April 23rd-April 28th, 2011-Nowra at the Holmans

Saturday April 23rd saw us travel to Nowra via Nerriga to stay with the Holmans for a few days before returning home. We enjoyed most of the day in Charleyong with the rest of the group arriving back in Nowra in late afternoon. We had a easy meal of leftovers and had an early night.
Sunday saw Gary have to return to work and the girls busy catching up on laundry. Almost everything we had stunk of smoke so was nice to have clean clothes and a really nice long hot shower. We enjoyed a nice baked Chicken dinner on Sunday night.
Monday morning saw us attend the Dawn Anzac Service at Greenwell Point. Great turnout and the rain held off till after the service. Gary was off to work again when we returned home while the rest of us crawled back into bed for some extra sleep and/or reading.
Tuesday and Wednesday saw us enjoy some relaxing days with Gary and Maureen. We did some shopping and Gary helped me with some small projects on the caravan. We added a storage tube at the back and some extra support bars for the awning. Also installed an antenae for our VHF radio. Thursday morning we were off on our way home fairly early. We had a safe and uneventful trip other than some heavy rain through Sydney. Saw a number of accidents but didn't affect our progress. Met Stephan Ransley at Somersby to pick up a hydrallic jack and drop some stuff off for them.
Arrived home around 2PM much to the delight of our daughters. Apparently they are still missing us a bit. We will enjoy a few weeks at home with the girls, planning for Stephanie's 21st next weekend, and making last minute preparations for the big trip which starts on May 16th. Talk to you all soon!

April 20th-22nd, 2011- Charleyong Crossing near Braidwood

Wednesday April 20th saw us pack up and head to Charleyong Crossing about 25KM East of Braidwood. We first stopped in Braidwood to fill up with water and empty at a dump site. We had a bit of a late morning and arrived at the Charleyong Crossing just before lunch where we met Maureen and Gary Holman from Nowra. We had to make a shallow river crossing here to get to the campground. It was a bit nerve racking as was our first one. We lowered our tyre pressure for the sand and went through with no worries in 4WD. Check the attached photo.

We were joined by the Holmans son, David later that day. We set up our caravans and David's Camp Trailer in a large open area at the campsite. Lovely location again near the Shoalhaven River but with not facilities. The place got fairly busy by the time we were ready to leave on Saturday but we still had lots of room.

On Friday we were joined by David's wife Jen, the Holman's other son, Scott and girlfriend Skye, and Sandra's nephew Thomas Squires. We all had a relaxing time with a big fire going for the whole time and lots of good food. The highlight was a Roast dinner cooked in a campoven on Thursday night.
Most of the days were spent relaxing, collecting firewood, and enjoying each other's company. Gary, David, and I tried our hands at fishing on Thursday with no success.

Gary, Maureen, Sandra, and I packed up on Saturday afternoon and returned to Nowra as Gary had to be back at work on Sunday. The rest of the gang stayed behind and will be returning on Anzac Monday. We enjoyed a nice drive back to Nowra through Nerriga with interesting rock formations and views along the road. We plan to spend 4-5 days in Nowra with Gary and Maureen. Possibly do a couple of small alterations to the caravan and car for our trip and enjoy a good visit before returning home to Bolwarra Heights later in the week to see our girls. Talk again soon!

April 19th, 2011 Warri Reserve near Braidwood

We took highway to Braidwood South of Goulburn on Tuesday morning ending up at Warri Reserve about 10KM North of Braidwood. Beautiful free campsite along the Shoalhaven River. Limited facilities with Pit Toilets but very roomy and quite quiet even though along the highway.We only planned an overnight stay as we are meeting up with Sandra's sister and husband, Maureen and Gary Holman at Charleyong Crossing on Wednesday morning.
We enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and evening at the reserve. Would have stayed longer if not meeting the Holmans the next day.

April 17th & 18th, 2011- Goulburn- South Goulburn Caravan Park

Sunday April 17th saw us travel to Goulburn via Trundy Creek and Crookwell. Road had a number of unsealed sections and was very windy and hilly. We took our time and enjoyed the many old towns and buildings we passed. I would be happy to do the drive again without the caravan so we could stop and explore the old buildings a bit more. We took some pictures of the old Post Office in Bindi which is for sale as a private residence. Beautiful!

