Naracoorte, Robe and the Barossa Valley

We arrived in Naracoorte late in the afternoon only to find we still had about 12 km’s to go to make it to the Naracoorte Caves National Park Wirreanda campground and we were seriously running out of light. The sunset over my right shoulder was beautiful but all I was focused on was finding the park. We arrived about 6pm, it was freezing, so we setup in record time just on dusk with the local kangaroos watching on.

The captain was extra special that night…

The campground is just a few hundred metres down the road from the caves information centre. We chose to do 2 of the guided tour options. The first in the Victoria Fossil cave. This was brilliant. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we actually went over time as he just loved talking about all of the limestone cave structures as well as the mega fauna fossils of marsupial lions, giant kangaroos, giant tassie devils and koalas, pythons, goannas, hippos and wombats. The caves are about 500,000 years old and the theory is that the animals fell through holes and were trapped and eventually died from smaller predators or starvation. There is a lot of conjecture when the mega-fauna started to die out but they think it was between 17-20,000 years ago. Why remains a mystery. A 6’ 8 mungo man may have something to do with it!

500K year old fossil of short nosed kangaroo

Lots of Stalag-thingies

The second tour was of the bat caves where they have setup video surveillance of a bent wing bat colony. You enter a room and basically watch them on CCTV. It’s a bit like Big Brother for bats. Apparently it gets about as raunchy as well at the right time of year. Thankfully the little bats weren’t in a frisky mood. The same people who do the CCTV in the prisons were called in for the job. It’s so good you can see the insects on the bats crawling around! When we’d had enough we toured Blanche cave which is a little more dull but they hold operas and recitals in it which would be amazing at night.

Marsupial Lion on the right

We also had a look in the Wonambi Fossil centre where they have attempted to recreate what the mega-fauna looked like at life size in an animatronic display which the kids really enjoyed. The caves here are very different from the Jenolan Caves west of Sydney (if you’ve been there) but really worth the visit given the historical significance of the abundance of fossils, which universities are still taking out and studying. The night was movie night with Hoodwinked the choice and vanilla magnums.

As we awoke the next morning, we were wondering why we were so cold. No-one wanted to get up. I finally emerged with a coffee outside with the local caretaker picking up rubbish cheerfully telling me it had been 1 degree overnight!!! I went back inside for a little longer…

We were off to Robe today through the Coonawarra wine region (yay) and Penola. We visited Wynn’s, being first in the door a tick after 10.00am and tried some tasty reds and whites. We were running a little low so felt it only appropriate that we purchase a few to investigate further on the road. It’s an extremely pretty drive through the region so we arrived in Penola around 11am and visited the Mary MacKillop schoolhouse and museum which was really lovely. Caitlin is studying her at the moment so it was great for her to see where she setup her first school and how they worked. The museum on her life, achievements, relationship with Fr John Tennison-Woods and her cannonisation. I actually found it quite fascinating and moving. Not sure why, just did. She was truly remarkable.

Wynn's Coonawarra - we recommend the H&V Cab Shiraz. "Maria, where are the kiddies?" nevermind I'm sure they'll show up later - you there, poor the wine...

Inside St Mary's first schoolhouse in Penola.

We arrived in Robe mid afternoon and just, well, Wow. We spent 4 nights here for a few reasons. 1) it is a beautiful spot with so much history, beaches, four wheel driving, fishing and simply stunning coastline. 2) The Lakeside caravan park was lovely. The office of caravan park is in historic stables of Robe Manor and it’s right near the Little Dip Conservation park which has some knarley 4WDing and awesome fishing. 3) Weather – it was cold/cool, rained a little, was quite windy and from a timing perspective we’d planned to now bypass camping in the Coorong and head straight to Nuriootpa in the Barossa instead. Robe was the port of choice in the late 1800's for Chinese workers heading to the Ballarat Gold Fields. Port Melbourne charged 10 pounds a head and Robe didn't so they preferred to get off here and walk the 350km instead!

