Trekkin

15/5/2022 – Sunday – 145km

A sleep-in this morning as our group departed at 9.15am on the Bridle Track & Bluff Lookout drive. We turned out of Melrose along the Surveyor’s Road on a little stretch of bitumen until it turned into a good dirt road. We followed this fairly good road along for a while with wheat & sheep properties on either side, it is very dry. We then turned onto the Bridle Track, a less well maintained track with five gates along its length. The Bridle Track is a little less well maintained as it traverses private land & we were advised to engage low range. The track got a lot steeper & eventually we reached the highest point of the track with great views over the Spencer Gulf & Port Germain, with Port Pirie to the south & Whyalla over the gulf. The next section of the track was a rough & steep downhill section with some big washouts. We engaged downhill descent control & let the car do all the work of braking each wheel & engaging a low gear, I only did the steering. Each car came down the steep descent by itself in case anything went wrong with a descent. All cars made it safely through & the rest of the track was steep, but the road was generally in better condition.

We drove into Port Germain, once the busiest port in Australia in the 1800s with wheat exports, however, the wharf & goods shed are the only reminders of that era. We have morning tea in what was an old sandstone hotel near the wharf, but do not have time to walk the 1.2km out the wharf. There are a few relics of the shipping days on display & we have a walk around looking at these, including a unique clock faced tide gauge. The displays were very interesting & informative.  Next we drive up the Port Germain Gorge from a different perspective than a couple of days ago, just as beautiful as the narrow road twisted up the narrow gorge, some of the trees have beautiful shapes as time & fires have added character to them.

At the site of the old Gorge Hotel, built in 1888, though now a ruin with trees growing through what is left of the structure, we stop for a look & rest. Next we turn off to the Bluff Lookout, another steep road, however this is in far better condition with bitumen on the steepest part to the top. The views from the Bluff lookout are sensational, though now we are halfway between Port Germain & Port Pirie. The native vegetation at the top shows good fresh growth after the bushfires from a few years ago. At the base of the mountain we stop at the old nursery that was used to raise seedlings for planting into the depleted forest areas. The nursery is another derelict reminder of a past age.

Next we are back to Wirrabara for a late lunch at the bakery & another look at the silo art, this time we are shown where to find a head hidden amongst the art. We drive from here across to Appila, stopping for a mob of sheep to come onto the road, they get frightened back into the paddock unfortunately for the farmers. We drive through the township of Boolaroo Centre before getting back to camp in Melrose around 4pm, 145 Km mostly rough road driving.  We only stay a short time at happy hour by the fire.  A big day, but a good one.

14/5/2022 – Saturday –

This morning we caught up with our Kimberley Kamping neighbours, downhill from Batemans Bay & uphill from Sydney, chatting with all four for a fair while. Off for a walk to town next through the showground then along a path through a sheep paddock following the bone dry Willochra Creek. There are lots of very old & character filled large gum trees along the track, with some wild olive trees growing here & there. The walk was very pleasant & we quickly warmed up & had to take our coats off. The nights are cold & we certainly appreciate our doona but the days are beautiful sunny 20 – 23C. In town we walked to the Jacka Brewery for lunch & a Remarkable Ale. It was very pleasant sitting next to a fire pit sharing a meal & chatting with fellow Kimberley people that happened to be there as well.

After lunch we walked to the Melrose Museum, situated in the old Police Station & Courthouse building. The museum is very well presented with a focus on policing & court activities in the main building with the other outbuildings presenting different aspects of farming life & the history of Melrose. The display of farming equipment & machinery was well presented. We spent a few hours here wandering through before walking back to camp. 

Time just went so quickly that we didn’t have time to see two other places we wanted to go to.  Maybe tomorrow after our drive out into the country.  We walked 7.8Km today.

Tonight was the group dinner & we sat with some people we had not met before, so that was nice chatting to them over dinner. One of the ladies actually lived in Richardson, not far from our place when it was just being established, her kids went to the same school our son went to, we filled her in all the different things about her old street & Canberra in general. The local show society catered for dinner & did a great job providing meals for around 150 people with chicken & lamb on the menu for the main course followed by lovely ice cream & apple crumble. During dinner was a slideshow of previous Kimberley gatherings followed by a presentation on the next planned gathering in the Northern Territory next year. This was followed by a talk by the owner of Kimberley Kampers & he spoke about what they have done & are doing with the Kimberley range, very informative.  A very pleasant day.

