Month: March 2017

NSW, The Pubs4 Comments

A Top Pub

Itching for Hitching

A cold wet and wintry afternoon is saved by an exceptional dinner at The Top Pub in Uralla, NSW. Like Country Life magazine, an elegant dining room warmed by an open fire, good wine, good food and that reserved New England feel. The kitchen has obviously been outsourced to a good chef and Woody complains that he must pay for the meal at one window and the drinks at the bar. The polite and efficient waitress agrees with “Yeah, it really gives you the shits doesn’t it.” Continue reading A Top Pub

Why Caravanning6 Comments

Endless Summer

Itching for Hitching

Is it any wonder that so many Aussies hit the road every year in search of an endless summer? I recently read that there are a million people out there just travelling the country, that’s 1/24th of the population! To wake up to an Australian summer morning is ethereal and they’re doing it every day of the year travelling north to south and south to north chasing the warm weather. Oh the smell of new morning freshness wrapped in warmth and the prospect of a hot day. It’s a sound, it’s a feeling and the warble of a magpie. It’s … Continue reading Endless Summer

Qld, Weather8 Comments

Cyclone Season

Itching for Hitching

From October to March most Australians hold their breath in silent hope that nature won’t be too harsh on us this year. In the southern states the fear is for bush fires. In the tropical north its cyclone season. Sadly once more nature has unleashed a damaging cyclone. Cyclone Debbie is lashing the Whitsunday Coast of Queensland with 260 kmh winds and all that they bring. Our hearts go out to our mates in Queensland. Continue reading Cyclone Season

Places, Qld11 Comments

Rollingstone on the Coral Sea

Itching for Hitching

Flotsam and Jetsam One lonely starfish. 10 million peripatetic hermit crabs scurrying and climbing over each other and rocks in search of food and a larger home. Rocks the size of golf balls, no two the same, some red some golden all granite. Sponges scattered on the sand. Tongues of rocks reach out to sea. Chunks, spikes, mushrooms and paperweights of dead coral strewn roughly aside by each tide, cast offs from the reef. Tree trunks water logged and bearing the scars of oysters, blackened by the sea and age. Mangroves flank the shore at the creek mouth. Palms have … Continue reading Rollingstone on the Coral Sea

Caravanning Hints5 Comments

Do We Stay in Caravan Parks All the Time?

Itching for Hitching

The answer is a resounding “No”. We usually stay in the place that offers the best taste of the area or town. Sometimes it depends on weather. If it is appallingly wet then a well maintained caravan park with a concrete slab outside our door is not to be sneezed at. We don’t have a diesel or gas heater fitted, so a caravan park with power for heating and of course the electric blanket can be awfully enticing during a cold snap. In some towns there may be a local show ground with power and good facilities. These can be … Continue reading Do We Stay in Caravan Parks All the Time?

The Pubs, Vic8 Comments

Gastro Pubs

Itching for Hitching

We were in the north of Western Australia and chatting with friends that we’d met on the road. They were from Perth and were talking longingly of visiting Melbourne. “Oh”, we cry with delight “We must take you to a gastro pub.” Our new friends stare at us in shock and horror. Melburnians are indeed proud of their Gastro pubs. Tired old hotels are given a makeover and a top chef is employed to produce high quality gastronomic meals. Fine food is served in a pleasant and somewhat refined atmosphere and patrons will happily travel across town just to judge … Continue reading Gastro Pubs

Caravanning HintsLeave a comment

We need a rubber duck

Itching for Hitching

Winter 2016 I’m standing in the shower with warm soapy water sloshing around my ankles and it’s all because of the sullage hose. For those who are unfamiliar with the operation of sullage hoses here is an explanation. Most caravan parks have an outlet into the drainage system. We attach our grey water sullage hose to our van’s waste water pipes and drop the other end of our sullage hose into the park outlet. Some parks let us run our hose onto their lawns and they move the hose daily. Not surprisingly these parks have the lushest lawns and gardens. Now … Continue reading We need a rubber duck