Yet another place we must return. What a top spot for a holiday. This place has everything we love. I reckon we were about a month or so too late from a weather perspective but the kids braved the water one afternoon for a swim – swim is probably a strong word. Lachie and Grace had a charge into the water, loss of breath and scream and a charge out. Caitlin stood and jumped the waves for about ten minutes before turning blue. Our neighbours were a really nice couple from the Victorian Highlands, Darren and Maria, so we had drinks and nibblies with them one night.

Cliff top walk to the Blowholes

The Big Lobster - Kingston SE

Pretty

So much serenity...

First fish of the trip, first cast...then nothing

One funny thing which did occur to Lachie and I one afternoon as we were packing up from an arvo of catching Salmon Trout (baby Australian Salmon which was fun). As we were driving back to the entrance to drive off the beach I noticed a vehicle coming towards me. I had to rub my eyes as it was what appeared to be a Hyundai Getz! (This next bit is for all you 4WDer’s reading) It was flying along on the shoreline which was reasonably hard but then fatally turned uphill. I screamed out NOOOO!! More to myself as they were still a hundred metres up the beach and sunk deep into very soft sand on an incoming tide. Incredulous I drove up to the vehicle, which was being driven by a middle aged woman with three kids in the back. The look on my poker face must have described to the woman what I was thinking as she said “I know I know I’m an idiot”…hmmm c’mon you can do better than that!

I had lots of recovery gear so I looked at the front after getting her teenage son to dig out the front with my shovel to find there is no anchor point. Visions of me towing her out backwards with the snatch strap did not appeal so we tried the Maxtrax! Genius things Maxtrax. The front wheel drive helped and after I got her to promise I wouldn’t be held accountable if I further wrecked her already wrecked car, I got to work. (that was a funny conversation) The first attempt saw us halfway to the harder sand. A second attempt, a bit more guts got us there! Burning clutch, rubber and sand filled the air. It was at this point I realized she still had a 500m bolt to the entrance which admittedly was a very easy exit so if she made it to there she’d get off. After giving her some last minute instructions and telling her kids to start walking, away she went….in first gear screaming along…and she made it, gave me a toot and was never seen again. Packing up I then cursed myself for not getting a photo as I’m sure there would be a few doubters but Lachie was there and it is all true. Some people….

Long beach, Robe - scene of the Hyundai incident.

Saturday dawned cool but sunny and very windy. We had a relatively long 350km+ drive to the Barossa with the forecast of a rainy day for Sunday so we wanted to make sure we were well setup before the wet. We arrived mid afternoon under sunny skies and a beautiful drive through Angaston and Nuriootpa. It’s a very tranquill place and seeing many of the famous names on the way in was exciting as we planned to tour some wineries in the rain on Sunday. We stayed at the Nuriootpa Tourist Park in a leafy powered site. The place is huge very green and central to Nuriootpa, Angaston and Tanunda.

Peter Lehmanns cellar door

The forecasters got it spot on with about 28mm falling from about 2am. Everyone at the wineries were really excited as they were desperate for rain. We visited Peter Lehmann where we had lunch as well. Then went to the Maggie Beers Farmshop and watched a cooking demonstration. It wasn’t Maggie herself but it was fun. Lehmann’s was very classy and professional whilst all of us learnt about the wonders of Verjuice from Maggie Beer. We moved onto the prettiest Cellar I’ve ever seen at Rockford. Unfortunately the heavens really opened and we had to stay inside…bummer. While Maria and I sampled the magnificent reds (I highly recommend the Rifle Range – it’s superb at the moment and of course the Basket Press) the kids had fun in the other sampling area where they make their own jams, preserves, mustards and relish – yum. We also went out to Henschke but didn’t read the turnoff sign well and missed the bit about them being closed on Sundays. Extreme bummer and very sad Michael face, as I really wanted to go to my favourite winery in the whole world! Maria then suggested we just go there on our way up to the Flinders Ranges the next day. I turned that frown upside down instantly. I slept easily that night with visions of skipping through the fields of Hill of Grace sipping from the ’94 vintage, dancing in my head…

Rockford Cellars

Cooking in Maggie's Kitchen

…Um, anyhow, it is still Sunday and after a delightful thermomick of sweet potato and chicken risotto and a cheeky little Cape Jaffa semillion, we settled down to movie night with - Night at the Museum 2. Sunday night is now officially movie night where we all sit around Maria’s laptop. It’s really nice. Monday dawned fine and clear but threatening so we packed up quickly and moved out. We were all extremely excited about heading up to the Flinders Ranges but had one little stop to make – Henschke!!! Wow, they know how to make wine and they deliver!! A few for travelling (our stocks now fully replenished, whew) a couple sent home and we were off.

