up at a certain time each day during the tourist season, just to prove that an engine from 1923 is still quite capable of working well.

We then drove to the wharf where we would catch the Jandra, a replica paddle boat. We had lunch and a rest. We were the first to arrive at around midday, but the place certainly filled up by 2.30 p.m. when we left. Our skipper gave a good commentary. There was lots of wonderful birdlife, including lots of pelicans. We could better understand why the banks were a bit messy – with floods happening quite regularly over the years it doesn’t make sense to have too much infrastructure near the river. The trees appear to survive the flooding quite well, perhaps party because the land is flat and even a full flood the water doesn’t move really fast, as it would in a mountainous region.

We’ve come home, attached hoses/electrical cord and put on a meal of stir fry steak and lots of vegetables in the pressure cooker.

Moree to Walgett

I had an excellent night’s sleep last night and was feeling relaxed and ready to go travelling again. The only attractive landscapeon our way was in a little section with red soil, the bush became very green. We are still going through the cotton growing region, with little white tufts along both sides of the road as the trucks take bales of cotton to the gins.

We saw this little cafe in a village so small it was the cafe, a house and a school. The cafe has very long opening hours (until 9.00 p.m.) to cater for trucks, but also provides a place for mothers to come after dropping their older kids off at school. There is also a school bus service for children coming from further away. It appears to cater for the children as well with little bags of lollies and unhealthy fried food.

We arrived in Walgett at about 3.00 p.m. Not much to set up when we free camp, just the mat and our chairs, plus the clothes airer for wet towells.

Choir rehearsal for our friends is just starting, whilst for us it is 8.40 p.m.

Goondiwindi to Moree 24/7/17

I didn’t get around to the blog last night, so catching up this morning. On Monday night at Goondiwindi Stephen had a bad episode of gastric reflux. He was able to get a pain relief puffer (Penthrox) from paramedics. He had ECG at the hospital emergency department. There was a long wait to see a doctor, and as the pain had receded he decided to call it quits at about 11.30 p.m., so we went home to sleep. We took the Winnie to the hospital in case we were going to be there overnight.

We were able to slot into our spot at the park, turned off the alarm clock, and slept until about 8.30 a.m. We took it easy in the morning and then went into town to the bakery for some fresh bread before heading to Moree. Last night we were at the showgrounds in Moree, $22 per night with water and power. There are toilets with hot showers and a laundry. As good as a caravan park, with lots of space, and much cheaper. Plus there is no 10.00 a.m. deadline for getting out. Stephen was told we could stay until mid afternoon if we wanted to.

Mind you, we were told about meals at the Moree Services Club nearby, and after a walk into the town centre we went there for a meal. We signed on for temporary membership and, for once, had individual meals rather than sharing. Afterwards, we were invited to take the Courtensy Bus home. The driver showed us the Aquatic Centre which has public hot springs available very cheaply at the concession rate of $6.00, or normal for $8.00. Many of the caravan parks and hotels also have hot spring pools available.

I was all for staying another night to explore the town, which has attractive buildings, both older style and Art Deco, which we couldn’t see clearly in the dark. Going to the Aquatic Centre was also on my mind. This morning Stephen said he didn’t feel up to driving, so what did I want to do! I, of course, chose to stay another night to have a rest and get ready for the next two days of driving to Bourke.

We were watching the 4 Corners report on theft of water from the Murray Darling by cotton growers and other businesses. It makes a difference to hear about these things when we are in the area and on our way to Broken Hill, the town that almost ran out of water because of the theft. I hope the report sparks outrage and something is done about it. Many people do care about the environmental damage of so much water being taken out of the river illegally. I suspect that the cotton growing and other businesses will do very well indeed on the amount of water they are legally entitled to, it’s just that they get greedy and want more and more.

Warick to Karara Recreation Grounds

We are paying $12.00 for tonight. We have access to flushing toilets and even showers (but rather gungy), plus power. No water to the van, but we could have had non-potable water – it just depends where you want to be. There is only one other couple camping here and it seemed courteous to be well away from them, except when we joined them for a chat at their fireside, of course. They invited us, and it was a lovely thing to do for a while.

We woke up to a frosty morning again in Warwick.

We got up reluctantly. At about 9.00 a.m. Graeme came over to say goodbye. We were feeling reluctant to go, but mindful that we need to get started on the journey home. After finishing our packing up we were ready to leave by 10.00 a.m.

We went into town and walked around looking at some of the exhibits (decorated trees, there were prizes for the best in several categories), then had morning tea whilst listening to a little jazz band outside the cafe. We told them we wanted to share a muffin and had the unusual experience of having two plates, two sets of knives and forks, and a warmed muffin and salad each. We couldn’t quite get over it, after all, it didn’t cost very much.

We then did our shopping and packed it away in the van. The advantage of going shopping with the Winnie is that the food can go straight into the fridge, then you can go off and do other things. In this case, we went to the Art Gallery where there was a jazz concert. The bands were good, and we also saw the prizes being awarded. We had three hours in our parking zone, so were able to enjoy a sausage sizzle before having to leave at 1.00 p.m.

Then we drove about 45 kms to this spot, arriving at about 2.00 p.m.  It was lovely to arrive and get settled so early in the day.

