The park manager tells us to drive out to Turtle Rock and Mt Wudinna and the surrounding area, so at 3pm we head off forgetting that we are on daylight saving and it is only 2pm really and it gets a bit hot. In the space of the last 3 days we have lost 3 hours and the body hasn’t adjusted properly. You have to climb halfway up Mt Wudinna to be able to really see Turtle Rock so I decide to do that.
Make it to a nice spot with a lovely view have a rest and you guessed it decide to go all the way up – all 80m of it – yes at 80 metres they call it a mountain. What was even more surprising was my ankle didn’t even hurt. The top has a survey marker on it and some great 360* views. After a rest and checking out the shrubs we head down a different way. (This one is a sandhill acacia) Hopefully we lost some weight today. We go into Pygery Rocks on the way home – the National Parks have tied the gate up with a bit of baleing twine with a lump of fibro tied on the end as a weight – unbelievable and so very healthy. At another gate in the National Park the chain is held in place with a skull!.
Monday 8/10 and Shannon is back at work today after her
maternity leave so it will be interesting how she gets on or maybe how Liam
gets on with only Grandma for the whole day. He has changed so much which I
guess you do when you grow from a newborn to a 1 year old. Harley had his first
birthday while they were holidaying at Lakeside so it was interesting to
imagine Liam in his place. They both walked a few days before their birthdays
but I’ll bet Liam is twice the size – don’t know where he gets it from as the
Gordon side are all thin as is Darren’s mum and siblings and Bob’s brother and
sister. We leave the van and set out on a very good road. Mt Allalone is just
that – all by itself and then we enter Gawler Ranges National Park and the road
changes to a 4WD track which J loves.
Our first
stop is the Kolay Mirica Falls – no water in sight but amazing. The Rhyolite
rocks are like sheer sentinels watching over a small chasm. Exploring the rocks
we find some lovely little flowers growing out of the cracks. The park is
supposed to be home to 225 different plant species, 33 reptile, 3 frog, 126
bird and 18 mammal species. 
We saw a few different plants but the only other living
things were crows, 3 emus and an interesting snake – it had a light brown body
with a darker head and a 4 inch black band about 6 inches from its head. On
further investigation we are not sure if it is a western taipan or a juvenile
king brown snake but I’m glad we let it go its own way. The track from here was
lots of fun for the driver but he didn’t get bogged or need 4wd. We came down Mattera track and into old Paney homestead
where Mrs Humphreys and her husband lived in a 4 room stone cottage with their
11 children. 3 bedrooms and a kitchen that definitely would not sit 13 people
around a table – so they must have eaten meals in sittings. Out the back we
found some small shelters that we could only surmise were pig stys.
This
was the only place where we met other humans – 3 car loads so we moved on and
ate our lunch amongst lots of wildflowers at Policeman’s point. A very poignant reminder of the hazards of
life were the graves of Sara and Joseph Humphreys who died aged 3 and 7 in 1850
& 60’s. Further on we found another grave for a 20 year old – interesting
that he wasn’t buried next to the other two. Paney became a pastoral property
in 1850 and remained so until 2002 when it was proclaimed a Nat Park.
Passing the stone dam – stones pushed up out of the earth
that have formed a small dam in a small gully – we head into the Organ Pipes. They are amazing too – solid tubes of rock pushed up out
of the surrounding earth so many millions of years ago. One section looked like
lead pencils stacked in a pot, another was a sloping waterfall but the
remainder looked like organ pipes so they were appropriately named. We could have spent more time here but a few car loads arrived and there just wasn't enough room on the track. Definitely
worth visiting and we head up to the campground at Yandinga to see if we can
get the van in – yes so we will be back.
By
now it is starting to rain so we skip going to visit Pildappa rock, Yarwondutta
rock, Tcharkuldu Hill, Poondanna rock, Corrobinnie Hill or Peella rocks. Where
do they get these names from? Also in the surrounding countryside are Waddikee
rocks, Kyancutta hill, Kappakoola hill, Pinthaput hill, Cocata hill, Kolballa
hill and Pordia hill. (If mountains are 80m high guess how high the hills
are) Winding
our way home we pass Bachelors Corner – could have only been inhabited by a
bachelor as it was a mess, had an interesting hay stack.
Heading
east on Tuesday we stop off in Kimba the midpoint between Sydney and Perth,
where they have a giant galah and some iron statues of Edward John Eyre and one
of his aboriginal helpers.
Feeling very brave I head off down a track in the
direction of some caves only to discover they were 6 feet away and about 3 feet
high. The Lions club is very active here and have a big sign commemorating the
halfway place and also a camping ground and park, next to the swimming pool,
that has shaded areas, electric barbeques, toilets and a playground. The town seemed alive and doing well, with an
assortment of businesses, sporting clubs, churches and well kept houses. One
thing that really stood out were the bottle brushes growing along all the
streets – all the one type but they had the most glorious deep red flower and
were in full bloom.
