Monthly Archives: June 2016

Day 17 – Dalby to Cotton Tree, Maroochydore

Posted on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 by shorty

It was raining early this morning so we planned on having a bit of a sleep-in, until the phone rang at 7.20am. All was good but it prompted us to get moving.

Once on the road we thought that we’d do a bit of a tour of Dalby before we really got going. First stop was one of the most famous houses in Dalby, at least to channel 7 viewers.

House Rules

Dalby is a nice town, quite diverse and quite busy. There are heritage buildings and churches, modern shopping centres, a couple of caravan parks, a good tourist information centre in a great garden setting, some big businesses and some small businesses, industry, rural enterprises, and more.

Scenes of Dalby

Back on the Warrego Highway, there were some interesting scenes, including eucalypt plantations, big trucks and a good looking country hotel at Jondaryan.

Scenes along the highway

Our morning coffee stop was at the small town of Oakey, 4 or 5 kilometres off the highway. We were expecting a small country town and were very surprised at the bustling town that we found once we arrived. There is an Army flight base here and some big industry that we suspect is associated with fertiliser, given the odour as we passed. Main street is very busy and the town is quite modern although there are, of course, some old/heritage buildings. We had coffee at one of the bakeries and it was very good.

Scenes of Oakey

From Oakey it was back on the highway and through Toowoomba, where we were very pleased not to come across any of the flooding we saw on TV last night. Our planned route today was quite simple: stay on the Warrego Highway (A2) until it changes to the M2 (motorway), then keep going until we get to the M1 which becomes the Bruce Highway and then eventually turn off onto the Sunshine Motorway to Mooloolaba and Maroochydore.

Being on highways and motorways meant that navigation was straight-forward, and the driving was quite pleasant as the road condition was generally very good to excellent.

Views along the highway

Patriotic Queenslanders – forget traffic conditions

We did face a bit of a challenge when we unexpectedly came to a steep descent, but we got through that OK.

Steep descent

There were some interesting sights on the side of the highway, including a cow and a dinosaur, a Big Orange, and a large red elephant.

We weren’t expecting a dinosaur, Big Orange and a red elephant in Queensland

Eventually we came to the Brisbane Gateway Bridge, which is quite spectacular. We have been over it several times in the opposite direction but this was the first time heading north.

Brisbane Gateway Bridge

As we got closer to the Sunshine Coast we saw our first signs of sugar cane and also vegetables growing under irrigation.

Sugar cane fields and irrigated vegetables

We stopped for a quick pit stop and lunch at a servo just after the bridge and then continued on to Cotton Tree Holiday Park at Maroochydore. Our actual booking here doesn’t start until tomorrow but we had a one night temporary site organised. We did a quick set-up before joining our friends Downunda and Faye and some new friends for happy hour and a beautiful sunset.

Happy Hour at Cotton Tree

Sunset at Cotton Tree

Tomorrow we will move onto our designated site and set-up properly, and hopefully put away our winter clothes for a while.

So far this adventure hasn’t been quite what we had hoped. Concerns about the weather have disrupted our plans and we didn’t get to see many places we had hoped and ended up changing our booking here to get in early. Hopefully we can get to see the places we missed when we eventually leave Cotton Tree and head in the general direction of home.

This will be our last post for a while as we will be in Cotton Tree for several weeks. We will of course post updates of any significance.

Still living the dream …

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: cotton tree, dalby, maroochydore, oakey

Day 16 – Roma to Dalby

Posted on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 by shorty

It was quite chilly this morning but Ann managed to slide her hand out from under the doona and turn on the heater to warm Bertha up before we actually got up and going. Outside, it was a clear, crisp morning with a bit of mist around. The mist soon disappeared and it turned into a beautiful sunny day, perfect for driving.

Early morning at Roma Gun Club

Almost as soon we hit the Warrego Highway we encountered roadworks, but fortunately we weren’t delayed too long.

Roadworks outside Roma

At Wallumbilla we were struck by the huge grain silos right next door to cattle yards, and the long grass everywhere.

