my apologies for being so tardy with keeping the blog up to date.
What has been happening????
Well after sitting at home since June due to medical issues, I was beginning to get cabin fever. :( yep I had had enough of not being able to get in the van and travel.... SOOOOOOO
We had about five weeks before either of us was due to see the doctor and we decided to take our good friends in Melbourne up on their offer of visiting them in their new home.
We were getting the van ready when we noticed that there was minimal water coming through the tap in the kitchen and the pump was not making its usual efficient noise. Soo off to the repair shop where the van remained for 3 days......
Once we got it home it was packed, tanks filled and the very next morning we were on our way. We HAD planned to go out through St. George and Cunnamulla and down through Hebel to Bourke and onto Melbourne BUT because of the delay we decided to go out through Goondiwindi and down the Newell Highway to Tocumwall and on the Benalla and out to Mernda.
We stopped at Goondiwindi for fuel on the first afternoon an Darryl (accidentally) left our fuel and mileage record book on the petrol bowser (this was realised the next afternoon at Gilgandra :(. So all our service records etc for the Patrol are now gone as when I rang Caltex in Goondiwindi I was told that the book had not been handed in and there was nothing they could do. :C
We stopped that night at a rest stop approx. 40km S of Goondiwindi - this was a very busy stop. there were five other vans on the asphalt and during the night we were joined by 4 trucks. There were also about 8 vans and motorhomes parked behind the stop - in amongst the trees. This night we had a little rain during the early evening and some heavy winds but nothing serious.
Next morning we continued on our way and managed to get to a rest area north of Peak Hill. We initially stopped for a relief stop but the winds were picking up and hitting us from the west and as we were walking Buster the dust storms hit -SOOOOO we decided that was it for the night. It got a bit cool during the night (down to 10degrees and poor Buster was shivering next morning). [We had been having 30 degree days and 20 degree nights prior to our departure].
Next day we travelled, and travelled and travelled and arrived at Benalla at about 5pm. We contacted our friends and arranged to meet at their place the next afternoon. We stayed in a rest stop on the Hume highway and it was one of the noisiest that we have encountered. Needless to say neither of us got much quality sleep. The temp dropped to 4 degrees here and we had to put another blanket on the bed :)
Next morning we took our time departing as it was only about 2 hours to our friends home. We stopped for a coffee and a wander and then proceeded. We stopped in the village of Mernda and had lunch whilst we waited for them to return from Melbourne and then had difficulty finding their address in my maps programme. Duffer me had incorrectly spelled the address and poor google could not find it. After a phone call we found their address and were on our way.
Buster was really excited to see Faye and Arthur (as were we) and was great to see their new home.
We had a couple of trips into Melbourne and out to some of the suburbs and enjoyed a lovely 10 days in their home and enjoyed their hospitality. It was sad to finally say goodbye to them but we hope to catch up with them in the New Year.
On our way back we stopped for the night at Finley Showgrounds. The bible (Camps Australia Wide 7) says that there are toilets (check) showers (????nope) Water (????Nope) but plenty of power available. Cost of the stay was a donation (but the only box we found had been rifled and the lock broken). We were joined by two other caravans that night but both were gone before we even rose at 8am :D
Out of Finley and onto Jerilderie and then turned toward Urana and Lockhart. We stopped at Lockhart to try and do some genealogy work for Darryl's great grandfather, but alas, we could not find him. He does not have a headstone in the Lockhart cemetery and there were limited other resources available. We wandered down the street and stopped in at the BlueBird Cafe [which was purchased just over 12 months ago and has been refurbished] and the owner was telling me of a lady that is a bit of a local historian who was 'just around the corner' but sorry to say that we couldn't find her.
We continued on to Wagga Wagga and parked outside Jenny and Peter's home. It was so good to see them again. We stayed in Wagga for four nights and spent time at the Wagga Family History Society, Wagga Wagga Archives, Wagga Wagga Museum and the Wagga Wagga Library searching amdly for Darryl's great grandfather. All to no avail. Bummer. We did find out that the archives of the Wesleyan Church (where we believe that great grandfather got married) are kept at the Ferguaon Library at Parramatta in Sydney - so will probably get a relative in Sydney go search for the records.
Whilst in Wagga we went to the Junee Licorice factory, and visited with Mum and Lynette, Ken and family.
We left Wagga and headed to Condobolin and visited with Ian, Wendy and Holly for 4 nights. Here we had the pleasure of having an evening with some of Ian's colleagues and then going out to dinner at the 'Shallow Crossings' restaurant in the RSL club which was very up-market in need. A credit to the owners.
We left Condobolin and made our way to Dubbo. Here we spent some quality time with our camping friends, Jenny and Doug. Was lovely meeting their family and having the time with them. Was sad that we had not been able to attend the Yearly gathering of campertrailer friends at Batlow, but they told us all about it. Hopefully we WILL make the meet next year at Glen Innes.
After Dubbo we made our way back up the Newell highway throught the Pilliga. About 50km s of Narrabri we stopped for a relief stop and found that the front water tank of the caravan was hanging at a precarious angle and needed to be attended to ASAP. So in 35 degree temperatures on an asphalt area, where my thongs were sticky to the asphalt, we spent three hours trying to get a strap secured to hold up the tank. :( Eventually Darryl managed to bend the broken bracket and re-drill a hole in it and then resecured it around the tank. We have got a small water leak but will need to try and get it into a repair shop for attention. At 6pm we headed out of the rest area toward Narrabri and trying to get phone reception. Once we were within range we pulled into another rest area and set up for the night. We had a good sponge bath and to bed early as both were exhausted and a little dehydrated.
Next day we travelled our way up through to Goondiwindi and on to Jimboomba. We gained an hour coming across the border so we were able to get to Beckie and Matt's place and have some time with Beckie and Luke before Gemma, Max and Bradley arrived from School and Matt arrived home from work.
We then continued on our way home and it was was really great to arrive safe and sound. Great to see Ronnie and Graeme and to meet Rita the puppy and their friend Daniel.
Sleeping in your own bed is heaven...... and not having to worry about trucks parking next to you in the night letting off their air brakes.
Today we went to see Ben at his new store....... he is now the Grocery Manager and having some long days but enjoying the challenge. We have got doctors tomorrow and next week and the car has to go in to have a noise diagnosed and then more doctors next week and hopefully a weekend away with our campertrailer friends before December.
So that is about it for now.
Will update more later.
Take care
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