Day 50 Sunday 3/8/2025, Uralla, freezing cold

We wake up to the sun trying to break through the clouds, and the sound of snow clumps falling off the roof. Lucky Woody parked the van on a slight angle. Fellow campers are plodding about, visiting the loo and the dump point. The sign in the toilet asks us to close the lids so the frogs don’t get in, the poor little blighters wouldn’t be interested in swimming at present. Woody clears the snow off the car while I chat with the neighbours who are thankful that they can get to the dump point as their toilets were pretty full. One couple are from the Blue Mountains and are heading north for the warmer weather, no doubt they would have copped this blast at home too.

We still don’t have power or phones, but we do learn that the interstate bus is stuck in town, and the passengers are holed up at the pub. They’ll be toasty, it’s a cozy old pub in winter, with open fires and good food. The council is busy clearing the main street of snow. Up the road a ways, Glen Innes (renowned for cold weather) registered the heaviest snowfall in 30 years.

We have plenty of gas for the stove, hot water and fridge. Not that we would need the fridge any colder at present. The diesel level is also good enough to keep us warm and we’ve got enough 12volt power for lighting and the TV, if it decided to work. The water pipes still haven’t frozen. We’re in pretty good shape. Except Woody filled our water tanks yesterday and they’re empty again today.

As the day warms to a bright blue sky, we wander about chatting. The neighbours from the Blue Mountains aren’t having much luck with this trip either. They had planned on staying at the Royal Hotel in Murrurundi (the one we’d also planned to stay at), but of all things to happen there was a siege going on in Murrurundi and with no way of detouring, the traffic was at a standstill for hours.  They ended up camping on the side of the road.

The snow is thawing rapidly and cockies and corellas are aerating the lawn feasting on grass grubs. Our dinner is a traybake pasta cooked in the oven to keep us warm.

We re-jig our travel plans again as we should be able to leave tomorrow. If the New England Highway is clear, we’ll head down to Maitland in the Hunter Valley and then through Sydney and the Hume Highway. There are warnings for flooding of the Peel River in Tamworth, but if we were to head west there is flooding at Gunnedah. Heading south should get us through quicker.

Accom: $30.00