All Hail Henschke!

PS – it’s official – Grace is now rivaling Lachie and Caitlin for reading enthusiasm. Before we left Grace had taken about 2 months to read half of Harry Potter 1. In 3 weeks she is now up to Harry Potter 5! 

Menindee, Mungo and the tri-state area!

The drive from Broken Hill to Menindee was a little over 100km. Not very long, but it seemed to us somehow that we were entering the real start of our trip. The road narrower, the traffic sparse, the landscape more barren, and if BH was a bit of an unknown quantity, then Menindee Lake was off the chart. The first thing we noticed were these patches of mini watermelons along the edge of the road as we drove along. Curiosity got the better of us, so we found a safe place to pull over and investigate. Maria and Caitlin dodged oncoming cars and a road train, raced across the road and took a few photos. None the wiser they souvenired a medium sized melon to ask what they were further down the track. As it turned out they were Camel melons brought out with the Afghan Cameliers. Very tart and not real good for you but the birds love them.

We soon arrived at our destination, the Menindee Lakes Caravan Park. A few km's down a dirt road and we were there. What a delight and a bit of a contradiction in the middle of semi-arid desert. On the shores of Lake Menindee, a natural basin which collects rain water from the surrounding area as well as feeding the Darling River. It is much larger than than Sydney harbour and it filled to the brim after the 2010 Qld floods and is now about 30% full but is still a formidable and expansive water supply.

Chilling on the lake shore.

The park Manager Tim was extremely welcoming. He took over the place in 2009 and since then has been cultivating a half a dozen grass sites on an otherwise red dirt/sandy area. These areas are a real oasis in the dessert. We chose the corner penthouse over-looking the Lake. We had unobstructed views of the entire area which was absolutely devine. In the first 5 minutes we saw pelicans, emus, galahs and any number of other birdlife.

Tim came down later after we'd setup and pointed to a tricky 4wd track leading out of the property which he indicated we could drive down onto the lake bed, let the kids have a swim and we could have a drink or two and watch the sunset which faced directly west.

Menindee Sunset

Hmmm, sounds like we had a plan for the afternoon. 4 o'clock was the agreed time with sunset about 6pm and we headed off. Pictures paint a thousand words but can I just say sitting on an ancient lake bed like it was North Point at Moreton, sipping Pra Suave, (that's Italian!)  nibbling cheese and bikkies and watching the kiddies have a paddle in the lake, I really felt, well, serene. Lines from the Castle followed. "How's the serenity?" - "So much serenity".  Menindee is simply beautiful. We stayed 2 nights here and could easily have stayed more. The afternoon, drive, swim, nibble, sip (okay slurp/gulp) ritual was truly seductive. You can also imagine our dismay and outrage when Tim informed us that as a part of the Murray-Darling solution between irrigators/pastoralists and environmentalists that the entire Menindee Lake system is to be drained to feed the Darling in the hope that one day floods from Qld (!!!) will once again fill the system. Oh dear, we are slowly learning more about this issue as we travel along and it is hard to understand how draining his beautiful lake could aid the system in the long term.


We also visited Kinchega National Park which is right on the Darling river. It was previously 1800's  pastoral land processing (shearing) 6 million sheep in it's heyday. We enjoyed walking through the woolshed and imagining how hard it would have been to live and work here. We followed the Darling River through the park about 20km's upstream. There were about 30 camp sites right on the river under the giant river red gums. All were really peaceful and spacious. We stopped at one for lunch and then had an explore along the banks. We found a little creek with hundreds of carp in it just on the surface of the river. We found out later from Tim it was spawning time.