About 60KM south of Blayney we stopped at the Abercrombie Caves. Well that was an adventure! We had been advised by the Tourist Info in Blayney that they were very nice and no it would not be a problem going into them towing a caravan. Well we ventured off the road for the 2KM drive down to the Caves. The road was sealed but very narrow, steep, and tight S Bends (Switchbacks). Originally we thought the road was one way down with a separate route up however about half way down we met a lady in a Toyota Camry. After much manouvering and holding of breath the lady got by us and we proceed to the bottom as we really had no choice. Thank God we didn't meet another vehicle with a caravan as I think we would still be there (unless the other driver could back up 1KM downhill around S Bends. Needless to say Sandra's nerves were not that good when we entered the ranger office to enquire about the Cave tour. To cut a long story short the rangers agreed to close the road when we were ready to depart. And no Sandra or I didn't even have to cry (although I had Sandra ready to go). I suspect it is no the first time that this has happened. We enjoyed about an hour self guided tour through the caves which are amazing and got quite a few photos. We then enjoyed a snack while awaiting for the ranger to return from town to escort us out. We waited 10 minutes while he travelled to the top and closed the road from any traffic trying to come down. Two other Prados with Camp Trailers decided to take advantage of the road closure and travel up as well. They do have a beautiful campground at the bottom along a river bank for small campers. We made the trip up without incident, thanked the ranger, took a deep breath and continued on our way. Highly recommend the site but would caution against anyone taking a caravan down to the bottom unless arrangements are made to ensure no traffic coming in opposite direction.

We arrived in Goulburn in mid afternoon without any further drama. We had a little difficulty getting to the campsite as the Goulburn Tourist Map is very poor and doesn't show that you can't go through certain roads and one road that they showed didn't even exist. After a couple of minor detours and a few curse words we checked in at Goulburn South Caravan Park. The Caravan park is reasonable at $22/night for powered site but not the nicest one we stayed in. Has full facilities but not that clean and had a number of rather old permanent caravans that didn't add to the overall atmosphere. That being said it was quiet and full facilities. As was already mid afternoon we settled in and had a nice BBQ steak dinner.

Monday morning we got up and headed into Goulburn to do some shopping. Quite a busy place withe many historic buildings but seemed a bit run down and don't think I would want to live there. We returned to caravan and had some lunch before venturing out for some sightseeing. After a number of attempts we finally found ourselves on the 30KM drive out to Bungonia Conservation area. This was an enjoyable drive through continually changing countryside to a beautiful Conservation area. Many camp and day use areas with ample parking. We were able to drive to several areas close to lookouts.

The Lookouts are quite amazing as you would think you were on relatively flat ground but they just drop away for several hundred meters. One of the walkways you actually walk out over the cliff face and can see down through the iron grill that you are standing on. Sandra didn't make it out on this one and even I found it a bit hard on the nerves. We got several pictures but they don't give you a true perspective of the steepness and depth of the gorge. Well worth the visit and would be a good family campsie. Lots of walking trails. On our return to Goulburn we stumbled across the war memorial and lookout which we had in fact tried to find earlier in the day. It is quite impressive with a great view of Goulburn. The tower is lined with old photos from the 1st World War as you climb the stairs to the top. Very moving. We returned from there to our campground for the night. We made decision to move on to Braidwood next day as not overly impressed with Goulburn.

April 15th & 16th, 2011- Orange- Carcoar Dam near Blayney

Friday April 15 saw us pack up at Dubbo and travel through Orange to the Carcoar Dam near Blayney. Site was recommended by some other campers we met and is very nice free campground with wonderful views and good basic facilites. Flush Toilets, cold showers and dam water (not drinkable) Lots of room to spread out and have a fire. Several vans there but lots of room. The trip from Dubbo was uneventful and we quickly stopped at Orange Tourist Info site to locate water fill and dumpsite area. Once refilled we travelled south through Millthorpe and Blayney to the dam site. We set up and ventured into Blayney for groceries and then back to Millthorpe to spend some time in the Historic town which is a National Trust. Beautiful old buildings with many unique shops etc. I would compare it to Morpeth in our area. Many city folk there much better dressed than we were. We enjoyed a couple of hours walking around enjoying the shops and the architecture. Early 1800s for some of the buildings.


