Author Archives: shorty

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.

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.

DSC05695_690

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

Day 2 – Jugiong to Canberra

Posted on Tuesday, June 7, 2016 by shorty

As anticipated, we both slept in this morning, but it was a little chilly so the heater went on and soon warmed us up – have we mentioned that we love our diesel heater? Apart from the chill, it seemed to be an alright start to the day so we went for a tour around Jugiong. Within the grounds of the free camp area there are some tennis courts, and right next door is the local swimming pool, a playground, and public toilets. There’s a great old pub that is currently undergoing some quite extensive renovations, and an obviously very popular store and cafe. We stopped there for coffee but unfortunately it’s closed on Tuesdays. Further along the road we spotted an interesting horse-drawn cart and there is also a small yard full of sculptures of mainly horses made from pieces of scrap metal. There is a small motel with what appears to be a nice dining room. The locals at Jugiong have done a great job in attracting visitors and we would recommend vanners and motorhomers should definitely add Jugiong to their list of places to visit.

Views of Jugiong

As we headed back to the Hume Highway, it started to rain. It soon became very heavy rain and driving became very unpleasant with a good number of trucks in a hurry, and various other vehicles in even more of a hurry.

Not great weather for driving.

Eventually we turned off the highway into Yass, where we stopped for coffee and a hot snack, and a respite from the weather and traffic.

Refreshed and more relaxed we returned to the highway and eventually turned off onto the Barton Highway into Canberra. The weather wasn’t much better at this stage.

The Barton Highway into Canberra usually looks much better than this!

We often stop at Murrumbateman but it didn’t look too inviting today so we drove straight through.

Not even Murrumbateman looked inviting.

On the Canberra side of Murrumbateman there is a stretch of road that was under construction for quite a long time a couple of years ago. In our opinion it is a wasted opportunity – they could/should have straightened out the bend and made it twin lanes both ways, and much safer given the weather conditions in the area.

Wasted opportunity

Fortunately the weather did improve a little as we entered Canberra and arrived at the Alivio Tourist Park. We came with a little trepidation, as we stayed here several times some years ago but it was quite run-down so we found somewhere else to stay when we visited Canberra. Katie told us that there had been some changes here so we thought that we’d give it another try.

After setting up and enjoying a nice hot lunch in Bertha, we ventured out for a walk around the park, then back home for afternoon coffee.

This place is under new management, has a new name and the changes are significant. There are now a number of ensuite sites and the main amenities block has had an amazing upgrade, including heating. What used to be a very old secondary amenities block has now become a magnificent camp kitchen. There is a large cooking area and another large room with colourful tables and chairs, both rooms with large TV screens, plus a great outside deck area. They even provide a herb garden for the use of park guests. If cooking isn’t your thing, there is a very nice looking cafe/restaurant here which serves breakfast and dinner 7 days per week, plus they have take-away, all at reasonable prices.

Newly created Camp Kitchen – luxury camping at its best.

Alivio also has plenty of playgrounds and activities for kids, several bbq areas, modern cabins and views to the Black Mountain communication tower.

Views of Alivio Tourist Park.

We will be going to Katie’s for dinner tonight and will be spending the next few days with her, so we will probably be off the air until we hit the road again.

Still living the dream …..

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure | Tags: canberra, jugiong

2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure – Day 1 – Melbourne to Jugiong

Posted on Monday, June 6, 2016 by shorty

We got off to a ridiculously early start this morning and were out of the gate in Bertha about 6.45am in order to miss the early morning traffic. In fact we slept in Bertha last night as part of our preparations – it’s amazing how many things you think about that you might not have packed etc when you’re actually “on the premises”. Plus it was a good chance to make sure that the diesel heater worked. It did!

One of our concerns about leaving that early was that it might be foggy, but thankfully it was a nice clear morning and the traffic was flowing well so we made great progress. That was until about Wallan, when we hit dense fog and very limited visibility. We took advantage of the situation to stop at the servo and top Bertha up with diesel and to treat ourselves to a hot breakfast and a hot coffee.

Foggy and wet at Wallan.

The weather improved somewhat as we went further north along the Hume Freeway and we settled for just constant drizzle.

Weather is a bit better.

Next stop was at a rest stop near Euroa for a cup of coffee, then it was back on the road until we both felt that we needed a stretch and a walk so we turned off the Hume into Glenrowan. It was still drizzling lightly so we put on our coats and went for a wander. In a “small world” moment we bumped into our long-time friend Simon who I had worked with many moons ago and who we hadn’t seen for several years. Simon and his wife were on their way home to Melbourne from Canberra where they had been visiting relatives and after a brief chat we headed off in our respective directions.

