Sep 10, 2018 - Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful city built around a huge, beautiful harbor. When the sun is shining and the harbor is filled with sailboats and ferries it is easy to spend hours just staring at the sight. We spent six days in Sydney and still did not see everything on our list. One highlight for this opera fan was attending a performance of “The Turk in Italy” by Rossini at the iconic Sydney Opera House. The building is quite impressive and is much larger than expected. There are five performance stages and too-many -to-count restaurants in the...

Sep 10, 2018 - Brisbane to Sydney

We left Brisbane and continued our drive south along the coastline. We left the state of Queensland and entered the state of New South Wales. Clearly, the influence of the English beginnings are seen in the names of cities and states. Most of the drive along this section of coastline was very scenic but a bit sedate. Most of the towns we stayed in are small coastal towns where the streets roll up at dusk especially in the winter. With the kids all in school this time of year most of our fellow travelers are the “grey nomads”. There was one...

Aug 31, 2018 - Vineyards and holiday statistics

After our cold night in Cobar our next night was Dubbo. We had booked a room at the Amaroo Hotel and made a special request for a ground floor room as we are traveling with a fair bit of luggage. Well when we checked in we were told our room was on the third floor and that the lift was out of order. They did offer to help with our luggage but Grae declined the offer stating he could manage...... and he certainly did. Whilst the region is in severe drought and farmers have been doing it tough the countryside was looking green due to some...

Aug 29, 2018 - Outback towns of New South Wales

From Broken Hill we headed up to White Cliffs for the night. A tiny opal mining town 275 kms north-west. They say for every house you see there are ten more underground, however it only has a population of less than 150 people. While not a pretty town it is very interesting to think that people put up with the extremely hot summers, dust and isolation in an attempt to strike it rich. To do your grocery shopping the nearest supermarket is in Broken Hill apart from the very basic general store in town. You can see what is called opalised...

Aug 28, 2018 - Broken Hill only 1146 kms from home

In Broken Hill we visited the Albert Kersten Mining & Minerals Museum (GeoCentre) and learnt the story of how the world’s largest deposit of silver lead and zinc was formed in Broken Hill. The museum also displays a famous collection of Broken Hill minerals and the ‘Silver tree’ – the intricate silver sculpture once owned by Charles Rasp, the boundary rider who pegged out the first Broken Hill mining lease with his partners. We drove up to the Line of Load Miners Memorial and read many names and ages (some as young as 15) and causes of...

Aug 12, 2018 - Mauritius to Perth then to Sydney then to Anna Bay

Saturday 11th August 2018/Sunday 12th August 2018 Mauritius to Perth then to Sydney then to Anna Bay Today we had quite an argument with the hotel about the fact that we had a late (6:00pm) checkout, but finally after much discussion we were moved to a villa for the day. Went to the shops, spent the rest of our Mauritian money then relaxed for the afternoon with Tanya and Geoff awaiting the time to leave. Headed out to the airport on a transfer, checked out the duty-free shops, then the flight back to Perth. When we arrived in Perth, we...

Jul 22, 2018 - Sydney to Barcelona via Singapore

After waking up at 6:05 and then finally getting up and getting ready we headed down for breakfast After Brekkie it was off to the little convenience store to get cold and flu tablets as I have a head cold, just what you need before heading off overseas!! After we made our way to the airport , we checked in and then went shopping duty free, not much was purchased as we have a strict weight limit and that will limit what we can purchase - so sorry no gifts for anyone..... LOL The first leg of the trip was from Sydney to Singapore. Singapore...

Jun 3, 2018 - Gear Check

Another late start; although not as cold as last night, still cosier in bed then out. Another lovely hot shower and a leisurely breakfast. Do 3 loads of washing in van this morning and we meet a fellow camper from Colac also hanging washing. His wife had a hip operation and got an infection in the hip so now has difficulty walking and is on permanent antibiotics. She has other health issues so they are loath to open her up again to fix the infection. How lucky are we with our minor health issues. I walk up the township to buy a couple of...

Jun 3, 2018 - Darlington Point to Mail Route Rest Area just west of Euston

Up at 6.45, quick shower and pack up. Meet Carolyn and Michael members of the ACT ACC Branch who are also doing the big lap on the way to Denmark for the Muster. They are meeting friends in Burra so we are sure to meet them along the way. On the road by 9am, visit the dump point then fuel at Waddi, which is cheaper than Griffith and head for Hay. We drive through heavy fog for miles, and the air is freezing. Cannot believe the amount of cotton being grown on what was once dry farming country. New canals have been put in and we see cotton...

Jun 2, 2018 - Town and Wine

Sleep in until 8am after a freezing night, Bob reckoned he couldn’t get warm, I was cosy. Hot shower for me then cereal for breakfast. Having a bit of trouble with the cold water through kitchen tap, so Bob takes the line apart and finds lumps of grit, obviously from the anode. He cleans them out and it works fine. Then we can’t get the water to heat on 240v. Bob reads up on the water heater and he reckons the element is shot, so we will just use it on gas for this trip. Other than that everything else is working well Around 11am we head...

Jun 2, 2018 - Following the whales up North

After an energising yoga class and my last downward dog for a while Grae and I left the bright lights of sunny Sydney for a five hour leisurely drive to Forster, our first port of call. Being winter and out of tourist season the town had a sleepy, peaceful vibe, very much different to the throng of tourists in mid summer. Anyone know why it's pronounced Foster, what's the point of the first"r"? Saw a great many koala rope bridges strung across the highway and unclimbable flexi-fences along both sides to protect them from crossing the actual...

Jun 1, 2018 - Dapto to Darlington Point

Very cold and windy as we leave. Gets colder as we progress. No complaining of how hot the motor gets in these conditions. Forgot the thermos, so coffee at Marulan with nice warm sausage roll. Lunch at Gundagai where the weather is a little better. Then drive through to Darlington Point with just a quick stop for fuel at Wagga. Book in for 3 nights, Geoff only charges us $20pn, cheap. Doesn’t take long to set up then quickly into the van to heat up dinner, casserole made yesterday and a welcome warm dinner it is. Very cold so I put my...