Grain silos and stock yards at Wallumbilla

It was a great day for driving and the highway was in pretty good condition, but there was still water on the roadsides. Having said that, after Wallumbilla we struck more roadworks.

A beautiful day for driving

More roadworks

Morning coffee was at a road-side stop at Yuleba. We had to be very careful getting in and out of this area as there was water on the ground and mud everywhere. We were joined by a worker in an Origin Energy ute and a couple towing a camper-trailer. On a nice day this would be a very nice place to stop, and possibly stay overnight.

Morning coffee at Yuleba

After Yuleba there were more roadworks and signs of very recent grading along the road. We noted the depth of the grading, obviously intended to keep water off the road.

More roadworks

Graded roadsides

We soon drove through the small town of Dulacca and the slightly larger town of Miles.

Dulacca Hotel

Main street in Miles

Lunch stop was at Chinchilla, and we had run down our supplies during 4 days at Roma, we treated ourselves to a good healthy meal at Subway.

Chinchilla

Immediately after leaving Chinchilla we struck more roadworks – a total of 15 kilometres of roadworks in fact – yes we counted! So many workers on the roadworks in this area must be making a huge impression on the local economy!

Even more roadworks – 15 kilometres worth this time!

Traffic on the road today has been quite interesting. Coming from the opposite direction has been a quite constant stream of caravans, motorhomes and particularly camper-trailers. We can’t quite work out why unless they’re all trying to escape bad weather that we don’t know about. The other notable traffic was in the form of B-doubles and other very large and over-size trucks. With so many roadworks along the highway the trucks are all in a hurry so I have made a point of pulling off the road when-ever possible to allow trucks to pass. I would much sooner be behind a truck in a hurry than in front of it!

Huge trucks on the road today!

The other change we have noticed from Chinchilla is that the recent wet weather appears to have missed this particular area. There are no signs of water on the ground and the paddocks simply look dry, although there are some green areas along the road.

Still seems very dry here

Going through the small town of Warra we were particularly taken by the Memorial Hall, which is so unlike most of the somewhat run-down halls in many similar sized towns.

Warra Memorial Hall

Great to see that the roads are all open again

Arriving at Dalby, we checked into the Pioneer Village Caravan Park and reserved our spot with a pair of huge orange witch’s hats before heading out again to the local shops to restock our nearly empty cupboards.

Pioneer Village caravan park

Early motorhome ?

Groceries packed away in Bertha we walked over to the nearby Pioneer Park Museum which is a very interesting collection of authentic old buildings, memorabilia, cars and machinery, and so-on.

Scenes of Pioneer Park Museum

Interestingly, despite the dry conditions between Chinchilla and Dalby, there are signs of the rain here in Dalby. There is water and mud in the caravan park and the museum. What is quite strange too is seeing huge cracks in the ground, usually caused by extended dry conditions, but now looking wet. Just strange.

Today has been a great day, despite the roadworks. We have had a pleasant drive in nearly perfect weather conditions, and have been through some very interesting places.

Still living the dream …..

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: dalby

Days 13 – 15 – Roma Gun Club

Posted on Monday, June 20, 2016 by shorty

We are extremely happy that we decided to move from St George to Roma as part of our plan to miss the worst of the thunderstorms/flooding/mini-cyclones that have hit various parts of Queensland over the last few days.

Saturday started off with quite reasonable weather early but by lunchtime there were splatters of rain on Bertha’s roof. The entire population of the Gun Club camp ground immediately stirred into action as awnings were taken down, washing hung out to dry in the wind was brought in, TV aerials were wound down, and last minute dashes were made to the amenities just in case we were all caught inside our respective mobile homes for an extended period.

The light rain lasted all of 15 minutes before it petered out, so life returned to a nervous ‘normal’.

We didn’t go to happy hour at the club later in the afternoon and neither did very many others as the weather was not looking nice at all. By mid-evening the wind blew up and the rain poured down. The downpour continued all night. At least we were safe and dry in Bertha and on asphalt, not grass or gravel as we would have been in many other places.