Darling River Camp

After 2 nights we hit the road for Mungo National Park - the home of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady. It's was about a 250 km trip along all dirt road. The road wasn't in bad condition however the 110km speed limit was never seriously challenged - more like suicide. I did mention to Maria that I thought the camper "may be a bit loose, i.e. not air tight" and "I think I remember there being a little hatch which you can open to create a pressurised seal to ensure no dust gets in".  "Nevermind we'll fix it when we get there....On the way we saw huge wedge tailed eagles close up and I remember feeling excited driving along. There was very little traffic coming the other way or behind us so I could pick the best line to take. What struck me was the change in colours of the road and the surrounding land. Red to brown to white to orange - all I can say is - it was very peaceful. We had a few really bad corrugated sections but overall it was just fun...

...Until we arrived at Mungo NP main campground and opened the camper. Lets just say at this point I could hear the National Lampoons 'Holiday Road' theme song in my head. The Griswalds had arrived and red dust was everywhere. From a thick coating all over the floor to a relatively thin layer on the beds and benches, it was everywhere inside. Lesson learned. Michael philosophical - Maria...not so much.

 We arrived at the Mungo tourist information centre which is quite impressive, but there was no-one there. No staff, nothing. There was a really interesting interpretive display about the area but little direction on how we should go about getting sorted for camp fees etc as we'd heard the tours were exceptional. Eventually we found the honesty box, popped the fees into an envelope and were off to find the campground. Enter dust...In the end with all hands on deck we cleaned up and were settled in a hour or so.

The campground was very spacious but basic. No power or water, just a drop toilet and some rainwater out of a tank. Plenty of local kangaroos and emus were wandering around to welcome us however which the kids were excited about. They were not excited about the flies. There were lots. Thank god for head nets. We took a drive back to the tourist centre which is only a kilometre down the road and it was a hive of activity. Rangers were there. Cars everywhere, it was a different place and we quickly sourced all of the information we needed. Tomorrow would start with a 70km drive around the lake bed and surrounding sand dunes in the shape of a crescent moon, called a lunette. We would meet back at the centre for a guided tour of 'the Walls of China' with the local aboriginal rangers.

Mungo is an ancient lake bed that has been dry for 20,000 years. Scientists have discovered artefacts dating back over 50,000 years across the expanses of the last ice age. This makes Mungo one of the oldest places outside of Africa to have been occupied by modern humans since ancient times. They have discovered 42,000 year old remains of a man and a woman separately. The woman was about 18 and was cremated whilst the man was about 55 and seemed to die of old age. The man was probably over 6ft 8in!! There are also fossilised footprints of men women and children and they are truly huge. The food must have been very good in the area 40,000 years ago. The land around the area is over 100,000 years old and there are currently testing fire places found in this layer of rock which would be quite a find indeed. More on that later. The area was also a pastoral station for many years which of course decimated the area which still hasn't recovered.

Erosion

We drove the 70km loop track around the lake and old station in the morning which took us about 3 hours. We toured the old homestead and and woolshed. The station was massive.  The highlight of the trip was the massive sand dunes near Vigar's Well. It could have been on Fraser or Moreton. The kids had a great time climbing and falling back down again and exploring around the dunes. We arrived back at camp for lunch and were back at the tourist centre for our 2pm tour. Unfortunately so were the 5 other carloads including one full of Korean men (more on that later). Ernie and Tanya were our tour guides. Tanya started off the tour a bit angry about the treatment of Mungo Man and Lady but mellowed as her enthusiasm and passion for the area, the fossils and the ancient history overcame her anger and she was a wealth of information. 

Massive sand dunes

Ernie was so laid back I thought he was asleep. He was very cool as he walked around talking about the history of the area with a beautifully painted guitar on his shoulder. You can only tour the Walls of China area now with a tour and with a guide. It was apparent why within 1 minute of the group setting foot in the sand with Ernie and Tanya pointing down as we walked. See that, it's a seashell from 40,000 years ago, that's an ancient spearhead, that's a piece of bone from a fossilised wombat. What?? we all felt like tip toeing around...except for the Koreans...One of them just took off whilst the others were kicking the bones with their shoes and stamping on the shells to see if they would break. Even Ernie got flustered trying to get the wandering Korean back.

