Well my camping days in Australia are now over so I have four days of proper beds before I pick up my next Wicked camper van in Auckland.
The past few days have been entertaining and in some cases a delight, I loved Diamond Beach so much that I stayed there for two nights it was such a peaceful spot with hoards of wildlife in fact the Kookoburras were that friendly that they only needed the slightest encouragement and they would be sitting alongside you eating off the same plate! After leaving Diamond Beach I took The Lakes Way where I kept stopping by the sides of the deserted lakes and fantasised about sailing on them in my little dinghy where I could pull ashore to picnic or even camp overnight, Ahhh what dreams.
Whilst I was meandering down that road I obviously attracted the attention of a local vigilante because when I did a U turn to investigate the Lakes Sailing Club I noticed a grey pick-up do the same U turn and then follow me to the club, I went over to say hello and share my delight with the location but all I received was a mumble and grunt from the octogenarian occupant. He did follow me when I left to escort me out of his territory, my second Rambo moment.
I had intended to stay last night at Hawks Nest, it sounded so romantic and had two campsites but after Diamond Beach it was far too open, busy and expensive so I called into tourist info and asked Kath if she could recommend a quieter location or a cheap and cheerful hotel for the night, I must have been there for quarter on an hour while she gave me the run down on the area but the upshot was that I will have to return to cover everything that she told me and her little known gem of a campsite in Stockton was perfect.
Tomorrow I will be handing over the van a couple of days early and catching the train back to my sister Gillian's whose friend Michelle has invited us around for a meal, I may still have to be presented to more friends before I escape from here.
Thursday, 15 February 2018
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Wildlife
On my last trip over here I was excited when I saw the occasional kangaroo, this trip I have seen so much wildlife I am getting quite blase about it. The birdlife is amazing if a little loud, typically Aussie but my favourite critter so far was what my neighbour in Coff's Harbour called a water dragon, this animal which I christened Leonard or Lennie for short suddenly appeared when I dropped some of my dinner on the deck so he joined me for Fusili Bolognaise. I will do a pictorial blog when I get home, I am having a few technical difficulties and today I have resorted to the local library to catch up on stuff, mind you with an outside temperature of 35C to be seated in an air-conditioned building is quite a pleasure.
I am now convinced that 50% of Aussie men of working age are employed on the roads and 50% of them work as lolly-pop men with stop/go signs and 90% of them have grey Van Dyke beards.
My date the other night went well Marion brought the whole family along to meet the Pommy, six adults and four children, don't ask me all their names, people over here are so friendly and outgoing, I met my neighbours in last night's campsite when Kylie came over to introduce herself and then dragged her old man over to meet me, they are both bricklayers who have set up their own business in the area and are living in his parents' holiday home.
Well my session has timed out so time to retire to the pool, more next time I can get on line.
I am now convinced that 50% of Aussie men of working age are employed on the roads and 50% of them work as lolly-pop men with stop/go signs and 90% of them have grey Van Dyke beards.
My date the other night went well Marion brought the whole family along to meet the Pommy, six adults and four children, don't ask me all their names, people over here are so friendly and outgoing, I met my neighbours in last night's campsite when Kylie came over to introduce herself and then dragged her old man over to meet me, they are both bricklayers who have set up their own business in the area and are living in his parents' holiday home.
Well my session has timed out so time to retire to the pool, more next time I can get on line.
Sunday, 11 February 2018
Ambling further south.
I have never been to the Spanish Costas during the season but if the Gold Coast here in NSW is anything like them I am glad that I have avoided the experience. Yesterday as I left Coolangata heading inland I felt a strange sense of relief then as I hit the twisty roads through the woodlands it developed into a feeling of euphoria.
My first stop for coffee was in Nimbin which was a Hippie colony, now it is a commercial enterprise selling Hippie tat to tourists with just enough aging Hippies hanging around for realism.
Coffs Harbour was OK, a lot less tourists and much more relaxed. I think it appealed to retirees because there were a lot of chaps and chapesses of a certain age power walking past me as I scrambled my eggs near the jetty, I did find that there were a lot of grumpy Aussies in the retail sector there but the residents of the park where I stayed were friendly and chatty.
Today I went to Bellingen as it was another place I remember from Gill's letters and it turned out to be a cute traditional little town with well preserved early 20th century shops so I had to stop for another long black, the Australian equivalent of an Americano but better. I then followed Paul's recommendation to head for South West Rocks, the gaol was an OK place if a little overpriced but the town and area is lovely good walking and a reasonably priced haircut so far and I have a date with the lady from the tourist information tonight for dinner at a tavern overlooking the river.
My first stop for coffee was in Nimbin which was a Hippie colony, now it is a commercial enterprise selling Hippie tat to tourists with just enough aging Hippies hanging around for realism.
