Home to Narrandera

We left right on time at 8 am Sunday 8 June. Fortunately the 100+ kph winds of two days earlier had moderated significantly and the day started out clear and sunny, an auspicious beginning  to our trip. We are pleased to be able to report that we had a totally uneventful day — everything went according to plan. The drive across the Great Divide was lovely, with green paddocks dotted with old gum trees, and the sun casting long shadows across the dewy grass. Around Shepparton the countryside changed, still green but without the gum trees in the paddocks. North of Shepparton we passed through a dairy region with large herds of dairy cattle. We crossed the Murray River, well below it's banks, at Tocumwal and continued on into New South Wales. Although the paddocks were still mostly green we did see some evidence, unusual these days, of the drought — drovers were grazing  a herd of cattle along the roadside. The NSW section of the road was very quiet and very flat; perfect driving conditions. We arrived in Narrandera mid afternoon and set up the van. Hopefully, this process will speed up as we become accustomed to the procedures. Narrandera is an old town, established in the late 19th century and we decided to do the Heritage Walk around the town. There are a large number of interesting 19th century buildings in the town, and a magnificent fig tree estimated to be 150 years old.

And, finally, everything did not go according to plan after all. The Optus network didn't extend into the caravan park (not unexpectedly). Joy drove out over the hill, only to find that, after a brief initial connection, the computer was no longer able to dial out via the phone. Hopefully this will be able to be sorted out in Dubbo.

Narrandera to Dubbo

Narrandera is cold overnight and in the mornings. We are very pleased that we have an electric blanket and a heater. The Narrandera caravan park is on the edge of Lake Talbot. This morning we went to have a look at the lake and were again reminded that there's been a drought. What used to be a  lake on the Murrumbidgee is now a large, muddy hollow with big puddles across it. We need more practice at the morning procedures also. Barrie's not happy with an hour and a half to get on the road. The green grass stops at Narrandera. However, the farmers north of there clearly are optimistic. There were a large number of ploughed paddocks, the soil a rich red colour. The few flocks of sheep were the same red as the soil. The road was undulating and less smooth than yesterday. We saw the radio telescope at Parkes but it's too far off the road for us to take a photo. The northern part of today's journey was quite hilly, which slows us down somewhat. We can certainly tell that we have a heavy van on the back as we drive up a hill. After panicking when I turned on my laptop and it wanted me to insert a CD which was at home, I seem to have managed to overcome that problem, and the internet access as well.

Dubbo

Today was a rest day. We decided to spend an extra day in Dubbo and visit the zoo. The animals in the Western Plains zoo are not caged, but confined by fences and moats. Visitors have the option of walking, hiring bicycles or electric carts, or driving their cars around the 6km roadway and stopping to walk along various track to see the different exhibits. It is laid out in sections with African, Asian, European, American and Australian animals.

After visiting the zoo we stopped briefly at the oldest slab house in Australia, then visited the Japanese tea house and garden. This was a gift from Dubbo's sister city, Minokamo. The teahouse was built from Japanese timber by Japanese builders. The gardens were designed in Japan and were built by five Japanese professional gardeners. They include a traditional Japanese waterfall and a hand washing setting where guests can wash their hands before entering the tea room.

Dubbo to Moree

The countryside from Dubbo to Gilgandra was dry and uninteresting, and it was cloudy as well. Once past Gilgandra the Warrumbungles came into view, the countryside turned green and the sun came out. Given that whenever we woke during the night we could hear large trucks on the Newell Highway, we were surprised at how little traffic was on the road this morning, although it picked up in the afternoon. The road up to Coonabarabran was definitely up. At one point we were intrigued by the unusual trees growing in the paddocks on both sides of the road for several kilometres. Once past Coonabarabran and the Warrumbungles the land flattened out. Wheat silos sat at intervals along the railway line, an indication of the type of grain to be harvested eventually from the green crops beside the road. Cotton and pecans also are grown in the area.