13/5/2022 – Friday – 154km

Up early & off on a group drive around the Melrose area with 9 cars in our group. We drive off along on lots of isolated dirt roads travelling the back country. One of the highlights was the Port Germain Gorge, a narrow scenic road twisting down through deep ravines with some magnificent looking gum trees & sheer cliff faces. We then drove along the foot of the ranges, along appropriately named, Scenic Road, with views west to Spencer’s Gulf over Port Germain & Port Pirie with Whyalla on the distant coast. Climbing back up the ranges on more dirt roads we visited Beetaloo Reservoir, built in the 1880s and at the time was the largest concrete dam in the southern hemisphere. The picnic area at the base of the reservoir is very pleasant and we stop for morning tea here. On the road again with a stop at Laura lookout, overlooking Laura & the surrounding wheat farming countryside for miles around.

Down to Laura & onto the bitumen, driving through the old village of Stone Hut, established in the 1850s, before stopping at Wirrabura (est. 1874). The bakery got a heavy influx of customers with two Kimberley drive groups converging on them, around 50 additional customers. They were busy. Tereza & I sampled the pies whilst chatting with some others in the group. Next it was off to see the silo art in town, absolutely stunning painting on the old silos, very well done. The detail on the painting is extraordinary. Back to camp at Melrose, afternoon tea then off to happy hour again.  We cooked some fish, rice & a nice salad washed down with a good wine.  Another great day.

12/5/2022 – Thursday –

We slept well, lovely & cosy under our eiderdown doona but woke to a cold foggy morning.  After breakfast I wander over to register & pay.  The day is a beautiful sunny 19C by now. We drive into town & have a walk around looking at the beautiful old stone houses. We found the one & only grocery store where we bought a loaf of bread & some fruit. We have a delicious lunch in the old stone North Star Hotel which was built in 1854. Inside the building it has very high ceilings with old wool bags lining it and stone walls, the tables were slabs of redgum. A rustic charming place. We drive around town, though we could have walked as the town is very small, to admire the few old buildings, the Jacka Brewery is a standout, around 4 stories high & a lovingly restored former flour mill. An unusual sight outside the Anglican Church in Church Street is a massive old tree with one lane of the road going around each side of it.

We then drive out towards Wilmington & up into the Mount Remarkable National Park to Alligator Gorge, a very pretty drive through the Remarkable Ranges. The two lookouts over the gorge are worth going to, the views are great & the scenery stunning.

It is then another half hour back to the camp at Melrose where we join the gathering around the campfire, meeting new people & renewing old friendships. They are certainly a very friendly group of people. We are some of the last to leave.  Back at our caravan I have some cheese & bikkies with a glass of red before bed.

11/5/2022 – Wednesday – 749km

Around 7.45am just as it got light we departed Pevensey and continued across the Hay Plain in light rain through Balranald and crossed the Murray River at Euston before continuing to Mildura and refuelling. After crossing the South Australian border we were stopped at Yamba for a quarantine inspection for fruit with our car & caravan both being searched. We heard of some fellow travellers who thought they had binned all their fruit & were fined $400 when two lemons were found. A short while later we stopped at Renmark for lunch. There are a large number of grape vineyards & citrus farms on both sides of the road between Mildura & Renmark.  Not long after Renmark we turned off the main highway to Adelaide towards Mount Morgan then Burra. Once in the Flinders Ranges we passed forests of wind turbines, all busily spinning & providing power for South Australia, there are hundreds of these machines lining the tops of the ranges. We continued to Melrose at the foot of the Remarkable Ranges, our camp for the next week. Melrose is the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges, established in 1848. 

The Melrose Showground is packed with around 70 Kimberley Karavans and we arrive around 5pm & drove past a large gathering around a big fire having a few drinks & nibbles. A scary sight to see so many people as we have been avoiding large groups for months now, or is it years, because of the Covid and Tereza especially being vulnerable to picking up the virus. We head off to find a spot for us to set up. It is dark by the time we are finished, so time for a shower, a bite to eat then bed, so tired after nearly 10 hours of driving nearly 750 kilometres. It didn’t take long to nod off.

10/5/2022 – Tuesday – 558km

We departed at 13.22pm after lunch & headed off towards Melrose in South Australia, the annual Kimberley Karavan Owner Group get together. After refuelling in Yass we turned off the main highway to Bowning & Binalong, then Harden, Temora & Griffith. The driving was very nice through the rural farming areas with an overcast sky. 