Saturday April 16th we left early for a day trip through Carcoar, Cowra, Canowindra, and Orange. We drove through Carcour which again is a National Trust. We were there to early for anything to be open but looked very interesting. We travelled to Cowra from there and explored the Japanese Gardens, War Memorial, and Japanese War Cemetary. Gardens were beautiful but both Sandra and I expected a bit more color given the time of the year. Only some of the fruit type trees were in full autumn colour. Very interesting history and war cemetary's were unique with the Japanese POW   cemetary adjacent to the Australian War Cemetary.











We travelled the short distance to Canowindra from there. It was a bit of a disappointment. Again it had some beautiful old buildings but everything seemed a bit run down and not as well looked after as some of the other small towns. We had planned to have lunch there but decided to press on to Orange as nothing really appealed to us there.
On the way to Orange we took the turn off to Mount Canobolis. Rough gravel road for about 9KM to a wonderful view point. Unfortunately as you can see from the pictures the weather was not great and visibility was limited. We filled up with fuel in Orange as we were on empty and had a nice pub lunch at the Royal Hotel (circa 1859). The autumn colours in Orange and the surrounding area were wonderful. I purchased a couple of bottles of local wine to sample later. We returned to our campground for a very wet and windy night. The Camps book had warned us that the location was windy as you would expect given the adjacent wind farm but we couldn't believe how the wind howled all night even shaking the caravan. We made the decision that we couldn't sleep another night in the wind so we packed up and headed for Goulburn on Sunday morning.

April 13th &14th, 2011- Dubbo- Terramungamine Reserve

Wednesday April 13th saw us leave the National Park to the west and then south to rejoin the Newell Highway. We stopped at the Gilgandra Tourist Info Centre to refill our water tanks. It is a beautiful info center with local products for sale, an aboriginal display, and a historical tribute to the Cooee March during the war. From there we travelled to Dubbo. Briefly stopped at temporary Tourist Info Centre (Flood Damage at the original) and travelled north to the Terramungamine Reserve. This is a lovely free campsite along the Macquarie River. Quite popular as there was several caravans there even when we arrived at just after lunch. We got a beautiful site by the river that was fairly level. Only basic Toilets with no other services.  Set up and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon visiting with many other caravaners. Got some great tips for place to see in Western Australia and Queensland.

Thursday we decided to do a shopping trip and laundry day in Dubbo. I may have neglected to mention that while lovely the Warrumbungles was quite fresh in the mornings. We got down to just above freezing on both morning there. Even with 3 blankets we were freezing! Also our aging and aching bones were having a bit of trouble with the Caravan mattress. We decided we needed some upgraded sleeping gear. We discovered a Harris Scarfe in Dubbo that had a huge Easter Clearance Sale. A few hundred dollars later we had a nice thick mattress underlay and a new wool doona (quilt for the non aussies) amongst a few other buys. Great Store with really good deals! Dubbo really impressed both Sandra and I with it's size and the amount of businesses in it. Obviously it is a major regional center. I am happy to report that we have enjoyed very comfortable and warm sleeps since our visit to Harris Scarfe.  Met some other really nice people at the campground and enjoyed a quiet, comfortable, warm night. The only other downside to report for the campground would be the hundred plus White Cockatoos that have set up home across the river. Lovely wakeup call!

We had been planning an additional day in Dubbo to visit the Zoo but we decided against it based on the cost (almost $100) and being the school holidays. We have both seen Zoo's before and didn't want to be lining up with lots of kids. As such we decided to pack up a day early in move on to Orange.

April 10th-12th, 2011- Warrumbungles National Park-Camp Blackman

Sunday April 10th saw us get an early start to the Warrumbungles National Park. We headed West out of the camp and then south to join the highway to Coonabarabran. We stopped at info center for directions and grabbed a few groceries before heading out the 40Km to Camp Blackman at the Warrumbungles National Park. Not the best road but all sealed. Got there around lunch and checked in at Park Office. Stayed in the newer part of the camp which has lovely pull though powered sites (no water). Has full showers and toilet block however. As we checked in quite early we went to the Sliding Spring Observatory which is only 10km from park. Couldn't see much from lookout but the displays were very interesting and the main telescope was massive.

