Macksville

Macksville was our stop after Newcastle. We had hoped to make Coffs Harbour Tuesday night but ran out of light and steam so decided on Macksville. We stayed at a really nice little camp ground called Guma Reserve. Right on the river. If we hadn't promised to catch up with our mates the following day, we'd likely still be there.

We had a car problem on the Wednesday morning. The engine fault light came on. Luckily Coffs was just up the road so after catching up with our mates we stopped by VW. It was an EGR value problem. It appears they we need to work the diesel a little more to keep it from sooting up. VW fixed it and we were back on our way.

Guma Reserve. A pleasant respite from the the past couple of days.

  We're in heaven... deservedly!

Newcastle

The weather looked pretty good for the drive up from Sydney. We booked in to a park at Stockton Beach A great place. Just out of town and right behind the beach.

Unfortunately a pretty serious low pressure system arrived about the time we did.
Sunday afternoon we received a message from the SES telling us to pull down awnings and secure any loose items... this is getting serious! We were battened down, windows closed and all secure by about 8pm. We were getting serious rain and the wind was strengthening. The wind strengthened through the night with gusts up to 120km recorded at the port entrance, about 500m from where we were. The van was being buffeted. I though of filling up the water tanks to add another 180kgs of weight but yours truly only weighs 85kg and might have been blown away. So we put up with the buffeting and the noise and the rain which was now coming in horizontally. We didn't get much sleep but in the morning we discovered we were still on the same site (alone) so we were pretty happy. We also discovered the guy on the site behind us had moved his car to shield his own van during the night so we had the full force right on the back of the van.

Our mates (Glen and June) took us out for the day, north to Port Stephens, then back into town for lunch, the lookout and some of the southern beaches. The weather was wet and getting windier but the company was excellent.

Monday night was a repeat of the night before but windier and wetter. We had our car behind the van to break up the wind as best we could. The morning arrived, we looked outside and there were trees down all over the place, minor flooding in the park, non of the services were working, power, water, etc was out.... but we had prevailed. My major concern in the whole matter was that we got hit with something, but we didn't

The guy next to us, in a pop-top, had it lowered and was watching it move up and down half an inch and wondering when it was just going to "pop", which it didn't. It wasn't the weather to be out camping in.

We drove out midmorning Tuesday heading north. There was minimal flooding along the coast but there were trees down everywhere, mostly cleared. There were potholes everywhere. We were careful.

 Yep, it was windy.

 Newcastle Port

 Stockton CP on Tuesday morning

The weather map showing the wind on the Sunday night. 

Sydney

I drove in to Sydney to the Lane Cove Caravan Park. I must admit to being a little concerned about being so close to Sydney with the van on. The Caravan Park is pretty close to Sydney in the Lane Cove National Park. A great park right on the train line with plenty of walking and cycling paths around. It's right under the Kingsford Smith flight path. Fortunately planes stop in the evening, but start again around 6am.

We didn't drive too much around Sydney, caught the train mostly and found the service brilliant except on the last weekend we were there (the first day of the school holidays) when they decided to shut down all the city services for routine maintenance. Someone needs their head read I think.

Dave and KT live in Bondi which was only about 30mins by train and a short walk from where we were. We spent quite a bit of time at Bondi in the east with the kids. They share a place with 3 others. It's the only way "out of towners" can get accommodation anyway close to the CBD with the prices the way they are. We also got out to the northern beaches ourselves for a day. The walks around Sydney through the parks and along the beaches are great.

We headed off north on Sunday to catch up with Glen and June whom we met last year at the devils marbles and travelled with for a couple of weeks. They live in Newcastle.

Sunrise over Bondi from the kids deck.

Dave, Katie and me on one of our walks.

Orange

We're booked into Lane Cove Park in Sydney from about the 9th April for a week. We decided to catch up with some mates in Orange so we drove from Canberra up to Cowra and then to Orange.

