Walk: 4.5km
Drive: 347km
After our morning coffee, we went for a walk to stretch the legs. We then had breakfast on the back deck with
Bob and Prudy. Wendy then got the van
ready for a 10am departure. However,
Greg and Bob were having such a good chat that we only left about 11:30am!!
We stopped in Yarraman for lunch. We found a little bakery and had a pie
each; Wendy a bacon and cheese, and Greg
a plain one.
Walk: 2.4km
Drive: 222km
We had a leisurely morning. Greg went for a walk, then we had breakfast
and started packing up. We left the van park just after 9am and first up was a
stop for fuel. Eventually left Goondiwindi about 9:30am.
Our first real stop was in Millmerran for mornos. We stopped in this cute little rest stop with
nice shady seating areas. Just as we
were settling in, a couple from the same van park last night pulled in. As Wendy always has plunger coffee, the lady
made a comment at how civilized we were drinking 'real' coffee and all!!
After mornos we made our way to Toowoomba at a leisurely pace. Although the road was quite good, it was not
necessary to race as Bob and Prudy were not going to be home until after lunch. We arrived in Toowoomba about 12:15pm and
found a park to have lunch in, parked-up and made lunch. As there were no seats available near us, we
ate in the van and had a little rest - reading and surfing the net.
As we were not really sure where we were, we used the Sat Nav to get to
where we wanted, and 5 mins later we were there. Bob and Prudy were very interested in the van
so we showed them through it and then went inside the house for a brew. Wendy then had a snooze whilst Greg stayed
with Bob and had a good chat.
Wendy and Prudy were going to go for a walk, but Michael turned up so we
all had another brew and a long chat. So long in fact that it was almost time
for dinner so the walk did not happen.
We had a lovely light dinner of ham and salads and then Robbie and Wendy
came around just to say hello. Talked
for ages and it was a later night than usual.
Drive: 227km
Ride: 18.8 km; Walk: 2.2 km
After awakening at 6:15 am, we had had breakfast and were ready to be on
our way at 8:05 am. We had to have a
"dump" stop on the way out of the Showgrounds to empty the loo and
were on the road by 8:10 am.
Mornos was had just outside of Moree at the Boorooloola Rest Stop. A quick brew, some dried bananas and almonds
and we were on our way again.
Last stop for the day was in Goondiwindi. We had a choice of three van parks and chose
the one closest to the town centre so we could walk to dinner and back. We stayed at the Rivergums Caravan Park, and
although it is tiny compared to other parks, it has all the requisites; the
amenities are clean and functional and it has drive-through parks so we did not
have to un-hitch.
After a filling lunch and a rather long siesta (we had to have an extra-long
one as we are now back in QLD and have gone backward in time, but actually gained
an hour!). We set off on the bikes just after 3:30 pm and did almost 20 km
seeing some of the sights of Goondiwindi.
Neither of us realised just how big this little country town had become.
Drive: 311km
Walk: 7.4 km
We left Mudgee at 8:10am after a simple breakfast of porridge (Greg) and
weetbix (Wendy). Mornos was had in a
rest area in Mendooran; it was quiet and a nice spot to free camp if we are
ever in this area again.
We arrived in Narrabri just after 12:30pm after an uneventful trip. The road was mostly excellent with some parts
being a little rough, but nothing we could not handle. We checked into the Showgrounds on an
"honesty system" - $18 for a powered site for a night - not bad. After setting up, we had the usual lunch,
then a snooze.
It was very windy, and after a not so peaceful snooze (the wind shook
the van and the awning) we walked into town.
The walk was a bit further than we anticipated, however, it did stretch
the legs.
Went to the Australian Telescope Compact Array about 25 km West of
Narrabri. We arrived 7pm so the visitor
centre had no lights on, but was open.
We did get to see 5 telescope dishes.
The telescope is an array of six identical 22-metre diameter dishes,
which commonly operate in aperture synthesis mode to collect radio waves
from space and convert them to electrical signals. Five of the dishes can be
moved along a three-kilometre railway track. The sixth antenna is situated
three kilometres west of the end of the main track. Each dish weighs about 270
tonnes. The Compact Array is a part of the Australia Telescope National Facility network of radio telescopes. The array is
frequently operated together with other CSIRO telescopes, the 64-metre dish at
the Parkes Observatory and a single 22-metre dish
at Mopra (near Coonabarabran), to form a very long
baseline interferometry array.
Ride: 12 Km; Walk: 3.75 km
Although we were awake and out of bed by 6:30 am, we didn't get out for
our walk until 9:15am; we had a very leisurely breakfast!
Wendy then did some work whilst Greg went for a ride to try and find a
bike shop to fix a broken spoke on his back wheel. Not long after he left, the rain came down,
quite heavily at times. The only bike
shop he found was not open today, so he wandered around the city for a while
and then came home.
Lunch was had, followed by a short snooze for Wendy. Then it was time to hit the shops again. We initially went into the city for
groceries, but decided to have a wander through the streets and shops as
well. We ended up in Rivers where we
both bought some clothes for well below the 'normal' price. After a little more wandering, we hit Woolies
and BWS for resupplies and then came home.
Drive: 196km
Ride: 15 km
We were awake nice and early and were up by 6:30am. After brekky we packed up and were out of the
park by 9am. We stopped for mornos at
Wellington and we had a Maccas coffee and as we had forgotten to take our own
food, we shared a pineapple and coconut slice.
Wellington seems to have seen better days and we found out why a couple
of days later - it is more commonly known as the Arctic as there is a huge
issue with ICE (amphetamines) in the town.
Such a shame as it looks like it could be a lovely country town.
We then made our way to Mudgee on some very nice roads; NSW has much
better roads than QLD, even in the country areas. We arrived at the BIG4 Holiday Park on the
other side of Mudgee at 12:00 pm, just in time for lunch. After setting up (site #156), Wendy made the
lunches (salads with meat and fish) and we were done by 1:15 pm. Enough time to have a snooze and then head
out on the bikes to explore Mudgee.
We rode through the city and out the other side and found a new bike
path so decided to see where it lead us.
Precisely nowhere actually! By
this time the approaching storm was getting closer, now with lightning as
well. The sky was really dark and we
thought we were really going to cop a good one.
Just as we rode back into the van park, there was a huge wind that
almost knocked us over. It wasn't long
after that the rain came. It wasn't very
much rain, but the wind was amazing. We
are parked under a rather large gum tree and we thought for sure that at least
one branch would break off, however, they all held on, thank goodness.
|
Mudgee |
|
Wellington |
Ride: 20 km
Our second sleep in this trip – slept in until 7am!! We had breakfast then went for a ride around the town looking for all the things the map said we should do. First up was the Farmer's Markets where we had a coffee and our own eats. There was nothing really different about this market to all the others, but it was something to see and do. It was then onto the Book Fair where Greg browsed for ages. Wendy browsed for a while then waited outside and read her book – on her iPhone – better than any real book as it fits in one's pocket and can be taken everywhere. The Botanic Gardens was next on the to-do list and it was quite dry but you could tell they have tried to make it appealing.
Walk: 4.5km Drive: 347km After our morning coffee, we went for a walk to stretch the legs. We then had breakfast on the back deck wit...