We visited the information office in Moree but didn't find anything worth a short visit. When we checked into the caravan park we were warned to be extremely security conscious. Apparently some of the young people in the area are light fingered. The caravan park is located beside the Mehi River, which is an ugly greenish brown colour. We hope we are not showering in it.

Moree to Tenterfield

It's still chilly in the mornings, although we are taking our jumpers off earlier. Our neighbours of last night headed off for an hour in the town's 41 degree artesian spa, also a feature at most of the motels and caravan parks. We headed north from Moree to Boggabilla on the NSW/Queensland border. The first part of the trip was dull and flat, becoming prettier as we approached Boggabilla where we turned right. It was just as well we had planned to turn there, as apparently a truck had lost its load on the main bridge into Goondiwindi, just across the border. We had the Bruxner Highway across to Tenterfield pretty much to ourselves, the sort of 'off the main thoroughfare' roads that Joy likes. We were intrigued by what looked like tufts of wool on the grass along the side of the road just out from Boggabilla, which we realised were cotton bols. This National Highway was definitely off the beaten track — with one ten kilometre stretch being unsealed road. Much of the journey was through undulating woodlands, interspersed with farmland, although only a very few cattle providing an indication of what was farmed. Approaching Tenterfield we saw pumpkins for sale on the side of the road, and signs off to vineyards and wineries. Tenterfield is in the middle of the Great Dividing Range, at a height of 860 metres, so we had some climbing to do today. We were pleased to hear that they are not getting their usual cold mornings — minus eight is the average for this time of year. Tenterfield is another old city with an historic walk. Many buildings from the nineteenth century still remain, the earliest from the middle of that century. Banjo Patterson was married in the Tenterfield Presbyterian Church and in the School of Arts (pictured) in 1889 Henry Parkes made his Federation Speech, which led to Federation in 1901. Tenterfield also has the largest cork tree in Australia, planted in 1861.

We were interested to discover that the 1891 State Bank building is about to open as an information technology centre for the community. These centres are being opened across NSW in communities of less than 5000 people. They will provide small communities with local access to technology such as computers, the internet, fax and video conferencing.

Tenterfield to Suffolk Park

It was cold this morning — a glass of water left on the sink overnight tasted like it had come out of the fridge — but there was no frost. Early in the day we were able to look down into valleys filled with fog. We have a a day of varied scenery, and lots of hills as we completed our crossing of the Great Divide. For the early part of the day, out of Tenterfield, we passed through temperate rainforest. Leaving the rainforest as we came down from the Divide we drove through lush grazing land, with more pumpkins and wineries. As we approached the coast the vegetation became tropical and we saw a macadamia processing factory and macadamia farms.

Suffolk Park is just south of Byron Bay and our caravan park is right on the beach, requiring only a very short walk through the dunes. It was quite warm when we arrived, but with a cooling breeze. For the past two days this area has been the only place in the state to have rain. Today has been beautiful all day. Once set up we headed off to Cape Byron, so Joy could fulfil the first of her objectives — to have her photo taken at the four extremities of Australia. This whole area is very much a beach holiday resort, with lots of young people many from overseas. The walk to the Cape was extremely busy, with no parking available in the limited car parks near the lighthouse.

Suffolk Park to Brisbane

The muted roaring noise that we heard during the night, as we have heard each night, this time was continuous and not transports on the highway but the waves of the Pacific Ocean breaking on the beach. Byron Bay at 8:30 in the morning was no longer a holiday resort inhabited mainly by young people. This morning it was quieter than most of the country towns through which we have passed. We had only a short drive to Brisbane, on a lovely morning and a wide road. Despite travelling through a densely populated area, there is some lovely scenery along the way, including one stretch of cane fields.

We are staying with Barrie's cousin north of Brisbane for two nights and will be using the time to consolidate and to shop for a few things that we have discovered we need. On arrival Barrie was unable to open the caravan door. Eventually he coaxed it open, and discovered that one of the screws on the plate had dropped out. It was fortuitous that this occurred on our only northbound stop where he had a workshop an assistant available.

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