We know Dave and Jodee from PNG. They've been back in Orange for about 12 years. They had been in Sydney for the footy and we each arrived back at their place at exactly the same time. The Camel races were on that day, so we spent the day at the races. A fantastic event. Didn't win too much money, but didn't lose too much either.

We all got up with sore heads the next day, went out for brekky and had a quiet afternoon.

According to the locals, there were about 4000 people at the track for the Camel races. That compares with about 200 punters for the usual horse races. The Camels might become a more regular feature...

I backed this mongrel. It ran half way down the track, then decided to turn around for some photo opportunities. The finish line is behind it.

Dave's done an great job bringing his car back to life over the past 3 years.











We sent Rose back to Brisbane from Orange. We'd seen a townhouse and it ticked all our boxes so we thought we'd take a shot at it. We're now the proud owners. Looks like we're returning to Brisbane.

I drove down to Sydney a couple of days ago and Rose flew in.

Canberra

Rose hadn't been to Canberra before. We stayed just out of town at a place called Cotters on the Murrumbidgee River. A nice place. We just "wedged" in between a couple of other caravans. It was Easter the following weekend so we were lucky to get a spot. We seem to have "jagged" good spots most of the trip, and this was right up there with the others.

I have family in Canberra that we haven't seen for some years. We contacted Richard and Carol and spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening with them. We're also travelling with Richard and Carol in Canada and the US later in the year between Vancouver and Anchorage.

The bikes were given a workout around Lake Burley-Griffin, we visited the war memorial which was amazing, and Richard took us around Parliament House (his usual stomping ground).

I also spent some time at Mt Stromlo in the mountain bike park. An amazing place with downhill, uphill, around the hill and any other type of riding you might want to do.

I actually got lost at one stage and ended up throwing the bike over a couple of fences and riding through roadworks to get back to the car.

A couple of days well spent. We could have spent a week there.

The house of Representatives. Note the covers over the tables and chairs in the centre. The Speaker was heard to comment "... well we have so many leaks, they might as well be in the roof too!"

Richard and Rose in the Senate. 

Cooma

We left Pambula (should have stayed another couple of days though) via Bega and headed inland towards Cooma. The school holidays are now happening so it's better to avoid the beaches.

No one told us what the grade of Mt Brown was west of Bega and we found that during the 10km climb they were doing roadworks. We were stopped several times and doing about 10km/hr at others. The whole climb took about 2 hours. Still the sun was out but the temperature had dropped.

We had a near miss about 6km south when an idiot in a transit van towing a trailer decided to pass us around a long left hand corner over double lines. We were sitting on our usual 90km/h and he came around a truck and decided he might as well make use of the speed he'd picked up and continued past us over double lines. Unfortunately for everyone, there was a camper van coming in the opposite direction who had to break suddenly and swerve off the road, as we had to do too.

By the time we arrived in Cooma it was jumper weather, but the sun was still out We had a coffee in the only place that looked as through it was open. The coffee was hot and the service was great but the rest of the place looked closed.

We stayed in a "free" camp about 4km out of town. We were one of 2 vans at 5pm, and the next morning we discovered a further 4 or 5 had arrived.

Sunny the day before. Pea soup the next morning. Back on the road a little later than usual to let the fog rise. Checked we had heaps of diesel for the van heater and we were set for Canberra.

Pambula

We arrived late in the week prior to the Victorian School Holidays. We'd booked 4 nights. The day after we arrived, the park had another 260+ arrivals and we were surrounded by campers of all shapes and sizes. It's a pretty popular place with some great rides and walks.

The beach stretches between Pambula and Merimbula. It's about a 4km walk one way. We walked it one afternoon and still back in time for sundowners.

We made use of the bikes. It's a short ride in to Merimbula along cycle paths and trails. Merimbula is a bit crowded, but the Saphire Club does have a great $10 Schnitzel on Tuesday nights.