Sunday morning the skies were still overcast and everything was very wet.

Wet here at Roma Gun Club

Looking out our back window.

There was a very wide variety of vehicles here at the gun club including caravans, motorhomes, camper-trailers, roof-top tents and a bus. Very few left on Sunday preferring to stay here as the wet weather continued.

Monday morning started out fine but overcast although the sun did shine through occasionally. The temperature has been hovering in the low teens most of the day and the wind has been quite strong. Quite a few of the people here decided to make a move but after we saw the damage at Mooloolaba last night we decided to stay put another day and let things fine up and dry out before we headed off.

The last few days here have given us a bit of a break and time to catch up on a number of things. Just so you know Downunda – we haven’t been to a café in days, although we do have some discount vouchers for Bakearoma, compliments of the gun club!

In anticipation of better weather for the next few days we plan on leaving Roma tomorrow and heading east towards the coast.

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure

Day 12 – St George to Roma

Posted on Friday, June 17, 2016 by shorty

Should we stay or should we go? Sounds a bit like a song title to me.

We both would like to stay here at St George for a few days. The amenities here are clean, the camp kitchen is fantastic with a pizza oven and a log fire, the sites are wide and level, what’s not to like? Unfortunately the Bureau of Meteorology thinks that St George will almost definitely have thunderstorms over the next few days and will receive up to 100 mls of rain over the weekend. In contrast, Roma is expected to receive less than half that amount of rain so it was a no-brainer to decide to head north and hopefully escape some of the expected rain.

As was the case for the last few days there is still plenty of water around. After-all most of these roads are subject to flooding – the flood level signs are up to 2 metres in some places. Some sections of the road have been graded to help water escape from the roads, but it is obvious that the sides of the road are very soft.

Graded road edges but still very wet

Morning coffee was at a truck stop on the Carnarvon Highway.

Lunch was in Bertha at Surat where we parked along the river. There has been a lot of development along the river with a walking track, playground equipment, bbq shelters, exercise equipment, interpretive plaques relating to historic buildings, and so on.

Lunch stop at Surat

Bertha at Bertha St, Surat

Surat has some beautiful old buildings, including a Cobb & Co Changing Station, an historic Post Office, and many old “Queenslanders” on stilts.

Some of the beautiful buildings in Surat

Surat is also home to the well-known Fishermans Park free camp, although there weren’t very many campers here today as most had moved to higher and safer ground in order to avoid the anticipated rains.

Scenes of Fishermans Park free camp at Surat

From Surat we headed further up the highway where interestingly we met some cattle on the road. They were accompanied by drovers on horse and motorbikes, but it was clear that the cattle were in charge – they didn’t move for us or the oncoming truck.

Cattle on the road

We soon arrived at Roma and parked near some of the historic bottle trees – 138 of them were planted along Heroes Avenue in tribute to citizens of Roma who perished in WW1. There are some beautiful old buildings in Roma, as one would probably expect.

Some views of Roma

One building that we just had to visit was “Drapery No 2”. We’ve been here before and if anything it’s a bit tidier than last time, but basically it is jammed full of “stuff” – inside and outside. This was a specific destination for Ann and she actually found most of what she was looking for.

Drapery no 2 in Roma

After a walk around town and a coffee and cake at the Bakearoma bakery we drove the short distance to the Roma Gun Club camp ground, as recommended by our friend Downunda. This place is amazing – it’s a little way out of town but it has well priced, bituminised sites with power and water, new and clean amenities, access to the club bar, and we missed the BBQ last night. There are also plenty of unpowered sites. The justification for having these camping facilities is that the club has up to 3,000 people come to some of its competitions, and they need somewhere nearby to stay. Although they hold a Local Government Caravan Park License, it seems that the local caravan parks are making life difficult for the club by applying pressure on the council. For instance, we understand that the club is having trouble getting appropriate approvals for a dump point. How petty! This place is far better than the caravan park in Roma that we stayed at last time.

