Motley2 Travels

Hi All

Since the last post we left Sydney and headed for the Mid North Coast of N.S.W.  My old home town of Forster was our base for the next week.  We had really strong  winds every aternoon but luckily for us, both weekend days were not too bad for the markets.  In the middle of the week we had to head back to Hornsby to the dental hospital where I had two teeth extracted.  Anyone who knows me, knows my innate fear of dentists so can work out how traumatic that was.
We arrived back at the caravan park to find the awning collapsed by the wind and blowing over the top of the van.
We headed of for Wauchope to our first country music festival and arrived at the showground to camp there.  If I tell you it was the first and last visit to Wauchope you will gather that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience.
We met a lot of nice people, listened to a lot of good music but the organisation of the festival left a lot to be desired and the committee stayed well away from all the stallholders throughout the weekend.  I don’t think there was even one of the many stallholders who would be in a hurry to repeat the experience.
On our last night we went to the local RSL for tea and although the food was good there wasn’t a lot of it.  Bev, we had sweet and sour chicken with jasmine rice served in a lettuce leaf.
We headed off on Monday morning back to Sydney as I had a follow up appointment at the dentists.  We had intended to head to Laurieton and Port Macquarie but decided we would do the sensible thing and head back south.  So again we availed ourselves of that lovely little caravan park that has become almost a second home for us.  The cats, at least, were delighted by our return

We purchased a new gazebo with sides this week, more able to stand up to weather conditions and the ability to leave it up and cover all four sides.  We also bought an inverter and intend to do a little more bush camping now that we can charge the battery with our new christmas present, a solar panel which we received from the caravan park owners here

Motley1 did some handyman jobs and fitted a new mixer tap in the kitchen so I think we come in handy sometimes, at least one of us does.
Today Motley1 and the Chills went for a bike ride at Homebush Bay.  They cycled 17kms and the weather was perfect.  I took a comfy chair, a new Jeffrey Archer novel and sat by the river in perfect peace for an hour or two.  Heaven………………………..
Here are a few photographs taken on the bike ride.  1.   2.   3.   4.   5.

When we arrived back we overseeded the new lawn to fill in on a few patches which hadn’t grown and then chilled out for the rest of the day.

We have a couple more days here and then we head off again back on the road for another attempt at setting off.  I will keep you posted.

P.S. Here I am typing this post for the blog.  Don’t bother anyone to mention the amount of weight I have put on, I know, I know

Hi Everyone after such a long absence.  Merry Christmas to you all and hope you all had a great holiday.

It’s been such a long time since I posted that I hope you will all bear with me as I catch up on where we have been and what we have been doing.

NEWS FLASH!

Bren , Motley1’s grandson has been picked for the Queensland AFL School of Excellence.  A big Congratulations to him.  Well done Bren

!When you last read we were in Victor Harbor in South Australia and we were heading for a drive to Goolwa to see the mouth of the River Murray.  They continually dredge here to keep it flowing.  As we left to return for our last night in Victor Harbor we heard the dreaded sound of a flat tire.  We stopped to find the the tread was peeling off the car tires so we slowly drove back to Goolwa to have two new tires fitted to the car.  Thank goodness it happened today and not tomorrow when we would have had the van on.

We set off next morning and decided to take roads along which we had never travelled  ( we know, we know…crazy people) and ended up at the Wellington Ferry.  I don;t know why we have GPS we just ignore it anyway   That night we reached Ouyen and decided to stop there.  Very ordinary caravan park but more than adequate for an overnight stop.  Next day we set off again and stopped here at this very pretty park for morning tea.  By lunchtime we had had enough drving for now and stopped at the Gunbower Hotel where we had the BEST pasta carbonara either of us had ever tasted.    We set off yet again and headed for Gundagai.  We had passed through here before but never stopped in the town so decided that w would stay a couple of days and have a look around.  We booked into the caravan park where every site was like a car port with its own ensuite.  Very strange but enabled us to do some jobs on the van without getting soaked by the rain which came pouring down later that day.

Gundagai was built in the valley originally but flooded often after a major flood which caused loss of life the town was moved onto the neighbouring hills. These are the original bridges, at present unused but a local group are hoping to run a steam engine before too long.

Next on our travels was back along The Murray to Echuca/Moama where we decided to stop and do the local market.  We have seen the area pretty extensively before so took the opportunity to rest and do nothing much for a few days except feed this very friendly kookabura.

I had family arriving from Canada to visit Australia as part of their tour to the southern hemisphere so we headed north to make sure we were within travelling distance to visit with my Auntie Mary and Uncle Bob.

We travelled as far as the Southern Highlands and stopped at Mossvale, as usual it was very green.  The local library at Bowral had a book sale and I filled the van with books much to the disgust of Motley1 who keeps on about weight…I don’t know couldn’t he just lose a few pounds and I could have all the books I want?

It rained and it rained and it rained some more with thunder and lightning for good measure so any thought of doing the local market became out of the question.   It didn’t make any sense to hang around so we set off for Sydney and a visit with No.! son and daughter-in-law.

Well we have been here for five weeks now, the Canadian visitors have been and gone, Christmas has been and gone and it’s probably time we were too.  We have enjoyed wonderful hospitality as usual, we have taken part in a Backyard Blitz (laying new lawn, painting fences etc.) we have eaten well and drunk well a few times too

While here we did the Kings Cross Market. very picturesque as you can see here.  The Anzac Fountain never fails to lift my spirits.  It was a bit of an education for Motley1 though being in Kings Cross, he’s just a country boy at heart   We have done quite a few markets every week around town and so have had quite a busy time the last couple of weeks.

For the first time on our trip we have booked markets ahead for the next month as we were finding that during the holiday season it was becoming difficult to get a stall at the markets or accommodation on the coast.  We’re not sure if we like it though being committed to be somewhere as we are used to just deciding on a Monday or Tuesday where we will head to that week.

