Eumungerie, NSW

Waking up in Boorwoa was pretty chilly but once on the road the sun rose it's head and Monday turned into a lovely    t-shirt day. For some reason our water pump wouldn't work in our camper "Myrtle" so we had arranged to call into the Jayco dealer in Dubbo to have it checked out. To our embarrassment it worked perfectly for the caravan guy - must have an air lock!! So anyway we were once again on our way to our free camp for the night. We were unable to find the camp we were looking for so decided to head further north along the Newell Highway. We came across the Eumungerie Recreation Reserve in the tiny village of Eumungerie. With its fees only $5 per night and an extra $5 to have power we quickly decided this was where we would lay our heads for the night. There were only four other vans there so we all had plenty of space. We then spent a lovely evening around the campfire with a few of the other campers exchanging life and travel stories. Yes, we certainly are living the dream. Today we head further north to the mining town of Lightning Ridge. 

Boorowa, NSW

Leaving Batemans Bay and my son and two adorable grandsons O'Shea and Finn was a bit sad this morning.

Not long into our drive we had to tackle the Clyde Mountain, which is a pretty long steep hill to climb while towing Myrtle. I was a bit nervous but we did it easily, the oil temp did rise slightly but all was ok. The rest of the day's drive was through lush green rolling hills. We fully intended to stay the night in a different town but as we drove into the little village of Boorowa it looked so good we decided this was the place for us to spend our night. From what I have read after aboriginal tribes had gone the town was built on with convicts (mainly Irish) who had received their ticket of leave. Apparently at times it was a pretty hard and violent place to live. It is now a charming pastoral town with a deep Irish heritage. We have decided on a caravan park to stay at tonight as it is only $25 for the night. After having a couple of drinks we headed to the local Chinese Restaurant and had a very nice meal. So tomorrow we will be up early to head further north on our journey to the tip of Australia. 

Aussie Adventure Part 3

After a few weeks of getting organised we are finally off on another Aussie Adventure for the third time. This time we are heading north to the tip of Australia - Cape York. We have made a loose itinerary but if this trip is anything like our last two our plans could change and any time. Our first night was spent at a free camp in the north east area of Victoria, Bellbird Creek. We camped behind the Bellbird Hotel in a lush green paddock surrounded buy evergreen trees and other trees covered in glorious Autumn colours. All the owners ask is that you spend some money in the pub, which is not a problem for us!! Waking up to kookaburras, various birds and cows mooing was an enjoyable start to our adventure.

We are now having a couple of nights in Batemans Bay with my son Shane, daughter in law Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea and Finn. Tomorrow we will be heading inland for our 2,643 km journey up to Cairns. 

My Echuca Escape

Echuca is a border town on the banks of the Murray and Campaspe Rivers. Echuca is on the Victorian side of the Murray and it's border sister town in New South Wales is Moama. Situated 215km north of Melbourne and 796km South of Sydney Echuca has a population of around 13000. This trip to Echuca was a sheer indulgence few days. We stayed at Madison Spa Resort which is a very nice accommodation. Our room had a large spa bath, which I took plenty of advantage of and a glorious view of the Australian bush from the huge picture window. Seeing we were staying at a spa resort with a day spa I also felt it my duty to check out the day spa. So I just had to have an hour massage. Might I say it was heaven.  I have been to Echuca many times and each time I find something new. Prior to going I had read about the The Great Aussie Beer Shed and Farm Machinery Museum and thought it might be worth a visit. To both our surprise it was a lot more interesting attraction than we thought. The amount of stuff that was in this shed was totally amazing. There were thousands upon thousand of beer cans, bottles etc. But it wasn't all beer stuff. There was a huge diverse range of soft drink articles, sporting paraphernalia, war artifacts and general Aussie stuff. 

I would really recommend anyone visiting the area definitely checking 

"The Great Aussie Beer Shed and Farm Machinery" out. 

Our room at the Madison Spa Resort

The view from our large picture window

The beautiful Murray River

The Great Aussie Beer Shed and Farm Machinery Museum

A tiny portion of the cans

Dead Mans PennyThe Dead Man’s Penny is a commemorative medallion which was presented to the next-of-kin of the men and women who died during World War One. The bronze medallion features an image of Lady Britannia surrounded by two dolphins (representing Britain’s sea power) and a lion (representing Britain) standing over a defeated eagle (symbolising Germany). Around the outer edge of the medallion are the words ‘He died for freedom and honour’. Next to Lady Britannia is the deceased solider’s name, with no rank provided to show equality in their sacrifice. The Dead Man’s Penny was accompanied by a letter from King George V, stating ‘I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the Great War’.