Bertha at Roma Gun Club

Anyway, off my soap box now, we met many fellow campers as soon as we pulled up and enjoyed an extended happy hour on the balcony of the club. We all agreed that there was plenty of room for competition for the campers travelling through Roma and wish the Gun Club all the best in their endeavours.

Happy Hour at Roma Clay Target Club (Gun Club)

It’s not news that there are some big storms and heavy rain heading for this part of Queensland, so we will be staying here for 4 nights, at this stage, so we may not post a daily blog.

Stay tuned …..

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: roma, surat

Day 11 – Lightning Ridge to St George

Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2016 by shorty

Yet another beautiful morning – tee-shirts were definitely the go for the day!

While we were packing up to leave there was something of a commotion in the caravan park as the mains pressure water stopped. That meant no water to cabins, caravans and motorhomes in the park, no water to flush the park toilets, and we assume no water to the neighbouring hotel. We simply switched over to our water tank, finished packing up and soon headed off out of town. On the way we noticed a crew working on what looked very much like a burst water main. There was obviously going to be some serious cleaning up once the water was back on.

About 65 kms along the Castlereagh Highway we hit the Queensland border and stopped for a photo opportunity to celebrate the moment.

Bertha at the NSW/Queensland border

Another 5 kms or so and we stopped for coffee in Bertha at the rest area in Hebel. Hebel is a small stop, I’m not sure if you can call it a town, comprising a general store, a hotel, a very small caravan park, and a compulsory truck inspection service for trucks going into NSW.

Hebel store and hotel

We did notice an interesting road sign going out of town.

DSC05895_690

An interesting thing happened at Hebel in that the Castlereagh Highway changed from a B class highway to an A class highway, and the change in road conditions on the Queensland side of Hebel was very noticeable. We had spent this morning and yesterday on the “B” highway and it was pretty tough going with some excellent sections and some pretty terrible sections. Obviously NSW was happy to have a B grade highway but the Queenslanders thought that road users deserved better!

Water on the road leaving Hebel.

From Hebel we noticed a lot more livestock including cattle, sheep, emus and goats. There was also a lot more roadkill – mainly kangaroos. There was still a lot of surface water along both sides of the road.

Water everywhere!

We stopped for lunch in Bertha at Dirranbandi. This is a nice small town with a supermarket, hotel, café, bakery, a caravan park and a few other shops. There is plenty of parking in the main street and this town obviously welcomes travellers. Although we didn’t buy a meal in town we did contribute to the local economy with a visit to the supermarket and I bought a very nice sleeveless jacket.

Scenes of Dirranbandi

From Dirranbandi we continued along the Castlereagh Highway before turning off onto the Carnarvon Highway and into St George. What struck us the avenue of jacaranda trees going into town.

Jacaranda trees on the way into St George

First stop was the Visitor Information Centre for a map of town and some general info. St George was first named by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1846 and was officially surveyed in 1863. The first bridge was built over the Bayonne River in 1890 and the Andrew Nixon Memorial Bridge and Jack Taylor Weir were officially opened in 1953. The weir has 13 vertical lift gates and has provided water to the town of St George and facilitated the regional irrigation system. The weir and irrigation system has subsequently been considerably expanded. It is even possible to grow grapes here.

Grapes at Riversands Wines in St George

We spent a while walking along the river and the council is obviously developing the river precinct as a very nice, relaxing area for both tourists and locals. Rotary, Lions and Apex have all contributed by way of shelters, picnic facilities, and so on. There are playgrounds, plenty of room to run around and exercise, and even a boat ramp. This is a great place for families and travellers.

Scenes along the river at St George

Eventually we made our way to the Pelican Rest Tourist Park where we were allocated a great site. After setting up it was time to get out the chairs and enjoy a cool drink and a book in the sun.

Relaxing in the sun!

Night closes in very suddenly in this neck of the woods so we eventually had to retire inside.

The weather for the next few days is still looking quite threatening, so at this stage we have no idea what our plans are for tomorrow as we definitely want to be in a safe location when the storms hit.