The iron ore mines around Iron Knob are huge and the
piles of rock are massive – couldn’t tell if they were mullock heaps, ore piles
waiting for shipment or the sides of the mine itself but it will never be
rehabilitated regardless of what they might say. Passing through Port Augusta we head for the
Horrocks Pass and Wilmington. When we headed east from the gulf you can see the
range in the distance and the land in front looked flat – how deceptive it can
be – Darby had to start working long before we got to the range – but the views
heading down the other side were dramatic.
After camping on the side of the road we head into
Orroroo the next morning. A tourist sign advises of a big gum tree so we go to
investigate and it is a big river gum – 10.89m around 2 feet above the ground
and estimated to be over 500 years old – just the sort of tree you want to hug
– I didn’t this time just photographed it and some very innovative tin horses in the main street. 
We’re going into Peterborough to check out where Tony
went to primary school and found the school though it looks very new. We send
him a photo and head off down town, where they have a train and a large area
with paving stones etched with the names of workers who worked on the railways
here. It is freezing cold and as someone is missing a phantom comic we go into
the newsagent where I find a museum of paintings etc about the railways and
early Peterborough. They also have a big teddy who needs a name.
Lunch was a pie and hot drink in a café – pies weren’t
hot and John’s coffee eventually arrived, after he queried it, about 30 minutes
after I’d finished my tea. Next time we are here we will go to the bakery –
sort of spoils the day. Tony replies that he is on retreat with Bill and Ray at
James Byrne, and is the big cement ditch still at the front of the school and
is the oval still there – his great sporting career started on it, so we go
back and photograph the ditch and while parked on the wrong side of the road
taking photos of the kids on the oval the local constabulary stop us. We tell
Tony that John nearly gets arrested for taking photos of kids for a priest. All
good fun. Not sure why this was so memorable though!
We have to stop off in Burra at our favourite butcher for
some more saltbush lamb shanks and the young butcher remembered us – big
bouquets to him. Not only will we be back for the mouth watering meat but the
service is fantastic. We aim for a free camp at Tarlee but when we get there it
is in the main street in front of post office and really just a car park so we
keep going. There were no more free camps so we end up going to the caravan
park in Gawler – which was fortunate – it was freezing and we could have long
hot showers and put the electric heater on in the van. We later learnt that it
snowed in Peterborough and Burra the next day which was why it was so cold. The
caravan park had some of the loveliest roses growing – all the ones I stopped
to smell were the fragrant ones too.
Thursday 11th and we have to be out of caravan
park at 10am and don’t have to be at our farmsit till 3pm so we head off down
the road and end up in Birdwood. It is a lovely scenic drive through the hills
to get here and the town is surrounded with big trees, gardens and misty mountains
– it is lovely. Trying to keep out of the cold wind we check out an art gallery
and second hand shop before heading back to find needles road in Williamstown.
It is amazing how the gps doesn’t have a road in its index but when you drive
down the road the gps puts the name on the screen. We made it – and the look of
relief on Liz’s face when she opened the door was worth it. They have had some
?interesting people in the past so she was glad to see us – she must be mad
heh! Being introduced to Maddie – an aged cat who has had a stroke and is a bit
wobbly in hind legs was a sedate affair after the joyous pandemonium of meeting
with Robbie the staffy, and an older Mille. Quickly going over the feeding
regime for Chucky the emu - yes another
one – and the hens and white fantail pidgeons and fish pond we head inside out
of the cold. Bill had built the log cabin 30 years ago and extended it later
on. We later discover that the logs are just a cladding on the walls and the
extension has aluminium cladding which detracts from the appearance a lot. The
dogs and cat all live inside so that should be interesting? We have to live in
the house so we can hear when Millie needs to go to the loo in the middle of
the night. We have a few mishaps before we get into the swing of hearing the
right noises in the night. Bill and Liz seem very nice people – he works for Holden
in the paint department and she is a part time school teacher and tour operator
for Tour Barossa and is a live wire.
Saturday sees us head for the Mt Pleasant
markets, which is another lovely drive to the showgrounds where the Farmers
Markets are held. They weren’t as extensive as the Angaston ones we went to,
but had a decent array of fresh vegetables, meat, bread, cakes and biscuits,
jams and chutneys, some wines and coffees. We bought some lovely yoghurt and
tempting cupcakes along with fruit and vegies. Our plastic cards wouldn’t work
in their atm so we were a little limited. Leaving Mt P we saw a sign saying
Swan Reach and headed that way. Dad would have had a fit at all the Pattersons’
curse growing in the paddocks but I thought it looked pretty, as was a lone
Gazannia growing the edge of road.