Old Tatura Police Cell - Circa 1880

Feathers from my Mum

Does anyone feel they get a sign from a loved one who has passed? My Mum left me on a chilly November back in 2007 at 11.11pm. Whenever I see a feather in an unusual place I always know my Mum is with me. And I do see them in some unusual places!! Once I stepped out of the car at a petrol station and this little feather seemed to be following me. As I walked away from this little feather to the other side of the car, I said to myself "OK if this little feather blows under the car to me and touches me I will believe Mum is here with me". Guess what happened next? The little feather blew under the car and touched my little toe. Go figure!!

Feathers I have collected from around Australia that have confronted me in unusual places

Another feather incident that was totally "in my face" was while I was staying at my son Shane's house in Batemans Bay. I was walking through a shopping centre with Shane (partner not son) and my grandson O'Shea. O'Shea spotted a little feather and walked over and plonked his foot on top of it. I didn't take a huge amount of notice until moments later as we walked along a little feather drifted down from the ceiling in front of my face. Now that one made me take a little bit more notice! With that we left the shopping centre and headed out to the riverfront to get some freshly cooked chips. When we returned to the shopping centre some 20 minutes later a very intriguing sight confronted us! As we walked down the corridor we were amazed to see thousands of little feathers on the floor. WTF!! OK I am taking notice now!! I know there are people who will say "That's rubbish, it's just a coincidence". Maybe, but I still believe it's Mum say "I love you and I'm here with you".

Count Down

With only 19 days before Shane and I head off on or 12 month Aussie Adventure, we are now down to doing the last of the organisation. A couple of our first few nights have been booked, a lot of research has been done, the lists have been drawn up of the last minute jobs that need to be done and we are starting to pack up the house ready for Rachel, Luke, Clare and our new baby (due any day now) to move in. I would like to invite everyone to join us on our adventure via my blog updates. I may not be able to update every day due to some places not having Internet coverage but I will get online as often as I can. I  will also be keeping in touch via Facebook, Emails, Phone and Skype. So if you would like my addresses for any of the above please just contact me. I look forward to you joining us and would love some comments either on Facebook or on 53Buddhas.

Our Home for the next 12 months

She now has a name that means a lot to both of us - Myrtle

Home Again

Well our lovely (but hot) week at Yarrawonga has come to and end and we are back home. I may not be online for a few days as we have a very very big couple of days coming up. So tonight I thought I would just share some photos with you.

I Love Farmers Markets. I bought some Sugar Plums from this stand and they are yummy!!

Can't get much fresher than these beautiful tomatoes.

These baby birds hung around our camp all week.
Not sure what breed they are but they were pretty cute and very friendly.

Australian Summer

Since my last update we've had another couple of very enjoyable but very hot days in Yarrawonga. I have always enjoyed our Australian Summers - but as I have gotten older I look forward to our Winters as well.  But I must say the last few days have really tested me. Poor old Yarrawonga have not had a day under 31c (87.8f) since Christmas. But we have had most days around 35c (95f) and on Thursday we had a day with 42c (107.6)!!!! My goodness it was hard to take especially being in our camper.

This was the temperature in the car when we returned after lunch!!!

 So to cope we took ourselves on a day long adventure in the airconditioned car. We travelled to the town Wangaratta. Wangaratta is a city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria about 230 km from Melbourne.
 The original inhabitants of the area were the Pangerang Aborigines who spoke a Gunai language. Many of the Pangerang were killed in the Gippsland massacres. Major Thomas Mitchell was the first European to visit the area, passing on his return to Sydney during his 1836 expedition he made a favourable report of its potential as grazing pasture.
We then headed of to the tiny village of El Dorado, which is home to the Smallest Pub in Victoria - Mc Evoy Tavern. Gold was found in the area during the 1850s. The town's population declined sharply after the area ceased to yield gold. The remains of an old gold dredge can still be seen today.

Remains of old Gold Dredge

Smallest Pub in Victoria

Then onto yet another pub! This one was called The Vine and has an old dirt basement that has a lot of old history of the region. But the main reason we went there was because the basement also has a tunnel that was supposedly once used by our famous Bush Ranger Ned Kelly, to hide out from the law. It's amazing - I am a born and bred Australian but there is so much about this beautiful country I don't know. But I am making that one of my missions for the rest of my life to learn more about why certain towns exist. 



Lunch destination

November Challenge Catch Up

Day 4 - TV
Don't you hate it when even with Pay TV you still can't find anything to watch!!

Day 5 - 5 o'clock
At 5 o'clock today I was wondering why my Black Fish is turning
Gold and getting Googly eyes??

Day 6 - A Favourite Thing
Has to be my Digital Frame - I love having my loved photos there to watch every night.

Day 7 - Reflections
I love the reflections of this tree.


Aussie Adventure Update.

I spent today sorting through my clothes trying to decide -
What stays, What goes and What I am taking with me!!
It has given me a headache!!
 