Till next time …without such a big gap this time

P.S. Hi Bob, See I did get round to updating eventually.  Was great to see you both and hope to do it again one day. Let Mary know that Motley1 dropped his camera and so the pictures from the airport won’t see the light of day on the web..awwwwwwwwwww

We set off from Kalgoorlie for the long trip across the Nullabor.  We had gotten friendly with our neighbours, Suzie and Arthur and their little fox terrier Daisy.  Daisy is particularly fond of Motley1, in fact, all the dogs we meet gravitate to him and I get the occasional look in.  Motley1 says this is because dogs are really good judges of character.  We decided that we would travel across the Nullabor together with Suzie and Arthur although they travel slower than us so it was a case of meeting up
wherever we decided to stop.

Our first stop of the day was in Balladonia whose claim to fame is that Skylab crashed here and huge pieces of the spacecraft are on display in their little museum and on their roof.  Motley1 who has suffered listening to my Jim Diamond CD many times sang “Balladonia” instead of “Caledonia” for the next half hour. 
We stopped here for something to eat and ordered a plate of wedges with sour cream and chilli sauce.  The plate fed four of us comfortably so we were glad nobody else had ordered food.

We travelled another 60kms or so and pulled into a rest stop for the night.  There were quite a few caravans already there but we found room and settled in for the night.  Suzie had cooked a big pot of bolognese sauce the day before, so i cooked some spaghetti and we dined exceedlingly well.

The next day we travelled to Nullabor Roadhouse and Caravan Park.  Driving along the road during the day a truckie had called us to tell us that our caravan was leaking water. The hose had come off the drain pipe for the water tank and our tank was now empty. We had to find a caravan park to be able to fill up the tank with drinking water.  Unfortunately, there was no water at the park  and we were unable to fill up.  We had to fill kettles to be able to make coffee and wash dishes.
This picture is too prove that there are trees on the Nullabor and this one to show what most of it looks like.

The following morning we called into a roadhouse to fill up with fuel and Motley1 was asked to make a delivery to the next roadhouse a couple of hundered kilometres along the road.  A carton of toilet rolls !   The situation was desperate there apparently as they were almost out.

This was our view for mile after mile or that should be kilometre after kilometre I suppose, just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

We stopped for lunch here and I was so surprised to find we were halfway across the country.

Eucla was our next stop where again we could get no water for our tank so we stayed at the caravan park here.  Suzie and Arthur had accompanied us at each stop.  We were approaching The Great Australian Bite and looking forward to driving down to the coast the next day for a look.  We thought we would be too late for the whales but you never know.
What wonderful scenery, the coastline is spectacular.  Here’s Motley1 taking the mickey as I just kept telling him to stay away from the edge as it didn’t look too stable and many of the lookouts along the road were closed due to erosion of the cliff face.
This is a picture of Suzie and Arthur and Daisy standing way too near the edge for my liking.  It was pretty isolated out there and there wasn’t a lot of traffic around.

This is one of the very few hills whilst crossing the plains so was worthy of a photograph.

We headed to Penong for the night where the caravan park which looks empty here apart from our two vans soon filled up before nightfall. The highlight of this park was free washing machine, powder and softener, unheard of anywhere else.  As yopu can imagine that poor machine  didn’t stop all night long with everyone taking advantage of getting all their accumulated washing up to date.

Ceduna was our next stop, we stayed there for a couple of days and had a look around.  Day 1 was very hot and after setting up the van and doing some shopping, the best beer ever disappeared in minutes in the local pub.  Half an hour later, the weather had changed and the temperature dropped to a much more comfortable level.

From Ceduna we headed to Port Augusta and decided to have a couple of days R & R here.  This was at the edge of the carpark and I couldn’t get Motley1 to move.  there are many Port Augustians wondering about the strange man laying on the ground shouting…grass…grass….
We walked the boardwalk here and as has been usual for weeks now it is still windy.  Warm but windy.
The caravan park is full of lizards, blue tongue lizards.  They were all sizes and Motley1 spent a while antagonising them so that he could photograph the tongue.  How does this one compare to Stumpy, Bren?

The following day we took a drive to Whyalla.  The town is really a steel town and the ships have to be filled by barge as there is no deep water jetty.  They are going to build a three kilometre long jetty to cut out double handling of the ore.
In the middle of town, just beside the highway, it was disconcerting to see the HMS Whyalla.  No water in sight.  Just this ship sitting at the side of the road.  Actually, it is the mainstay of the Whyalla Maritime Museum.
Motley1 had a tour of the ship but I haven’t been too well for the last few days and have a really sore leg which I am dragging around at the moment so climbing up and down narrow stairways onboard ship didn’t appeal.
I was really taken by the town signs and thought them very clever.

We left Port Augusta and headed to Port Wakefield where some friends have settled and bought this lovely house which was delivered from Adelaide in one piece and set on the block.  On the way, driving past one of a few pink lakes, we noticed a ripple on the water.  Wow ! I had no idea that there could be a tunnel straight down from Scotland to Australia but there obviously is.  Widely travelled like all Scots, Nessie has migrated for the winter.  Not stupid this Loch ness Monster.  The next town was Lochiel, are you beginning to see a pattern here.  I think there must have been a huge influx of Scots to South Australia.

Port Wakefield Caravan Park was small but pleasant as you can see here we had water views.  it’s a very historic town with only 600 inhabitants but looks like going the way of all nice little coastal towns as they are building a marina, a shopping centre and about 500 new houses in the next few months.

We could only stay here one night as the park was booked out by a caravan club so the next day after morning coffee with paul & Raylene we headed for Adelaide.

We stayed at a park in Windsor Gardens a suburb of Adelaide.  Mistake!  Full of flies, dogs and dust.
We met up again with Suzie and Arthur and Daisy here.
Adelaide is much bigger than we remember and we are told it has grown enormously in the last ten years.  We took a stroll down Rundle mall and watched the buskers.
The city of churches is well named as there are so many of them.  Something we had never seen before was the O Bahn. These buses move at speed into the city and are an incredibly good way to get about.  We headed to Port Adelaide where “I’ts Happening“.  Well Monday mornings are not when it’s happening at all.  All six (yes six, I counted) of the people who were wandering around found that everything “Happens” on a Sunday only.  Darling Harbour or Southbank it is not.
The lighthouse is very colourful right in the middle of the precinct. Motley1 was a little peckish so helped himself when no one was looking.