Getting to Walkers Flat we did a tour of the town looking
for places to buy as J decided he would like to live there. The two fibro
places we saw on the riverbank were both over $400,000 when we looked them up
on the internet later – so we might give that a big miss. We headed out of town
and ended up in Mannum – a riverboat town. The two ladies in the Information
Centre were greatly amused when we asked where we were as we were heading for
Swan Reach and hadn’t made it. Seems we should have taken the left turn comming off the ferry over the
river – but oh well we will do that another day. We spent an hour talking to
them about our respective travels around the country before heading home,
through some lovely hilly countryside, for a quiet drink on the verandah with
the dogs.
Monday 15th and we head over to Gawler to do
some shopping and have a look around – large town/small city with lots of old
stone homes and lovely gardens. The streets are lined with a lovely salmon
flowered gum which are all in flower and look wonderful. Tuesday and Wednesday
were pretty cold so we stayed indoors and ventured out on Thursday to go back
to Birdwood to visit the National Motor Museum – sponsored by Holden but full
of an assortment of cars, utes, hundreds of motorbikes from over the last 125
years. After spending 3.5 hours walking around and my ankle was ready to be
amputated so we headed home. Helen our camp host in Millstream had told us
about laundry balls and we were lucky enough to find some when we were in
Perth. Our second use of them still had lots of soap suds coming out of the
clothes and regardless of how clean we think the clothes are the water ends up
absolutely filthy. These balls have soft spikes and holes and inside are some
ceramic beads – the idea is that they change the water to very soft water which
opens the fabric weave to let the dirt out – so they are environmentally
friendly and they last for 6 months before you have to replace the inner beads.
They say you don’t have to rinse either as you don’t use any soap. You can use
them in conventional washers too so we will have to see how they go and pass on
the info. I’ve now used them twice with rainwater and am astonished at the
colour of the water at the end. My little washing machine used 50 litres of
water (30 to fill up) and I topped up 10 litres twice. Mind you I have to put the washing machine out
in the hall way and the drainpipe on shower floor so I end up cleaning the
shower afterwards. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Lord Lyndock when we were
here 6 months ago so we go back and it is just as good but our favourite young
waiter is having the night off. At Shield Estate we buy a carton of sparkling
shiraz as it is the best one yet, and some merlot as it was on special too, I
also liked their Riesling (I don’t normally like it but this one wasn’t so
sweet).
John finds the Kapunda Celtic Festival advertised on the
internet so we go off in eager anticipation of some Scottish/Irish culture and
find a marquee in side street where 2 girls are playing fiddles and a few
stalls selling junk jewelery, fairy floss, hot dogs you know the stuff. We sit
down to listen and hear Graham Dodsworth sing some of his own folksongs, then
Shibion Owen comes on playing a harp and she is brilliant. She sings lots of
well known tunes in Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and Japanese as well as English and
has a very pure voice and is a joy to listen to. The last couple we hear play
the guitar and flute and a few of the tunes I know – don’t know whether J knew
them or not he slept through it!!!
Coming home through Greenock and Tanunda we stop off at
the Tanunda cellars to restock and then call in at St Hallets Winery for some
tastings. Not bad but nothing sensational.
On Sunday 21st there is a church service in
Williamstown so we venture off and meet with some locals – 9 of them. There are
5 churches in parish and only 1 minister and 1 retired priest who uses reserved
sacrament so they each do 2 services per Sunday and the other one is Morning
Prayer. Over coffee and cake we regale them with some of our travels. Like most
of the parishioners we’ve met they are all older than us – one was 93.