Ann’s mother’s name was Kelly!

We continued our slightly damp stroll around Glenrowan before stopping off at the Glenrowan Bakehouse for something hot for lunch. .

View of Glenrowan.

Back on the highway the weather improved and the sun made an appearance and by Wodonga I actually needed my sunnies. Travelling in sunny and clear weather is a lot more pleasant than driving in rain and drizzle so we bypassed Holbrook, where we would normally have stayed and continued towards Gundagai. It was also great to see green pastures and some healthy looking livestock. We stopped just north of Holbrook for another stretch before continuing on to our final stop at Jugiong free camp.

Healthy looking pastures and livestock.

Weather is a bit better.

We have stayed at Jugiong before and it is a beautiful spot. It’s a bit cold at the moment and there aren’t many people here but we have our heater and the music on and we’re quite cosy.

Jugiong is a great place to stay.

Today has been an exceptional day and certainly not typical, as we very rarely travel anything like 556 kms in a day. However, an early start and quite decent weather, most of the time, have combined to create a long but successful day with the end result that we don’t have nearly as far to travel tomorrow to visit our daughter Katie in Canberra.

We will sleep well tonight though!

Categories: 2016 Big Maroochydore Adventure, Free Camping | Tags: glenrowan, jugiong

Recap – Shorty’s 2016 Short SA Adventure

Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 by shorty

What a great Short trip we had to South Australia and back!

Here’s our usual hand-crafted, low tech map of our trip.

Map of our 2016 Short Adventure

Bertha has now had a good clean and is looking so much better for it.

Bertha gets a bath.

This short trip was in effect a longer shakedown trip than Lakes Entrance. We travelled just over 3,300 kilometres over 17 days, including A class highways, B class roads, and on some occasions C class roads. Bertha handled herself well over all road conditions so long as we drove according to the conditions. Over that distance we were also reminded of road hazards in the form of very fast travelling road trains, and Oversize/Wide Loads.

Fuel economy over the trip was around 14.5 litres/100 km. We’re pretty happy with that result because we often encountered very high winds which has an obvious negative impact on fuel economy. On a longer trip and with less concentrated windy weather, we would expect an even better result.

We love driving Bertha with the high driver position and living in Bertha is very comfortable.

Overall, our 2016 Short Adventure was a great success.

It was also a quick reconnoitre of South Australia and there are quite a few places we have visited very briefly and which are now definitely on the list for a much longer stay next time.

Still living the dream …..

Categories: 2016 Short SA Adventure

Day 17 – Mortlake to Home

Posted on Saturday, May 21, 2016 by shorty

We woke up feeling very level today, which was a good feeling. The sky was blue but it was a bit “crisp”, to say the least. Never-the-less, we were keen to get going and made an early start.

Mortlake on a crisp sunny morning.

Once on the highway heading towards Geelong, it was very pleasant cruising. The weather was treating us kindly, the road was in pretty good condition, and life was good.

This is a very beautiful part of the country, and seems to have received more rain that other areas we had recently travelled through as there was a lot more greenery around. Whilst there is cropping here we did notice more sheep and cattle than previously.

At one stage we went through a memorial drive of pine trees, which was very impressive.

Memorial Drive.

The closer we got to Geelong we saw more and more of the historic dry stone walls that feature through this area. It is fantastic that the land owners have taken the effort to maintain these walls, which are eons old. They obviously solve two problems – doing something useful with all the rocks in the ground while providing useful fencing for livestock.

Miles and miles of historic dry stone wall fences.

In some areas there were still obviously problems with the rocky ground and piles of stones were obvious.

Plenty of rocks everywhere awaiting a useful purpose.

Near the town of Cressy we turned off the Geelong Road towards Inverleigh, and then eventually onto the Teesdale-Inverleigh Road to visit Ann’s brother Brendan and his wife Kaye who have lived in Teesdale for many years. It was great to catch up with family news over a cup of coffee and Kaye then suggested that perhaps we could have lunch in Bannockburn, just 10 kms or so away. They thought it might be a nice way to end our Short Adventure.

The Teesdale-Inverleigh Rd had its challenges for Bertha.

Bertha at Brendan’s.

We followed them into Bannockburn to our destination at the Station Café, which is actually in the old bluestone Bannockburn Station. What a place! Fantastic food featuring local produce and wines. Lovely surroundings with tables in various period decorated rooms inside and tables and chairs outside, including under a huge oak tree. We would definitely recommend that you visit this lovely café destination if you are in the area. It certainly was a great way to end this trip.