Looking forward to the weather forecast tomorrow morning !

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: dirranbandi, hebel, st george

Day 10 – Lightning Ridge

Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 by shorty

Another beautiful morning – and today we didn’t need the heater! In fact we both changed into tee-shirts around lunch time and I even changed into shorts. It was a beautiful day!

Beautiful day at Lightning Ridge Outback Resort

Today was always going to be an easy day. After breakfast we went for a walk around the caravan park and were quite surprised to find a couple of owls sleeping in a tree close to Bertha – hopefully you can see them in the photo!

Two sleeping owls are very well camouflaged in the tree

We then headed off to the Tourist Information Centre for some maps and tourist information then set off to explore the town of Lightning Ridge on foot. We had been prepared to take Bertha on a bit of a drive around town but there was limited road access to many places due to wet roads and generally surface water everywhere. We decided not to risk taking Bertha anywhere too adventurous and settled for a walk instead.

First stop was Morillas Café for coffee then we continued our walk along Morilla Street. Lightning Ridge is certainly an interesting place, as the mining life must be a tough one. Many properties are somewhat run-down although there are exceptions like the bowling club and associated bottle shop. There do not appear to be many new buildings, whether commercial or residential.

Last time we visited we were able to go inside this historic cottage but now the condition has deteriorated to the extent that visitor access is prohibited on safety rounds. There are several other historic buildings and museums, including the place where Charlie Nettleford hangs out.

Run down historic cottage and Charlie’s museum

There are a number of accommodation options in town, including several caravan parks and plenty of motels ranging from “economy” to quite up market. We’re a bit surprised, and the locals seems a bit disappointed, that there aren’t more travellers at this time, this year.

Various accommodation options in town

Large wall murals appear to be quite popular but further investigation reveals that these are not all community related projects but simply large advertisements for various businesses in town. At least they all brighten up the town.

Large murals around town

One place with fantastic exterior paint-work was the John Murray art gallery. Murray’s artworks are immediately recognisable whether on the outside of his own gallery, or on the paintings, cards etc on view in the gallery. He is also responsible for the design of the sculpture we saw yesterday at the rest area – it turns out that it is a metal emu named Stanley. John Murray also painted the flying bus outside the Lightning Ridge Outback Oasis.

John Murray Art Gallery

Not surprisingly there are opals everywhere in Lightning Ridge, and it seems that almost every shop you come across either buys or sells opals. We stopped at The Opal Cave and a very nice lady took quite a while to explain the various types and grades of opals found here in Lightning Ridge and in other places as well. It was very interesting.

Opal shops everywhere

Some interesting vehicles around town

All in all we had a great walk around town and certainly met our step targets today.

Back at the caravan park we spent some time relaxing in the sun and resting after our walk. I later cooked some dead animal products on the camp BBQ.

Unfortunately the sky started clouding over with grey clouds, so it looks as though we are going to be in for more rain. The weather forecast indicates the same thing so we are going to be closely monitoring the weather for the next few days and it will likely affect the routes we travel and the places we visit.

Just as a quick final observation, the TV around here is quite interesting. We watched a bit of the channel 10 news and weather from Melbourne, which was interspersed with political ads from the Northern Territory, furniture and cars from Alice Springs, and other assorted products from other places. It all seems to point to a quite confused sense of identity.

At this stage we plan on heading further north tomorrow, but we’ll double check the weather forecast before making a decision.

Life on the road is never boring …..

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: lightning ridge

Day 9 – Gilgandra to Lightning Ridge

Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 by shorty

Yet another glorious morning – clear blue sky, little cloud cover, and nice bright sun. It’s just a pity the day starts out so chilly.