Afterwards we head off to Murray Bridge for a barbeque lunch with Jim and
Heather who have invited Peter and Val, other friends of Murray and Cassie’s so
we have a very enjoyable afternoon discussing all manner of things caravan. Jim
and Heather had collected their latest van the day before so we all got the
grand tour. It is a lovely van with full ensuite and wm, leather lounges and
dinette but only had one kitchen bench. After having two I don’t know how I
would go with only half the space. It makes a lot of difference and now that the
solar panels seem to occupy the bed that bit of extra space has gone. We seem
to be accumulating a lot of stuff and someone wants to buy more. We come home
with an electric hotplate that Jim doesn’t want anymore but it gets stored
outside the van. Heather had prepared some very nice salads one with pumpkin,
orange sweet potato, feta and pine nuts was very moreish. Then my diet was
ruined with a chocolate and cream pavlova – all very yummy. After 7 hours and
goodness knows how many bottles of red wine I get to drive home to two frantic
dogs and a cat who thinks her throat must be cut. We stay home on Monday and
Tuesday to keep them company and venture off on Wednesday to see if we can find
Swan Reach. Stopping down the road to photograph some small parrots John saw
when walking the dogs, we meet Max the shearer, that Liz had told us to contact
if we had any sheep problems – Oh I forgot to mention we also have 5 ewes and 5
lambs to keep a count of. I think the ‘parrots’ are musk lorikeets and they are
very pretty and love the nectar in the trees. We take the ferry across the
Murray and stop to marvel at the cliffs along the edge at a couple of lookouts. Swan Reach isn’t as big as I imagined – hotel, takeaway,
general store cum post office, tyre/service station and quite a few houses, but
we have a lovely lunch at the pub overlooking the river. Whilst watching the
ferry go back and forwards we rekindle the idea of taking a houseboat for a few
days to drift up and down the river and make up a list of the people we think
we could share a week with – so be warned you may get an email one day. Mind
you we won’t be back this way for 2 years at least so it is something for the
future. Our destination on the way home is Henschke winery where Kate stocks up
every Christmas. Now we know why – J found the best red wine he has ever tasted
in a bottle of 93 Giles Vineyard Pinot noir and I loved the smell of Tilly’s so
we will be back here. Tilly’s vineyard is a Semillon/Sav Blanc/Riesling/Pinot
Gris/Chardy. I also liked the Innes
Vineyard pinot gris and Joseph Hill Gewurztraminer. John liked the Henry’s
Seven Shiraz/Grenache/Viognier/Mourvedre blend and the Tappas Pass Shiraz. We
just might order a box or two to be sent on but where to send it to? They don’t
let you taste any Hill of Grace Shiraz but at $595 for bottle of 2007, $850 for
bottle of 1994, and $1275 for magnum bottle of 1995 vintage you can understand
why.
27th Liz and Bill are home this afternoon and
as Domain Day are advertising a sale we head into Williamstown after lunch to
see what is on offer and come home with cases. I get a dozen sav blanc and some
Chardy and J has a carton or two of Merlot.
28th and Linfield Road Winery have Oysters in
the vineyard today so we leave the dogs in the care of their owners and head
off for a lovely lunch in the sunshine. Lots of oysters, good wine and a cheese
platter what more could you want. When we couldn’t eat anymore we head down to Birdwood
where they have an antiques and collectables show on. It was a lovely drive but
not many antiques on show, so we wander around town looking in various
furniture shops before heading home to start packing up.
29th and Liz has got us 2 tickets (for price
of 1 - $95) for her wine tour today so here we go. First stop pick up the bus
(and meet her boss) then it is around town to collect the other passengers (9)
and off we go starting at Langmeil which is in a lovely setting and the wines are
good too. It was here that a forensic scientist from Denmark asked if we could
go to Peter Lehman’s as he had been buying his wines for 20 years. It wasn’t on
Liz’s list but we talked her into it and he was thrilled. Another couple on the
tour also hit it off with us so we ended up having a great time. Think the
younger ones wondered about us when the men kept giving Liz a hard time. My
notes from Langmeil give ticks to a 2009 Sparkling Ondenc Cuvee, the 2012 High
Road Chardy and Barossa Valley Viognier, and a sparkling shiraz. John tried a
2010 Valley Floor Shiraz before and after going through an aerator with the
comment that the aerated one was very nice and smooth. The 2009 Blacksmith Cab
Sav got an mmmmm. Mind you the reds are $30 and the whites $20-$30 bottle.
At Peter Lehman I liked the Art ‘n’ Soul Pinot Grigio and
a Layers White with lots of lovely fruit notes. His sparkling shiraz was not as
nice as Langmeil’s. John loved the 2009 Futures Shiraz, 2008 Eight Songs Shiraz
and the 2009 VSV Ruediger Cab Sav, but did not think much of 2009 VSV 1885
Shiraz and at $60 bottle that’s ok.
At Turkey Flat Vineyards I found the 2011 Butcher’s block
White (a Marsanne, Viognier/Rousanne blend) similar to sav Blanc and very
enjoyable as was the sparkling shiraz. John liked the Butchers Block Red
(Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvedre) and a straight 2010 Mourvedre to be very good while
the NV Pedro Ximenez a rich luscious wine best served chilled got a big
mmmmmmm. (All in the $30-$40 range) Then it was off to Grant Burge for lunch
and more tastings. We tried a Pinot Gris and Summers Chardy and bought a
Dolcetto Shiraz Frizzante to have with our cheese platter out on the lawn. It
was very nice and relaxing. Having to move on we liked the Block 8 Sparkling
white at Lambert Estate and the Black Sheep Cab Sav and came away with a bottle
of Choc-a-bloc. A fortified Tawny Port base seeped in chocolate and it is
divine, and it comes with a page of recipes for you to try. By the time we got
to Villa Tinto my tastebuds were wrecked but after a few glasses of water I
couldn’t resist their desert wine which isn’t as sweet as most so we have also
got a bottle of it to savour at a later date. Then it was back to town to drop
off the others and on our way back to bus depot we called in on Ross Estate to
buy Bill a bottle for Christmas and of course we had to try some to make sure
they were ok. We didn’t seem to be rushed but that was 7 wineries and lunch in
9 hours. A wonderful day deserved a reward so we gave Liz a bottle of wine as a
thank you.