John, I said earlier about the scottish connection to South Australia, This one is even closer to home for you.

The following day, feeling a little better, did I mention I had now developed some sort of stomach bug?  (The drawback to caravan living is when you almost live in the loo for days) we headed off to the Adelaide Hills.  Lobethal, Stirling and Hahndorf were our destinations.  On the way we saw this cute little fellow sitting at the side of the road and he chatted for a while before heading up a tree nearby.
A little aside here for the Norton Branch of the family, some must have emigrated here as there are Norton this and old Norton that wherever you go.

Hahndorf is as you can probably tell a German town which boasts some of the finest winemakers and wines in the country.  The entrance to town through the trees is very pretty.  The pub grub was good according to Motley1 (my stomach couldn’t face Bratwurst and German Beer). 

On our drive we found Camelot, the story goes that it is in England but everyone is mistaken.  Here it is, right in the heart of the Adelaide Hills.
This picture is here just because I took it and I think it’s lovely….so there

Our next stop was Victor Harbor a very picturesque town where Adeladians come for weekends away.  They have a horse drawn tram which crosses the bridge out to Granite Island. Here I am with Misty one of the Clydesdales who pull the coach every day full of tourists.  Poor thing, if you saw the size of some of the people getting on that tram !  I loved this fountain in the park and think it rates as one of my favourites.
This shot from one of the residential streets in town gives you an idea of the length of the bridge to the island which used to be a whaling station.

We went out to the Bluff to do a little fishing and watched those around us catch some pretty amazing fish.  Who’s ever heard of a blue fish?  That’s good for eating ?  I don’t think so…blue and food don’t go together in my book!

The coastline around here is pretty nice too and there are some very pretty drives.  Tomorrow we are going to have a look at the mouth of the Murray River which isn’t too far away and also the “Scottish Town” of South Australia.  I’ll keep you posted.

Tonight we had dinner in the pub here with Suzie and Arthur who have caught up with us again here where we think we are now going in two opposite directions until we catch up with them next year in Queensland.

Until next time …miss everybody..it’s those B####Y Christmas things starting already …..

P.S.  Motley1 became an uncle again ..Congratulations M & T on having such a beautiful little girl and to you to 2jays on the birth of your second grandchild.

P.P.S.  Chill…did you know that cat of yours was an entrepeneur?
 

We headed off from Busselton and headed to Albany.  The drive from a little town called Nanup to Bridgetown was one of the nicest drives we have done on this entire trip.  Huge trees and a carpet of wildflowers underneath, we didn’t take the cameras out at all I’m afraid so we can’t show you just how magnificent it was.

Here on the south coast of W.A. in Albany and it is one of the most picturesque places we have seen.  The weather has improved although it is very windy every day.  We booked into the Middleton Beach Caravan Park.  We had a wonderful site right next to the beach.  Just down the road was the Dog Rock, in fact the whole place had huge rocks dotted around with houses built around them.  All of the towns here in the south have beautiful buildings and have retained their heritage as much as possible.

The ship Doulos was in harbour and we went on board for a look around.  The ship is staffed almost entirely by volunteers and travels as a floating bookshop.  The profits are used for charitable projects throughout the world.  We thought it would be a great thing to do for a year or two.  About 300 people live on board from all different countries and backgrounds.

The coastline here is rugged and beautiful.  We went for a drive to see The Gap and The Natural Bridge and went for a wander around the rocks.  The roads are great, there are lookouts everywhere but unless you are in town there are no public loos anywhere. 

They have a really good war museum here and a lighthorse section ( a friend of ours has written a book on the 8th Lighthorse) so we went to have a look at that and the impressive statue that stands on top of the hill.  This is the view from the base of the statue, isn’t it just wonderful?  In the middle of town, on the waterfront, is this replica of a brig.  We went on board here too and you just can’t imagine sixty people travelling on this little thing.  Down below you couldn’t stand up at all and 60 people plus animals and all the provisions sailed in this to Tasmania.

Our next stop was Esperance, again we were right on the beach but it was wet and windy.  Gale force winds in fact.  Again the coast road here, called The Great Ocean Drive, was pretty spectacular.  We stopped to have a look at this lookout but it was so windy that only Motley1 made it to the top.  Our next stop there was a climb down rather than up but sad to say neither of us was game to have a go as we would have had to come back up.

Every morning the sealions came up unto the beach and just lazed around.  It was quite amazing to watch how graceful they were in the water and then how clumsily they moved on land.  Esperance is quite a large port and we watched some ships to come in to load up with grain at the jetty.  Pity about the weather as it wasn’t too good at all, the cold wind was the main reason we decided to move on so soon.

Boulder was our next stop and we booked in to the park here.  The buildings in this area are wonderful, most of them restored to original condition and well looked after.  Gold, of course, is what this area is famous for.  Mines abound everywhere.  We visited the War Museum here too.

This shot is of one of the numerous pubs, mines and pubs as far as the eye can see   Skimpies are topless barmaids for the uninitiated but my favourite was the sign about the tropical beergarden, something not quite right there I think!  Here is another of the pubs in town.  What do you think this outstanding building is?  Yes you’ve guessed it, another pub.

We went to the railway museum for a visit.  They used to run a little train around what was called the Loop Line but the mine has taken some of it to transport their hauls.

Kalgoorlie is just next door to Boulder, twin towns really, you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.

On our way into town we came across another one of those crossings where the road is tooooooo near the railway lines.  I really don’t like being so near the train but the drivers aways give you a friendly wave as they know you will be sitting there for about ten minutes while miles of carriages go past.  Kalgoorlie is also a town full of historic buildings and pubs.  You can see where the money goes from all these high wages in the mines though.  Alcohol pays well !  The pubs are very grand.

