WE ARE FINALLY THIS SIDE OF THE BLACK STUMP

24^th February 2012

Packed up from Mudgee, we found that people have kept to themselves a lot more here than on the coast, you say hello to someone and they just about jump out of their skins. I said hello to a guy in the bathroom and I think he shat himself, he said hello and then did not move or make a sound until I left.

We were asked where we were heading today and I couldn’t actually give them an answer other than we are heading north. We decided to plug in Tamworth into the Sat Nav and see where it took us. Immediately we were heading in a different direction to what I had expected but who am I to argue with a Sat Nav? We ended going back through Gulgong and onto Dunedoo which was a slight deviation to the instructions but what the heck. Dunedoo is an aboriginal word meaning Black Swan.

A small town established in 1925 with very impressive metal statues of birds native to the area, only one pub remains and plenty of shops closed.

Just on lunch time we drove through Coolah and onto the ‘Black Stump” where we stopped for lunch at the picnic area. In the 1830s anything west of this point was known as “beyond the Black Stump” The original Black Stump and the pub “The Black Stump Wine Saloon” were destroyed by fire in 1908.

After a beautiful lunch we packed up and headed to the koala capital of the world Gunnedah. We stopped at the information centre to gather information about the town and not only did we not find one koala we did not find too much else either other than the burial place of “Red Kangaroo”, an aboriginal red chief also known as “Cumbo Gunnerah” a revered warrior of the Gunn-e-darr people.

 

The day was flying so we had to find somewhere to pull up and came across Lake Keepit, it is a State Forest  about 65km west of Tamworth. We pulled up about 10 metres from the water’s edge looking west across the water, the sunset was amazing. This is real bush camping with cows and flies and the smell of fresh manure but it so relaxing we have made our minds up that we are here for 2 nights. The sunrise here is just as spectacular as the sunset is. Just beautiful.

Wine, wine and more wine in MUDGEE

23rd February 2012

After being bailed up by Len and Norm who just loved a chat while we were trying pack up. Len gave us few hints for free stay which included staying in cemeteries (not going to happen), tennis courts, behind community halls etc, they have been travelling for around 9 years around Australia.

Today we headed off to Mudgee. On the way we found an old gold mining town called Sofala, this was like going back in time. This place was built around the late 1800s and it doesn't look like much has changed since then. We bumped into a sunshine coast couple who were also new to travel, we spent quite some time just chatting and having a laugh. The biggest thing we notice is how friendly everyone is.

We lobbed into Mudgee and parked the van and headed to a cellar door nearby. It looks like Mudgee have branched out and now do not concentrate solely on reds. Bought some whites and some beautiful cheeses before heading back for a historical walk. Not as old as Bathurst nor does it have the history so we headed to a nice wine bar to catchup with some locals. Then we continued up the road and enjoyed a schooner each at the Lawson Park Hotel.

The next day Trice’s nagging must have gotten to me because I spent the morning writing the blog from day 1 and sorting out photos, it was the closest I have been to work for over 2 months and I was not excited.
 After lunch off we headed to a town some 30 klm from here that we were told had a great museum and was a very interesting old town. 


Well.....

What a jewel, this place was absolutely amazing. If you look at the old $10 note with Henry Lawson, the buildings in the background belong to Gulgong,they call this town the $10 town. The Pioneers Museum was established in 1962 and is using the original buildings from the 1870s, some have been moved there but mostly they are where they were built, the area for the museum is 1.25 acres covering 41 different displays. We spent 3 hours there and ran out of time, The museum traces the history of Gulgong and surrounding districts from the pioneering days through the "roaring days" of the gold rush period right through to the present time. We enjoyed  going over Sight and Sound, Printing, Bakeries, Butchers, Hospital, clothing Military etc etc etc and a ton of machinery, it was a truly amazing trip back in time. We came back along the tourist drive surrounded by wineries and beautiful green country. Oh what the heck lets have Thai and a bottle of wine for dinner to celebrate a great day.