Breakfast and Wedding

Day 3 the theme is Breakfast.

I am not really that fond of breakfast, I really hate cereal. But I force myself to have something as I know it is the most important meal of the day. My breakfast usually consists of freshly squeezed orange juice and always something spread with good old Vegemite. For those non Aussie's out there or those who have never tasted Vegemite, it is made from concentrated yeast extract and is very black and very salty. Most non converts that I have given it to absolutely hate it. But being Australian it is probably one of the first food experiences we get.

Most Mums steer for Vegemite on toast when their child is a very fussy eater.

 

 

Aussie Adventure Update:

I haven't had a chance to do get into to much today as I am going to a wedding and at 59 it takes me a while to scrub up OK. But I have been researching Tourist Parks for our first 3 nights. I am also excited to have actually booked our first night. All this preparation is making it feel really REAL!!

Colours and Tyres

Day 2 - Colour. Yes the theme for today is Colour, so I thought I would share my favourite colour PURPLE. It hasn't always been my fav colour, when I was younger it was GREEN. Back in my 20's when I got my 1st brand new house I had LIME GREEN carpet. I loved it then but oh my goodness I couldn't handle it now. Why do we choose a certain colour as our favourite... I don't know. But I do know that when I see the colour PURPLE it makes me feel calm. I would love to know what your favourite colour is and how it makes you feel? Why do you think why we are drawn to a certain colour.

Aussie Adventure Update -

Today we had All Terrain Tyres installed onto our car for all the

rugged dirt roads we will end up traveling on.

 

NEWSFLASH: 

Keep visiting because in the next week or so I will be giving away a free prize to one lucky winner.

Welcome November

Day 1 - Something starting with C

Well this was an easy theme today - it just had to be my beautiful granddaughter Clare.

 

We are now counting down the days until we head off on our Aussie Adventure. We will drive out the driveway on January 14th 2013. Our home for the 12 months will be our Jayco Swan Campervan. I spent today tackling some sorting through what I'm taking and whats staying. I am lucky that our van has quite a bit of storage space but I still need to make use of every nook and cranny. Who thought there would be so much to do!! Oh well I will just tackle some more tomorrow.

Days 4 and 5

Good Morning everyone - I didn't get to update last night so I will do both days now. Saturday was once again a long drive but the countryside had change to a lot more trees and hills as we travelled through The Great Dividing Range. We arrived in Tweed Heads (our destination) about 1.30pm and just relaxed until dinner. After the driving, a beautiful meal and a few drinks my bed was yelling out for me. Although I don't mind driving long distances it was nice to wake this morning and not have to jump in the car and head of. So I went for a relaxing walk along the Tweed River and through the mangrove area and now I am considering having a shower. Isn't life great when you really don't HAVE to do anything. Just go with the flow. OK it is now almost bedtime and my day has been lovely and relaxing. So until tomorrow I will bid you all goodnight and remember no matter what is happening in your life, tomorrow do something for yourself - doesn't matter how big or small.

Glen Innes Post Office



Glen Innes Westpac Bank

Glen Innes Streetscape

Glen Innes wide main street

Queensland Sojourn - Day 2

We woke very early this morning so thought we may as well get on the road. Our mission was to drive from West Wyalong to Tamworth, which is 590kms (approx. 366miles) through the countryside of inland New South Wales. As yesterday we went through the charming small Australian country towns, but most of the trip was just the remote countryside. I was looking forward to seeing Tamworth as I had never been here before.  Tamworth is famous for it's Annual Country Music Festival in January. One year we will come up for the festival although we would have to book at least 12 months in advance.  We finally arrived in Tamworth about 3.30pm and I was very surprised at the size of this city which I thought was going to be a lot smaller country town. So now it is 10.15pm, we have been out and had a yummy dinner and my day has just about caught up with me. So it is good night from me until tomorrow.

Queensland Sojourn - Day 1

We are on a mini trip to Queensland to deliver a car to Shanes brother. For those who know the size of Australia might say this is a long way to go for only a couple of days. But it's all an experience and fun. After heading off this morning we weren't very far up the highway and had already seen 6 dead Kangaroos, They just don't have any chance when they are hit by a road train. This journey will take us through quite a few old towns and I love all the old buildings in country towns and they all have at least one good old country pub,

Jerilderie had two great old pubs

 

Parts of the drive consisted of nothing but a long road and flat plains.

This is just before we had a dust storm

The day was starting to get very warm and even though I don't usually eat ice-cream very much when we stopped for petrol I saw these in the fridge and really had to have one.



I haven't had a heart ice-cream for years - they are so creamy

Finally we reached our overnight destination - West Wyalong. We have had a lovely Chinese meal and will probably have an early night ready for another leg of our journey tomorrow.