Monday morning April 11th saw us have a good breakfast and set off on the Breadknife-Grand High Tops walking trail. This was about 12Km return with a huge climb to the top. We counted 600 plus manmade steps but also had Kilometers of paved path that climbed steadily. Reached the top in about 2 hours. The views are outstanding as you can see in all directions from he top. Lots of great pictures! We enjoyed a picnic lunch we packed at the top and enjoyed the views for a while before starting back down. If anything the down was worse than the climb up given our aching legs. We completed in about 2 hours and believe me we didn't want to tackle it again right away! We enjoyed a hot shower and a foot soak that night. Turned in at about 7PM. We met a few people on the walk and talked to them later and they all reported the same results. Great walk and well worth it but turned in early and were a bit sore the next day. Definately recommended!

Next day Tuesday April 12th saw us get a bit later start and we decided to do a couple of short walks. First up was the Whitegum Lookout walk which is 1KM return. Unfortunately we discovered at lookout that we didn't have a memory card in he camera so after retrieving from the car it was a 2KM walk. Very nice views of the peaks we had climbed the day before and well worth the effort. We then tried the Burbie Canyon walk which was only supposed to be 2KM. Somehow it turned out to be 4KM. Not a bad walk  but not up to he standards or views of the other two we took. The total 6KM felt like the 12KM the day before given our sore legs to begin with. Headed back to camp and had another foot soak. I think we made it to 9PM that night. We decided we had seen most of what we wanted to see so decided to leave the next morning for Dubbo.

April 7th-9th, 2011- Tamworth- Lake Keepit State Park

We an early start on Thursday April 7th south to Tamworth on the New England Highway. It was a beautiful sunshiney day and a nice drive. We had a bit of stress finding a dump site and a place to full up with water as both required attention after our 3 days of free camping and the expectation of no facilities at Lake Keepit according to our camps book. We found a dump site at the Tamworth Rest Stop just north of Tamworth and filled up our water at the Tamworth Tourist Information. This was a pain as the tap was in a spot that you couldn't get a vehicle near. Had to handfill with our Jerry can. Several trips later and dripping wet the tanks were full and we were on our way West to Lake Keepit towards Gunnedah. About 50Km west of Tamworth we pulled into the state park. Much to our surprise Sandra had reserved a fully serviced site. Turns out the stress re the dump site and water replenishing was totally unnecessary. The park is very nice with several serviced sites, a number of toilet blocks with showers,  a laundry, and dump site. Great place for family with kids as has playgrounds, water park, swim area, tennis courts, BMX track, and Kiosk. Surprisingly, given school holidays have started it is remarkably quiet.

We had a bit of a challenge setting up in the site they provided us as was on quite a slope. Could not lift the jockey wheel high enough to get off car to get caravan level from front to back. Fortunately a fellow named Peter who camped across from us assisted us with some caravaning knowledge and with a number of steps with stacks of wood we finally got the caravan level. The draw bar is basically touching the ground at the front. Another lesson learned and hopefully we will be able to reverse engineer to connect the car back up in the morning. Peter and his wife Janet have been very helpful and shared a number of places to see and do. He has been interested in my solar panels and Jerry Can holders so it would seem there is always a sharing of knowledge and assistance amongst the caravan crowd. It is an interesting community. Sandra and I have even been of assistance to a few greener (it is possible) caravaners already. The sharing of knowledge is also an expensive experience as you are always seeing something being used by someone else that you just have to have. The latest for us was a special hydraulic jack that replaces your jockey wheel. Sandra has decided that I need one for Father's Day. I think it would be a better Mother's day gift as she is the one that struggles with the Jockey Wheel. Feel free to share your opinion on this especially if it is favorable to my position.

Once settled in we enjoyed a cold drink (beer for me) to relieve the stress. Sandra explored the laundry facilities and we had a nice Salmon dinner on the Barbeque.