Then it was time to tackle some demons and head up
through the Mt Lofty ranges. We stopped at the lookout for a few photo shots
but John wouldn’t go near the fireman’s memorial or let me take a picture of
it, but that was ok we are here. Matthew Flinders climbed up here too when he was discovering things. Driving around the ranges we find the Botanic
gardens and old Government House (but it isn’t open-only Sundays) in the Belair
National Park and some wonderful views over the countryside. The people still haven’t learnt - there are houses everywhere in
the bush with no clearings that we could see – yet they expect firemen and
soldiers to go in and fight bushfires every time they happen. Some very delicate yellow flowers growing on very nondescript bushes beside the road cheered me up.
31st Today we catch the bus into the museum
and spend several hours wandering around looking at everything from whale bones
to Antarctic explorers. It is a very good museum and well worth a look. They
also had a photographic exhibition which was fantastic and it has inspired us
to buy a better camera to see if we can take similar photos. I am not going to
sit for 4 days in a swamp just to get the right shot mind you but they had some
great underwater photos. Next to it is the National Wine Centre where we have a
look around – nothing too exciting – have a bottle of wine with lunch – nothing
too exciting – and come away disappointed. Oh well you can’t win ‘em all.
Tonight will be different we are going back to our favourite Nepalese
restaurant ‘Nemaste’ in Unley for dinner. It doesn’t disappoint us – the food
is great once again. This is one to be visited if ever you are in town. The
food is spicy but not hot. We still haven’t been to Ayers House Museum so will
have to make a note for next year.
Going home via Woodside to restock our cheese and
chocolate stash and then Gumeracka to the Big Rocking Horse to get some Christmas
presents for the Grandies is a lovely drive and waiting for us is a new clutch
of ducklings.
3rd November sees us touring around Waikerie,
a lovely little town on the Murray river with a very active Lions club. They
have a large park with all manner of Lionine things.
Finding the Lions park – you can’t miss it we see their ‘Tree of Knowledge’ – a flood marker – and the big pelican at the entrance to the caravan park. While sitting on the banks overlooking the river we are treated to several Murraylands Yellow Rosellas eating the grass seeds nearby.
On leaving town we pass the Loxton Estates Wine vats –
they obviously make heaps even if I hadn’t heard of them before. We make a note
to try to find some in a bottle shop. Heading home through Berri we see more
big vats, and stop at a road side stall where we buy the most wonderful
apricots. Haven’t had any this good since I left Stanthorpe. George & Loraine in the van next door tell us that
church is at 9am so we join them there for a service with a biker priest. J is in heaven! and they have a long talk. After morning tea we head to Cadell where we stop at the second hand shop to drop off the paper towel dispenser
that we have taken off the wall because the towels keep vibrating back inside
it, and spend an hour talking to the couple running it. They have spent several
years in NQ and really enjoyed their time there. This makes us even more enthused for our house sit in Malanda.
We found a photographic studio in Waikerie with some
wonderful pictures and spent some time talking to Paul Whites father-in-law who
was in charge for the day. Pity we couldn’t fit any in the van, but we will
have to come back when we get to retire permanently! The lady at the
information centre told us that the Lions club met at the RSL at 6pm so we head
off only to find out that they didn’t meet there at all. However, they were
having an afternoon drink so we joined them. When the RSL President found out
John is ex Army he invited him into their museum to look at all the guns in
working order!!! He was rather impressed. I just drank with the guys at the bar
and then at 6.25pm we left to go to the Bowls club to the Lions meeting which
was on there. Of course they wanted to know all about us and Drayton Country
and we received invitations from 2 couples at our table to come and stay on
their farms. Of course they wanted to know all about us and Drayton
Country and we received invitations from 2 couples at our table to come and
stay on their farms. The tourist information centre have compiled several
drives around the countryside visiting a variety of different places – usually the
river, bird watching, eateries, wineries and arts & craft shops which are very
good and well worth the journey. John’s interest in houseboats saw us meeting up
with a real estate rep to have a look over a boat moored in Waikerie. It was
going for $75,000 and whilst she said the motor was in good order the bedrooms
were rather small and smelly and there wasn’t much room on the front deck, so
guess we won’t be buying it. Another one we found was on sale for $105,000 and
it looked in better condition. After
this we headed east to Kingston-on-Murray who also have an active Lions Club
and then into Banrock Station for lunch some more wine tasting and a walk
around their wetlands. They had a very nice sparkling shiraz and a rose which you
could have in sparkles too. I bought all 3 as I couldn’t decide which I liked
best. We needed the walk down to their bird hide to work off lunch, and saw
quite a few water birds. As we went to leave a long brown snake was coming
along the boardwalk towards us, so making noise became a priority and he
slithered below the deck. We did a hurried walk out of there.
