2019 Our next nomad adventure with a plan as follows
Port Macquarie across NSW , we will then connect to the Murray , touch into the state of Victoria and travel to the top of SA . Next will be up through the NT across to the Kimberly’s in WA , and down the coast to Perth .
We will finish the south of WA that we didn’t see last trip and come back across the Nullarbor to our home base at Port Macquarie by early February, 2020.
Port Macquarie to SA.
We left Port on March 28, a Friday, leaving town via Wauchope to say goodbye to my mum in the nursing home. First stop was Thornton to stay with my daughter Kriztina and JJ. The van stayed here for the weekend as it needed warranty work on the ozone protection and this was scheduled for the Monday, the New Age site just five minutes from Kriztina’s house.
Saturday we travelled to Morriset to see Johns children and grandkids. I played monopoly with them with most of them dropping out until it was just Ruby and Andrew, Andie most excited to win.
We stayed with Johns mum at Wyong to say goodbye to her on the Saturday night.
Sunday was a catch up for breakfast with friends Gary and Kathy at the Wyong Milk Factory, then Back to Morriset and take the kids to the skate park, which quickly turned to disaster when Scott, Johns son fell off a skate board and smashed his elbow joint. The ongoing medical disasters that followed showed how poor our medical system is if not privately covered . It was 5 days before surgery was performed to wire the 15 pieces within his elbow back together. A disgrace!
Sunday and Monday were spent back in Thornton, Jj had gone back to work in Sydney and Kriztina back to Port on a Uni placement, so we had the house to ourselves.
Finally, departing Tues, the van all fixed and after lunch in Wyong with Johns mum and cousin Cathy, we were on the road. Our first stop a free camp on the Hume hwy.
Canberra
our next stop for 3 nights. The van park in O’Connor was expensive but very well laid out with drive through sites and very close to the city.
We spent the afternoon driving around Canberra and viewed the sites of Canberra from Mt Ainslie lookout.
The night was spent catching up with podiatry friends Ben and Andrea at a Japanese banquet. It was as great to see them.
The war memorial was next on the agenda. Four hour were spent seeing the displays on WW1 and WW2. An excellent display with so much detail. The other wars will be viewed another time we are in Canberra.
Parliament House was the last day and we took a guided tour that included the Senate and House of Representatives, we followed this with a drive around the embassies and Lake Burley Griffin.
Marulan.
Here we stayed with podiatry friend Rob, his wife Fiona and their son David and wife plus their very cute poodle who was obsessed with retrieving sticks. Rob has brought a farm of 130 acres and has done up the house , which is gorgeous and they are preparing the farm for sheep or cattle. Rob drove us around the farm and were looked after extremely well. Fiona catered for visitors as they were farewelling a local that night.
Jugiong.
An overnight free camp here which is by the river and is well catered for caravaners with approx 40 vans all staying here. Walked over to the booked out pub, read a book with cashews and beer the order for the afternoon. Relaxation!!
Wagga Wagga.
Here we stayed in the van park in the middle of town, it was expensive and run down . Their leased is not being renewed and their care factor for the park is clearly shown. However the In Town stop is convenient and we caught up with John’s friend Tony for lunch and spent time stocking the van with essentials. No sight seeing was done as we had done some last year here and the planned trip to RAAF centre was off as it was closed for the day.
We did note how much the Wagga beach on the river had changed and how much the water levels had receded since last year. a sign of how dry our climate has been.
Via Lockhart
A town with many iron statues and pretty garden square. A perfect spot for morning tea and a short look around.
Jerilderie
This town was held up by Ned Kelly in 1879 for two days and awe did a historic walk showing most of the sites Ned Kelly has terrorised. Lunch was by the InTown lake before driving 30 kms from town to my friend Peters sheep farm, Woodside. I hadn’t seen Peter for 41 years and I used to flat with him and his wife Tammy and baby Avril in 1977 when I was studying at Tafe.
We briefly met Avril and baby Steph before a drive around Peter’s farm where he breeds merinos. He showed as the sheering yards and sheds, the Easter holiday spot by the river where his friends stay for a big party. On the farm tour we witnessed Peter euthanise a sheep that was injured and had been pecked by crows plus Peter pulled a pregnant ewe from the edge of a dam where she had got stuck. A catch up that night and we heard all about farming and the drought and how they have more problems with crows than foxes with their lambs.
The holiday camp was rustic but had the essential fridges and bar, outdoor shower caravans and buses.
Deniliquin
We spent two nights here , the first night to catch up with friends from Sydney , Jackie and Mark. They were travelling in NSW and a rendezvous was found here in Deniliquin . A lovely park with a camp kitchen next to our van and near their motel sized unit. Another night of too much wine but fun to catch up.
After their farewell the next morning John and I walked into town , found the river sanctuary walk closed but found the town had a pretty Park and water features in town. We drove out to the two riverside beaches and discover good spots to free camp another time. The town is on the Edward river and lots of gums along the river side make it a pretty area.
We have had two weeks of catch ups with friends, now we will be back to just the two of us. The next nights are on to the Murray starting at Tooleybuc, then through to Robinvale.
We chose the route through Moulamein and had morning tea by the Edward river and saw the old wharf used by The steamers to transport wool and cargo in years gone by.
The drive after here was boring and dry with Little traffic , lots of road kill and no internet.
Our night was spent in a free camp at the back of the RSL at
Tooleybuc. , March 12 th
John played golf and we played pool at the club while listening to some Jazz , a festival was in taking place here for the weekend. The golf course was dry and large cracks in the ground, the tees under repair so not the best game and I just tagged around for a little exercise.
Robinvale
A overnight spot in a van park on the Murray, a pretty spot but nothing of interest in the town.
Mildura
We stayed out of town at Gol Gol in a van park on the Murray. A great parking spot for a long van and a nice park.
Time was spent shopping at Coles and Aldi , our last Aldi for sometime , so we stocked up on beer and the essentials.
Mungo National Park.
Our next day trip was a trip to Mungo National Park, this was in a 4 WD bus and we were so glad we hadn’t undertaken to take our car. The 80 kms of dirt road was very corrugated and extremely rough. Morning tea and lunch were at the visitors lodge and we went into the visitors centre and through the park to the Wall of China by driving across the dry lake, it has been dry for 16,000 years and the countryside is sparse and Barron.
The tour guide gave the Roos a drink at the tap and they had dug a hole in the pipe here, so this small hole fills with water for them each time the water tap is used.
An old sheep shed was visited and inside the visitors centre an prehistoric wombat 100 times bigger than the present day and we saw footprints formed by an another era, the prints had been baked in clay. We heard about Mungo woman and man that had been found here 26,000 and 38,000 years ago. She was 18 and him 50.
Our next blog will start in SA , as we cross the border from Victoria.