Working out where to tread!

We saw old camp fires, fossilised remains of wombats, kangaroos and a snake. It was a magical place. So much history and so much more to tell as the rains come and reveal more treasures. You could tell Tanya was torn from the fact that what is in the ground should stay in the ground, but her fascination with what these secrets might reveal was irresistable. After the tour we all had a shower at the visitor centre which was very welcome.

Mungo is a fascinating place. It shows the wonder of nature and history, balanced with the blight of late 19th century pastoralism where they had absolutely no idea and didn't really care. What we've done in 150 years is truly atrocious. (I'll get off the soap box now). We were now making our way to South Australia through Mildura in Victoria. We made good time and had our eye on a rest stop 40km south of Pinaroo. As we passed through town and stopped for everyone to wee we basically had a family meeting. Drive for 30mins out of town and camp (it was 2.30pm) or stay in the car for another couple of hours and go straight to Naracoorte. The hands went up and it was agreed we'd head straight to Naracoorte. Three states in one day as we travelled from NSW, into VIC through Mildura and then finally into SA.

Broken Hill

Broken Hill has been somewhat of a conundrum to me. Albeit an extremely surprising and pleasant one. I knew it was a mining town for Silver and Zinc and was in Western NSW but little else. It is closer to Adelaide than Sydney. It is on Central time (SA) rather than NSW time and most of the town supports AFL, yet all the number plates are yellow. It is literally the middle of nowhere yet it is central to any traveller heading from SA into NSW or QLD or someone from QLD or NT heading on south or west.

Syndicate of 7

The history is fascinating and at times tragic and confronting. Mining is on the decline in the area. Prices are lower and the cost of extracting the minerals from the earth more expensive. Tourism is healthy as I mentioned and it seems one of the ways forward if it could be developed more. As I type the Top Tourist Park we've been staying at for the past 3 nights is nearly full. Most people we talk to are interested to learn more about the area and spend at least a day or two investigating. The park is really well maintained, shady and the facilities are good with a pool and playground for the kids. Not that we've had much time for using those.

To get a sense of the town and its history we went on the Larrikins, Heroes and Heroines walking tour of the town from the fantastic visitors centre. The people here are really proud of the town and couldn't be more helpful. Daphne Coffey was our guide. She was 70 plus and it was genuinely an effort to keep up with her. She set quite a pace. (Not sure if she was any relation Paul? - she said she did have a grand-daughter in Brisbane). It must have taken quite some vision for the syndicate of seven that founded BH. I wonder if they envisioned what it would become. We toured too many sites to mention but highlights for me were the Mining Union offices (a very grand building), Police station and courthouse and basically lots of insights from Daphne into the sacrifices, sadness, determination and greed, is a strong word, but it's the only one that comes to mind, of the early mine owners and their approach to wealth creation.

The Headframe - miners elevator

Union headquarters

Life in the mines was tough. Most started when they were 8 years old and didn't make it to 40. Daphne lost her father to lead poisoning but rather than be bitter she said that she could "see both sides" of what it took to build the industry here.

Our first afternoon was spent a few km's out of town at the Living Dessert Art Museum. In 1993 sculptors from around the world congregated on a hill top and over a couple of months, carved some really interesting works which are now on display. The best time to view them is at sunset when the sun really brings them to life.

A living desert sunset 

We visited the Old Daydream mine which is about half way between BH and Silverton down a windy, dusty track. We took an underground and above ground tour of the mine complete with hard hats, battery packs and headlamps. It wasn't too physically demanding but you certainly had to crouch a few times to get through. We had quite a large group and the Kearneys were bringing up the rear after coming in a little hot in a cloud of dust (read: the tour had to wait for us). Dad was "Tail end Charlie". The kids quite enjoy calling me that now. Basically Charlie is last in the group that makes sure all people have come through and lets the guide know when all have arrived. A very important and esteemed position indeed! The tour took about an hour and really did provide an insight into the incredibly tough conditions miners in the late 1800's and early 1900's had to endure. Most miners started when they were between 8 and 12 and died before their 40's. It was quite an eye opener for Lachlan.