THE RACE CAPITAL BATHURST

20th & 21st February 2012

What is this place? 36,000 people, it is huge! There is everything here, a race track, a university and plenty of very old stuff. We always pictured Bathurst as this little country town with the race track being about 10 klms to the west of town, well the town is huge far bigger than Springwood, the race track is to the south of the town and only about 2 to 3 klms from the city centre.

We arrived in Bathurst mid-afternoon after a nice leisurely trip through the Blue Mountains from Sydney and Jervis Bay. We heard on the radio that there was a 24-hour race this weekend, we can't believe it we seem to be attracting large sporting events where ever we go. The disappointment we may have had was the track being closed the next day. On that basis Trice and I decided to drive to the track and do a couple of laps just in case. The biggest thing we noticed was how narrow and steep the track was. The speed limit is 60 kph and this was as fast as we felt comfortable.

The next day we went to the fossil and mineral museum and visited the motor museum at the track, and did another lap. It looks like some lunatic had lost it going up the mountain the night before and has gone into the barriers. We just spent the rest of the day site seeing this great town.

HUSKISSON BEACH Tourist Resort

18^th & 19^th February 2012

After being at Kiama nothing can ever compare again, especially the caravan parks we have gone from  the penthouse to the outhouse.

The purpose of being in Huskisson was to help Josh do a shop refit in a Pharmacy at Sanctuary Point just nearby. This was going to give Patrice 2 days of quiet ‘Me’ time while I was off abusing my body.

As we drive into Huskisson there are these signs ‘Triathlon This Weekend’ we then find out that just once a year they have the big Husky Triathlon with 4,000 competitors and their support crews converging on the town. The town was out of control and along with a massive down pour which saw the water come up to the running boards of the Prado it was not the place for a relaxing weekend. I thought Trice would be able to have a good LOOK around but she said that men in lycra with shaved legs just didn’t do anything for her. On the other hand girls in lycra are a different story for me.

2 days of work Saturday 11.00am ‘till 10.00pm and Sunday 8.00am ‘till 5.00pm made me realize that I am not as young as I used to be but I came out of it unscathed but Josh did end up with a sore foot and sore arm from me dropping things. Too bad so sad…..    

KIAMA, East Beach

16^th & 17^th February 2012

This was the most beautiful place on earth, the caravan park was immaculate, the people were a bundle of fun, we could have stayed there a lot longer.

A very historic town with just like Yamba and other coastal towns a great focus on changing the bays to allow for shipping.

We did the customary walk to the lighthouse and the ‘Big Blow Hole’ this is a cave in the rocks where the waves flow in and force air and water out of a large hole in it’s roof but it wasn’t on song that day or the next.

We spoke to a local in the pool who suggested we walk around the point from the caravan park to see the “Little Blow Hole’ as it is the one to see. It was unbelievable which enormous burst of air and water being shot up into the sky.

Freeman’s Campground Birdie Beach Munmorah Nature Reserve.

15^th February 2012

Very clean and close to this beautiful beach so we headed off for a walk. As we came along the track we came across a car park, now this was mid week and the car park was packed. There seemed to be some very nervous people as we walked through. We can understand it when we spot the sign “UNCLAD BATHING”, we went the other way. Old fat guys and skinny younger asian woman just doesn’t sit well.

The ‘Ruins’ Booti Booti National Park.

13^th & 14^th February 2012

 I don’t know what I was expecting but when you read ruins, you are kinda expecting to see something old and historic. When we enquired about the ‘ruins’ we were told that there used to be an old homestead here that has been gone for some time.

The beaches were spectacular and all you wanted to do was walk and pick up shells and read a book. The next day we embarked on a walk with the description Moderate to Steep Slopes. Bloody hell it was wet and huge and really rugged (talk about steep) but we kept going walking from 7 mile beach to Elizabeth Beach. Coming out of the bush we had leeches and we were exhausted and bumped into some locals. They asked where we had walked and basically told us that we were mad and that nobody walks the track when it is  wet, we headed back along the highway around Wallis Lake.