As it was so cold last time we were in Peterborough we
decide to stay tonight and have a look at the steam train museum by night. They
do a show with lights etc where you sit in an old railway carriage and watch a ‘living’
movie going on outside in the roundhouse. The effects were rather good and
story seemed authentic. Well worth going to see. The caravan park here had a
painting on the shower block of an old time picnic group which was very good
too.
Back in town we find Pro Hart’s gallery and spend some time in there trying to figure out some of his paintings. Would never buy any as they are rather expensive and not to my taste but other people there raved about them. We did like the roller!
We have lots of native hen, apostle birds, a rail and willy wagtails come to visit and some are quite tame. I guess they get used to having campers around. The white faced heron was very wary of anything that might pinch its dinner.
After a windy day we had a branch suspended in mid air which looked weird, but it was actually caught on a spider’s web. Sunsets were a treat each afternoon as the colours reflected in the water were lovely.
We come back into BH as the road to Mildura is dirt, and we still have a few touristy places to see here. This time we find Jack Absalom’s gallery and he has our sort of paintings – landscapes and a few faces but no abstracts. While here we see their jewellery display and end up buying a ring with lots of white opals.
Then on the 14th David has a day off and we
all go to Luna Park. Narelle takes lunch but it still costs $92.00 for fuel,
tolls, car park fees and 1 small bag of fairy floss. We look after Jayden &
Zahra while Narelle and Lilly go down the big slide in a bag several times.
Then it is time for the twins to have a go on merry-go-round and do some
exploring on foot.
Lilly
wanted to go on the roller coaster - it looked terrifying and it was, so after
she recovered it was onto more sedate things like an American jeep.
After a few more rides we head home to see Lilly in her new school uniform and then bid them farewell.
Up the Putty road to Grey Gums Café where a BMW car club was having a show and shine, is a lovely drive – lots of tall trees and lush greenery.
To get to the Glue Pot reserve you pass a pig farm with
lots of big sheds. I couldn’t work out what they were until I got out to open a
gate and then the smell hit. We walked around the reserve and didn’t see many
birds but I guess it was early afternoon and they were all having a snooze.
There is supposed to be 190 species of birds, 50 reptiles and 12 species of
bats here. The camping ground didn’t look too enticing which was a pity. Seems
snakes are the go for today.
9/11 The brochures tell us of a morgue museum in Morgan
and intrigued we head there. It is on the banks of the river next to the ferry
and was built in 1886 to cater for bodies that died upstream and were
transported to the cemetery by boat. IT was quite fascinating with high wooden
shutters for ventilation I guess, and a ‘body’ laid out on the table. We have a
leisurely lunch on the banks of river watching the ferry go back and forwards and
then it is time to hit the road again. Our afternoon stop is at the butchers in
Burra where we stock up on saltbush lamb shanks and their divine pork.
Broken Hill is our destination and you know you are out
in the sticks. The towns? you pass through are very run down and untidy, but BH
itself is very clean. After a quick familiarisation tour around town we visit
Howard William Steer’s gallery where he has some wonderful quirky paintings and
postcard sized ones to take home. We spend a while talking to him as he paints
in the room next to the display area and like all good bushmen he can tell a
yarn or two. His quirky sense of humour waits for you at the front door.
The old slag heap from original open cut mine has a café and
Miners Memorial on top of it and you get a great view over the town, even if it
is a bit hard to get onto the park bench. There are numerous paintings and
artifacts on sale as usual, but nothing jumps out to say ‘take me home’. After
lunch we wander through the Miners Memorial where you can read of the people
killed each year. Mining still isn’t safe today.
We couldn’t find an operating Anglican Church only the
one that was for lease. The hall was for sale and the school is now a craft
place and the rectory lived in, but it was rather sad.
On display in BH is a huge picture which forms the
backdrop for a desert scene portrayed in front of it and is truly spectacular! There are 100,000 saltbushes, 20,000 trees, 20,000 small stones, 1000 large stones, 3000 clouds, 1500 hills and the 12 sculptures which comprise The Big Picture, the world's largest acrylic painting at 12m high and 100m long. You experience the sensation of 'walking into a painting' while having the impression of being in the actual Outback. The artist had an amazing feel for composition, perception, reflection, depth, shadow & light. You want to walk into the landscape or touch the feathers of each bird. A picture may say a thousand words, but this painting will leave you speechless!
12/11 We’re in Mad Max country today looking around
Silverton. There are a few houses here but most buildings are empty but good
repair as they are used in all the movies. We look in 2 art galleries and then
have lunch at the hotel where they have backed two trucks together and put a
stage between them. Outside Kidman’s old butcher shop we find a donkey in the
shade of the verandah and another old one walking up the street to see what was
going on. They were both very quiet. The shop is now a gallery (was closed)
with a tin camels head sticking out the side of the building.