Tail end Charlie and assistant!

Next on the trip was Silverton, which is an old mining town about 20km's out of BH. We visited the old school house, Gaol, Mad Max museum and the Silverton Hotel. The school house was really unique in that it was tiny (no bigger than a current 25 head classroom, but it sat over 100 kids at it's peak. They used grand stand type desks which was quite clever. The kids had fun doing 'homework' on the chalk slates. The Hotel has been the scene of many cinematic masterpieces including Mad Max II and Razorback, not to mention several tv commercials. XXXX Gold is the preferred beer on tap:-)

Old school house

Mad Max's Mad Beetle - he used this while the Interceptor was in the shop!

We also visited the Pro Hart Gallery. Pro was a miner, artist (arguably one of Australia's most famous) and a collector of Roll Royces. He was truly prolific in his work from classic landscapes around Broken Hill to his 'masked' portaits of mining owners and managers to his love of Banjo Patterson. We saw a wonderful example of the 'Colt from Old Regret' as well as picking up some original etchings of the Waltzing Matilda story - very special. The visit was even more special as it was the day of a dear friends mum's funeral who passed from motor neurone disease, which coincidentally, was the same disease which Pro passed from. The gallery manager even stopped a documentary which was playing to play the kids the old DuPont carpet ads. "Oh Mr Hart, What a Mess!!" We all got a giggle from that. Caitlin was so impressed she asked if she could 'borrow' the spare piece of marine carpet I had in the garage at home and did eBay sell 'Paint Cannons'!!! Oh dear...



The Dragonfly!

I should mention our visit to Bells Cafe, a genuine 50's milk bar. We had hotdogs and soda. Spiders, fizz's it was very yummy. Dad had the double Sars - took me back to days at the 'pub' with dad and grandad. They'd have a pot of XXXX and I'd have a double sars.

Bells Cafe'

Last but not least we visited the top of the slag heap or original silver mine. This holds a function centre, restaurant and memorial for lost miners. The view over the city was great. We all took a photo of the oversize park bench which was fun.

Songs from the Big chair

Miners Memorial - for over 800 have lost their lives in the area

Our time at Broken Hill was at an end. Menindee Lake was calling. What a terrific town BH was. We weren't expecting much but it certainly delivered and we'd highly recommend it to anyone.

Take Care and Love to all

Brisbane to Broken Hill

The old saying "Every great journey starts with a single step", kept going through my mind as I awoke on Tuesday April 2. After many months of planning and a fairly restless nights sleep, THE day had finally arrived. We awoke planning to leave by 9am and finally were ready to go around 10am. Not too bad. As I hitched up the camper, and just as a bit of an afterthought I said to Maria we should check that all the camper lights were working. Night driving lights? - Check, brakes? - Check, left indicator? - Check, Right indicator? ... right indicator?...RIGHT INDICATOR??? Oh dear, Houston, we have a problem.

We're off!

Despite my best technical efforts, (staring intently at said light and slowly cursing under my breath) no luck. I know, I'll call the manufacturer! So a quick call to Goldstream proved the decisive move. "Have you given the plug a jiggle mate?" said a Victorian voice dripping with sarcasm. Jiggle? right, jiggling, jiggling, of course. Immediately questions ran through my head after I hung up the phone however. So what is the correct jiggling technique? Does one jiggle left to right or up and down. Visions of Mr Miagi danced through my head. Wax on...Right indicator, (post jiggle) - Check!!! We were off!

A very teary goodbye to Kaspa followed a last check of the house. It's a pretty surreal feeling driving off down your street knowing you won't be back for nearly six months, wondering what cards were going to be dealt while on the road. Soon however, trepidation was followed by excitement and animated discussions over how far we'd get on the first day, what our trip would be like and why all the cars seemed to be going the other way??? The plan was to try and make it to Tamworth. We fell a little short and ended up stopping at a quiet little free rest area in Guyra. Guyra is one of the highest towns in NSW and with the temperatures plummeting as we setup the camper, out came the winter PJ's and jumpers for a meal of Bolognaise and a game of Yahtzee before bed. (game 1 of 7,359 we expect:-) Grace had us in stitches in the morning with a re-enactment of her getting stuck in the middle of the night between the canvas and the mattress. Her efforts to get out were hysterical.