Friday April 8th was supposed to be a relax day where we caught up on cleaning, Blog, laundry, etc.
I decided to do a small plumbing alteration to install a shut off valve in the line to the water filter canister. This would allow us to turn off the water to the device when we need to change it. All was good until I cut the line and realized the shutoff valve I had was slightly too large for the pipe. Luckily I found this out after I cut the line so the caravan's complete water system was unuseable until I completed the project. That being the case I convinced Sandra that a trip to Tamworth to find correct size shutoff valve might be worthwhile. I also decided to find an extension to our gas lead to the barbeque so it could sit on the caravan's foldout table thereby freeing up the BBQ table for our outdoor eating etc. After numerous stops in a great number of Tamworth businesses we had the parts required to complete the projects. The extension for the gas lead proved especially challenging as there are a huge amount of threads, fittings, hoses, etc involved. I will put in a Kudo for Tamworth businesses as all 5 businesses we went to were very helpful and more than happy to recommend another business that might be able to help me. We felt a bit like we were on a scavenger hunt but I finally found success at Barbecues Galore. I had to buy a hose and 3 different adaptors but I now have the Barbecue sitting on the table. The plumbing job was completed with a minimum of fuss and water service has been restored. We enjoyed a nice steak on the relocated BBQ and enjoyed a beautiful sunny evening.

Saturday April 9th has thus been my catch up day for the Blog. Hope you all enjoy our adventures (and misadventures). Beautiful warm sunny day today with a few boats on the water. We enjoyed a walk around the campground today but are still amazed by the lack of people given the school holidays. We had about 100 motorbikes pull in this afternoon but they must have just been having a pit stop as they have all left now. I will sign off now and enjoy the rest of the day with my darling wife.
We will pack up and leave tomorrow for the Warrumbungles. Talk to you soon!

April 4th-6th, 2011- Armidale- Dumaresq Dam

Monday April 4th saw us journey further down the New England to Armidale. We stayed at Dumaresq (pronounced Dumarick by the locals) which was a free campsite about 10Km out of Armidale. It was a nice location but surprisingly busy. Very basic Toilet Block and no other facilities to speak of. We set up and did a 3Km walk around the Dam. Quite picturesque and a fairly easy walk we completed in about 45 minutes. We were camped beside some nice people, Ian and Chris Neilson, from near Toowoomba.  Had a few good visits with them comparing places to go and caravaning tricks.

On Tuesday April 5th we travelled into Armidale and took the Heritage Bus Tour which had been recommended to us by a number of people including the Ransleys. The tour is free but you need to book in advance as is very popular. We showed up at 10am with 8 other people to meet our Hostess, Gloria and driver, Werner. The tour takes you around Armidale viewing various landmarks for 2.5 hours ( or 3+ in our case because Gloria had more stories to tell) The historic landmarks are very interesting but it is the humorous stories that go with them that give them a local flavour and make you want to spend more time in Armidale. Gloria was hilarious and the time passed very quickly. They have a number of wonderful churches, Railroad Museum, Aboriginal Center, and University of New England. We would highly recommend that anyone spending a few days in Armidale book this tour. We enjoyed a Pub lunch across from the Tourist Info with coupons from the tour with another couple, Don and Janice, from the tour. We did some shopping in the afternoon and returned to campsite for dinner. The trees are all just starting to change to their autumn colours and are beautiful.

Wednesday April 6th saw us venture East on the Waterfall Way. We loosely followed a scenic drive route we had picked up at the Tourist Info Centre. Our first stop was Baker Creek Falls which was on a gravel road off the main highway. Good lookout point and the falls have 3 stages. Not too much water in them but still quite scenic.

From there we travelled on to the Wollomombi and Chandler Falls. The Wollomombi are the second highest falls in Australia and quite impressive. We did a challenging walk down to the Chandler Lookout which never did seem to actually find. It was about 2Km each way with a steep descent complete with switchbacks. If the way down was challenging let's just say the way back up was no easier. Our legs were feeling the burn!
Proceeded from there to New England National Park and Point Lookout. About 15Km of dirt road which was quite wet on the day. Beautiful drive in with amazing vegetation. You feel like you have entered a horror moving or something with the darkness and moss hanging off of everything. Had lunch at the summit which has a nice enclosed eating area with fireplace and reasonable toilets. Took the short 500m walk to the two lookouts but we were completely closed in with clouds and light rain. As you can see from the picture we could barely see 20 feet in front of us at lookout. Apparently on a clear day you can see 70Km right out to the coast. We may return some day to try again. It was worth the trip just for the walk and drive.

