Gidday all,

The weather report said the next few days were going to be wet. So down the track we came to a high spot and pulled up and made camp.

There were a few showers, but the wind was worse, blowing and gusting for two days. Not good for traveling, so we hunkered down and waited it out. Friday morning it was a still and clear sky, had breakfast and were on our way.

 

A number of ks up the track we came to the ruins of a railway workers accommodation, a relic from the original Ghan railway. Some rooms fairly intact, except for the roof, so we set up a kitchen complete with fireplace.

 

 

 

It was a good place to do the repairs to the damaged spring, so the next day we jacked up the wagon and supported it on timber which was conveniently lying about. All went smoothly and had it replaced quickly.

Spent two days there and caught up on washing and showers as well, what a great camp.

Time to move on, so packed up in the morning and re-joined the track up the line.

Another three days and we should be in Leigh Creek. A bus of school kids pulled up while we were camped at the ruins and asked Deb if she would visit the school with the camels. So that should be good.

 

Gidday all,

Camp 5 along the rail line, a rain shower over the flinders ranges produced a rainbow which looked wonderful.

 

During the day we came to a nasty washout with a deep trench at the bottom. As we were ahead of Deb I called up on the hand held uhf to Deb about it, she intended to take it slow but as the camels approached they decided to speed up and took it at a jog. The wagon hit the bottom and bounced over with a bang. After an inspection a bent rear spring was discovered. Pulled up for the night and wired a bar on it for support.

 

Job done and camp set up.

 

Pancakes for breakfast, then back on the road .

Two more days and arrived at Parachilna, a railway siding with a pub and not much else.

As we rolled in we noticed a small 4wd wreck in a paddock, mental note taken. I climbed onto the wagon to man the brake and Deb led the camels and rolled on past the pub with some locals out front taking photos. As we passed Deb asked one if this was a thirsty camel pup, but I think the joke went over his head.

Found a camp and next day went to check out the 4wd wreck. The two back springs were intact, so we got to work removing them. No one was about, so no one objected.

Will pull up in the next few days and do the repairs to the spring.

The track was sandy and the wind was blowing, so it was slow going for the camels today. Still they made nearly nine ks. Not bad as they will do up to fifteen on a good day. Just our speed, you can really get a feel for the country and notice a lot more than if you race through.

Made camp at an old stone built water tank beside the track. We had come to a gate earlier that had a sign which read, no access trespassers prosecuted, but carried on through, as it was too far to go back. After we made camp a 4wd came along, it was the manager of the property we were on. He was very friendly and didn’t mind that we were traveling through.

 Had a good yarn and he told us of the government plans of building a nuclear waste dump on land just before his land for French nuclear waste.  All Australians should protest and stop this.

 

He also told us it was going to rain tomorrow starting at 4am. Cooked a meal and went to bed as usual, woke to the patter of rain and looked at the clock and sure enough it was 4am. Joked about it amongst ourselves all day.

The rain, or showers lasted all next day which made the track too boggy to travel on so we stayed in camp and reorganized our gear and had a tidy up.

 Cooked up some pancakes with Tassie berries and cream, doing it tough.

 

A mob of emus visited the camp, came really close and checked us out.

 

The duck climbed a sand dune to survey the road ahead. Ended up staying another three days waiting for the road to dry out.

 

Gidday all,

After a couple of days in camp and some overcast and rainy weather, we got word the other camel we were expecting would be delayed for probably a week. So decided to move on the next day as the weather had improved.

 Did some miles, Deb was happy with the camels settling into a steady pace as Coco, the female was a bit too eager first up after a few days rest. Made camp next to the road, and in the morning a local, who had heard we were coming through, pulled up and had a chat. After leaving a bale of hay, he was on his way.

 

Off we went, and he again caught up with us with a young French traveller who was working with him and was very interested in the camels. After a good chat and a ride up the road, they were off.

 

Found the rail line and turned right to follow it along the service track. Another good day traveling and made camp.

 

Next day, Sunday, after listening to Australia all over on the radio, Deb moved off and we stopped off at a rock pool to fill up with some water.

 

 Pretty flat country and good going. Great views of the Flinders Ranges in the distance, what great camps we have had.

Gidday all,

Headed off on a side road which would eventually put us on the railway line to Leigh Creek. The line is not in use as they shut down the coal mine at Leigh Creek not so long ago. Hopefully a reasonable service track runs beside it.

Went ahead to check the road we were on, quite a few rolling hills for the camels to pull up and over but not too steep. There was one with a long decent, so after a few more ks on flat ground we turned back to check on Deb and the camels progress.

As we approached the troublesome hill Deb was stopped at the top, camels had bauked at the decent and Deb didn’t trust the brake on the wagon to try it alone. To make things worse a tyre had gone flat on the rear of the wagon. So after some discussion it was decided to hook up to the truck with the camels at the back of the wagon and ease it down the hill.