At a small locality called Kamarah on the Burley Griffin Way, before Griffith, Tereza & I got the fright of our lives, a small car drove from a side road onto our lane of the highway & stopped when they saw us. In our lane. We were travelling at around 100km/hr. I stamped on the brakes, locked the caravan wheels up & there was the squealing of burning tyres & smoke everywhere as I tried to avoid a collision. Luckily, the driver was smart enough to reverse & I managed to just miss the front of the car as I went past. Otherwise we would have been straight into the driver’s door of the car, it was that close. The adrenaline rush caused our hearts to beat a lot faster for a long time afterwards, it certainly shook us up. The rest of the drive to Griffith was uneventful & we stopped for a meal in Griffith before continuing to Hay in the dark & stopping overnight about 20km west of Hay at the Pevensey Rest Area with about 6 trucks & 4 other caravans.

Day 105 – Monday 1st November 2021 – 325 Km

We were up at daylight & started organising & packing the van. There was ice on the car windscreen, we are not used to it being cold, we haven’t been this cold since we left Canberra in July. It is hard to believe we will be home today. The drive out from the farm on the dirt road was very slow, I don’t want to risk another puncture as we only have a skinny spare now.  There is not a lot of traffic on the road all the way to Canberra. The fields are all green and the crops all look very lush. We stop just outside of Hall to stretch our legs & look at an interesting sculpture at the rest stop, it is made from parts of wrecked cars & was made to remind people about the tragic loss associated with road accidents.

We reach home around 2pm & are amazed by the flowers out the front of our house. The back garden is just as pretty, but the grass needs mowing, even though our neighbour kindly mowed it a couple of times & the weeds are out of control. Our vegetable garden is a real jungle, so lush and vigorous.

We are pleased to be home, but sad also that our wonderful holiday is over. We travelled a total of 16,382 kilometres through NSW, then Queensland, the Northern Territory all the way to Darwin then back into Queensland again & up as far as Cooktown.  We managed to avoid any issues or lockdowns associated with Covid & did not have to wear a mask at all over the last 3 months. We timed our journey back to Canberra to coincide with the lifting of quarantine requirements.

There are so many amazing places, things to do, scenery to see, experiences to enjoy in this amazing country. We had such a nice time and have been to lots of beautiful places most people only see on photos, if at all. It was such a joy & pleasure to share this all with Tereza.

I must add that in this adventure Ron has been the brains, he planned & researched places we went to, I was the “agree-er”. Ron was the driver, I was the passenger/travelling companion. Ron was my carer who helped me cross creeks, rough up & down tracks, steep steps in to gorges, most of all he looked after me so lovingly when I wasn’t feeling well.  We enjoyed many sun rises, sun sets & beautiful places & food.  Our holiday ended up longer than planned, I missed home, family & friends, but it was the greatest 24/7 together.

Until our next adventure, a fond farewell.

Day 103 & 104 – Saturday & Sunday 30th & 31^st October 2021 – 0 Km

A slow start this morning, we slept in after the big day yesterday. We were shown around the house garden & all the additions since we were last here. They have been very busy with making new garden beds & planting lots of flowers. Julie & Tereza went to a garage sale & were admiring the beautiful flowering gardens in Orange. Chris then took me on a tour of the farm on the Kubota side by side, a very versatile small farm 4×4. We first had a drive around the Angus cows with their calves & checked that they all looked OK, as well as the two Wagyu bulls. They are certainly a magnificent looking herd of cattle & all feeding in lots of vigorous green grass. The creek is flowing nicely & the farm looks a picture. We then drove right out to the back of the farm & had a look at the pregnant heifers & checked they were all OK. Julie made us a delicious lunch & in the afternoon Tereza & Julie had a drive around the farm & looked at the cattle & the cutest little calves. Julie made a delicious dinner & afterwards we played a board game until late.