Bannockburn Station Cafe.

Finally we had to go our separate ways so it was back on the Geelong Road, over Westgate Bridge, through Burnley Tunnel, along Eastlink, and pretty soon we were home. This is actually a very direct trip, mostly on freeways (or tollways) with only a few sets of traffic lights from one end to the other.

Back in the big smoke – and traffic.

So now we are home at the conclusion of our 2016 Short Adventure in Bertha, our Birdsville motorhome.

Now we need to clean Bertha inside and out and get ready for our next adventure.

Still living the dream …

Stay tuned…..

Categories: 2016 Short SA Adventure | Tags: bannockburn, home, mortlake, teesdale

Day 16 – Mt Gambier (SA) to Mortlake (Vic)

Posted on Friday, May 20, 2016 by shorty

It rained all night and as soon as I woke up this morning I had a feeling that something was wrong – we seemed to be leaning on quite an alarming angle. I was concerned that perhaps the slide-out had added just a bit too much weight on the side of the motorhome onto muddy ground and that we may, in fact, be bogged. Inspecting the situation outside I was relieved to see that we weren’t bogged, but certainly on a lean. We thought that it would be advisable to get going as soon as we could, just in case.

Bertha on a jaunty lean this morning.

Mt Gambier was still very damp and unpleasant when we left the showgrounds, so we decided to forego a visit to the Blue Lake and other site seeing places and head east into hopefully better weather.

Leaving Mt Gambier we were at times surrounded by pine plantations, and we could smell the pine. In places there were eucalypt plantations as well.

Pine plantations near Mt Gambier.

Logging truck – they were everywhere.

At one point we came across some paddocks that were on fire – it looked as though they had been cleared to a certain point after which the residue was burned so that the land could be reclaimed and reused.

Fields on Fire !

We soon came to Casterton, after crossing the border into Victoria and entering a different time zone. I’ll have to reset the clocks in Bertha again!

In Victoria now! Need to reset the clocks.

Yesterday’s weather had constrained us both to staying inside Bertha pretty much all day but today’s weather was so much better and we went for a long stroll around Casterton and did the appropriate Grey Nomad thing and contributed to the Casterton economy with a visit to a fantastic antique/second hand shop and a very trendy bakery. There are a few empty shops in Casterton but there is a great feeling about town and we would certainly be happy to stay here for a few days.

Coming into Casterton.

Scenes of Casterton.

Also of interest is Casterton’s link to the Kelpie farming dog – the claim is that the first Kelpie was born and bred in Casterton. Kelpies are recognised in the town signage, and there is a statue of a kelpie with interpretive plaques in the main street. The Casterton Kelpie Festival takes place on the long weekend in June.

Kelpie statue in Casterton.

Back in Bertha and back on the highway we soon came to Coleraine, where we stopped for lunch at a small park with a very interesting and futuristic sculpture dedicated to the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, when significant damage was done in this area.

Lunch in Coleraine park.

By the time we left Coleraine Bertha was really dirty and covered in a combination of red dust and black mud. But the best (or worst) was yet to come. Outside Coleraine we struck roadworks and the road was being resurfaced. So not only do I have to clean mud off Bertha, I now have to crawl underneath and clean off bitumen and gravel!

Roadworks.

Next town was Hamilton where we had a quick stop at Campe’s Motor Museum. This is an amazing collection which is apparently all owned by the same person. All cars are on club plates and are driven. It’s a bit difficult taking decent photos in a big shed like this, but I certainly enjoyed my brief classic car diversion from driving Bertha.

Campe’s Motor Museum in Hamilton.

We didn’t bother stopping in Hamilton so continued on to Mortlake and sought out the caravan park. As it turned out we scored the second last site as the Geelong Caravan Club was having a long weekend club meeting here. We’re actually very happy with the site and quickly set up Bertha with power, water and sullage, then headed off for a walk into town. It only took a few minutes from the caravan park and part of the route was to walk through a nice little Rose Garden with some very interesting specimens. We again enjoyed some retail therapy at IGA then returned to Bertha to close up for the night, have dinner, and settle in for the evening.

One of the pubs in Mortlake.

Yesterday was a pretty miserable day so today was a great pick-me-up. We enjoyed some great scenery in good weather conditions and on mostly good roads, and visited some country towns that we would be happy to come back to sometime in the future.

Still living the dream ……

Categories: 2016 Short SA Adventure | Tags: casterton, mortlake, mt gambier