May 29th, 2011- Peterborough Rest Area

Sunday May 29th we travelled about 300KM along the Barrier Highway to Peterborough. We spent the night at a free rest stop about 2 KM East of Peterborough. No facilities but nice big area with separate camping spots. Terry and Stephan found enough wood for another fire. Di, John, and Sandra went into town to purchase a few groceries. We needed fruit and veggies as there are a number of fruit zones that you can't carry fruit and veggies across. Last one was some ways before Peterborough so we didn't have any fresh veggies or fruit. Ask Sandra some day about her conversation with the inspector at this checkpoint. Apparently he hadn't had an offer like that for some time!

We got a beautiful sunset after dinner and we retired fairly early. It was a cold night.

May 26th, 27th, & 28th, 2011. Broken Hill- Silverton Penrose Park

Thurday May 26th saw us up early and on our way to Broken Hill. This was a fairly long travel day but quite easy. The road is fairly good and not too many stops along the way. We fueled up in Wilcannia which has beautiful old buildings but unfortunately is not safe to stop in for any length of time.

The outback was a big change from the previous scenery but not near as barren as I had expected. Apparently they have had good rains the last few years and it is much greener than usual.The wide flat expanses are very impresive however.

We continued on to Broken Hill arriving in Penrose Park about 4PM. Park is at Silverton which is about 25km north of Broken Hill. Quite a slow trip as there are numerous dips in the road for water drainage (39 I believe). We met up with Sandra's sister Carol and husband Stephan there. They are the last two of our group of six and now the trip has really begun.We enjoyed a group dinner and a few drinks. The park is quite nice and set on 80 acres. You just find a spot you like and find a power point if available. Amenities are rather basic. We found a nice big area where the 3 of us could setup. Unfortunately two other vans decided to join us over our stay. It is amazing how with an almost empty 80 acres people will decide to park their vans right next to you!
Friday the 27th we toured the historic Silverton area. We went out to the Mundi Mundi lookout and Reservoir north of Silverton. The Lookout show the true expanse of the outback and makes you feel like a small part of the world. We got some good photos of a dry river bed along the way.

We then toured Silverton and the many historic buildings there. Got pictures of many including Mad Max 2 Museum and had a drink at the Pub. Mad Max 4 is to shoot there as well but has been delayed because get this; things are too green! Finished the day off with a fire, big dinner, and more drinks.

Saturday the 28th we toured Broken Hill itself. Stopped at a number of gallerys, tourist info centre, lookout, etc. Had lunch and did some shopping in early afternoon before heading home to park. Took some more Riverbed photos on return trip. John, Sandra, Carol, and Di went to historic cemetery at sunset for some more photos and a walk. Very old cemetery with headstones from 1880 time frame. Terry kept the fire going for the 3 days we were there although firewood was a challenge to find. Had another good feed and did some preparation for next days trip.

May 24th & 25th, 2011- Cobar Caravan Park

Tuesday the 24th saw us get an early start for Cobar. We left Dubbo at about 8:30 and travelled along the Mitchell Highway to Nyngan. We visited briefly with Craig and Patricia Holman and kids while there over a late morning tea. They were all well and just returned from their trip to New York. Unfortunately, Nyngan was suffering a mouse plague which they are fighting through. Patricia had caught 105 mice in the three days since they had been home. Di almost had a heart attack when she heard about the one that ran up Patricia's shoulder. From Nyngan we travelled the Barrier Highway to Cobar and new territory. We arrived at Cobar in mid afternoon and set up in the Caravan Park at the West end of town. Well setup and quite a busy caravan park at $26/night. Seemed to fill up in mid/late afternoon with traffic from Dubbo or Broken Hill as is about the halfway point.

We booked in on the Heritage Bus Tour for the following morning, Wednesday May 25th.. Takes about 3 hours and give a good historical tour of the town and a visit to a working Gold Mine. Very imformative and enjoyable. Cobar is a very clean and friendly town and would return for another visit.
The Heritage Centre (Tourist Info) pictured above is lovely with great parking, Dump point, and water fillup station. Wish more places had such a great setup.
Afternoon saw us do some grocery shopping, laundry, and preparing for next leg of our journey.

