Gidday all,

 

From Cethena to St. Helens.

After a drive back to the coast along the winding mountainous roads, we spent a couple of days stocking up on supplies and considering our next move.

Having enjoyed the solitude of the last week, we contacted another Tassie friend and he said we were welcome to camp up on his empty block on the river just out of Forth.

 

 The holidays were over and most were preparing for back to school and work, which meant less crowded roads and camp spots. Maybe a good time to move to another favourite spot over on the east coast. So, on the road again. First leg of the journey took us to Evendale, a sweet little village just south of Launceston. You can overnight in the local park, a wonderful little place. They hold an annual penny farthing race in the town, haven’t seen it yet but it would be interesting.

Heading north east past Launceston and into the ranges along more winding mountainous roads, passed through Scottsdale where we stopped for a pie and look through the local thrift shop where we picked up a warm hoodie and got the usual comment that it was summer, but we are used to that. Then on to Branxholm and Derby. Turning north a little further on and on to Gladstone, then to the northern tip.

Despite the holidays being over there was a couple of campers at our spot. We found an out of the way part and parked up. The weather was not particularly kind to us the next few days, Intermittent drizzle and blowing winds, which isn’t surprising as there is a wind farm not far away. Usually it’s nice there. Stuck it out for another few days then decided to move on.

 Back to the highway, really a narrow winding two lane road, onward to Pyengana and camped at the recreation grounds there. Main reason for going there was it had showers, an anticipated luxury compared to the usual bucket bath.

While there we had a lunch at the Pub in the Paddock down the road. It has a resident, beer swilling pig, and you can buy him a beer, which is watered down leftovers. After our rejuvenating showers and tasty pub lunch we move on towards St. Helens.

 

 

 

 

When in town we found the Laundromat and scouted about town as our cloths washed. After smoko at a local café we filled the water tanks and headed for a campground on the coast not far away near Binalong bay.A bit windy and overcast for the first couple of days but then it calmed down and the sun came out and with it the local wildlife. We were visited by some wallabies, and a number of birds. Also one night I was woken by a noise and when I shone the torch into the kitchen area, saw a possum picking through the rubbish bag. With a few well-chosen words I convinced it to leave and promptly shut the door.

The time had come to choose the next destination, with the motto of don’t be afraid to give it a go, and our adventurous spirit, we set our sights on Flinders Island, besides we haven’t been there before.

 

 

 

Lake Cethena, a man-made lake on the Forth River, created to feed a chain of hydro power stations positioned upstream and downstream. The small community of Lorinna nearby is home to a few people. It lies between Devonport on the coast and Cradle Mountain inland.

We made our way to the lake on the Thursday, because we knew the road in was narrow and winding along the hill sides above the lake and didn’t want to come across traffic coming the other way on our way in. The weekend would possibly be busier. Rod had assured us no one would be camping there this weekend and when we arrived at the campground it was deserted, just as we like it. The lake greeted us as we turned the last corner with a scattering of long drowned trees reaching out of the water away from the shoreline, a reminder that there was a forested valley there before it was flooded to create the lake. It was an overcast, drizzly day and the raindrops speckled the surface of the water, with the low clouds hugging the hills on the other side of the lake it was one of the many faces of Tasmania we have come to know and love.

 

Looking around we picked out a flat piece of ground and parked up then climbed into the back to relax and wait for the drizzle to stop. Next day the sun came out and the birds and wild life in the surrounding forest welcomed us to our new temporary home. Just before lunch a couple of 4x4s turned up and headed around the shoreline to set up camp then another one turned up towing a trailer loaded with four wheeler motorbikes and kids looking very excited. Not long after, another 4x4 with a camper on the back pulled up. We will have the campsite all to ourselves Rodney had said, no one goes there he said, it was starting to get populated.

Rod turned up later that arvo towing the boat, and after a bit of ribbing him about the peaceful camp, set up his camp. He and his mates son, who had come with him, set about putting the tinnie into the lake. Rod backed the trailer into the water and his mate pushed the boat off, no one grabbed the rope attached to the boat and so it gently floated out into the lake with both of them looking at, and blaming each other for the runaway boat. Rod won in the end and the other had to go for a cool swim in the icy water to retrieve the runaway tinnie. The weekend was off to a flying start.

 

The morning had been peaceful enough but the afternoon progressed into a barrage of kids racing back and forth on their motorbikes and the camp on the other side cranking up the music, which wasn’t too bad except for the slim dusty and hank Williams songs slipped in every couple of tracks. The people were friendly enough and we decided to go with the flow of the celebrations of the weekend.