This year marks the centenary of the Kalgoorlie Town Hall.  We went for a wander through the inside too.  It was very impressive with its grand staircase and council chambers as well as a huge auditorium.  You can see the steeple for miles and the clock chimes on the hour.

No visit to Kalgoorlie could be complete without a look at the mine.   This is the superpit, the largest goldmine in W.A.   Apparently, Alan Bond bought up a lot of little leases and combined them together to come up with the superpit.  It stretches for kilometres and you can see here how deep it is.  You can watch for hours all these “little” trucks trekking up the sides laden with rock.  Here is one of the shovels on the fron of the diggers and what looks like a dinky model from on top is just huge.

Motley1 says as my picture at the W.A. border gave everyone such a laugh (he’s cruel) then we intends to take one regularly so everyone can see just how much fatter I am getting.  Standing at the little path leading down to the beach the other day he told me my backside blocked his whole view of the ocean, I think he’s trying to tell me something but I can’t quite work out what it is.

We thought today we would go for a drive to Coolgardie thinking it would be much the same as Kalgoorlie but worth a look see.   It was slightly quieter than Kalgoorlie although still had those impressive old buildings.  I don’t think we saw more than four other people the whole time we were there.

Motley1 liked his visit to the park and meeting up with a kindred spirit there.  We drove out and had a look at a small unused gold mine, I do wish I had a gold detector in case they had left some behind.

Last but certainly not least, here for Bev are some closeup shots of the wonderful wildflowers that cover grass verges, paddocks and forests wherever you go.

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

Since our last post we have covered a lot of miles but we’ll start back at Broome where we last left you.  It was hot and getting hotter every day.  We went to see Cable Beach, Broome’s most famous landmark.  The camels do walks on the beach every morning and evening. While we were there, we saw posters everywhere asking for information as someone had covered the camels in oil, spread glass where they walk daily and thrown paint over the vehicle of the camels owner.
Sounds like a grudge or a competitor to me.Further around the coastline was much rockier, I preferred it there as we clambered over the rocks, the formations were quite spectacular.  Broome is famous for it’s pearls and the pearl divers, so we went to look at the pearl luggers and there are statues all over the place commemorating the divers.     Chinatown was interesting also, most of the divers were Chinese and there is still a big influence in the town from that time.We were becoming uncomfortable in the heat as the nighttime temperatures varied little from the day so we decided to head south and the cooler weather.

Well we arrived in Darwin today to incredible heat.  We stayed at Howard Springs about 25kms out of Darwin as we had been warned that we could expect plenty of bites from midges and mozzies if we went to any of the parks nearer town. It was a nice park and we had plenty of wildlife to keep us company.  The peacocks and peahens were almost tame and would eat out of my hand.  I asked one of the males to let me have a look at his tail in exchange for all the food I was supplying and this was the result.  He was such a showoff that he kept this up for about 30 minutes and we had quite an audience by the end of the show.

There is a night market every Thursday and Sunday at Mindl beach where everyone flocks to see the sunset so we managed to get a stall at both and they proved to be fairly successful.  The only problem was the heat, day time temperatures were around 36 degrees and nighttime didn’t fall below 22degrees. 

So, Bev, even a bit hot for me!

We went out to look at one of the many WW11 airstrips dotted around the place and were surprised to find these planes there.

I was determined to visit Humpty Doo, just that name!  Well there is a little shopping centre and of course the inevitable pub.  Not much else to be seen apart from red bulldust.

We went for a visit to Fishermans Wharf , there were not too many people around as it was probably the hottest time of the day.  It is a really nice area to eat and drink though.  Decided today that the weather is just too hot and we have to leave and try and head for cooler weather.  This means we have to head back to Katherine before heading west. 

The distances between towns is just amazing so every day is a fairly long drive.

This time around in Katherine we stayed in the Low level Caravan Park which was really nice. We went for a walk to the weir and along the river.  In the park we came across these 2CV’s and discovered that they had just spent ten days crossing the W.A. desert.  There were 50 of them carrying all their own fuel, water and supplies they met four wheel drives who just shook their heads but as they explained if anyone got bogged it only took four of them to lift the car.

We still didn’t have a spare tyre for the van despite the fact that we had driven over a 1000 kilometres without one and found out only when we were leaving Darwin that the one we had bought wouldn’t fit.  A tiny difference in the spacing but we were glad we knew and didn’t find out at the side of the road somewhere. Luckily, we picked one up in Katherine this time around and are happy to report that we now have a spare should the worst happen and we get another flat.

Next morning we set off on uncharted territory and headed west from Katherine this time.The Victoria Highway, also part of The Savannah Way, is the road we are on and are told it’s a good road all the way to W.A.

We set off from Katherine early and stopped at Victoria River Roadhouse for some breakfast. We thought you might like this sign, a little bit different from “Under New Management” J

The drive is through some pretty spectacular gorges and escarpments and I have included a few pictures although as I’ve said before they just can’t do the colours and feel of the place any justice whatsoever.   1.  2.  3.  4.

Almost all of the riverbeds are dry at this time of the year but the Victoria River had plenty of flowing water and was a nice change to the dusty riverbeds we have seen so many of.

We drove straight through to the W.A. border today, here are the pictures to prove it, ( Ben) (Mary) a marathon drive and arrived at the border quarantine station, hot and sweaty.  We knew we couldn’t take any fruit and vegetables, honey, nuts etc across the border so we had stopped further back and eaten what fruit we had and thrown away whatever veggies were in the fridge.The border guard gets into the van to check when I remember that under the sink I have potatoes and onions, so I quickly apologized and grabbed them out the cupboard.  As soon as he asked to open the fridge I remembered putting strawberries into the cooler and thinking we would surely cop a fine, I confessed to having these also.  Nice man, just took them all and dumped them and then spent the next 30 minutes telling us all about Kununurra, the nearest town to the border, which parks were good and all about his parents caravanning adventures.