Going for a drive across the Mundi Mundi plain we see
lots of horses grazing in the paddocks and then come across the Umberumberka
reservoir. A virtual oases in the middle of desert.
Back in town we find Pro Hart’s gallery and spend some time in there trying to figure out some of his paintings. Would never buy any as they are rather expensive and not to my taste but other people there raved about them. We did like the roller!
We have been told to go out to the Living Desert at
sunset so venture out and it is amazing. The reserve is 2400 hectares with
numerous walking trails, aboriginal shelters, story poles and quartz quarry,
flora especially Sturt’s desert pea, fauna (red kangaroos), viewing hides for
bird watching, an old prospectors mine and claim markers, along the rocky gullies
and lookouts. They have put large granite boulders on top of a hill and had
artists carve them into forms. Some were a bit strange but each had a sign
telling you the story behind it. It was quite breathtaking especially when the
sun was setting. On the walk up the hill I found some more round holes for Murray to explain!
On our way down the hill we came across a rock that
seemed to say what you can do God can do better.
After setting up camp on the banks of the Darling river
at Menindee (wouldn’t that be a good name for a song) we discover another brown
snake living in the holes of bank 2 feet from our awning peg. He decides to
move on and goes for a swim out to some trees growing in the water 20 feet from
the bank, then slithers up onto a horizontal branch for a rest before swimming
back to the shore a few yards further up thank goodness. With the number of
little black cormorants swimming around fishing for supper there must be plenty
of food in the river. They were like synchronized swimmers – go 10 feet dive
down, come up swim another 10 feet dive down again and they all did it. In some
groups there must have been 100 birds and they came past every afternoon.
Another bird that has us intrigued looks like the night heron but is speckled.
We have lots of native hen, apostle birds, a rail and willy wagtails come to visit and some are quite tame. I guess they get used to having campers around. The white faced heron was very wary of anything that might pinch its dinner.
After a windy day we had a branch suspended in mid air which looked weird, but it was actually caught on a spider’s web. Sunsets were a treat each afternoon as the colours reflected in the water were lovely.
20/11 After our weeks rest we venture into Menindee –
small town in the middle of orchards. You drive for half an hour across desert
plains and round a bend and there are orchards all green (irrigated) in front
of you. After lunch at the pub we buy some rockmelons and grapes and head back
along the road to Wilcannia. They also grow a lot of stonefruit and grapes.
We come back into BH as the road to Mildura is dirt, and we still have a few touristy places to see here. This time we find Jack Absalom’s gallery and he has our sort of paintings – landscapes and a few faces but no abstracts. While here we see their jewellery display and end up buying a ring with lots of white opals.
It’s David’s birthday so we call him and get the
details on life in Sydney. Lilly is counting the sleeps (17) till we get there.
A
big day is on for the 13th – we have gym in the morning with a
swimming lesson in the afternoon and our Graduation from Preschool at night. We
are always amazed at how coordinated Lilly is at gymnastics but seeing her on a
surf board in the swimming pool and then doing the full length (25m I guess)
was something.
Then it is back to Victoria where we spend a few days
beside the lake in Hopetoun before the Christmas festivities in Geelong. This
time I manage to walk all the way around the lake and find some more spots for
us to camp at next time if the powered ones are taken. We have several catchups
with Murray & Cassie over dinner and see John & Sandie at the
shop. Driving over to Yarra Glen to
meet Malcolm & Jane is very pleasant as there is very little evidence of
those dreadful bushfires, but Malcolm takes us around the house and shows us
where the fire came to – 3 feet from 1 wall. A wooden retaining wall just a few
feet from the house was burnt and Mark came out to rebuild it for them. Their
garden is looking very nice but is not what it used to be – they are too old to
restart everything. We had a very nice day talking to them and also saw
Malcolm’s book he created on computer and then had printed which has given us
some ideas.
Flynn is having his 10th birthday and we are
invited to join them all in Anglesea for dinner. It is lovely seeing Ben &
Jane and the boys again as well as meeting Jane’s mother, sister and
grandmother. We gave Flynn a set of blocks that you stack up 4 wide and then
try to take one block out from the bottom and put on top and then keep going to
see how high you can go before it all topples over. This kept everyone on the
edge of their seats for some time when John & Flynn were playing.
Afterwards I had a go with Rio and Tamas but we weren’t too good. Tamas loved
John’s beard and swung off it several times. Too soon it was time for cake and
bed. Rio wanted us to promise to come back for his birthday party in May but
alas I doubt we will make it, so will have to try to organise it another year.
Thursday 6th was June’s 85th
birthday and her children and spouses joined her for dinner. Cassie had been to
the restaurant, as it was where John had his 60th, but still John
got lost getting there, so there was much laughter before we entered. Kaye and
Ian came down to join us and a merry night was had by all.