That night 2 young girls came in in a campervan and headed off to a secluded corner of the park right against the beach, I don’t know what happened but next thing they are pulled up beside us so I can only imagine something spooked them. Next thing this different music starts playing and we look out the windows and they have a circle of candles set out on the ground and then we got spooked.

SOUTHWEST ROCKS

11^th & 12^th February 2012

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Another beautiful place on the Macleay River. We met some lovely people here of which one couple was Les and Marge. Les used to be the milko for Springwood & Rochedale when we first moved there. It was a great laugh and many a wine was drunk.

More walks here around to Horseshoe Bay, the Smokey Cape lighthouse and the historic Trial Bay Gaol and lots of swimming, my shoulders are feeling so much better with the swimming, I need to do more of this when I get home.


The Gaol was a very interesting place - The prisoners built the breakwater at Trial Bay & this prison was the first example of collaboriative management.This saw regular musicals performed for the locals & attempted escapes were very rare and the high security cells were never used to the true sense of the word.


The lighthouse reminded both of us of the Byron Bay Lighthouse.  The caretaker cottages are now being used as B & B's.

BEAUTIFUL YAMBA

Well my first attempt to inform you of our adventure went belly up when the computer crashed and did not perform an auto recovery.

Was I calm and relaxed, not a bloody chance in the world I hate computers but I will attempt to remember the literary brilliance that I had achieve before I was so rudely interrupted.

We headed off on the 1^st February planning to do a trip through the coastal areas of NSW as well as the mid country areas.

The reason for the trip?

We just wanted to get out of the place, meet up with some life-long friends as well as help Josh do a refit of a pharmacy in Huskisson NSW.

First stop was the beautiful coastal town of Yamba where we stayed at the Blue Dolphin resort, what a great place, beautiful and clean and was amazingly vacant.

We met up with John and Wil along with 2 other couples who they had met on their 15 month trip around Australia. Bernie and Bev came up from Canberra and John and Judy came from the “Bright Side” of Brisbane.

Our first night was the traditional trip to the bowlo for dinner.

Spent the next day relaxing around the pool followed by a walk through the Iluka nature reserve. We had the privilege of feeding a couple of leeches, I hope they liked the alcohol supplemented diet.

The next day took us to Angourie Reserve and Yuraygir National Park as well as Spooky Beach, Blue pools and Green Point.

After all that treking we had a thirst which saw us head to the Pacific Hotel, what a view.

We were getting beautiful weather but we kept hearing about the terrible weather further south.

Trice had always wanted to do the paddle boat so off we went. The fellow who unlocked the boat said that the first 5 minutes are fun but after that it will become a chore, he was so right.

That created a dire need to partake in a few relaxing wines that night on the banks of the Clarence river as the sun settled.

A bit of excitement today, coming back to our site I was coming around a large tree and there he was at eye level. Each day at around 4 o’clock 3 rather large goannas come walking through the sites looking for food so they became a bit of a centre of attention around happy hour time.

This is what greeted me as I came back to the site, that was not a squeal and I was only walking slightly faster than normal.

This was a bit better than the day before when a woman from Dapto got such a fright she fell over and split her thumb open ending up in hospital, she already had a broken arm so she must have been a bit accident prone, don’t you love the name DAPTO….

We were supposed to leave today but where we were getting great sunshine with warm temperatures but further south was copping it. We decided to stay another 4 nights.

We decided to find out more about Yamba so we headed off to the museum to start the historic 3 klm walk. By the time we got back we have travelled some 6 klm but we did learn a heck of a lot about this great little coastal town.

A little thirst was quenched by lunch and an alcoholic beverage at the Yamba golf club.

Off for a little drive to Mclean to find out more about our Scottish heritage, we didn’t find much other than the tartans for the Campbells and the Shaws, the main streets have all the telegraph poles painted in various clan tartans.

On our last night at Yamba we caught up with John and Maureen who are good friends who were staying at the Blue Dolphin as well.