Month: April 2016

The Road Less Travelled, Vic, Wildlife10 Comments

Not One but Three!

Itching for Hitching

We’re camped at Healesville, Vic with friends. It is the middle of winter and freezing. After breakfast we pile into two cars and set out for Warburton following the instructions of the GPS. We soon find ourselves crossing the shoulder of Mt Donna Buang on a dirt road in thick fog. Obviously it is not a popular road as we see only one other car. But to our joy three lyrebirds scurry across our path and the last one stops and shows us his tail feathers. I cannot contain myself as I have never seen a lyrebird in the wild … Continue reading Not One but Three!

Places, Vic4 Comments

Wycheproof

Itching for Hitching

We stop to stretch our legs at Wycheproof, Vic. The old railway line still runs up the middle of the broad main street, but the town appears to be slowing and only one cafe is open when we visit. Yet on the site of an old petrol station there is an inspirational ironmongery, where someone very creative has turned mundane pieces of metal (railway lines, springs, plough shares and brake drums) into works of art. It does your heart good. Continue reading Wycheproof

Qld, Signs of Life4 Comments

And the answer is?

Itching for Hitching

There’s a trivia game along the Bruce Highway that’s intended to keep people alert, it is great fun. There are several billboards with a Question followed by the Answer a few kilometres further on. “Rockhampton is famous for?”  We still don’t know what, we missed the answer. Can someone please tell me? And while we’re guessing can anyone tell me what the structure is above this laneway in Rockhampton? Continue reading And the answer is?

Point of Interest, WA3 Comments

Flight Paths over the Kimberley

Itching for Hitching

The drive from Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek is colourful, we rise up the Ngumban Cliffs and get a view south that stretches for miles. There are lots of mesas and jump ups, red soil, cream grasses and small spindly white trunked gums. There are distant purple ranges and not a town in sight. Apart from the caravans there is a feeling of remoteness out here and now there are more vans heading south than there are heading north, Broome having been the destination of choice for so many. We’ve chosen the less popular clockwise route to WA, but more … Continue reading Flight Paths over the Kimberley

Point of Interest, Qld2 Comments

Bundy

Itching for Hitching

The main street of Bundaberg is the oddly named Bourbong Street. It is a treat to the eye with grand historic buildings, wide footpaths and manicured gardens of tropical plants, palms, water features and even a sculpture representing cane cutting knives in the centre verge. We joined a tour of the Bundy (the locals call everything in Bundaberg, Bundy) Distillery. The famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery is beside the giant belching sugar mill and as we get out of the car the air is thick with the smell of sugar, you could get fat just breathing around here. Before commencing the … Continue reading Bundy

Point of Interest, WA4 Comments

Sun Picture Gardens

Itching for Hitching

We are in Broome, WA and when we notice that the Sun Picture Gardens has a screening tonight we race back into town to catch the 6:15 session. And what a show it is. It is like being a part of living history. The building is a three sided iron shed some of the canvas deck chair seating is under cover and some spills out into the open air. Palms and gardens line the fences and the screen is at the bottom of the garden. The toilets are located one on each side of the screen, so everyone knows when … Continue reading Sun Picture Gardens

Point of Interest, WA2 Comments

Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Itching for Hitching

Up in the Kimberley we take an early morning flight over Lake Argyle and out to the Bungle Bungles. With their unusual beehive domes they stand apart from the other ranges. On our return we circle the Argyle diamond mine. Originally an open cut mine they are now tunneling underneath the hillside and have now removed the whole volcano. The pilot tells us that the roads are paved with diamond dust, oh let me out here. Continue reading Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Well Bugger Me!4 Comments

Dressing Termite Mounds

Itching for Hitching

That great Northern Australian pastime of dressing termite mounds with your own clothes is alive and well on the Stuart Highway. Heaven knows what the ants must think when their house temperature goes haywire because someone has put a bikini around the mound. Let alone, pipes, fishing hats and rods, baseball caps, hi vis vests, t shirts and singlets. At least at Mataranka they respectfully have a termite mound museum. Continue reading Dressing Termite Mounds

Caravanning Hints5 Comments

Mirrored Wardrobe Doors

Itching for Hitching

Don’t you just love the way caravan manufacturers put mirrors on the wardrobe doors on either side of the double (sorry ‘caravan queen’) bed? You can only ever approach them sideways, that is unless you are anorexic, so it’s hopeless to check out how you look or even put on a bit of last minute lippie. In our pop top van they were the only mirrors that we had so I used to have to comb my hair using my reflection in the glass of the microwave door. Perhaps that answers the question why so many couples choose single beds on … Continue reading Mirrored Wardrobe Doors