The dolphins were surfing along the beach at one of the nearby bays one afternoon. Interestingly, the local fishermen were also pulling in some nice Salmon that afternoon too. We went out the following day and didn't do too well.

Timbilica

An old army mate, and the best man at Rose and mine wedding lives in Timbilica. He lives in a roadhouse that he's converted into his home which is also the home of an absolutely amazing Harley Davidson collection.

"Possum" and Tanya have lived here for about 25 years and have done a great job making it their own. They are pretty well self sustaining generating their own power, growing their own food and brew their own grog, to list just a few things.

We dropped by for a couple of hours on our way through to Pambula. We would have arrived earlier or stayed longer but we didn't get into Genoa until late, and we'd booked to be in Pambula later in the day... Pambula, we found later, to be very busy

Genoa

We arrived at Genoa tired and late. Genoa has a "wayside stop". You make a donation generally between 5 and 10 bucks and just park up, maybe head across the bridge to the pub too. We did.

Genoa is a place that's having a "rebirth". They used to allow grazing down to the waters edge, so the flora in the area was pretty well destroyed, but 10 years on it's looking pretty good. The old pub is family owned and run and doesn't have pokies, acts as the post office for the local area, the school drop off's also happen at the pub. It really is the local community hub.

My mate "Possum" lives about 16k further north but we hadn't let him know we were in the area and we were tired, so we thought we'd drop by the following morning.

We drove through Cann River on the way to Genoa. We were in Cann River in time to see a guy who was in a wheel chair thrown off a bus. He was either full or on drugs because he (rather swiftly I might add) pushed his chair though town throwing curses at everyone and anyone. In the time we were there he was kicked out of the pub, the newsagent and a garage. We were in Cann River for about an hour and about 1km out of town we came across the same guy only this time he was travelling East along the Princess Hwy but in the Westbound lane. We had to slow right down in case he changed lanes. The cars on the other side were stopped. I believe the police might have helped him out because we called them. Poor bugger, he had absolutely no sense of direction.

 The Genoa Pub Bar.

The old Genoa bridge. One side had been converted to a foot bridge. it runs between town and the "Wayside stop".
  

Buchan

Someone suggested we drop by Buchan and check out the caves. We dropped by on a stunning day prepared to stay at the campground there, but at $54 for a powered site, $48 unpowered, we thought better of it. We drove back up the road about 2km onto the old Buchan Road, and pulled off the road onto a verge between the road and a fence and stayed there... for free.

It was quiet and in the morning the sun was out and the clouds were down in the valleys. What a place to start the day. We then drove back to the caves and did a couple of the walks in the park. We didn't go into the caves as we had some distance to cover.

Buffalo

Some Ulysses mates of ours live at Buffalo in SE Gippsland. Ross and Anne are semi retired dairy farmers (if dairy farmers can ever retire). We arrived in time for dinner, Trevor and Ria (also Ulysses mates) came by and we had a great time catching up. Ross has enough projects to keep him busy for the next 20 years I reckon. They live in some great country.

We also learned a lot about the differences between Silage and Hayage, how it's cut, wrapped and consumed, the price of trout, stock rotation, chinese camper copies, out paddocks, how to tackle burglars and poachers, and protect Nissan patrol paintwork.

Seriously they are a great bunch of mates and by the time we'd left, we'd almost considered becoming farmers. The knowledge these guys have is something you won't ever find in books.

Cape Paterson

We're back on the road. We said goodbye to family for another few months and we've headed back to Cape Paterson. My cousin (Liz) and her husband Jim run the Cape Paterson CP. They also make pretty good coffee.

The weather report for SE Victoria is not looking too good for the rest of the week so we'll likely start moving north pretty quickly.

Caravan maintenance

The van is back. The repairs and some insurance work have been completed. The caravan manufacturer (JB caravans) have been very attentive and have gone to great lengths to fix any of the problems we've had.

