Holiday Trip Year 2003
2003 Holiday Trip
Left home on the 7th April and first port of call was Joe and Lorrain Kerin at Robe Joe was an old shearing mate of Colin’s from the 50’s and 60’s. Colin helped him to put a solar panel on his van as well as other little jobs on his caravan. For that they forced us to eat crayfish and made us take a large one away with us, they have been having an exceptionally good year on the crays the professionals are throwing the big ones back as with the quota system there is more money to be made from the little ones. We left there on Thursday and went to Naracoorte to see Ailsa and Graham Dayman. We hadn’t been there long when another couple arrived and then another. It was panic stations for a few minutes for Ailsa but she settled down with a cup of coffee. Graham organised a spot for one of them at a neighbours who had a vacant block and was only too happy to have someone staying there. We went to a couple of garage sales and house auctions on the Saturday morning and that filled the morning in.
Quite a surprise with house values , a very nice 43 year old 4 bedroom with study, full brick home on 2 blocks with a 4 car garage in immaculate order with all bedrooms with built ins beautiful carpets and heaps of fruit trees passed in on the auctioneers bid at $180000.Have since found out that the owners want $225000
3 of us girls spent some time in the fabric shop looking at the quilting materials. I was very good and didn’t buy any. We left there on Sunday and it started raining off and on. We went to Rocklands Reservoir and it was dry as a bone, and we travelled over the worst corrugated road in the country to get there. We only stayed the one night as I didn’t like it, would have been OK if there had been some water but it looked really desolate with all the dead trees sticking out of the reservoir. The next morning we pulled out, going to Halls Gap, Maryborough, and ended here at Maldon which is 35 kms south of Bendigo. It rained heavy the day we arrived after we got set up and yesterday too but we got the washing done and dried. We have been here before on a day trip but we still went for a tour around today then went around the Antique shops as well as the second hand shops. It filled in the afternoon. A very nice spot here and if you are in to antiques this is the place to go to as the town is heritage listed and there are antique shops every where. Camping ground is very nice only 2 km from main street with exceptional toilets and water.
Left Maldon on Sat after a most enjoyable 5 days and headed for Rushworth where there was supposed to be a very nice camping ground at a State forest, well it was not what we expected so we headed for Wangaratta to go to another State Park, well we could not find it{because I did not read the directions properly} so we came on to Yarrawonga which is a beautiful spot only a couple of kms from the main street, we came here in 2001 and enjoyed our visit so we knew what was here .Wed now and still here at Yarrawonga and really enjoying it
Will stay here for at least a week and then head over to Albury Wodonga and then up through to Tumut in NSW via Tumburumba .
Still at Yarrawonga and it is Sunday the 27th, had a little bit of rain early this morning but nothing to get excited about.. Will probably move on Wed to Wodonga
Sunday whilst still at Yarrawonga Brodie had a bit of a turn which she thought was her heart so I took her in to the hospital where they hooked her up to a ECG machine and a heart monitor, well the ECG showed no evidence of a heart attack but the heart monitor was giving off some strange readings so the doctor decided that she should go to Wangaratta where they had better facilities so they called for the ambulance from Wangaratta and away she went with me following.
They decided after reading the results from Yarrawonga that they would keep her in at least overnight, at this stage there was nothing abnormal about the readings they were getting but the ones from Yarrawonga were puzzling.
I returned to our van at Yarrawonga and next morning packed up and took the van down to Wangaratta and went straight to the hospital where I found that she was still hooked up to the monitor and still nothing to show why this had happened, I then went and booked in to a C/Park and about ½ an hour later the phone rang to tell me that she was being discharged and to come and get her.
The head doctor told her that there was nothing wrong with her heart and he thinks she may suffer from reflux which could have given these strange readings on the monitor and the pain in the chest and he prescribed some strong tablets to take for it and told her to continue on the trip, since then there have been no repeats, thank heavens
Left Wangaratta next morning and spent the rest of the day and night in Albury Wodonga and on Wed we headed out East to a little place called Mt Granya State park where we have been now for 3 nights and today Sat the 3rd May we will go on to Jingellic which is in NSW. A beautiful little spot here with a waterfall (not much water) toilets and water suitable for washing and showering in the creek, the weather has been just magic but certainly no good for the farmers, it is just as bad here as at home there is just no feed at all in the paddocks and a lady in the chemists at Wodonga who has a farm said that they could no longer buy hay in SA and did not know what they would do, must rain soon, can only hope so anyway, makes one laugh when you listen to the radio announcers and they hope it doesn’t rain on the weekend!!! Not really with it are they.