Drove to Ebor Falls from the New England National Park. Had cleared up a bit and we got good views and pictures from both view points. Make sure if you go that you go to both the upper and lower falls lookouts. Very different views but both good with very short walks to viewing platforms. There is a 700m paved walkway between them for those who want the exercise. We drove between them on this occassion.

We returned to Armidale in late afternoon and stopped at a car wash as the Pajero was filthy from our New England Park drive. Sandra and I enjoyed the last rays of sunshine at the caravan and had a toast to her Dad, Ed on the 6th anniversary of his passing. "Here's Luck!"

We charged up the batteries with the generator and stored most our camping gear for the trip in the morning to Tamworth.

April 1st-3rd, 2011- Glen Innes

April 1st saw us pack up at Tenterfield and travel the short trip down the New England Highway to Glen Innes. We checked in at Craigeburn Caravan Park just South of Glen Innes. It was our most expensive stay so far at $30/night but a very nice campground. Set on some 40 Acres there were only maybe 6 caravans at the busiest night we were there. Lots of beautiful trees and Granite Boulder formations. Kangaroos, Rabbits, and Possums abound. Full services including dump site and Laundry for fellow caravaners information. Set up just after lunch and did some sightseeing and shopping in Glen Innes in the afternoon. Very nice town with some wonderful old buildings. The Town Hall and a couple of schools stand out. We had a bit of a storm that night with some heavy rain but no wind. It was chilly in the morning at 8 degrees.






On the Saturday the 2nd we travelled the Gwyder Highway to Inverell. Stopped at the Sinclair Lookout which is a couple of km of the main road on quite a rough dirt track. Weren't sure is we were going the right way but comes out to a great viewpoint where you can probably see 270 degrees.

Went to the Inverall Tourist Info Centre which is very nice and lady there was very helpful. As most of the shops closed at noon on Saturday we only had a quick look downtown before heading out to Goonoowigall State Conservation area. We had a picnic lunch there and did a 5Km walk on the Thunderbolt Boulders Circuit. Interestingly enough there is no evidence Thunderbolt was ever there. The walk however was amazing and the boulders incredible. It is amazing they just appear out of nowhere and the way they balance on each other is unbelievable. We got some good and some goofy pictures with the boulders and John discovered a great collection of Farmer's Friend while there. We had a relaxing drive back to Glen Innes and enjoyed a couple of cold drinks at the caravan on a beautiful sunny day. Clear and Cool overnight. Definitely glad we brought the heavy doona.

Sunday the 3rd saw us venture East on the Gwyder Highway to the Gilbralter Ranges. On the way there we enjoyed two unexpected surprises. The Boundry Creek Falls is just 1KM off the main road on a dirt track. Only a short 200m walk down to the base of the falls. Amazing with very dense rainforest like growth.

The second was only a few km up the road where we came to Raspberry Lookout. Again only 1Km off the highway is a wonderful lookout where you can see for miles. Interesting coloring as the Rainforest mix with regular Australian Bushlands.

We then journeyed to the Coombadjha Camping area in Washpool National Park. We did a 9KM Washpool Walk. There were many beautiful Rainforest sites but this was not one of our favourites to this point in our trip. The track was not well cleared or marked in many spots. Very wet, muddy terrain and to top it off; Leeches! The walk took us 3.5 hours although an hour of this was stops to pull off leeches! A good walk for true nature lovers but not for the more civilized suburban folk like us. We would highly recommend the Dorrigo National Park walk over this one for fellow travellers who enjoy walking but not in these conditions. A very tired and bloodied couple made there way back to Glenn Innes. On the way out of Washpool Park we had a short delay as an 7-8 foot Carpet Python (apparently rarely seen we discovered later) had decided to have a sunbake right across the road. John got to try out his Steve Irwin skills to move the snake from the road so we could pass. I will summarize in saying John will not be pursuing employment in this field. After a few attempts at rolling rocks at the snake which only aggravated him but didn't move him, Sandra slowly drove by him with two wheels in the ditch. The snake finally moved as our front tyre went by his raised head on the passenger side. John had his window mostly rolled up to avoid an attack. Remember our bloody legs would be an easy target for a snake (even though I don't think this type of snake bites). I forgot to mention I also saw a small Grey/Black snake cross our path during the walk. We nervously made our way past this section. We slept soundly that night which was again quite cool.