We drove into Kununurra, through some spectacular scenery and masses of these boab trees in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  We arrived at the caravan park and asked for a powered site and the receptionist gave us site 13.  Oh, Oh .  Not too happy about that one but we set off to find that site 13 was the pick of the sites in the park, large, grassy, lots of shade and right opposite the lake.

As soon as we had set up the van we settled ourselves at the water’s edge to watching the fish jumping out of the water.  Our neighbours, two guys from Kings Cross in Sydney told us that a croc had been coming into the edge of the lake recently and it wasn’t a good idea to swim.

We got our cameras to take some pictures of the sun setting and sat enjoying the growing dark when all of a sudden two glowing red eyes appeared near the water’s edge.  There was a ledge which ran around the edge of the lake and here was the croc resting himself on the ledge right in front of us.  He was about 2 metres in length and was a freshwater croc which apparently are nowhere near as dangerous as the “salties”.  Next morning, the sunrise was just as pretty as the sunset and we enjoyed watching it as we drank our coffee before getting ready to head off to Fitzroy Crossing.

We stopped at another roadhouse for something to eat around 10.00am as we had been on the road for around three hours by then and the day was getting hotter by the minute.  We had only gone about another 15 minutes up the road when we passed a caravan stopped at the side of the road, so we pulled over to see if we could help.

“Digger” had just bought this secondhand caravan and only when he got a flat did he realize that there was no wheel brace which fitted the nuts on the caravan wheels.  So there he was in the middle of nowhere with no chance of changing his tyre.  Ben had an adjustable brace so they had the wheel off in no time at all.  Trying to get the spare on the van was another thing!It didn’t fit.  Luckily, there were two spares and the second was the right size for the van.  Ben had to get his jack to help lift the van and soon the wheel was on.  It was flat, but Digger had a compressor, so no problem I hear you say, but his battery was completely flat so once again our battery pack came to the rescue and he was on his way, as were we, 45 minutes later.

Further along the highway we had a scary moment ourselves, a roadtrain coming towards us with three petrol tankers on the back hit one of the many cows which stray across the road, his load started to sway onto our side of the road and I had visions of a fiery ball being the end of us and our caravan.  Motley1 managed to get far enough off the road and the driver put his foot down to straighten his load and all ended well.  It was heart in the mouth stuff for a couple of minutes though!

A couple of hours later we could see in the distance some warning triangles and flashing lights and slowed down accordingly.  When we came on the scene of the accident it was pretty horrendous.  A Coromal caravan was in pieces in the gully at the side of the road.  We stopped to offer any help we could and discovered that Russell and Lynette, the owners of the van, had escaped any injuries and that although their van had flipped the car had stayed upright throughout their ordeal.  A four wheel drive had moved into their lane as they were overtaking him and sent them completely off road after spinning and flipping the van.  There wasn’t much left of the van.  They told us that the van was their home and that they lived in it permanently.They were obviously in shock, so we helped them salvage what personal possessions they could and whilst they waited for a trailer to arrive to load their belongings, we set of for Fitzroy Crossing and arrange some accommodation for them.  They arrived at the park about four hours later, exhausted, suffering from the heat and the shock of the events of the day.  The staff there were very good and allowed them to have their dog in the park with them.

The next day we went into the township of Fitzroy Crossing and had a look at the Fitzroy River. The town was basically an aboriginal settlement and the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge where we were staying was obviously where all the tourists stayed.  We spent most of the day escaping the heat in the Hotel bar, reading as it was just too hot to do any more than that.  Five p.m. was happy hour so we headed back to the bar where we met up with Russell and Lynette and had a couple of beers.

We headed off early the next morning with the intention of making it to Broome.  We stopped around 11.30 at this roadhouse for a cold drink as again the day had rapidly got hotter and hotter.  Just after lunch we pulled into a rest area for another drink and came across this tree.  We had only been there a few minutes with not any other traffic in site when a tour bus pulled into the area for the passengers to see this tree which their guide informed them was home to a few snakes.  Now I wish he’d told me that before I got so close.

The termite mounds around here are huge and so numerous.  All sorts of shapes and sizes and look for all the world like people standing along the roadside.

We were about 120 kms out of Broome when we came upon a detour and that bitumen that we were so used to disappeared to be replaced by gravel road.  Bumpy, dusty and not at all pleasant when one of these things is coming towards you throwing up gravel and dust.

We arrived in Broome this afternoon, set up the van, went for a little shopping and are delighted to report that the nights are cooler and very comfortable.   The weather forecast is for lows of 16 to 18 for the rest of this week and that should give the fridge a chance to recover from the highs of 37 and the lows of 24 that we have been getting.

Gary, the most we have paid for petrol is $2.20 a litre for unleaded, we have been paying between $1.80 and $2.00 for the last few weeks.  Painful when you are empty but Motley1 tops it up all the time so he never actually has to pay it out in one go.  It’s a psychological thing ! 

Well, you all know he’s psycho !!!!!

Till next time.

We took a drive around Charters Towers and had a look at some of the great buildings they have. It was a very rich town when gold was discovered and had the first Stock Exchange in Australia. The building reflect this, none more so than the Australian Bank of Commerce and City Hall. We took a drive up Tower Hill to have a look out over the town. This is the city centre. We had a couple of constant companions in these magpies as they followed us around. It was pretty desolate up there , this is my impression of going walkabout.There were rock wallabies everywhere and we spent a good while scrambling around the rocks and searching for gold that might just be laying around on the surface. When we got back to the park our neighbours asked if we had come across any snakes as they had met one on the path the day before.Reminder to myself : Stay on the path ..do not venture into the bush!