Coffs Harbour was OK, a lot less tourists and much more relaxed. I think it appealed to retirees because there were a lot of chaps and chapesses of a certain age power walking past me as I scrambled my eggs near the jetty, I did find that there were a lot of grumpy Aussies in the retail sector there but the residents of the park where I stayed were friendly and chatty.
Today I went to Bellingen as it was another place I remember from Gill's letters and it turned out to be a cute traditional little town with well preserved early 20th century shops so I had to stop for another long black, the Australian equivalent of an Americano but better. I then followed Paul's recommendation to head for South West Rocks, the gaol was an OK place if a little overpriced but the town and area is lovely good walking and a reasonably priced haircut so far and I have a date with the lady from the tourist information tonight for dinner at a tavern overlooking the river.
Saturday, 10 February 2018
relatively late.
Breakfast yesterday was at Picnic Point in Toowoomba, the place I must not miss according to last night's companions, it is the highest point for miles around and even that early in the morning there were people jogging, walking and even strumming guitars. The views towards the coast were worth the diversion.
I made the slow journey into Brisbane where I met my nephew Paul and his lovely wife Fa for the first time, we got on like a house on fire having so much in common such as motorcycles and disliking of political correctness. My visit was too short, this trip is turning into another reconnaissance.
Having talked to Paul for so long I was too late to get in to the campsite that I had booked, the booking staff had gone home and there was no one to issue a pass key, so I headed off for the coast and what a nightmare awaited me. It is obscene, wall to wall adventure parks and high rise hotels, I gave in after driving through this hell for what seemed like hours and checked into a cheap and cheerful hotel with down to earth friendly staff.
Today I will drive inland back to sanity for a while before heading towards Coffs Harbour which was a must see place recommended by Keira.
I made the slow journey into Brisbane where I met my nephew Paul and his lovely wife Fa for the first time, we got on like a house on fire having so much in common such as motorcycles and disliking of political correctness. My visit was too short, this trip is turning into another reconnaissance.
Having talked to Paul for so long I was too late to get in to the campsite that I had booked, the booking staff had gone home and there was no one to issue a pass key, so I headed off for the coast and what a nightmare awaited me. It is obscene, wall to wall adventure parks and high rise hotels, I gave in after driving through this hell for what seemed like hours and checked into a cheap and cheerful hotel with down to earth friendly staff.
Today I will drive inland back to sanity for a while before heading towards Coffs Harbour which was a must see place recommended by Keira.
And then
Yesterday just after I crossed the border into Queensland outside the town of Stanhope I stopped at a rest stop where I made myself a picnic lunch and retired to one of the benches to enjoy the same, whilst I was there eating ham salad rolls and quaffing Pinot Grigio the local plod turned up in his super pick-up to investigate the Wicked camper littering one of his tourist rest stops (Wicked had a reputation for putting colourful - read crude - graffiti on their camper vans so they were banned for a while until they cleaned up their act in Queensland) 15 minutes later as I was clearing up and preparing to leave an unmarked pick-up arrived with a uniformed cop in the driver's seat he got out and paid a too short a visit to the ablutions before driving back the way he had come from, I was expecting to be pulled over when I drove through the town but they missed me, te he.
Following my sister Gillian's advice I went to the local bowls club in West Toowoomba for dinner and after being signed in and having bought the compulsory raffle tickets I found myself in the company of David, Karen, Brian and Merle, who were well travelled and with an average age of 74 had a slew of stories to tell, it is always good to meet the locals, they have a more in depth knowledge of the area than the sweet young things one encounters at the average tourist information centre, mind you I cannot complain, when I swanned into the tourist info. on Thursday in Armidale and asked for their recommendations for a cheap and cheerful accommodation the two ladies could not have been more helpful, unlike most places where they give you a load of leaflets that have no bearing whatsoever on what you are looking for, I suppose the exception.......
Following my sister Gillian's advice I went to the local bowls club in West Toowoomba for dinner and after being signed in and having bought the compulsory raffle tickets I found myself in the company of David, Karen, Brian and Merle, who were well travelled and with an average age of 74 had a slew of stories to tell, it is always good to meet the locals, they have a more in depth knowledge of the area than the sweet young things one encounters at the average tourist information centre, mind you I cannot complain, when I swanned into the tourist info. on Thursday in Armidale and asked for their recommendations for a cheap and cheerful accommodation the two ladies could not have been more helpful, unlike most places where they give you a load of leaflets that have no bearing whatsoever on what you are looking for, I suppose the exception.......
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Even further north.
Last night was fillet steak, Victoria Bitter and then double bed - bliss.