Out came the air compressor and the offending tyre was pumped up for the ride. About three ks up the road was some flat ground and a set of sheep yards next to a small creek, so we carried on at walking pace to there.

Once there, a kettle was boiled and smoko was had, then off with the wheel and the tube out and patched. The split rim on the wheel took some persuading to come off, but eventually it did and all went well.

The Camels looked on and joked amongst themselves about getting the afternoon off.

 

While camped Deb got word the other camel she was waiting for would be delivered in the next day or so. So we stayed at the camp and waited for them to arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gidday all,

Had a day pulled up to organize the camel wagon a bit better and give the camels a good feed. The wind decided to blow all day so not much was done, so we stayed another day when the wind stopped. Got it all done.

 

Even could have a camp fire and cooked pizza on the coals, who needs an oven.

Beautiful night sky and good food who could ask for more.

 

May be out of mobile coverage in the next few days as we go off to find the old Ghan line service track to travel on to go further north toward Leigh Creek.

On the road heading north from Hawker. Did some scouting ahead to find some tracks off the hiway for the camels, wanted to avoid traveling on the bitumen and traffic. Found some tracks but had to go along the bitumen for a few ks to get to them, so we followed with hazard lights to warn the trucks. A few cars slowed down and took photos

 

, finally came to the side track and did some miles then found a nice campsite and pulled up.

 

 

 

 

                                                            Full moon tonight in the Flinders ranges.

 

 

 

 

                                                               Wonderful sunrises here.   

Did the big push and made some miles. Through Mildura and on to Renmark, camped on the Murray River between Renmark and Berrie where the juces come from. Then off to Peterborough where we stocked up with fruit and veg which we couldn’t bring through the fruit fly zone into S.A. Contacted our friends with the camels and said we would meet them in Hawker.

Arrived in Hawker in the afternoon and soon found where they were camped near the racecourse

 

The afternoon was spent with nibbles and champagne from Tassie to celebrate their birthdays which are only some days apart.

 The camels watched on looking down their noses at us with the Flinders Ranges in the background.

 

Gidday all,

We made it across Bass Strait, boarded the boat and checked out the room then went out on deck to farewell Tasmania. The air was cold but the water was calm, we were still tied up to the dock. Finally got under way, the ship slowly turned around in the river, well done, not much room to spare between the two banks. We watched the lights of Devonport go by and slowly fade, then we hit the open sea and the rock and roll started, and I don’t mean the on board entertainment. Din went a bit white and I half carried her to the cabin where she lay down and stayed that way till morning.

You could really feel the ship rolling through the night but it was relatively smooth compared to the last couple of weeks. Last week a semi trailer rolled over on the boat with the wild weather. Lucky we picked this week to cross.

Now we are about half way up Vic. At lake Tyrrell, about 200k from Mildura. Camped up for the night. No photos yet, too busy getting away from Melbourne. Will be in S.A. soon.

Gidday all,

The time has come, the autumn leaves are falling and the rain and cold are starting as winter creeps in. All packed up and moved out of the gingerbread house, will visit our mate on the Forth River for our last day then board the boat to the mainland on Tuesday.

Experienced the best and worst of Tassie this summer, with the big dry and shrinking water levels in all the lakes, making locals worried, and catastrophic fires in ancient forests, to the peace and seclusion of the gingerbread house in the magnificent Myrtle Forrest of Loongana. Now the winter rains have started, hope they continue.

Our next adventure awaits. Hope to meet up with friends near Hawker in S.A. and tag along with them and their camels towards Lake Ayer and Birdsville. Oh, then we might pop off to home for a bit, just to make sure it’s still there.

Anyway, will catch up with some photos and updates later,

 The longest journey starts with the first step.

 

                                                  the gingerbread house, our summer retreat

                                                    grandson enjoying Tassie

                                                                              lit up the bath

 

 

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gidday all,

Spent the last week touring the east coast of Tassie with our Qld. Friend, showing her our favourite parts. The time has gone fast and so much more to see. From the far northeast tip at Little Muscleroe Bay down to Hobart, we have done it all, well, what we could with the time we had.

 The highlight, for me was the boat ride down at the Tasman Peninsula.

 

We came across a huge pod of dolphins feeding in a bay. They jumped and frolicked all around the boat and were around for as far as you could see. Such a privilege to be there at that moment.

Now it’s back to the gingerbread house for the last week of her stay. We will do some day trips from there around the northern surrounds.

 

 

Gidday all,

The time has come to load up the camper again and head off to meet up with our friend who flys into Lonny on Sunday. First off to Forth, will spend the night with our local mate on the river, then maybe do some last minute shopping in Ulverstone in the morning, then head towards Launceston.

There’s a caravan and camping expo on in Launceston on the weekend, so we may go and have a look while we wait for Sunday arvo. Can’t wait to catch up with our Qld mate and go touring the Tassie east coast, then back to the mountains of Loongana. Stay tuned for more updates.