Early next morning Rod woke me up announcing the young fella was going to take me out and get a couple of trout. Rodney had ended up having a big night celebrating the start of the fishing trip and felt he should stay on shore and maybe start breakfast for when we returned, so we left him to It, and Din still in bed, and hit the lake.  Spent a couple of hours trolling up and down but didn’t catch one, the views of the surrounding countryside made up for the lack of fish.

The weekend progressed much the same with sporadic trips out onto the lake and Rodney and his mates bantering with each other and us, and all the time kids on their bikes wizzing back and forth with various tunes blasting out from the camp up the track. Even a flag up for Australia day.  Not the peaceful camp we had imagined, but all had a good time regardless.

 

 

The boat had three rod holders, one each for two occupants and one out the back called the community rod. Whenever the community rod caught a fish, Din claimed that she had caught it. But you would never get her onto the boat. She caught the most fish that weekend. The catch ended up consisting of two rainbow trout, two brown trout and a blackfish. Two of them were too small and were put back, but due to Dins amazing skills I ended up having rainbow trout for dinner, she wouldn’t eat anything out of the water if you paid her.

 

Weekend over and everyone slowly packing up and leaving, we anticipated the silence to come. With no good reason to move on just yet we stayed when they all left. What a contrast, the hustle and bustle and noise of the last few days gave way to stillness and bird calls. Spent another four days there alone, enjoying the lake. All in all, good with the bad, these are the unforgettable experiences you get in a life on the road, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Gidday all,

Woke up to a cool, cloudy morning in Forth, on our first day back in Tassie. Later that morning, good old mate, Rodney turned up bearing gifts of fresh picked berries and vegies from his home garden. The best welcome we could hope for. Spent some time catching up, then after Rod left, relaxed for the rest of the day.

 

 

A friend from Sydney, who was in Tassie and due to leave in a few days contacted us and we arranged for them to come and camp up before they left. The day after they arrived we found out Pete Murray and Thirsty Merc were playing at the local pub just over the river, so they had great entertainment for their last night on the Island. He had a fold up electric scooter with him and I tried it out with a trip to the servo just outside the campground, great little bike, very handy.

 

 

 

After our Sydney friends left and the camper crowds from the concert dwindled we also hit the road. Rod had put us onto a quiet camp spot he knew of inland from Bernie. The location will be known as secret camp as mainly only locals know of it so far, and it’s better that way.

Found the spot and parked up, no one in sight, these are the spots, remote, with a crystal clear stream, bubbling over multi coloured rocks on the edge of an ancient forest with man ferns   and wildflowers.

The area had a large flat on the bend of the stream, where we had pulled up, and another area more private further upstream. After a few days the weekend was approaching and we anticipated some locals might come down to camp, so decided to move upstream to the other area.

Glad we did because as thought, on the weekend campers arrived, but we were happy and private in our new location.

Spent eight days there, a wonderful spot that we will return to no doubt. The time came to return to Forth as we were expecting some mail to turn up at the post office there. So reluctantly we packed up and headed out.

Back at Forth we picked up mail and caught up with Rod again. He said he was going to Lake Cethena with a couple of mates fishing for the Australia day weekend and invited us to tag along. We agreed and set that as our next location.

 

Gidday all,

After a long fifteen months spent at home, cleaning up, fixing up, decluttering, renewing and tying up loose ends, the time came when we could hit the road again. So, with Din cracking the whip and sitting in the truck urging me to start the F*#!;@!  thing up, we finally drove out the driveway and headed south.

Took us four days to get to Mackay, usually a four hour drive, but had to stop at a couple of favourite camps of ours on the way, just to get back into on the road life. After catching up with friends and family on our way down, we carried on, with an old familiar feeling of carefree freedom that had started to become a distant memory.

Called in to Notch Pt. and camped for a couple of days then visited a friend at Camila West up in the hills.

 

Went down the coast to Rocky then headed a little inland on the Leichhardt Hwy. Stopped at Banana for a lunch in the air-conditioned pub, then on to Theodore where we stopped by the river and gave each other a new no. 1 haircut. Was great to feel the breeze around our ears.  On through Miles and Moonie and hit the boarder at Goondiwindi. All the way the temps were nudging into the 40s .

 

 

 

 

 

Travelling from the furnace of far north Qld. We had reached the border of NSW and into the fan forced oven of that state. There seemed no escaping the heat. Following the Newell Hwy. we went through Moree then Narrabri and on to Coonabarabran, to Gilgandra then to Dubbo. Further south to Parks and Forbes, through West Wyalong and on to Narrandera, finally hitting the boarder of Vic at Tocumwel. Here we scouted for a track down to the river. Found one and set up camp on the Murray for a while to escape the heat by the water. This amount of travel would normally take us months to complete, but the stifling weather prevented us standing still for too long anywhere, so we had covered the distance in only a couple of weeks.