May 22nd & 23rd, 2011- Dubbo

We had a nice trip on Sunday to Dubbo travelling through Gunnedah, Coonabarabran, and Gilgandra. Arrived in at the reserve we had stayed at previously about 2:30. Fairly crowded but we managed to get a couple of spots near each other. Had a quick try fishing in the river with no luck before dinner. Had a fairly early night and rained/stormed much of the night. Monday Di, Sandra, and I ventured into Dubbo for a shopping trip. We make a number of stops and didn't return until early afternoon. Quite a miserable day so we spent much of it in the caravan and again had an early night. The reserve is very popular as we counted about 20 caravans the second night. A bit crowded but all older campers so the nights are very quiet (starting at about 7pm). Us Grey Nomads obviously like our sleep. That being said more than half of them were gone this morning before we pulled out at 8:15am. Early to bed, early to rise is obviously our motto.
We are off to Cobar today.

May 19th-21st, 2011- Lake Keepit- Tamworth

Back to Lake Keepit near Tamworth on Thursday the 19th. We had an early start on our trip as we knew it would be quite a long trip on a windy road across the Great Divide. We stopped for Diesel in Wauchope on our way. Beautiful scenery but very windy and slow going especially with our caravans. We had numerous stops for stretches, cup of tea, road construction, etc. Make sure you ask Di about the beautiful Bellbirds we heard. We made our way through Walcha, Tamworth to Lake Keepit west of Tamworth in about 6 hours. Long day!

Friday morning was a bit chilly but warmed up nicely and we had a beautiful day. Di, Sandra, and I enjoyed a nice long walk to the boat ramp near the main dam wall. Beautiful views from the hills we climbed. Terry and I returned in the afternoon to have a go at fishing. Lets just say the weather and the company was good; not so the fishing!

Enjoyed a quiet afternoon with a few drinks in front of the Lake. Saturday the girls got caught up on our laundry as we will be in unserviced sites for the next 3-4 days. The four of us took a scenic drive around the Dam to the Bush Camping area late in the morning. Quite a trip and very nice. Beautiful places to camp especially if you were in a large group. Even though it is free it has a few toilet blocks and fireplace pits. We may try it in the future some time. The main campsite where we stayed is wonderful as before with full facilities and very clean. Highly recommended site! The afternoon saw us finish the laundry and prepare the caravans for an early start in the morning to Dubbo. John helped Di set up their Blog.

Talk to you from our next stop!

May 16th-18th, 2011- Diamond Head at Crowdy Bay National Park

Well as described we were off again on May 16th with our first stop at Diamond Heads. There were lots of tears when we left as we aren't sure when we will see the girls again. I forgot to mention in the last report that Steph's 21st was a Canadian Theme. I will attach a beautiful shot of the four of us Bewellers.

We had a safe and uneventful trip to Diamond Head. We set up in the early afternoon and enjoyed a short walk on the beach.
Tuesday saw Terry and I try catching some beach worms for bait. Well it was quite an experience which I have to say I failed at miserably! We did catch half a dozen but not with much help by me. We had visits from Di's Sister in Law, June  and Family. Terry and I had a go at Rock Fishing later with no success.

Wednesday saw us enjoy a long beach walk with Di, and later we repeated the long loop walk around the park with Di. We still enjoyed the views and the walk but were exhausted by the end of it. I almost fell down a cliff which almost made Sandra have a heart attack. See attached photo. Beautiful walk and day!

Just for the girls at Viatek facilities were still the same, cold showers and clean toilets.
Off to Tamworth area in the morning. Cheers!

April 29th-May 15th, 2011. Home in Bolwarra Heights

Well we enjoyed a couple of weeks at home with the girls. Highlights were Steph's 21st party on May 7th and lots of time with our girls. House was still standing although not quite up to Sandra Clean Standard. Garage door still waiting to be replaced but no other structural damage.
Lots of fun with getting the caravan fridge fixed but as of the day before leaving it appears to be working fine on gas and electric. Hooray!!
I had a quick visit with the gang at Viatek. Good to see everyone. The girls in Administration told me how much they enjoy my Blog reports and especially my amenities reports for each campsite. I tried to explain how important amenity condidtions are to our caravan crowd but they chose not to listen over their laughter. I know it's a subject that may give you all the Sh*&ts but I will continue to update for my fellow caravaners.
The 21st birthday party went off fairly well although we are all glad it is over. Lots of work preparing and cleaning up after 70 some guests. A good safe time was had by all!
We are off on our next leg on Monday May 16th and are heading to Diamond Head again to meet Di and Terry Butler who we will be travelling with. Di wanted to visit her Sister in Law in Laurieton before we left on our big trip.
Well we will talk again soon from the road. Our first few reports will be short as we will be retracing some of the steps from our first journey.