Cooroy

Arrived at the caravan storage yard right on opening time 9am to pick up the van, then it was on the road to Cooroy.

Poor Kenny (Tom Tom) was very confused as we were travelling towards the Sunshine Coast, as there has been some new Hwy sections opened since he was last updated, so he certainly was having a hissy fit !

We arrived here at Elaine & Robs property about 2.30 this afternoon, lovely lush grassy area for us to camp in. Alison and David have already got the fire going for us to sit around so had better get my jacket on now, as the day is certainly cooling down, and join the others at the fire.

Off off and away again- Gold Coast

We were farwelled by Jack Frost on Tuesday morning as we were leaving Tassy to fly to Coolongatta. We arrived to a nice 22 deg temperature and were picked up by our friends and taken back to their unit at Emerald Lakes. That night we went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant which was first class.

Today we went for a drive up through the Gold Coast drag and out to Southport and brought some prawns from a trawler to have for dinner tonight. In the afternoon Denise and I went for a drive to look at some boats (dreaming) and then to Harbour Town for some retail therapy, and back to the French Quarter at Emerald Lakes for a coffee and hot chocolate at a nice restaurant by the water.

Tomorrow we will collect our caravan and head up with our friends with their van to Cooroy for a few days at friends property, and from there we will resume our trip to Longreach etc.

Gold Coast - Home

Since my last update we travelled 900klms from Dubbo to Nerang on the Gold Coast in two days, as Fred has had a minor stroke and we thought we had better come home to see what needs to be done for him.
On the trip from Dubbo we experienced a variety of different scenery, from flat massive pastures to rolling hills then into rain forest with winding steep descents before reaching the coast. Once again the weather was not wonderful, but as we were on a mission to arrive on the Coast by Tuesday so we could fly out Wednesday, we were not too worried by it. We would have liked to have been able to spend some time exploring some of the little towns that we passed through but maybe another time when we travel that way.
We spent Tuesday night with are friends Alison & David who have just moved into a fifth floor apartment at Emerald Lakes. Their new home is very impressive, in the French Quarter of a new housing and lake development. We were sitting out on their balcony having breakfast before our flight home and had a good view of two hot air balloons drifting past.
We have put the caravan into storage not far from their unit for $25 per week and Alison and David had an extra parking spot in secure undercover parking at the French Quarter where we were able to leave the Pajero.
We have been to see Fred since arriving home, seems to be picking up again with only slight loss of functions. We are hoping to be returning to our travels sometime next week if all is still going well. We will most likely have a change of plans for the rest of our trip, as need to be within a couple of days travelling time if we need to come home again. Looks like outback adventures will have to wait a little longer.
Will return to this blog when on the road again....................

Dubbo cont......

We are about to spend our third night here at Dubbo, after deciding to stay on an extra day due to the inclement weather. It has cleared a little this afternoon after a couple of rainy days, so hopefully the worst is over, has not been too bad compared with other parts of the state.

Since we have been here we have caught up on all our washing, thank goodness for dryers ! To relieve our cabin fever we went for a meal at the Bowls Club where we were joined by some fellow Tasmanian's Brian & Pam Bennett who just happen to be staying in the same caravan park as us. Barry's father (Fred) used to be Brian's boss at Telecom and I also knew him from being a director at the Credit Union. We also went for a visit to the Old Dubbo Gaol, where a reenactment was taking place of a prisoner trying to escape. Bazza was chosen from the group to help with the escape, but after enlightening the performer that he was a retired Prison Officer and his conscious would not allow him to assist, he was able to wriggle his way out of playing the part. Later the actors discussed that he was there as a spy so he did not get out of it that easy. The gaol is very well preserved and the interactive displays are very good, the main entrance to the goal is in the main st of Dubbo, the town has been built around it.

When we leave here we were to head out to Bourke, Charlieville and to Longreach but after a phone call back home we think it is advisable for us now to go to the Gold Coast, as Fred is not doing too good and we may have to fly home.

Griffith-Forbes-Dubbo

Since our last update we arrived at Griffith on Wednesday, weather was very pleasant around 19 degrees and sunny. We found the free camp beside a park in Griffith it was a lovely spot and handy to the town & shops approx. 1.5 klm, we were able to leave the van hooked up and use our bikes to cycle into town and check out the many Italian restaurant's. Lucky we have our bikes as the ankle is not doing all that well, unable to walk too far, have even ridden the bike to the amenities when we were in Temora.

After leaving Griffith we travelled towards Forbes passing many wineries and orange groves, the orange tree's were loaded with fruit. We passed the Debortoli Winery but as it was only 9am it was a bit early for us to stop to sample the wine, so we kept moving arriving in Forbes about 1pm after stopping for lunch at West Wyalong. We spent the night at another free camp beside the Lachlan River right in Forbes, where there was a walking/cycling track just near where we parked. Bazza was very thirsty & ready for a drink that evening, after having many chats with people passing by during the afternoon. We also had an older man (John) drive in and come for a chat, he was off to the Men's Shed and shared with us some of his treasure's that they make at the shed. He even returned the next morning to see if we had mastered one of his puzzles that he had shown us the previous day, and to leave another puzzle for us to solve. While we were at Forbes we found it a great place to use our bikes again with the track going right along either side of the river, and we just had to ride over the bridge to Woolworths to stock up our supplies. The weather today was a very pleasant 20 degrees, we felt quiet warm after our ride.

Today we left Forbes passing through Parks and stopping for lunch at The Dish (Radio Telescope), where we were lucky enough to see them re positioning it, I have taken a series of photos as it changed position. While we were there we watched a video in 3D on the Galaxy and also of an astronomer climbing to the outer tip of the Dish, it felt like we were up there with him. We arrive here at Dubbo this afternoon experiencing the occasional shower of rain, a much cooler day hoping it will fine up tomorrow as wanting to wash the bedding and towels.

Temora - Junee

The Aviation Museum at Temora is a must to visit with their flying collection of Australian ex-military aircraft, very well presented and value for your money. It would have been even better if we had been able to time it with one of their regular flying days, would have loved to have seen the Tiger Moth and Spitfires in the air.

After passing through Junee yesterday we decided that we would retrace 58klms to return as we missed out on seeing the Junee Railway RoundHouse & Museum. After booking into yet another caravan park with beautiful grass and vista, we visited the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory where we just had to buy a supply of goodies. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the RoundHouse where a very enthusiastic train buff volunteer by the name of Harry, had us climbing in and out of carriages & engines. We were also able to watch a working diesel loco shunting & moving carriages onto the 100 foot long turn table. It was a good place to go on a very wet afternoon, has been raining constantly for the last four hours and more forecast for the next couple of days.

Temora

We were disappointed when we were at Rutherglen that Barry broke the chain on his bike and we were unable to get a replacement until today, we had been looking forward to cycling the rail trail from Rutherglen to Wahgunyah.

The Autumn leaves are looking magnificent, a lovely time to be travelling through the country side.

After spending our second night at Rutherglen where we visited Campbell's & All Saints Wineries, tasted the famous Parker pies and had a very enjoyable meal out at the Victoria Hotel, we moved on today to Temora. On the way we travelled via Corowa, Albury, Wagga Wagga & Junee, we are now at our very first grassy caravan park at the Airfield here at Temora. Tomorrow we will visit the Aviation Museum here where they have restored and operational aircraft.

The weather forecast is not looking the best with strong wind and rain coming, temp is not too bad around 18degrees and 7degrees overnight.