 

The camp on the Murray was a welcome change, a chance to stop and give the camper and ourselves a good clean-up. The temperature was bearable and the river was cooling. One morning Din spotted a koala and her baby sitting in a gumtree next to us. They stayed there for a couple of days, then moved on one night. What a special thing, to be neighbours for a couple of days. The forecast was for hotter and hotter days ahead and the smoke from NSW fires was closing in so we took the decision to move on. It seemed the only place to escape the relentless heat was going to be the far south coast of Victoria, so that’s where we headed.

 

 

Down to Shepparton and then on the Goulburn Valley Hwy. through Nagambie, on to Seymour and on the Hume Hwy. through Melbourne, we headed south east to a little National parks camp ground on the coast at Cape Liptrap, around the coast from Wilsons Promontory.

When you camp there you have to book on the internet, looked up the site and there were a couple of sites available for the next day and that was it till after Christmas and beyond. Found a site and camped up, no one came to claim the spot so we had two days there. The difference in temperature was amazing, we even had to dig out our doona from under the bed. You could sleep at night without tossing and turning in the heat.  It was still a week till Christmas and all the camps around the coast were packed out, so we headed to our friends in Wonthaggi who had invited us to stay as long as we liked.

 

Christmas was a quiet one, which we didn’t mind, the weather was so much cooler, you might even say cold at times. We spent the time camped up in our friends front yard and helped her with rejuvenating the garden beds around the house. They got a trailer full of mulch from the local tip and we used some existing pebbles for covering the front beds, it looked wonderful when finished. Ended it off with planting cucumbers and pumpkins up the side. Their eighteen months old daughter just loves chewing on cucumbers, so we said she can go and feast on them when they grow.

Two days before we were booked on to sail to Tassie, we headed into Melbourne. Found a servo come truck stop at the approach to the Westgate bridge, just down the road from Port Melbourne. Parked up the truck and settled in for the night. The ferry boarded at six the next morning, the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth was due to dock around seven and there was going to be some parking difficulties, so in the morning at about 3:30 we drove to the port and parked up ready to board, then climbed to the back and got some more sleep.

The crossing was smooth enough, no sick bags employed. We arrived in the early evening and headed to Forth sport grounds to camp up and enjoy the cool Tassie evening. Next we begin our summer Tassie adventure.

Gidday all,

It’s been a long eventful summer, lots of stuff happening and not a lot of time to blog. The hectic pace has slowed now so back to the blog.

We left Tassie at the start of April. With our friend from Switzerland in tow, we said our farewells to Devonport. The weather was starting to turn into autumn with rain and overcast days becoming the norm, so was a good time to leave.

 

Docking in Melbourne we wasted no time in getting out of the city and headed North West toward Ballarat.

At this stage I should mention that our numbers have swelled, as well as our Swiss friend we also have our daughter and four dogs traveling with us.

Fortunately the other six are in another car, would be a bit crowded in good old Ned otherwise.

Stopped in at Ballarat for supplies then onwards to Ararat, then a more northerly track till we came to the mallee hiway

Took us four days to get that far with Alfons (the Swiss) wondering at the vast night sky each day. He has been with us for nearly three months but a lot of that time was spent in the mountains and valleys of Tasmania, where you don’t get a big view of the sky.

We tried to tell him we weren’t even in big sky country yet.

Near Underbool we ducked up to the Pink Lakes for a look. We camped up at the border of the national park and looked after the dogs as the others went for an explore.

They came back and we stayed there the night.

He has become very good at rolling his swag, or as he would say wery goot. The swag, he says, is one of the best inventions ever.

Next day we headed up the mallee hiway on our way to Deb and the camels. Along the way are huge grain silos some of which have been painted with murals depicting rual scenes. Truly amazing artworks.

Arrived in Taplan S.A. a day later to find out the temperature for the next week was going to be around 37 degrees, so after a night catching up with Deb we said it’s good to see ya and took off to the Murray River. Spent the next week at the water’s edge having hair cuts and swimming in the middle of the days. Bit of a temperature shock after Tassie.

 

 

 

Days have cooled down now to the mid twenties so we back out with the camels and helping Deb with odd jobs that she couldn’t do on her own.

Gidday all,

The weather in Tassie is slowly changing, spring is springing and the sun is coming out more each day. We have had our young friend from Queensland over for a visit.

Went for a drive to Stanley on the northwest coast to see the nut, an old volcano plug with the pretty little town at the base. A wonderful sunny day when we started, but as we approached town the wind picked up and the sea mist started to roll in.

 

Was still a magical day with special views from the top of the nut, which you get to on a chair lift.