Early morning at Gilgandra Caravan Park – lots of space

From the Gilgandra Caravan Park we turned onto the Castlereagh Highway and headed north. We soon came to the small town of Gulargambone, which is renowned for its corrugated iron galahs. Professor Google provides the following explanation:

“Who would ever have thought there was so much mileage in corrugated iron galahs? It does make very clever sense because “gulargambone” is an Anglicised corruption of a Ngiyambaa word “gilagambuwam” meaning “with young galahs” or “place of galah parrots”. That, surely, entitles the town to put galahs wherever they like. The concept was created by artist, Sam Newstead. The plan involved the entire community and utilised corrugated iron found around the town. It was decided that each sculpture should be “2 metres square, raised 2-3 metres from the ground and attached to metal poles”. There are a total of 40 galah sculptures around the town”.

Galahs at Gulargambone

We stopped for coffee at the Gulargambone Rest Area a few kilometres out of town, where we met an amazing lady who was caring for 4 orphaned joeys. She lives on a large property about 80 kms from Lightning Ridge which has been badly affected by drought for the last several years. They had to basically destock the property but had bought 1,000 lambs earlier this year and had just sold some wool, which was their first income in 2 years. She is a volunteer for WIRES (Wildlife Rescue Service) and currently looks after 9 orphaned joeys. She was on her way to Dubbo for a while and had to take the youngest joeys in her care with her. Meeting people like this is one of the reasons we love travelling so much!

Remarkable lady who cares for orphaned joeys

Views from Gulargambone Rest Area

Our next stop, for lunch, was at Coonamble. This is quite a large town with plenty of activity. We had seen a lot of horse floats on the road the last couple of days and it turns out that there was huge Rodeo in Coonamble over the long weekend which explains the horse floats. Apparently there was also a large regional quilt show as well! We went for an enjoyable stroll around town and made a quick stop at the hardware store for a few items to clean Bertha after she somehow copped a spray from an overtaking cattle truck. The odour was overwhelming! Then we enjoyed a light lunch at CJ’s Country Kitchen. After lunch we visited the supermarket for supplies and then continued up the Castlereagh Highway.

Views of Coonamble

This is a really big issue here in the artesian basin

Next stop was Walgett where we stopped for a cool drink, as the temperature was in the twenties.

Statue at Walgett

From Walgett we continued along the highway and were interested to see a huge metal sculpture, which happened to be opposite the Lightning Ridge Rest Area. This place is not in the Camps 8 book but quite a few travellers had found it anyway and were obviously planning on staying there overnight.

Metal statue near Lightning Ridge

We soon turned off the highway to our overnight destination of Lightning Ridge and checked into the Lightning Ridge Outback Resort and Caravan Park. We had stayed here for a quick overnighter several years ago and now it was an opportunity to hopefully have a much better look around.

Bertha at Lightning Ridge

One thing that we had noticed all along the highway was the amount of water on the side of the road and in paddocks. There were plenty of full dams and large areas of what appeared to be lush green pasture. Apparently there has been good rain in the area recently and they are hoping for more. We later found out that some of the coloured “Car door” tours of Lightning Ridge are temporarily closed as the ground is too wet. Even the caravan park shows signs of recent rains.

Water by the road – everywhere!

It was still quite warm after we had set up Bertha so we headed off to the pub for some cool refreshments. We then set off for a quick walk around the neighbourhood and we couldn’t ignore the statue of Charlie Nettleton, who is credited with founding the black opal industry in Lightning Ridge.

Charles Nettleford – founder of the black opal industry

As it was starting to get dark we returned to Bertha for a freshen-up before walking across to the hotel bistro for dinner. Although we weren’t sure about the décor, the bistro was very well patronised and the meals were very tasty although of “miner” portion sizes so neither of us could finish our meal.

Sunset over the caravan park was a great end to a great day.

Sunset at Lightning Ridge Outback Resort

Still living the dream.

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: coonamble, gulargambone, lightning ridge

Day 8 – Cowra to Gilgandra

Posted on Monday, June 13, 2016 by shorty

We woke to yet another chilly morning, although again the sky was clear blue and the sun was, eventually, shining. In fact at times we actually felt hot!

