Goolgowie - Cobar

Wow we are finally feeling warmer!

We left Moama Thursday travelling north towards Bourke on the Cobb Hwy  stopping at Deniliquin for morning tea then it was onto Hay where we had lunch then our last leg was on the Mid Western Hwy to Goolgowi where we spent the night at a free camp about 1klm from the town.We have not encountered a lot of traffic which is good, not having to worry about holding up the truckies. We passed quiet a few cattle grazing in the Long Paddock, also saw numerous Emu's and Goats just glad that the only Kangaroos we saw were road kill, would not have liked to encountered one of those big fellas!

We only had to travel a little over 300 klms yesterday for an overnight stop at Cobar, as it was my turn to have a stint at the driving Baz was left to be the navigator. He was suppose to be directing me to the Newey Resevoir Camping Area but somehow we ended up at the Cobar Old Resevoir I did ask the question when we ran out of sealed road! It may have been a good mistake as listening to other campers the other Resevoir is very popular and local dogs bark continually, the only down side to where we ended up was the dusty road and the locals like to come out to the resevoir to ride their dirt bikes.

We made a quick get away this morning once the dirt bike riders put in an appearance about 8am, travelling up the Kidman Way to Bourke. It was a relatively short trip only 169 klms so we arrived here at the Kidman Camp Country Resort before lunch giving us plenty of time to clean up the outside of the van and put a load of washing on. The temperature today has been quiet warm 25 degrees and the forecast for tomorrow is 27 degrees, this is why we leave Tassie for the winter so we can enjoy the warmer temps.

Cattle feeding on theHwy to Goolgowi from Hay

Goolgowi /rest area

Cobar Old Resevoir

Cobar Old Resevoir

Kidman Camp Country Resort

Sunset Bourke

Hobart - Newbridge - Bendigo - Moama

Trip 2016
Sunday finally arrived and it was time for another teary farewell to Tan, Greg and the boys 😂, You would think that after all these years of heading off for nearly five months it would get easier. Baz had spent a couple of days getting the car and caravan clean & shiny, which ended up being a waste of time because as we headed off the rain came and we were travelling on wet sloshy roads. The weather report wasn't good with strong winds forecast for across Tassie, we were lucky the only effect it had on us was the steady decline of the fuel gauge. We also thought that we may experience a nasty trip across the ditch, but our prayers were answered and once again we sailed into Port Melbourne after enjoying a good nights sleep.

We had been undecided which direction we would take prior to leaving but after some discussion on the trip north we came up with a destination! We had seen on Facebook a good location that Graeme & Gladys had visited a few days earlier, so it was off to Newbridge a small town west of Bendigo situated on the Lodden River. We had a great campsite at the Recreation Camping Reserve beside the river and it was only a short walk over the bridge to the General Store & Pub.

Tuesday took us to our next stop the City of Bendigo that boasts beautiful heritage streets & buildings. We thought we would visit The Art Gallery which had an exhibition of authentic artefacts, clothing and other objects belonging to or worn by Marilyn Monroe, they also had a few of her original films showing. The Forever Marilyn sculpture that is eight metres high is also on display in the City, Baz had his photo taken with her, it was the only chance for him to get between her legs. Next it was onto Bendigo Pottery, Australia's oldest working pottery, which also houses this amazing Antiques and Collectable warehouse for its 40 stall holders, it was impossible to see all that was displayed for sale, there was just so much there it would take days to see it all and then you would turn around and see things that you had missed. If anyone is going to Bendigo I suggest you put it on your must do list.

Today we travelled from Bendigo to Moama which is situated across the Murray River from our favourite Victorian town Echuca. We are social members of the Rich River Golf Club which allows us to free camp alongside the golf links and is a good spot for an over night stop. It didn't take us long to unhitch the van and head back across the river to Echuca to indulge in a Beehive from the Beechworth Bakery.

Relaxing Newbridge Recreation Campground

Fantasising with Marilyn 

Artificial Turf Gazebo Bendigo

Rich River Golf Club Moama