We
leave the next morning and have a pleasant drive (if that is possible on the
Hume Highway) when the car goes into ‘limp home mode’ 7 klms north of Albury.
It is a long wait for the NRMA to come and collect us, but he takes the van
into town and drops us at a nice little park close to some shops. We walk down
to the local for dinner and have a very nice meal before walking back in the
fading light at 10pm! J rings the Mitsubishi dealer first thing and they say to
come down and they will try to find out what the problem is. I walk to the
Health Food shop and stop off at Battery place on way home to see if someone
will come and check our batteries as something is not working correctly. He promises
to come when he shuts the shop at 11.30am and does so. His findings are that
both our batteries need replacing so he goes off to get some when J turns up
with the car fixed! It seems that if you are doing x kph at x revs, going up x
hill, with your tongue in x position the car will spit the dummy. It was a
simple computer fix, so now we are on the road again and will get to Sydney
tonight albeit a bit late, so we miss seeing the kids but go to Brewhouse and
have lobster for dinner with David. We spend the next few days playing with the
kids and having fun. Jayden loves the slippery slide and Zahra the trampoline and
they all fight over the swings and cubby house. Little did we know when we
bought the cubby for Lilly that it wasn’t going to fit 3 small people let alone
a granny or poppy, but we all have fun.
Peter & Lindy join us at the school assembly hall for
the Graduation Ceremony where they all wear gowns and mitreboards! But they are
all well drilled and it all goes off smoothly. They enjoy singing their song
very much and Jayden & Zahra join in with their own words.
.
After a few more rides we head home to see Lilly in her new school uniform and then bid them farewell.
Up the Putty road to Grey Gums Café where a BMW car club was having a show and shine, is a lovely drive – lots of tall trees and lush greenery.
We
are in contact with Steve to see where we can meet up and decide on the First
Fleet Memorial at Wallabadah. We get there first and spend some time looking
for a Fryer as Beth says that there was one on the first fleet – only one we
can find is a woman Charlotte who changed her name to Prior. Also found a
Morton woman Mary Ann and her son Joshua – I don’t remember her in our family
history but will check it out later. When Steve arrives we get to meet Tracey
who is very nice, and catch up with the 3 Frost boys. Of course our couple of
hours chatting turns into dinner, after which S has had too much to drink to
drive on so the boys have to put up our tent and they all sleep here the night.
It is a groggy start to the morning; - even the woman in van 50 meters away
comments that they mustn’t have seen each other for a while.
They head off to Sydney and we go up to Glen Innes and
down the range to Lawrence where we spend the night with Kevin & Joyce and
have a lovely time catching up with all their news.
17th December and 364 days after we left Qld
we cross over the border near Rathdowney and take the van up to Bill &
Yvonne's in Laidley. The council in their wisdom have put a power pole and
directional arrow sign right in front of the gate we use so it took a lot of manoeuvring
to get the van in and we did some damage to the clutch because it smelt and
wouldn’t work later on when we went down to Qld National for dinner. It seemed
to be fine next morning when we drove to Brisbane to see Mother for her
birthday. She was much the same as when we left and not interested in us only
Liam.
We move into Kate’s in Springfield on Wednesday and go
back to Laidley on Friday to collect the gear we left behind. We have 2 cats, 2
fish and 2 chooks to look after so it shouldn’t be too onerous. She also has a
swim spa which is lovely and relaxing and we have a swim every day.
Christmas Eve has us feeding animals early and heading
over to Zillmere for the night. After a lovely dinner we chat with Yvonne till
the midnight service. The Archbishop attends all 3 Christmas services and so do
we – he must think we are rent-a-crowd. After the last service we head over to
Mt Ommaney to join Barb & Shannon and the 2 boys visiting Mother. This
place isn’t quite as morbid as usual because the staff are in cheery moods and
most of inmates have gone for day. Then it is back to Shannon’s to open the
presents and enjoy lunch before filling the pool for the boys to play in.
Bill & Yvonne call in for lunch on Sunday 30th
on their way to Laidley and we have a good time chatting.
New Year’s Eve sees us at Thomas Day at Qld Rail
Museum in Ipswich which was fun. They had put faces onto old train engines and
had the Controller from TV show entertaining the crowd. Tyler was too scared to
have his photo taken so Shannon had to hold him and Liam slept through in his
stroller. Wandering around the display Tyler saw a large model train set up and
wanted to get in and play with it. Unfortunately he couldn’t understand that it
wasn’t allowed so he cried for next hour when they left and went home.
We
stayed on and saw the travelator which moved trains from one shed to another –
today it moves people only. The workshops are still being used and we saw a
young woman making the mushroom buffers that fit on front of trains. When you
compare the power station there to the monstrosities we have today you know
where we went wrong.
Exhausted we head home to watch the tennis before the
evenings activities.