We're probably a little unusual in the van since new has been on the road as we've been travelling since we picked it up in May 2014. I would suggest that most vans don't get used near as much, so problems we've experienced during the first 12 months, most people would not discover for several years.

In summary:

We've had a couple of structural problems (wheel alignment, a minor water leak and some internal roof work).
The installed items have also been a little problematic. Appliances like the stove, microwave, plumbing fittings, TV, windows, blinds, step, etc have had some work done to them or they have been replaced.

On each occasion, these problems have been fixed quickly and professionally either in the factory, or at JB's nominated repairers elsewhere. Wencent and Carrie at Northern Caravans in Melbourne have done an excellent job managing these issues to resolution.

We're approaching 12 months on, and our van remains as new.

Melbourne - the farm

We stayed at the Williams place in Rowville for a week or so. Peter and Val have a couple of acres with the usual few animals and farm stuff. We played farmer for a week whilst our van was having some work done and Peter, Val and Corrine went off for a few days.

Yep we put on the "wellies" and collected the eggs, watered the veggies, cleaned out the cow troughs, had a couple of BBQ's, and spent some quality time with Rose's dad Jac.

We were on a pretty steep learning curve. Last time we stayed there we learned that you don't heard chickens so we didn't spend too much time on that although we did feed them some "ultra, ultra" hot pizza that we couldn't eat. We sort of expected they might either go off the lay or provide us with curried eggs.

When we were cleaning out the cow troughs, Rose was a little excited when the cows became a little exquisitive, so we "mooved" them into another paddock. We finished the job and Rose took off to do other things, I proceeded to heard the cows back and had just got them to the gate when Rose appeared waving her hands in front of them "do you want any help", upon which they decided to head back past me. "Oh..... sorry".... mumble, mumble...... I better go and get them again.....  I herded them up again only this time the dog decided he wanted to help.... off they went again. Bugger it.... he shuts the gate, goes back inside, grabs a beer..... stuff it, they can stay there!

Melbourne

We were back in Melbourne for dad's 82nd birthday, our nephews wedding and for some minor surgery.

The birthday was great and spending some time with Mum and Dad is always a highlight. No matter the occasion it's always so easy being there and a great time to just sit back and relax.

Tim and Hayleys' wedding was at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. The day was absolutely perfect and the reception at Fenix in Richmond afterwards was excellent. Corrine took us there and home which was fantastic.

No photos of the surgery, suffice to say that it all went well but if I had to choose between Belleura Hill Private (stone removed) and Peninsula Private (stent removed), Belleura had better food and Peninsula had warmer blankets.

 Tim and Hayley.

 Your's truly's

Peter, Corrine and Val Williams. (Rose's sister in law and her husband and their daughter).

Launceston

We spent the day in Launceston. It's not really RV friendly but we found a place to park, saw a movie, did some shopping, emptied the dunny, and went down to the port and waited. Luckily we were there about 3 hours ahead of departure, as the ferry was full and the line was long.

On arrival in Melbourne it took us 38 minutes from the time we unloaded to be at Rose's sisters place in Rowville.

I think we could have easily spent another 6 months in Tassie..

Sheffield

The murals are what stands out in this little town. Oh, the period buildings are pretty impressive too, but not in the same league as the artwork. This place is stunning from the guy walking along the footpath with his Lama's, to the great little coffee shops, to the old trades, to the free camp in the show ground, to the "marbles" and glass shop. There's a sense of pride in what's happening around Sheffield.

This was the original mural painted on the side of a building down a side street. Nearly every building now has artwork of some kind on it, and none of it is graffiti.

Not all buildings are as they seem.

Stanley

Stanley is on the North West coast resting under "The Nut". A great little place with loads of character... but windy as hell!

We stayed in the van park a couple of days and took a drive on one of them down to Couta Rocks and Arthur River, Carol Bay, etc. Rose drove all day and it was pure bliss. The West coast is pretty desolate and rugged but with some great scenery, being pretty much all National Park.