Guyra Sunset - a little chilly!

A good nights sleep and we were off on another long drive to a farm about 20kms outside of Narromine (50km west of Dubbo), birthplace of the great fast bowler Glen McGrath. We were going to stay with friends of the Carius', Keryn and Michael Finlayson on their farm, Oaklands. What a great way to kick start the trip. Red and white wine, cheese, bikkies and quince paste awaited us on the kitchen table, lots of affection from Jess the dog (which was brilliant as Kaspa was still being missed terribly), in a delightful homestead. No-one was home, and as we sat down on the verandah to tuck into our wine and cheese, I said to Maria, " I hope this is the right place!" Michael arrived soon after, confirming we were, we introduced ourselves and instantly felt at home. The girls had collected their first farm eggs within about 10 minutes, unreal. Keryn arrived later on after seeing their son Sam off to camp. We all sat down to Lasagne and a glass of red to get to know each other.

Stop the trip - can it get any better?

 

Welcome to Oaklands Resort!

The next day we were off to Taronga Western Plains Zoo, which is about 5mins outside of Dubbo. We decided to hire bikes and ride around the zoo rather than drive around, which was great. The bikes were a little tired but worked fine. Maria went for a lower profile dragster with seat down and looked very cool, however a few of the hills got the heart pumping and seeing her with knees up around her ears had us chuckling. (but not too much darling:-) The visitor centre and entrance is very impressive but the rest of the zoo looked a little tired we felt. All of the animals were there, Giraffe, elephant, tiger and wild dogs. Everyones favourite was the otters, followed closely by the Siamang Monkeys and one very cute baby learning to climb. The meerkats were as busy as ever. Alexander was also there, "I cannot find you cheap insurance!" The day concluded with an ice-cream and a great talk on the ring-tailed Lemurs. We headed back to the farm satisfied. It is an expensive day however. $75 for the bikes and $136 to get in, I'm glad we brought our own food! It was our turn for dinner with Thermomix butter chicken and lots of Nandos chicken pieces courtesy of Jaya and Williams' (our neighbours) St Lucia store, thanks guys it was delicious!

   

 

Rest day on the farm.

What a day and big thanks to Sam for showing us around! First we set yabbie pots in various dams around the property using the Go-cart and Quad bike. Next we spent hours around the main dam trying to catch some yabbies the 'old-fashioned way' consisting of a stick, some string and a piece of meat tied to the end. You throw out the string, waited for it to get tight then slowly draw it back in slowly so the yabbie stays attached. Then you quickly scoop it up from behind - simple - NOT. We collected nearly 30 at the end of the day which was not too bad and with some honey soy marinade, were a delicious entrée. Michael knocked off from work early, we loaded up the ute, and took a tour around the 2000 acre property, picked up the pots and chased some roos (the video is amazing). A lot of fun was had by all. Keryn and Michael work hundreds of sheep and share their fields with a guy who grows wheat. The Broncos even won so the day was perfect!

 Shearing shedChecking out the farm - the farmer is the guy in yellow on the right not the guy in board shorts on left. Simple mistake.

Checking the pots for yabbies

Grace and Caitlin go carting!

Sunset over the dam

 

Dinner!

All good things must come to an end and it was time to continue on our journey. We still had 700km to get to Broken Hill. We set off having made steadfast new friends and with promises of visits. The Finlaysons were truly wonderful hosts and for basically complete strangers opened up their home to us and we will be forever grateful. I highly recommend the Oaklands Resort to anyone out this way!!!

We left in the early afternoon but made good time and stopped at a well laid out rest stop called Meadow Glen about 60km west of Cobar and within  400km of BH. Well rested we arrived in Broken Hill having saved an hour with the conclusion of daylight saving and another 30 mins with Broken Hill being on Central time. So according to the clock at the Tourist information centre it was about 12.30pm! 

A fantastic start to the trip with so many new experiences in our first week.

3 weeks to go!