Sunday morning Chris & I went down to a creek fence crossing to retrieve some swing logs & drag them back up to the house. This small job took all morning before it was off into Orange for lunch at a garden centre café. On with the face masks, something we have not had to do when we have been in the Northern Territory & Queensland. The lunch was good, then next stop was the gelataria for the necessary ice cream. Chris then took us out to a vineyard on the slopes of Mount Canobolas that looked a treat & has function areas for wine tastings, meals & weddings. They are very diversified & the view is great, looking down over the vineyards & farmlands. Next we went to the summit of Mount Canobolas, 1,395 metres high with 360 degree views of Orange & the surrounding district. There is lots of evidence of the heavy snowfalls experienced during winter with lots of broken branches & fallen trees from the weight of the snow. There are lots of beautiful old houses in Orange with well cared for gardens & big trees & very tidy streetscapes. The city is booming with lots of houses being built in new subdivisions.

That afternoon Chris lights the firepit & we sit outside watching the sun slowly fade while eating cheese & bikkies & enjoying a glass or two of red. The cattle come up to the fence to check us out, they are a curious lot. The farm is as pretty as a picture. Another great meal from Julie, some more wine & port & early to bed. A great weekend.

Day 102 – Friday 29th October 2021 – 758 Km

An early start is planned for packing & leaving, however, it is raining, so we take a bit longer as it is no fun getting wet when you are going inside & outside so much in the rain. We eventually get away at around 8.10am on the road towards Orange. It is raining all the way to Mungindi & we take things very easy, there is a lot of water over the road. We travel past lots of large wheat fields & cotton fields, most of the wheat is harvested. At Thallon we have a look at the wheat silos with magnificent large murals, there are lots of big wheat trucks lined up outside waiting to unload.  At Mungindi there is a police roadblock from NSW into Queensland at the bridge over the Barwon River that splits the town for Covid checks.

From Mungindi to Moree the countryside is very flat with more wheat & cotton & a few wheat silos at the small towns we pass through. It is now dry & the driving is a lot easier, as we enter Moree there is a big collection of horse floats outside the racecourse waiting for the gates to open. The bypass around Moree is welcome & we only stop at a few traffic lights. From Moree south the countryside becomes green and the land use turns to wheat crops & cattle grazing. The next big town is Narrabri & as we cross the Namoi River we turn off into the riverside park & eat the lunch that Tereza made this morning. It is good to stretch our legs as well as it is now around midday & we have been driving around 4 hours.

After Narrabri it is not long before we are driving through the Pilliga scrub, a very large remnant forest that has been preserved from land clearing. The next large town is Coonabarabran & we pass slowly through town & around 20km south of town we turn off the Oxley Highway towards Mendooran along the Mendooran Road. Here we turn left onto the Castlereagh Highway then Google maps take us down a small road called Cobbora Road. This road is bitumen for around 10km then it becomes dirt, good at first with a few potholes before becoming fairly rocky & there are not that many houses that we see.

Then we get a puncture & I pull the car up straight away, we are only travelling at around 50km/hr. I take the spare wheel down then get out the jack & wheel brace. I cannot shift the wheel nuts, they are stuck tight. A car coming the other way stops for us & asks if he can help, they live on a farm just a short way up the road & can bring some tools back if needed.  Then another car heading our way stops & offers to help, he has the tools, including a rattle gun for undoing wheel nuts. The rattle gun is large & powerful & doesn’t shift any of the wheel nuts. What now, he pulls out a long & large wheel spanner & stands on it, thankfully the wheel nuts reluctantly move & we get the wheel off. The puncture is so large that the stone is inside the tyre & has damaged the alloy rim in a number of places. To get the new wheel on we need to dig a small hole in the dirt road under the wheel then lever the wheel up with the shovel to put the wheel bolts on. This kind man then also helped pack the old tyre away & stayed with us as we drove on the dirt road the rest of the way to the bitumen road in case we had another flat tyre. All good & we waved him off as we turned onto the Golden Highway towards Wellington. Thank goodness this very nice good Samaritan came along.  No one else came along on the road other than these two cars all the time we were there.

It is 7pm when we pull into the fuel station in Wellington after 641km of driving & 11 hours. It is another 117km & 8.30pm when we pull into Low Ponds outside of Orange, the property of our good friends. They were worried what had happened to us.  The phone battery had gone flat so that I could not call to let them know where we were. They had waited on us for dinner & served up a delicious meal before we dropped into bed exhausted. It was a big day of driving, a total of 758km today. A tiring day.