We had lunch today in the Waverley Hotel, fish, chips, salad, bread and butter , delicious and all this for $5.00 each. We ate out in the beer garden enjoying the sunshine and the food.We left Charters Towers and headed for Mount Isa or The Isa as the locals call it.We are reliably informed that you are not an Australian until you have been to the Isa.We passed this giant windmill, the largest we have come across in our travels. How’s this for a road sign? Nobody would have time to read it all as they drove past. We stopped in Hughenden for lunch, we are officially in dinosaur country now and so we met up with “Hughie” in the main street.We stopped for the night at Richmond and were surprised to find this man made lake and a bush tucker garden complete with cycling and walking track right next to the caravan park, Richmond is a tiny community so to find something like this was a huge surprise. As we were walking around the lake, a hawk, one of many circling above us constantly, swooped down and tried to get me by the head. The noise of the wings was incredible. Now I know I look bad but we’ve only seen them go for roadkill before and I didn’t think I was THAT bad!. The wind came up strong and chilly and we wore jackets for the first time in a long time tonight.

We stopped for fuel at Julia creek and decided to treat ourselves to a full aussie breakfast. Came back out of the roadhouse to find this monster dwarfing the van. All along the road there are these termite mounds, mile after mile after mile. They get progressively bigger the further we travel.We had a friendly wave from the train driver as he passed as on the way. Not a lot of traffic around, the odd road train and the train.We laughed when we saw this road sign but not too far up the road we met a Brahman bull crossing the road and believe me he could have tipped both the car and caravan over, no worries!

This became a familiar view for many hundreds of kilometers along the road, the terrain changing from bright red soil to brown in the blink of an eye.We arrived in Mount..sorry ..The Isa ..mid afternoon and we are now officially Australians !! The mine dominates the town and as you can see from the oval there isn’t much grass around here.I love the evenings here the skies are beautiful, the photographs just don’t do them any justice. The pinks and blues in the early evening are my favourite.The wind came up during the night and blew chairs and tables and anything else not tied down around the park and not only that but it was COLD!! Time to move, we are so unaccustomed to cold weather now, it was a shocker!

Our first stop was Camooweal for fuel and then onto the NT border, these pictures here and here are just to prove it.  I was holding on for dear life as the wind was so strong, luckily it was behind us so we were having a great run.

Our stop for tonight was at the Barkley Homestead. We had tea in the pub here along with most of the people who stayed the night. Roast lamb and all the trimmings, delicious.

Sitting outside the van after tea and watching sky change colour was amazing. I find that one of the highlights every night.

We reached Three Ways the next morning and had to decide north or south, we headed south to Tennant Creek and filled up with fuel but here we learned that winter is still alive and kicking in the Red Centre and that Alice Springs was around 14 degrees during the day and into the minuses at night. So north for us.

We stopped for morning tea in a rest area as we were leaving Ben noticed that another van which was parked there had Traralgon written on the back of the van, so we stopped for a chat. Gary & Max, both towing their own vans had been travelling since April , so we had a yarn. Max gave us a copy of his CD, he’s a singer/guitarist and we set off singing along as we went on our way.

We were only about 20kms further on when there was a very loud bang from behind us and the van started to wobble all over the place. The wheel was broken and there was no option but to change the wheel even though it was impossible to get off the road. It doesn’t look like it in the picture but the banking was very steep and we were slipping and sliding in the gravel.Spare now on the van, we set off again.

Travelling along for miles and miles through flat countryside and all of a sudden you see something like this.

Our next stop was Dunmarra Roadhouse which we shared with this type of vehicle. We spent the night here and again ate in the roadhouse. Ben said he wasn’t too hungry and would just have a hamburger. I wish I had had the camera with me , the hamburger was about a foot high.

Next morning we headed for the Highway Inn at Daly Waters to top up with fuel. Here we came across this lady. Now that’s a small van but wait till you see what is towing it. We took a detour into Daly Waters to see the famous Daly Waters Pub.It’s the oldest pub in the Northern Territory apparently and was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from around the place. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Rennick Springs was our stop for tonight, another roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. On the way we passed The Pink Panther Motel, in the middle of nowhere a bright pink building ! Well you wouldn’t miss it that’s for sure.

Just a little way up the road we saw this sign and stopped for morning tea. Fran was a real character and told us how she can understand wives who kill their husbands and become lesbians, she had everyone in stitches. She does her little coffee and tea stop to raise money for charity and I can tell you she would raise a lot as everyone who was travelling would pull up here.

Here I am standing in the middle of the Stuart Highway taking this picture of where we are heading now.Our next stop was Mataranka , the centre of the Never Never. We had a look around the park at the statues of the Gunn family and their aboriginal stockmen before heading off toward Katherine.

Our first stop after booking in to the park was a visit to the Katherine Hot Springs. Lovely..just what the doctor ordered after a long drive.

No visit to Katherine could be complete without a visit to the Gorge. So we got up early this morning and dropped our wheel off and the local tyre dealer to try and get a replacement. We wouldn’t want to chance our luck much further with no spare as we have already done around 700kms without one and then we headed out to the Gorge. You can walk a variety of different walks around an area of the gorge, there are actually thirteen gorges or take a cruise or a joy flight. We opted for the walk. They are designated, easy or difficult and knowing my limitations we chose the easier of the two. I’m glad we did as it was steep and through rock strewn areas but spectacular. Again it is just not the same in photographs but the best we can do.

On the way back we ran into a paddock full of horses and camels and these two appear to be very close. I think the camel is besotted with the horse, he followed her everywhere.

We stopped for lunch at Knotts Crossing which was the first crossing over the Katherine River. It was a beautiful little spot. You couldn’t walk on the sand as it was so hot. Ben decided to do the river crossing although he was very aware that the crocodiles have been seen here in the river . I stayed on the shore well away from the edge.

Lastly, here is The Katherine Icon, one and a half times life size in bronze.

We pick up our new wheel and tyre in the morning and head off again.So we’ll post from our next stop.

This one has been “War and Peace” so at least you will get a rest from my rabbiting on.