Cowra Van Park on a crisp morning

From Cowra we headed up highway B81 (forget the name) to Canowindra, which is the home of the Age of Fishes Museum. Apparently this is one of only two fish fossil museums in the world and is a National Heritage site with international scientific significance. Apart from the museum Canowindra also features a beautiful heritage town centre which is well worth a look.

Views of Canowindra

The next town we went through was Eugowra, which also had some very nice old buildings, including the Central Hotel.

View of Eugowra

For lunch we stopped at Cooke Park at Parkes. This is a nice area with quite a few families enjoying the sunshine and having lunch at picnic tables. Plus there are a couple of fountains, nice grassed areas and a clean toilet block. Ann cooked a nice hot omelette in Bertha and we then went for a bit of a scenic tour around Parkes. Previously our focus when visiting Parkes has been around visiting “The Dish” so this time we saw a very different side of the town.

Lunch stop at Cooke Park in Parkes

From Parkes we headed up the Newell Highway (A39) to Peak Hill and decided to stop when we saw a sign promoting an art and craft show. It was actually quite interesting and one exhibitor had come from as far away as Cobar. I also popped in for a look around Cossors Diecast Collectibles in an old bank building, which for a car person is an incredible collection of car related models, posters, books, and so on, and its right in the middle of nowhere (so to speak). We also checked out the local antique shop, which included a Lolly Shop and a cafe. Being good grey nomads we further contributed to the economy of Peak Hill by filling up with fuel.

Continuing along the Newell we were slowed down for several kilometres of roadworks, before arriving at Dubbo. We have never really been attracted to Dubbo for some reason so we didn’t stop, although we did see an interesting motorhome.

Not your typical motorhome

After a stop for coffee at a rest area outside Dubbo we continued on to the Gilgandra Caravan Park. We’ve been here several times before and love the fact that there just seems to be so much space. We arrived a bit later in the day than we had anticipated, but we were shown to a nice flat site overlooking the happy hour camp fire, by the camp kitchen. Unfortunately it was a while before they lit the camp fire by which time it was getting cold so we decided to forgo the fire and enjoy dinner in Bertha instead.

Plenty of room at Gilgandra

We’re a bit further north but it’s still cold so hopefully we can get somewhere warmer tomorrow.

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: canowindra, Gilgandra, Parkes, peak hill

Day 7 – Cowra

Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2016 by shorty

The weather forecast for this morning was for minus 2 degrees and it was probably quite accurate. According to the temperature gauge it was 3 degrees outside and 10 degrees inside when the heater went on! Eventually Bertha warmed up and we set about preparing for our second day in Cowra. Outside it was crisp but with a beautiful clear blue sky.

There is really only one reason we keep coming back to Cowra and that is to visit the Cowra Japanese Gardens. The last few times we have visited in August/September, so we were looking forward to seeing quite a different perspective of this lovely place at this time of year. So we packed up Bertha and trundled off.

Upon arrival we headed straight for the Japanese Gardens Café, intending on having a hot coffee, but a quick look at the menu and we decided to have an early lunch. It was delicious, and included a coffee.

From the café we started at the Japanese Cultural Centre, which contains a wide variety of Japanese art pieces, sculptures, items of traditional clothing, models of traditional style houses, and a display of toys.

Models of traditional Japanese buildings in the Cultural Centre

Toys and a bear scultpture

Then it was outside into the sunshine and the glorious Japanese Gardens. I really got a bit carried away with my camera as a place like this is such a change from my more usual classic car and motorsport photography.

One of the really great things about these gardens compared to other Japanese gardens we have visited is the combination yet contrast of the Japanese topiary, gnarly trees, ponds, waterfalls, miniatures and closely clipped lawns with the majesty of Australian eucalypts and other natives. It is altogether just superb!

Views of Cowra Japanese Gardens

The gardens feature a number of buildings including a replica Edo House which really puts McMansions into perspective. Clearly bathing is an important aspect of traditional Japanese life and the deep tiled bath looks quite inviting. The living space is quite small in comparison.