Only 3 weeks to go now. I'm trying to picture in my mind (and rather unsuccessfully) what the day we leave is going to be like. No more planning, researching, hours on the internet or re-reading camper trailer magazine articles for the 100th time just in case I missed something! Part excitement, part anticipation and I suspect a fair bit of, "Oh my Gosh we're actually doing this!"

We have a Date!

At this stage we plan to go on April 2. This is the tuesday after easter. We pretty much have all of the gear we  need. I just need to pick up the spare parts for the vehicle and the Satellite Communication device. After much comparisons with Sat phones (even with subsidies), EPIRB devices etc we've ended up going with a US product licensed by Kimberley campers out here. It's a Delorne 2 way satellite communication device called the InReach. Basically it pairs with your smart phone and iPad and allows you to text/email for communication and support, emergency assist and a full GPS mapping capability to track where you are out in the bush. Visit www.track4ever.com.au

Packing

It's just a matter or organising and packing now. The weather has been very unhelpful making it hard to have the camper up for long periods of time. Inside Maria is using space saving plastic containers to maximise space in the cupboards and draws whilst our clothes will be in 1 x 40L duffle bag each. The majority of our days will be in northern climates so one set of warm clothes is all that we've allowed. Down jacket, trackies and some warm socks and a beanie! The rest of our clothes will pretty much be shorts, t-shirts and swimming gear. Space is always at a premium so we've invested in things like microfibre towels which fold up very small and the down jackets also fold up to a very small size.

We don't need to take massive amounts of food as we'll buy fresh stuff along the way. We will have a store of tinned food as a backup if we are remote and running low on supplies. One tip we've learnt is to write on the bottom of the tins with what they contain to allow you to know without having to take everything out. I've yet to determine a good solution for Captain Morgan and wine bottles so any ideas would be very much welcome.

On top of the car we have a large cargo cage with 120kgs weight capacity. On top will be another spare tyre a couple of Diesel and one ULP Jerry can for the generator (more on power later). I also have a large low profile tool box which will carry all spare parts, recovery gear, compressor, spare sand pegs, rope and a few other bits and pieces. In the back of the car with the technical genius of 'Big John' Lobartolo, we've designed a marine ply base covered with marine carpet with a fridge slide attached. This will allow easier access to the Engel 40L fridge and provide a stable base to anchor the generator and cargo box.

Power

To Generator or not to generator - that was the question. I must say I ummed and ahhd on this for months. Eventually I took the approach that having it as an albeit expensive, but reliable source of backup power, to keep batteries charged up, was worth it. While we're not planning to rough it all the time there are enough places we've got planned where there will not be 240v power and which allow generators to be used responsibly. As well as this we have a pair of 120 watt solar panels, 2 x 100 amp hour batteries in the camper and a 70 amp hour battery in the vehicle. Just having that piece of mind tipped me over the line.

School

We have now met with all of the kids schools. I must say all of the principles and teachers have been extremely supportive of the trip. All admitting that the life experience the kids will gain is invaluable. The kids must keep up to date diaries and we've been advised of curriculum areas in maths and english which we'll be able to leverage while on the road. "How long will us take us to travel from Dubbo to Broken Hill travelling at an average speed of 100km/hr for 654km?"

Lachlan will have a bit more to do than the girls but again more to keep in touch with the curriculum in the key areas of maths, english, history and science. Getting into a routine will be the key early to ensure they keep up to date as well as making sure their memories are fresh in their minds. Also, with the wonders of technology all of their teachers have asked at some stage for the kids to link up with skype and present to the class where they are, what they're doing and how they're living, which I'm sure will be a lot of fun for everyone.

We expect the kids will want to write in the blog as well so stay tuned for the kids ripping yarns and adventures from their own perspective.

Keeping in touch

After next week we'll have the communications system setup which will allow you all to track where we are on a map in real time. You'll just have a web link and password which will give you access online to view where we are. This blog will be important, as we'll love to see your comments as often as we can. We'll have our phones, the InReach and a couple of laptops as well, so hopefully someone will be able to get a hold of us if need be. BK and DK will have all of our contact details if required.

Anyhow I'll probably do one more post before we go with a few more details.

Talk Soon

Michael