Spent three days at Mt Granya and went on up to Jingellic in NSW, a beautiful drive through the valley the country is very similar to NZ through here although it is very dry but they have had a little rain enough to put a green tinge on the country but not enough to bring on some winter feed. The English trees still have their leaves and look beautiful.
A very nice spot to camp at Jingellic, a reserve at the back of the hotel about right on the Murray River and the water is very clear and clean and is running, for those people who do not have a shower etc you can use the facilities at the hotel. Jingellic is an old mining town used to have 3000 people but now there is 100, a very well stocked store and a hotel .A very nice spot
Stayed 3 days and we are now at the Henry Angel Campground 7 kms south East of Tumburumba another beautiful spot with excellent amenities and very nice scenery and there are a couple of walks to do. Weather is still holding fine and sunny , actually it is 24 in Wagga today probably 22 here, have not decided how long we will stay here but as we still have 4 ½ weeks before we go to Woolgoolga we will probably stay for at least 4 days, it is now the 7th May
Friday now the 9th May and we have been here 4 days and will be moving on tomorrow morning and will be going to Tumut to try and track down a lady called Margaret Murphy who we met with her husband Joe at Townsville in 1992, he has died in the last 2 years and we believe she is living in Tumut.
Monday now and we are at Carcoar Dam which is 50 km west of Bathurst, called in to Tumut on sat morning and could not find our friend from 1992 so we came on through Gundagi to Cootamundra and then on to a little place called Wallendbeen which is 30 k from Young and spent Sat night and Sunday there, had to be somewhere where there was phone so that Brode’s kids could ring her for Mothers day which they did and that made her day.
Left there this morning and spent a bit of time in Young and then on to Cowra where we visited the Japanese Gdn which is out of this world and also the site of the POW camp in WW2 and the Japanese cemetery where they buried all the Japs who broke out of the Camp.
Do not know how long we will stay here, a very nice spot but it is fairly cold at the moment and they are forecasting rain so we will have to play it by ear.
Left Carcoar Dam on Wed the wind came up again blowing very strongly so we decided to go into Bathurst and then up to Sofala which is an old mining town 40 kms north.
Spent 3 days at Sofala, it is a quaint old town the main street reminds one of an old western movie, it is very narrow and the old buildings are just that, the camping ground on the Turon River is very good with composting toilets and rain water and tables under shelters.
Left here on Sat and headed through some of the nicest country you would ever see, we went up through Kandos and over to a place very close to Singleton called Jerry’s Plains, very hilly through this road and some of it was dirt and in places quite rough, we were in bottom gear going up the mountains and in places I had to change down to bottom gear coming down the other side to save the brakes from overheating but for all that the scenery was fantastic,
Stayed at Jerry’s Plains until this morning {Monday}and then went into Singleton done some shopping and headed off to Dungog with the intentions of spending a few days there but as the camping ground is right alongside the railway line we came on to Barrington which is about 80 kms from Taree but still in the mountains and it is a beautiful area so we will spend a few days here.
Took a trip up to the Barrington Tops on Wed and was quite disappointed, unless you are in to forest and more forest there really is not much scenery, there are some patches of beautiful ferns and a couple of lookouts where you can get some nice photo’s but the road is badly corrugated in places and all in all I would not recommend going, of course it is all in the eyes of the beholder so do not take too much notice of me.
Had a bit of bad luck on the Monday night, had pulled out the awning when we arrived and about 11.30 that night there was a helluva crash bang and after we had woken properly we rushed outside and there was the awning sitting on top of the roof of the caravan, was very lucky actually because I had left one of the legs hooked on to the side of the van and the other one was in the carport position so there was only half it on the roof and although it broke both the brackets which are fixed to the top side of van there was no damage to the side of van and no damage to the fabric or the roller or the panels on the side of van. Have bought new brackets and when it stops raining will fit them on, total cost of my forgetting to put a peg in the foot of post was $85 so could have been worse.