I knew I hadn’t done the blog for a while but didn’t realise until today just how long it has been. My apologies to those who regularly read it. 
Well we headed off from Townsville going North and visited Paronella Park.  Driving through sugar cane for miles was quite amazing.  Paronella Park is an absolutely inctredible place, unfortunately we didn’t take our cameras but look it up on the net if you get a chance.  It was built by a Spanish immigrant (if my memory serves me right) and is the most beautiful place. Waterfalls, streams, the avenue of cypress trees, little nooks everywhere to rest.  Really romantic story too. 

On the way out and back to the highway we passed through this place which has a familiar name to some of our readers.
We headed further up the road and stopped at Cardwell if you are ever driving through here stop at the information centre where they have a beautifully carved display of the area and it’s well worth a visit.  We went for a walk out on the pier, had a read of the signs so steered clear of going for a paddle.  Refreshed by our windy walk down the pier we headed for Cairns.
We stayed at Crystal cascades caravan park.  This one is highly recommended.  The owners are the friendliest people, the park is spotlessly clean and neat and it nestles right underneath the mountain so there is always a pleasant ever changing view.
For the first couple of weeks we were there the weather was overcast although warm and we didn’t get to see that white sand and blue water much vaunted by all the ads and tourist brochures.  We did the markets at both Cairns and Port Douglas for the entire time we were there.
Plenty of changing tourists every week so always successful markets.
Port Douglas market is right on the waters edge and is much bigger than Cairns, Bev, thought you might like to see some different stalls.  The sugar cane
stall where you ride the bike to press your cane and make your own drink and the coconut stall, very colourful.
The marina at Port Douglas was our coffee stop after the market and then the drive down the Avenue of Palms on the way home.
The beach in Cairns itself is pretty much non existent, mud flats is really all there is so they have built, right in the centre of town, a lagoon complete with the white sands and crystal clear water.  This is always busy, with the bodies beautiful parading around every day as soon as the sun comes out.  The market is right by the lagoon so a very pretty setting to spend the day.
We went for a drive up into the mountains to Kuranda.  The train leaves Cairns and goes up the mountain to Kuranda station which is recognised as being one of the prettiest stations in Australia.  Most tourists to the area will do this trip by train and return journey by cable car, called the SkyRail which takes them right over the canopy with views of Barron Gorge. 
Not being particularly keen on travelling by cable car we went by road snaking up the mountain.  It’s a very pretty little town but absolutley everything is designed with tourists in mind.
Crystal Cascades, just a kilometre or two from the caravan park is a series of waterfalls and streams where they have built a walking path.  It’s very pretty but has ‘The Stinging Tree” which apparently has a very nasty sting which requires urgent medical assistance.  There’s always a catch !!!

We decided to go for a drive up to the Atherton Tablelands and once again headed up the mountain.  Everywhere you go here is up hill or so it seems.  We stopped in
Mareeba for a look around and then drove on to Atherton itself.  Here the sugar cane is everywhere again and the sugar cane trains go right through the centre of town.
We stopped in the pub for lunch, had a look round town and then drove to see the Curtain Fig Tree.  It’s gigantic, photographs really don’t do justice to any of the sights we have seen but is the best we can share with you.  We thought we would return to Cairns via Yungaburra rather than return by the same route. 
Here is one road to be avoided unless you enjoy rollercoasters and the like.  19 kilometres of the windiest road ever.  Bend after bend after bend.  I know at least one of the 2jays would enjoy it as much as I did.  Yungaburra was a lovely little spot though, a real country town.

We stopped at Lake Barrine on the way home and had a walk around the lake and a look at the twin giant trees which grow here.  We were too late for a cruise around the lake so settled for a chat with the ever present bush turkeys before heading back home.  Just off the highway is this mountain, surprisingly called the Pyramid, wonder why?
They have a race every year up this mountain, a foot race and we met a fellow stall holder who competes every year, the funny thing is he appeared to be quite normal!!

We had surprise visitors to Cairns, Renee and Pauline flew up for a week, I like to pretend that they came all the way up here to visit but in actual fact they didn’t
know we were here until after they booked. We all decided that we would like to see the Daintree and Cape Tribulation so we headed north for a look.  Our first stop was Port Douglas for coffee and a sit by the beach.  Then we headed for Mossman Gorge.  Truly spectacular, the clearest water ever seen and just like the ads you see with people swimming in the waterholes.  This is Norman who swims there daily and greets all the visitors to the gorge.  I didn’t take to him much after he asked if I was Pauline’s mother!
Motley1, Renee and Pauline went for a walk through the other side of the gorge and I stood guard at the other end of the swing bridge.  Only 20 people are allowed on the
bridge at any one time so someone had to stay and count, right?
Daintree Village is very small, this is a shot of the town store and it’s best known inhabitant George.  George is real but stuffed.  We crossed the Daintree River on the ferry
and headed up to Cape Tribulation.  Again, twisty uphill roads but with the most magnificent views.
We arrived at Cape Tribulation and there it was !  The white sands and blue clear water so beloved in photographs.
We headed straight down the beach, off came the shoes and socks and straight into the warm waters where you could see the crabs and the fish swimming around.  Beautiful, couldn’t understand thopugh how we were the only ones availing ourselves of this glorious experience.  We soon learned, because as we walked back up the beach, the signs read ” DO NOT GO NEAR THE WATERS EDGE”  “DO NOT GO IN THE WATER” “THIS IS THE DOMAIN OF SALTWATER CROCODILES”.  Now when you all read in the newspapers of tourists being taken by crocodiles and as I once did wonder at the stupidity of people, think again,  could easily have been us!

Heading home we recrossed the river on the ferry and just on dark pulled up to make coffee, a mistake for me as the sandflies had a ball eating my legs.
Sandfly bites are much worse than mozzies and the itch was incredible, kindly our next door neighbours in the park, Joyce and Graham, offered some gel to soothe the bites.
Truly grateful I smothered it on that night and the next day.  The itch got worse and spread and the skin started peeling from my arm and leg.  Off to the medical centre to see a doctor.  Should have left the bites alone as I was allergic to the gel and ended up with creams and pills to counteract that.