 

Back in the Myrtle Forrest again now. Will go to Launceston on Monday to drop our friend off at the airport .

Made our way from the coast of Tassie into the hills and climbed  the Loongana range on our way back to the Gingerbread house in the old Myrtle forest. Familiar feelings of peace and good times came back as we climbed the winding narrow track through the forest.

Arrived at the house and opened it up and inspected it for water damage and such. It was surprisingly in good condition, as no one had stayed there much since we had left.

Woke up one morning feeling a bit cold, looked out to see snow on the ground. Soon after snow started to fall and add to the stuff already on the truck. Just another great experience in this diverse country we are lucky enough to have.

Gidday all,

Said our last goodbyes to Deb, Ziggy, Coco, Thac the dog and even Tootoo the cat, then plodded off toward Melbourne.

Got to the port early on the day of sailing and parked up at the gate ready to board when the time came. Strolled along the docks and had a wonderful lunch at a café, then climbed back into bed and watched a movie till boarding time came.

One of the roughest crossings to Tassie we have had. Over three meter swells and rocking and rolling all night. Din managed to keep her lunch down but stayed horizontal for the duration.

Back to the Tassie cold and a bit damp weather. Snow on the Bluff as we reacquainted ourselves with the landscape. September is the earliest in the season we have been here, still winter weather but not as bad as it can get. Still, we hear of 40 degrees temps on the mainland and it doesn’t seem so bad.

So begins our summer adventure winding our way around this beautiful state.

Gidday all,

Back in the Taplin camel camp after a trip to Adelaide for a few xrays on Dins teeth which were giving her some trouble. The dentists are on to it and things are getting sorted.

 

Coco the camel likes to be amongst the action, but Deb says she is too big to hang so close

 

On our way back from Adelaide we had to cross the Murray by ferry at Swan Reach, looking down river we saw the Murray Princess paddle boat coming towards us.

 

 

 

She pulled in at the wharf and passengers got off to look around town. One of the last paddle boats to be doing trips up and down the Murray around here. A wonderful reminder of days gone by when the river was the main form of transportation of goods and people.

 

 

 

 

About a week left before Deb flys off to Townsville for her son’s wedding. We are camel and dog sitting till she gets back.

 

Gidday all,

Just been hanging round Taplin, doing odds and ends on the camper, fixing a few things that have been waiting for my attention for a while. The water temp gauge for the motor stopped working last week, so after some intense research, finally tracked down the correct sensor and replaced it. All working as it should now.

 

Also helped Deb start and move her bus to another location on the block. Was a bit of effort starting the thing as it had sat where it was for a couple of years, but eventually it burst into life with cheers all round.

 

After some time waiting for it to warm up and build up air pressure, it was into gear and on the move. Only a few hundred meters, but now in a better position for her and closer to the camels too.

 

 

Some cold and overcast days here in S.A. overnight temps around zero or less. Ice on the windscreen in the mornings. Memories of sweltering days in north QLD flood back at times like this, but only briefly.

Well, talk to you later, when we are doing something more exiting.

 

Gidday all,

Menindee, 118ks southeast of Broken Hill, is a quiet little outback town on the Menindee lakes. We rolled into town and as usual did a tour of the streets and stopped at the café for lunch. Took off for the lakes and looked at the sights.

The road we wanted to take went through the lakes national park then came back onto the Darling River again. It then continued following the river through sheep and cattle stations till you ended up back at Wentworth. So that’s the way we went.

 

Was a good trip all up. Back to Taplin and Deb. When we got back, Deb was having trouble with the transport she had organised to pick up her wagon, which was still in Copley, where she had left it at the end of the flinders ranges trip last year. After some discussion we offered to go and get it, as she could supply a trailer to cart it on.

So off we went again toward the Flinders Ranges. Arrived at Copley and the wagon looked pleased to see us.

 

. Loaded up and a quick trip back to Taplin. Deb was excited to see us drive in with her beloved wagon in tow. After a couple of days cleaning the wagon up and reorganization she was keen to hook up the camels and go for a spin.

 

We decided to do the border track alongside the National Park just up the road. As we were preparing to head off a friend of Deb turned up with her two camels and decided to come along too.

So off we went, truck, wagon and five camels, oh and two dogs.

First camp the grass was a bit long and dry so the night’s fire was lit in the middle of the track. Lucky not a lot of vehicles use come this way.

 

 

 

Lovely weather but cold nights. Debs friend was training her camels to walk while tied to the wagon, they soon got the hang of it and all animals were delighted to be out roaming in the wild. So were we.

 

 

 

It was only about 50ks the route we took, but we took the whole week to do it. A wonderful time was had by all.