 

Our little cabin for the night

My Next Adventure

I am feeling a bit better each day and am now starting to think about getting organised for my next adventure. In 6 months Shane and I will be heading of on our 12 month journey around Australia in our campervan. We do not plan to have to much organised, just follow our noses, so to speak. But tonight we sat down an pencilled out our initial preferred destinations. Although I will not have access to the Internet the whole time I intend to use my blog as my journal. I will also be using it as a tool to keep my family and friends up to date as to where we are and to also give my blog follows some examples of some of the beautiful locations in Australia. I am really looking forward to our adventure but will also really miss these two little people. But I intend to fly home now and then for my cuddles.

O'Shea and Mummy have a cuddle.

A kiss for Granny from Clare.

PS Emmylou

Tonight's journal entry is going to be a short one because I am very tired. We didn't get a very restful sleep last night as it poured rain and the gale force winds blew so hard I was sure we would wake up in a different location - but all was well and we survived all but a bit tired. I have already mentioned the paddle steamers in Echuca. Well today Shane and I decided we would go on a lunch/cruise on the PS Emmylou. "The P.S. Emmylou is a Murray River paddlesteamer, driven by a completely restored 1906 steam engine, and built to the highest world classification standards. She was built locally during 1980-82 in the style of the 19th century paddleboats. She is 30 metres long and 10 metres wide, steel hulled and timber decked." We have been on a paddle streamer before but never for 2 hours and have a meal. I must say it was a very enjoyable couple of hours, even though the wind was still pretty gusty it seemed to be sheltered somewhat on the river. The meal we chose was Flathead Tails with chips and salad and it was yummy.

The Murray River has been through many floods and many droughts and the poor old trees have suffered. The roots of the trees had me mesmerised - I could see all sorts of things in them.

After the cruise Shane wanted to visit the Holden Museum. For those non Aussies out there Holden is part of Australia's history with the first model being produced in 1948. I learnt how to drive in a Holden, my first car was also a Holden. But Shane was in Holden heaven, during his life so far he has owned 3 or 4 of the models that were on show. There was one EH Model - 1964 - that he was convinced was his original one. I didn't like to shatter his dreams and tell him that there were probably thousands of this model still around. Thought I would just let him dream.

Tonight we went to the Moama RSL (Returned Serviceman's League) for dinner. Very nice it was too, but I am really going to have to stop eating this much when I get home or I will burst. We head home tomorrow back to normal life - well as normal as my life is anyway!!

The Long Paddock

Today Shane and I decided to be tourists and go on a road trip along part of The Long Paddock. The Long Paddock - I hear you ask - What is the Long Paddock? The current Cobb Highway that runs from Echuca /Moama north to Wilcannia a total of 589kms - one way (approx. 366 miles) follows part of the great network of stock routes that become known as The Long Paddock. All the big and small towns along The long Paddock were originally established as coach changing station for Cobb and Co. Coaches. We decided that our adventure would start in Moama and end in Hay - a total return trip of 404 kms (251 miles). We headed off at around 8.00am and a very cold foggy morning greeted us. Our first stop was a toilet stop in Mathoura and at I must say the prettiest public toilets I have ever seen. The inside walls were all painted with lovely murals created by the local art group and local school. I didn't get a photo as I didn't have my camera or IPhone with me as I wasn't expecting to use it in the loo!! Then it was onto Deniliquin, this town sprung up at a favoured spot on the Edward River where drovers forded or swam their stock across on their long journey. The area was originally inhabited by the Wamba Wamba nation of indigenous people. After another toilet stop, a yummy breakfast and some photo taking it was back on the road again.

The next tiny location was Pretty Pine - all this location consisted of was a pub - that wasn't open on Mondays - not that we wanted a beer, it was just a little early. Then it was onto Wanganella which didn't even have a pub but it's claim to fame is the introduction to the world the famous Australian Peppin Merino (sheep known for it's high grade wool).

On another 36kms (22 miles) we travelled through another one and only pub location called Booroorban. The hotels Headless Horseman bar is named after the legend associated with the area. Drovers around the black swamp in the middle of the 19th century told of a horseman who appeared suddenly at a campsite, mounted on a horse, a cloak but no head.

Our final destination was the town (or maybe it is classed as a City) of Hay. I have fond memories of this town. As a little girl I travelled up there a few times with my parents to visit my Dads best friend - David Davies - whom I just happened to be named after. Uncle David and his wife Auntie Biddy owned the Hay Caravan Park and while I was there it was my job to serve people when they came into the little shop. It made me feel as I was so grown up - but I wasn't. After a look around town and some lunch we headed for Shear Outback, which is a sheep shearing museum and also The Shearing Hall of Fame. I would thoroughly recommend that any travellers visit this attraction as it was very interesting.

Then it was back home to our little camper in Echuca. We have just had dinner and it is raining outside, so what better thing to do than write my blog.