Renee loves butterflies and on their last full day in Cairns we took them to Kuranda where there is a butterfly sanctuary with the famous Blue Ulysses a truly outstanding shade of blue these butterflies only live for around three weeks.  The Cairns Birdwing is the largest of the butterflies and the colourings are just incredible.
There are so many of them that almost everyone had butterflies landing all over them as they walked around the sanctuary.

The next day we went to the airport to say our sad goodbyes and thank Renee and Pauline for making the long journey just to visit us.

Our last week in Cairns, we have been here for so long it seems like home.  We stocked up at a local shopping centre where the fish are enormous. The night before we were to leave, we headed off to the camp kitchen where we were entertained by a singer who travels to the park every year and entertains the happy campers. 

Our next stop was Tully, the wettest town in Australia, where the claim to fame is the Giant Welly Boot.  The sun was shing by the way!

We free camped tonight at Rolling Stone.  Oh the disappointment though, there was no Mick Jagger.  It was however a lovely spot on the river under the trees.  We sat around the campfire chatting with a few of our neighbours and watching the stars.

Headed off to charters Towers this morning, through Townsville.  the road was quiet, wide and very very smooth so had a great trip out here.  We had to stop at two seperate crossings for the Tilt Train which travels between Cairns and Townsville. We went into town for some shopping and arrived back to find Joyce and Graham were parked just a van or two away.  Lions supplied supper in the park tonight, pumpkin soup, fish and salads or sausages and salads followed by mocha cheesecake and coffee, all for $10.00 each.  very nice it was too.  The lady who did most of the cooking was from Heyfield so had a good old chinwag with her too.

We are doing the market here tomorrow but feel it will be a lot different from Cairns.  Charters Towers has a population of 9500 and a few tourists passing through.

Does anybody have a three sided coin as we can’t decide where to head to next.  Darwin?  Will it be too hot?  Longreach? To see the Qantas museum and The Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy ?…Oh it’s all too difficult !!!

Our last night at Airlie Beach, Motley1 got the guitar out.  He is improving but not quite busker standard yet.  We went for a drive out to Shute Harbour where all the tours to the reef leave from. Very pretty.
Travelling up the Bruce Highway, we crossed the Burdekin Bridge which is more than 1 kilometre long.  Very impressive as are the mountains which surround you as you drive.  I was surprised by this as I don’t know what I expected up here but it certainly wasn’t mountains.
We arrived in Townsville, booked into the park and went for a drive around.
There is a huge waterfall just outside the middle of town which is lit up at night and looks pretty spectacular.
There are houses at the top of the hill and they have a great view out to Magnetic Island.
Townsville is a huge spread out town overlooked by this hill, called Castle Hill, and we went for a drive up there.  Here you can see just one view of the town which shows how big the place is.
This is Flinders Street, I’m sure you would never get a picture of Melbourne’s Flinders Street with this little traffic.
We visited the NQ Museum and Motley1 fearlessly turned his back on this inhabitant.
We really liked this little gazebo to be found near the Garden of Remembrance in the park.

Yesterday we went down to Giru to see about a job packing zuchinni.  We had a tour around the place and saw how they sort and pack mangoes and zuchinni and are hopeful that we will pick up some work here.

On the way back we checked out an Eco Caravan park, to find that in this instance Eco stands for “Dump”.  I don’t know that I would want to stay there even if we did find work and that means longer travelling every day.
One thing they did have in abundance was wildlife like these kangaroos complete with Joey in the pouch wandering around.

We have the Strand market tomorrow night until 10.00pm and then the Cotters Market in Flinders Mall on Sunday ..so we hope they will be really good markets.

Until next time..

Here we are again, officially in Winter now. 
It was 27 degrees here today, that’s my kind of winter !
As usual we had a change of plan when we left Bundaberg and we headed straight through to Mackay.  We stopped in Rockhampton for a quick look around and
then headed north yet again.
It was a fairly big detour to 1770 but I was detrmined to have a look.  It was beautiful.  I got out of the car and down onto that glorious sand and straight into the water
for a paddle.
We had our lunch at the beach and made up our mind not to stay the night but to head further north. All the way for miles all you can see is sugarcane on either side of the road. For those who have been up this way (like the 2jays) it probably sounds commonplace but I was amazed at the amount grown and we are only seeing a tiny amount.
Driving up the Bruce Highway, we had a look for a free campsite in Camps Australia 4 and saw there was one at Calliope River.  We pulled in there to have a look, drove over the causeway and were surprised to see about 30 other caravans and motorhomes were there already.  Despite this we were able to find a spot right on the riverbank, due to Motley1’s delusion that he is driving a Range Rover and not a Falcon. What a beautiful spot this is and we can highly recommend it to anyone.
Clean toilet block, campfire, friendly neighbours and the chance to catch a few fish for dinner. Not that we did, of course, so we made do with what was in the fridge.
Set off the next morning about an hour or more later than we had planned. (More chatting I’m afraid).  We arrived in Mackay quite late in the day and booked a drive thru site for the night.
Next morning we were on the road to Airlie Beach. 
We booked into a lovely park here but were surprised to find that it was too cool to use the swimming pool and that we were wearing sweaters in the evening.
The marina here is beautiful and the views out to the islands spectacular.

Had a stall at the market here in Airlie Beach on Saturday which was good, right on the water’s edge.
It was windy though and even a light sprinkling of rain to mar the beautiful setting.

Sunday morning, up early and off to the market in Bowen.  Again a windy day but no rain this time.
We had a good market and this would rate as one of the friendliest markets we have done.  Although,
I spent the morning being merciessly teased by the Lions Club about my accent when I said “Bookmark”.

They tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to get me to say book with an aussie accent.

We had today still at Airlie Beach to make some new stock but we are off tomorrow.  We have some
job interviews to go to starting from tomorrow so will let you know how we go.

To finish off..you’ve all heard of the “Big Things” around Australia..here is one we found yesterday.
So what do you think it is?  The Big …………….?