At present we are at Coopernook which is 25km N of Taree, one of our favourite spots here, will probably spend 4 or 5 days here, have to go back in to Taree today to pick up a new battery for the van, have 3 batteries and they have all tossed in the towel, cannot complain really 2 of them Tom Hastings a mate gave me 3 years ago and the other is 4 years old and they will not last forever. Those that Tom gave me were batteries that were on the way out and as they cost me nought I cannot complain about them collapsing completely now.
Arrived here yesterday arvo, spent a week at Barrington and left there just as the rain started so could not see too much of the country from there to Taree but it was all farming land and quite hilly so can only imagine that it would have been picturesque on a nice day. Have had a couple of inches of rain since we arrived here it has just bucketed down.
Went in to Coopernook this arvo and the lass at the servo said that she was told that we had 3 inches of rain last night now that’s what I call rain. The forecast is for rain until the weekend , cannot complain the rain is just beautiful.
Received the bill for the Ambulance trip from Yarrawonga to Wangaratta yesterday and would you believe it was $2113 hard to believe for a trip of 100 kms in total and 2 men for 2 hours, thank heavens we are covered by being a member of St Johns
Stayed at Coopernook until the 1st June and then headed up to Woolgoolga, we were a week early but there was no problems with the park. Very nice park right in the main street and opposite all the shops, have only booked in for a week will see how we like it before we commit ourselves to booking longer.
Went in to Coffs Harbour today, (Thursday5th) is a very pretty town and very busy too. Done the shops bit and then came home about 1 o’clock. Fairly quiet in the park here at Woolgoolga, lots of vacant sites must be the high cost of park charges, was looking at the charges of 3 years ago (May 2000) and they have increased here from $60 to $86 per week if you stay a month, which indicates from my calculations that the real increase to the park income excluding GST for little Jackboot Johnny is $17.40 a week or 29% increase, now as the CPI has only gone up about 10% in that time it would appear that the caravan parks are exploiting the popularity in caravanning. If you work out the percentage rise including GST it is a staggering 43.5% increase since May 2000, must be something wrong with my calculations as Johnny said that costs would not rise under the GST!!!.
The weekly rate by the week is $117 up from $90, take off the GST of $11.70 leaves $105 .30 which equates to an increase in park revenue of 17%, or a 30% increase including the GST in 3 years.
Left Wollgoolga on the 17th June and spent 4 days at Casino one at the Primex Field day which is one of the biggest field days in NSW was atired little vegemite after walking around the site all day.
Looked up a couple we had met in Darwin in 97 and spent a most enjoyable night at their property near Lismore, would love to have enough money to buy their property of 40 acres with the home settled in to the side of a mountain and overlooking the beautiful country with a panoramic view for probably 30 kms, they paid $300000 for it 5 years ago and they have 2 serious nibblers at $500000, not a bad return for their money eh!, but for all their wealth very ordinary people with no airs and graces.
From here we went up in to the mountains to the Whian Whian State Forest about 30 km N of Lismore, beautiful country up there with a very nice camping ground and good TV and phone reception – no one rings but it’s nice to have reception in case someone does!!!, went for a couple of nice walks one of 2 hour duration so still seem to be able to stagger around OK.
We then went to my old mate from Naracoorte back in the 70’s who now lives at Jacobs Well which is E of Gold Coast about 20km and stayed 5 days with them, went down to the Gold Coast on a couple of days and had a look at some of the new housing developments, would blow your mind away to see the monstrous homes they are building and the prices are in the $500000 - $1000000 and there are streets and streets of these homes, where Tom leaves is on the waterfront and he paid in 1986 $150000 and today it is worth $600000, values are going mad up here.
Left here on Sunday of this week and went up to one of our favourite camping grounds at Canungra in the Tambourine Mtns, spent 6 days here and experienced some of the storm that hit the Coast, we had about 3 inches in 3 hours and the wind was that bad that I was not game to put the awning back [did not want to lose it again] so had to anchor it down to the Pajero and a fence and fortunately it stayed put.
We are now at a C/Park in Brisbane for 3 days, came up here to catch up with my old shearing mate for Victor Harbour and from here will go over to the Lockyer Valley.
Done all the touristy things in Brisbane including a ferry ride on the Brisbane river, for.$4.20 on a Sunday you can go where you like all day in Brisbane on public transport for that amount of money.
We then spent 2 days at Laidley then 4 days at Thornton which is 17 km south then another 2 days at Laidley then headed for home going via Tenterfield Dubbo Parkes Condobolin Griffith Hay Pinnaroo and home arriving on the 14th July END