Whilst in Stanley, we were walking through the van park and stumbled across a guy I worked with 40 years ago in the army. Ron and Deb live in Brisbane, about 15 km's from us.

Queenstown

A little like a mining town. They used to mine copper here, and well before that, gold. Not much happens here now. They closed the mines after a couple of deaths. They might re-open it someday, but not in the next year of two while they sort out the problems they have. The population has reduced from ~8000 to ~2500.

We'd heard about a little steam train that runs between here and Strahan. It used to carry ore to the coast. It it what they call a rack and pinion railway as the train has to engage with some cogs (a centre rail if you will) which helps it pull itself up the 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 grade. We bought a ticket and spent 5 hours wondering though the forest across about 80 bridges and through virgin forests and over rivers. It was a great day.  We headed north that afternoon.

Queenstown on the way in. The road is pretty windy.

 The engine on the manual turnaround.

The little train that could. The front 2 carriages are for budget travellers like us. The back carriage is the dining car. The get to eat and drink along the way.. fine dining!

 The King River in the background.

Cradle Mountain (The Overland Track)

The day has finally arrived, and so has the other member of our group, Irish.
We parked the van up in the car park at Lake St.Clare for the week, jumped in our exclusive bus, with 7 others, and embarked on a tortuous three hour drive to the start of our walk on the shores of Dove Lake.

The day was pretty ordinary from the outset but the forecast was for finer weather from tomorrow..... and it was.

The first day was all up hill, wet, misty, slippery and cold, but we prevailed and made the first official camp by about 6pm. We were there with about 10 other trekkers. We could've/should've tented it, but it was late and we were tired. Someone started cutting wood at about 2am, so we moved onto the verandah. Note to self... tent next time.

We pitched the tent the second day, but the guy cutting wood also decided he didn't want to upset anyone, so her moved outdoors too... about 4m from us!

Day three, strategy.... waiting at the door... where will the chainsaw be tonight.. tent or hut. The rest is history!

The scenery along the track is great. The operation is very professional. We elected to do the track without support for about $200. There were groups with a guide paying about $1800, and there were the Chardonay set paying in the order of $2900. The pack weight had a lot to do with the cost. Our packs weighed in about 13-16kg's. It's a lot to carry each day. We walked from 4 to 8 hours each day depending on the terrain and how many breaks we took.

We met a couple of bikers at the Derwent Bridge Pub after the walk. One walked up to me and said "Is your name Bryan?", "Yep."..."and is that Rose?""Yep". "I'm Dave Anderson, I looked after the bar at your wedding". That was 34 years ago.

Near the Boat Shed at Cradle Lake.

The blind leading the blind. All they needed to do was look behind them..

The swim to Snake Island was cold, the swim back was colder. We signed the visitors book on the Island. It's not got too many names in it since 1831.

Lunch by the stream. Time to refill the drink bottles (upstream).

 A selfie at Pelion Hut.

The landscape changed daily and some of the tracks were pretty gnarly.

 Lunch at the base of Mt Ossa.

Tents went up most evenings. These wooden platforms worked well.

Everything that could go in the tent, went in. Food went in the hut out of reach of the o'possums.

 Aaarrgghhh! Are we at the top yet..

The hut was built in 1910 and I'm sure they use the same design for the bunks they use in the modern day huts.

 There were some fantastic falls.

 Lunch break. Salada's and Vegemite..

We bonded pretty well with these guys

 Beside the boat at the end of the track.

The first beer, or was it the second, third... I forget!

Mt Fields (National Park)

We're making our way west now and made it a short way out to Mt Fields NP. A really nice place, some great walks to various waterfalls. We're feeling pretty fit now in the lead up to our Overland Track walk next week, so we walked for about 3 hours this morning early with full packs. We felt great.

 Russell "Mc"Falls

 Horseshoe Falls

This little critter came up to us, we took his photo, and he turned tail and ran off.