We have a phone signal, but the internet is very slow, so I won’t post any more photos from today.

We have booked our tickets for Nanga (Thursday morning I think), but I haven’t rung up to book the caravan park yet. Must get on to it, although they don’t usually fill up. At lot of people going to the festival stay at Nanga, and there are only about 200 people going all up. I was able to book for Marie, Glenn and Geoff at the same time.

Warwick Day 4 – Pringle Cottage and Glengallan Homestead and Heritage Centre

Today we woke up to a very cold morning. Even inside it was 2 degrees, outside the minimum was -2.9. It was difficult to get up as we didn’t want to leave our cosy bed. Fortunately we have good heating and the sun also helped in bringing the temperature up inside.

Graeme came to pick us up at about 9.45 a.m. Our first visit was to a heritage project called Pringle Cottage. The complex is run by donations and volunteers. Pringle Cottage is in it’s normal location, but some of the other buildings have been moved from surrounding areas. An example is the shepherd’s cottage in the image above.

Sometimes when there is a lot of detail and artifacts it can become too overwhelming. However in this case, we had people very knowledgeble about the displays. There was a delightful carriage that a hotel owner used to bring guests from the station in order to be competitive. A local photographic studio had eventually closed down and the equipment donated.

There were movie and still cameras of many types on display, very interesting to me. When we looked into the shepherd’s cottage there was someone on hand to tell us about it.

We looked through Pringle Cottage and heard about it’s history. Well done to the all volunteer historical society for all their work. As we were going around there were small groups of school children being taken around and in some cases encouraged to be hands on with objects.

Our next stop was Glengallan Homestead, which is located out of Warwick, through the usual lovely farmland. We arrived hungry and had a light and delicious lunch in the cafe before going over to explore the building. Glengallan had an interesting beginning and rather sad history of design, use by different families as a home, and eventual decline into ruin before being taken over by the Glengallan Homestead Trust and partially restored. It is a simple and very elegant building, which was intended to be much larger, but one thing led to another and it has never been completed.

Graeme was busy for the rest of today and dropped us off home in the afternoon. We had a rest, of course, then I put the electronic pressure cooker on for tea (curried mince and veggies, enough for tonight and three extra meals), and Stephen fixed the connector on our good water hose.

The caravan park is filling up and seems much more lively, with people coming in for the Jumpers and Jazz Festival.

We’ve spent time planning out the next part of our journey. It is over 1,000kms to Broken Hill, and we want to spend a day or so in Burke on the way. Tomorrow our plan is to go into the centre of town to explore the Jumpers and Jazz exhibits and perhaps even catch some jazz. We have a little shopping to do as well. Then we will leave town and go about 45kms to our next overnight place.

It seems a long while since we arrived here in what for us is a strange town. With Graeme’s help we now feel that we know a great deal about it and the surrounding villages – enough to feel we would enjoy spending much more time here if we could.

Miles Showgrounds to Dalby

We still have coughs and colds. Stephen’s dates from around the time of the Barkly Homestead. Mine is more recent, not quite sure when it started. Anyway, we felt that we needed comfort today, so have booked into a caravan park tonight. It is on a little creek (Myall Creek) and we are parked on lawn overlooking the water. Speaking of water, our good water hose has suffered a failure of the brass fitting and it needs replacing. Our other hose doesn’t reach to the tap, so although we feel very comfortable here we will have to use our water tank for running water. Not a big problem as we will be in a caravan park in Warwick for a few days.

We arrived here at about 1.00 p.m. after travelling about 120 kms today. It was quite enough, we were tired by the time we got here and very ready to settle in. We had lunch and a rest, then walked along a path by the creek to the town centre. There are all of the normal shops, such as Target, etc., but mostly along a street. There is also a shopping mall and we were able to get a few things at Woollies. There was a stall in the middle with lots of hardware items, including hose fittings. Stephen wasn’t sure what size we needed and may go back in the morning to buy a fitting.

It’s such a joy to be parking on green grass after so much mud and dried grass that makes such a mess.

We were waiting until Warwick to do washing, but Stephen will need clean underclothes, so I’ve done a couple of loads of washing here. I need to do our bedding, etc. when we arrive, so it is good to not have a big lot of clothes as well when we arrive there.

I was able to get some De Lorenzo Nova Fusion colour care shampoo in Rosewood. I heard about it through one of the Youtube channels I watch (Bus Life NZ) and have been longing to try it on my hair. I’m hoping it will give a touch of pink to my white hair. I hope I don’t end up regretting it (thinking of Anne of Green Gables here).

We’ve bought some cooked chicken pieces and salads to have for tea tonight as we wanted something easy and reasonably healthy.

Tambo to Morven

Our featured photo today shows off our growing family – we have a new addition, a Tambo Teddy called Rosclare Reuban. He is made of wool, and the story of the Tambo Teddies is quite interesting. The price of wool was plummeting, and the teddies were a way to highlight the great qualities of wool. The teddy shop has a sign outside:

top part of overlocking machine

under the desk

Apparently the overlocker machine works the opposite way to a normal one. The pieces of wool are cut out using a stanley trimmer, based on patterns, then the teddies are individually sewn using this machine. The wool isn’t local as the merino wool is unsuitable. However, it is Australian wool.