Edo House

Our favourite place at the gardens is the tea house. It is just so peaceful and serene just sitting and looking out over beautiful views over many aspects of the gardens, including the pond and a waterfall. This is not just a place you walk through without stopping.

Japanese Tea House – so serene!

Another favourite place is the bonsai house which features some amazing examples of the intricate art of bonsai.

Bonsai House

Japanese gardens always feature still water in the form of ponds and lakes, as well as moving water in waterfalls and streams.

Water is a feature at Cowra Japanese Gardens

Ducks, cranes and other water birds are naturally attracted to the water, especially as bags of bird food are available in the gift shop.

Water Feature

The Cowra Japanese Gardens also feature contrasts between expanses of closely cut lawns, rugged looking stone outcrops, smoothly trimmed bushes of many descriptions, pathways wandering around vegetation, and more. As commented previously, all these traditional Japanese Garden features flow seamlessly around some huge and striking eucalypts.

Views of the Cowra Japanese Gardens

Finally it was time to leave the gardens and we couldn’t help but notice how steep the road was from the gardens and nearby hospital to the main street of Cowra. We stopped briefly at the supermarket for some supplies before heading back to the Van Park and setting-up Bertha.

Steep hill on the way back from the Japanese Gardens

Later in the afternoon we had a visit from Mick’s parents Jeff and Wendy who had been visiting Katie and Mick in Canberra and were on their way back home to Bathurst. It was great to see them and catch up with their news, as we haven’t seen them for quite a while.

After farewells it was time to close up Bertha, turn the heater on and prepare a light meal.

It is forecast to be zero degrees here overnight so tomorrow we will definitely be heading somewhere a bit (hopefully a lot) warmer.

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: Cowra

Day 6 – Canberra to Cowra

Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2016 by shorty

We woke this morning to a clear and sunny, although slightly chilly, morning. The last few days with Katie and Mick have been great, and they both came out to the caravan park with fresh coffee to wave us goodbye.

Clear blue skies leaving Canberra

From Alivio Tourist Park we headed onto the Barton Highway and then onto the Hume Highway before turning off at the Lachlan Valley Way to Boorowa. At best this could be called a “scenic route” with single lane highway and double lines most of the 100 or so kilometres to Boorowa. This was quite difficult driving with few opportunities to allow speedier cars to overtake, but having said that the scenery comprised rolling green hills, full to overflowing dams, and plenty of healthy looking livestock. It was quite beautiful.

Rolling green hills with an interesting sky

We soon arrived at Boorowa and parked at the Rotary Park. Boorowa is a small country town known for its fine merino wool and for the Superb Parrot. There are some impressive heritage buildings in Boorowa, including, not surprisingly, some very nice old hotels.

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Boorowa is also very proud of its ANZAC heritage, and there is a substantial ANZAC memorial and a very moving ANZAC walk with a Lone Pine tree and plaques dedicated to servicemen and women who served in the Wars.

ANZAC memorial and Lone Pine walk

After a walk around town we stopped for a very tasty lunch at the Pantry on Pudman. We’ve been to Boorowa a few times and have eaten at several places in town, but the eccentricity of Pantry on Pudman makes it quite a special place.

Back on the highway after lunch the conditions were very much as before, and we suspect that we had just missed a substantial downpour (for a change) as the roads were wet and there was running water everywhere. By this time the skies had turned from clear blue with a few white clouds to quite an interesting mix of grey and blue skies and a mixture of cloud cover.

On the way from Boorowa

Approaching Cowra

We soon arrived at Cowra, which is a place where we have stayed several times. We stopped at the Cowra Van Park, and secured a nice site backing onto the river. Not surprisingly the river is quite high, but we are at no risk of flooding.

View from our site at Cowra Van Park

After setting up connections for power and water we headed off for a leisurely walk around town. Being a Saturday afternoon many of the shops were closed for the day but it was great to stretch our legs. We were especially sad to note that one of our favourite bookshops, where we used to enjoy chats with the owner, has closed down permanently. Eventually we headed back to Bertha to close up, warm up, and settle in for the evening.

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: boorowa, Cowra