Day 101 – Thursday 28th October 2021 – 168 Km

An early start at 6.20am as we wanted to beat the heat to walk along the shores of the Balonne River at St George.  We parked on St Georges terrace near the boat ramp & children’s playground then walked along the great pathway towards the combined bridge & weir alongside stands of big River Red Gums full of birdlife. The air was warm with a slight wind as we crossed the Balonne highway over to Cavanaugh Park to look at the monument to Mitchell, the explorer that crossed the river at a natural rock ford here & gave the site the name of St George as it was St George’s Day (23^rd April) when he found it. There is also a great sculpture of a Murray Cod, the largest fish species found in the river here. After our walk it was time for breakfast & we headed to the St George Bakery in the main street around 7.30am, it was already 27C. It was surprisingly busy with locals popping in & out all the time. The bakery opens at 5 am.

After breakfast it was 8.30am & the Visitor Information Centre around the corner was open & we popped in there & chatted to the two very helpful ladies regarding some things to do today around St George. They made some suggestions so we planned our day around that. First up we drove over the Balonne River then turned & drove alongside the other side of the river for around 6km to see an old historic house called “The Anchorage”. It is a beautiful 2 story house built around 1903 & the current owners have restored it & rejuvenated the gardens, but it is up for sale again.

Back into town & we followed the self-drive discovery tour of St George looking at some of the historic buildings around town, some were nice & interesting, others not so much. The avenue of Jacaranda trees in full purple flower leading to the hospital is stunning with a carpet of fallen flowers underneath adding to the scenery. St George has a lot of Jacaranda trees scattered throughout the town.

We then headed out the highway & turned off to Beardmore Dam, a very large water storage facility for the irrigation industry around St George.  The gardens & parks around the base of the dam are very well kept & look a real picture with a few lazy kangaroos in the shade resting. There is plenty of birdlife around here as well with so much water around, a flock of spoonbills were enjoying the place.

For the next part of our little adventure we drove around 45km south to Nindigully for lunch at the infamous Nindigully Pub, the oldest licensed pub in Queensland, established in 1864. The outside of the pub is very typical old outback Queensland style with a long veranda out the front. Inside the bar is quirky & different, with money pinned to the roof & old felt hats from different identities around the farming district on display & labelled.  The dining room is also old with lots of interesting photos on the wall & the floors are very uneven. Outside is just as quirky, with chandeliers hung at the outside table shelters. The food was legendary, so we ordered only one meal to share, a seafood platter, absolutely delicious. The chips were some of the best we have tasted as well. After lunch we wandered over to the Moonie River & had a read on some of the sign boards about the history of the area & the types of trees, birds, fish & animals that are common around Nindigully. Nindigully was once a thriving village with a Cobb & Co. changeover station, post & telegraph office, store, school & the large pub of course. Now it is just the pub, it is popular with travellers as it offers free camp sites along the Moonie River. Did I mention it was hot, 40C today.

The drive back into St George was interesting alongside vast fields of wheat & cotton with corresponding irrigation channels & dams. Back in town we stopped at the Unique Egg Shop, this shop has an amazing collection of hand carved emu eggs. The emu eggs have all been hand-carved by a Greek man called Stavros & they are amazingly detailed & intricate. Most of the eggs have a small light inside them & mirrors behind to display the detail of the eggs. He is certainly an exceptional artist utilising the eight to ten layers in the green egg shells to create the designs. Apparently even the White house in the U.S.A. has one.

The Riversands Vineyards is next on the agenda, a winery on the outskirts of St George that have a cellar door tasting bar & gardens. We were the only people there so we had the undivided attention of the young English girl behind the bar giving us tastes & explanations of all the varieties on offer. We indulge & taste just about all that they make, some are very nice indeed so we end up buying a case of some of the wines & liquors. The wines are all made from the grapes grown on site. Roberto from Sardinia carried the box out to the car & we had a nice chat with him as well.

Back to the van & it was time for washing & attaching the car to the van for an early departure tomorrow. Tereza had a swim in the heated (it wasn’t hot at all, very pleasant) aqua therapy pool, did I mention it was 41C outside?

It feels sad to leave Queensland, we had such wonderful times here. A beautiful & interesting place.  We had all the freedom to go anywhere without masks & the fear of the dreaded Covid 19.  Canberra has opened its border to most parts of NSW we have to travel through so we can go home, without having to spend 14 day quarantine & 2 negative Covid tests.  We have been missing our family, friends & home.

No dinner tonight as we had so much for breakfast & then lunch, though we did manage to share a delicious bee-sting from the bakery for a light supper. Another great day.