Up Close and Personal
The joy of being out in the bush is when you give up your chair to the locals. Continue reading Up Close and Personal
Month: June 2016
Emerald, Qld free camp
Emerald has beautiful Botanic Gardens lush green lawns and palm glades overlook the Nogoa River. Amidst all this beauty is a 24 hour free camp between the highway, the river and the Botanic Gardens. This gives us quite a giggle because the vans are parked between the road and railway bridges and it seems that the prime spot is right underneath the railway bridge. Heaven knows how anyone could get any sleep there. As well as that the main use of this line is for carrying cattle and the railway line in town is covered in pungent cow manure. I … Continue reading Emerald, Qld free camp
All Stoved In
In Boort, Vic there are old gnarly peppercorn trees in the Main Street and bracts of pink peppercorns are crushed on the pavement. The air smells of pepper. We are on our way to a club muster in Balranald NSW but the first night is at a farmstay. Simply Tomatoes and Aussie Wool Quilts is 15kms north of town, down 5 kms of good dirt road. Owner Ian directs us to a park near the dam which is home to a flock of geese. When lighting the gas for the fridge we discover that our stove isn’t working. Gas is … Continue reading All Stoved In
Road Conditions
We’re stopped at roadworks on the Sturt Highway just out of Hay when a voice comes over the radio…”this is a stellar effort considering that the rest of the road is rooted!” Continue reading Road Conditions
Pity the Entertainer
Being Friday evening the caravan park has an entertainer, a one man band Canadian called Moose who draws most of the camp down to the lakeshore. I couldn’t picture a better setting but I’m sure Moose could because every time he swallows a bug he has to stop singing. Ironically in his day job he monitors fruit fly numbers. Continue reading Pity the Entertainer
Eating with Brolgas
When we’ve pulled into the Kynuna (Qld) Roadhouse the two very funny ladies who run it have warned us not to feed the brolgas and no sooner had we parked the van than a brolga wandered over and took ownership of us. We were warned “When you leave the toilet close the door the brolgas poop in there and then people complain when they step in it. They don’t like brolga poop between their toes.” Thus I’m now eating lunch while a big grey brolga peers through the window at me, I daren’t eat outside or else I’ll lose my … Continue reading Eating with Brolgas
Skimpies
In Kalgoorlie, this city of pubs each one has a chalk board out front advertising the “skimpy” of the day. A skimpy is a scantily clad barmaid and today’s skimpy at The Metropole is Ebony Rose, good on ya luv Continue reading Skimpies
Reminds Him of Home
On the Yardie Creek gorge tour we see corellas, egrets and a Nankeen night heron. When everyone jumps out of their seats to photograph the corellas the bloke behind us says “they’re only bloody corellas I’ve got a backyard full of ’em.” Continue reading Reminds Him of Home
It’s a Long Walk
In 1897 they built a jetty in Carnarvon, WA for the shipping of supplies and live cattle from the inland. The town has an unusual situation on a blind bight beside the river and well behind the dunes and mudflats. Thus to reach deep water the jetty is one mile long and a small train now runs the length of it. The jetty is well worn and rusted but a great walk. When we reach the end we chat with a woman who is fishing for tailor. She tells us that the water which is quite brown is still murky … Continue reading It’s a Long Walk
A New Angle on Racing
Did you know that Lightning Ridge has the only straight racecourse in Australia? Well it is just a little bent but certainly not the usual oval shape. That gives a whole new slant on things for the poor old race callers. As soon as they leave the starting stalls the call could well be ” as they enter the straight….” Continue reading A New Angle on Racing
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