This morning up with the lark and on the road by 8am with breakfast at the first rest area, I was travelling up the New England Highway to Toowoomba but I kept seeing familiar town names until we came to the town of Glen Innes which calls itself the centre of Celtic County. The town itself was a delight with well kept Victorian and Edwardian buildings, this was obviously a centre of settlement for Scottish, Welsh and Irish immigrants with towns like Ben Lomond, Llangothlin and Killarney. I stopped over for coffee and it seemed to be well worth further investigation but I am only here for a short while and I am going to see my nephew Paul for the first time tomorrow so no time to linger but if I do ever come back here it will definitely be on the itinerary. I also passed through Deepwater which is having a Country Festival over the weekend so I will be missing that as well and there were heaps of ZZ Topp type racers going the other way as I went further north, I may have to come back after all.
I am now in Queensland where they refuse to go onto Summer Time like the other states, the reason I was given was that they are worried that the milking cows will be confused by the time change and also that with the extra daylight that their curtains will get faded more quickly....... These views were given me by someone from New South Wales so you make up your own mind. However, I did see one sign just after crossing the border which said that a maximum fine of $65,000 would be imposed on anyone found keeping rabbits!!
Tonight I am having another night off from the van and I am staying at the Pure Land Guest House which I think acts as the accommodation for people studying at the Pure Land Learning College, the owners have told me that I can help myself to any of the Buddhist books they have in their library and the smell of joss sticks is drifting past me as I write this on the patio, it takes me back to simpler times of flared trousers and Jimi Hendrix hairstyles, and you didn't think I was old enough to remember that did you?
This morning up with the lark and on the road by 8am with breakfast at the first rest area, I was travelling up the New England Highway to Toowoomba but I kept seeing familiar town names until we came to the town of Glen Innes which calls itself the centre of Celtic County. The town itself was a delight with well kept Victorian and Edwardian buildings, this was obviously a centre of settlement for Scottish, Welsh and Irish immigrants with towns like Ben Lomond, Llangothlin and Killarney. I stopped over for coffee and it seemed to be well worth further investigation but I am only here for a short while and I am going to see my nephew Paul for the first time tomorrow so no time to linger but if I do ever come back here it will definitely be on the itinerary. I also passed through Deepwater which is having a Country Festival over the weekend so I will be missing that as well and there were heaps of ZZ Topp type racers going the other way as I went further north, I may have to come back after all.
I am now in Queensland where they refuse to go onto Summer Time like the other states, the reason I was given was that they are worried that the milking cows will be confused by the time change and also that with the extra daylight that their curtains will get faded more quickly....... These views were given me by someone from New South Wales so you make up your own mind. However, I did see one sign just after crossing the border which said that a maximum fine of $65,000 would be imposed on anyone found keeping rabbits!!
Tonight I am having another night off from the van and I am staying at the Pure Land Guest House which I think acts as the accommodation for people studying at the Pure Land Learning College, the owners have told me that I can help myself to any of the Buddhist books they have in their library and the smell of joss sticks is drifting past me as I write this on the patio, it takes me back to simpler times of flared trousers and Jimi Hendrix hairstyles, and you didn't think I was old enough to remember that did you?
Heading north.
The Blue Mountains were beautiful and Leura village centre was quaint but today it was time to move on so 620 Kms later I am in Armidale staying at a cheap and cheerful hotel above a very noisy bar but I could not face another night in the van, I must be getting soft, last time I had no problems.
The journey up here was interesting, a lot of bush but also farmland and also coal mines, power stations in the middle of nowhere and vineyards. I did meet a few of the local hillbillies but sadly they were more Granny Clampett rather than Daisy Duke.
Armadale is a small town but even so the bars/restaurants were busy even on a Thursday night, I could come back to places like this to meet the locals and explore the plethora of antique and secondhand shops but it would be nice to have more time to do it, we shall see.
The temperature got up to 33 C today, thank God for AC in the car, I did manage to put up with 30C without AC but above that it was just too much and it only gets warmer the further north I go.
I have booked a hotel again at my next stop Toowomba, i will try the van again when the backache goes.
The journey up here was interesting, a lot of bush but also farmland and also coal mines, power stations in the middle of nowhere and vineyards. I did meet a few of the local hillbillies but sadly they were more Granny Clampett rather than Daisy Duke.
Armadale is a small town but even so the bars/restaurants were busy even on a Thursday night, I could come back to places like this to meet the locals and explore the plethora of antique and secondhand shops but it would be nice to have more time to do it, we shall see.
The temperature got up to 33 C today, thank God for AC in the car, I did manage to put up with 30C without AC but above that it was just too much and it only gets warmer the further north I go.
I have booked a hotel again at my next stop Toowomba, i will try the van again when the backache goes.
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