Many years ago, Woody and I ran a catering business which often involved working at country halls. No nonsense buildings with plenty of room to host whatever the community threw at it and with big old kitchens with the space … Continue reading Cheers to the Country Hall
As we pack the caravan for another zip trip I realise the importance of the crazy clothing situation for those of us who are grey nomads. Retirement means gone are the days of bespoke business suits and sensuous silk blouses. Gone too are heels and make-up and long sessions in the hair salon hiding the creeping greys. Now it’s all about comfort and practicability. Living two lives, one in the suburbs and one on the road means two sets of clothing, one of which stays on the van most of the time. When on the road we try to keep … Continue reading Road Clothes
A while back I attended a lecture at our local library given by a diver who is involved in the search for the shell that is believed to be the first shot fired after World War One was declared. On … Continue reading Port Phillip Heads – the first shot fired in World War 1
The Balladonia Roadhouse is an oasis in the woodlands on the western end of the Nullarbor plain in Western Australia. It has a great little museum that features NASA Skylab junk that crashed to earth around here in July 1979. As the spacecraft came down debris was scattered all the way from Balladonia to Esperance so the Esperance Shire cheekily sent NASA a $1400 fine for littering. Note: Esperance is 400kms away from Balladonia by road and probably half that by ‘aircraft’. Did NASA pay the fine? No. Continue reading Littering
I’ve often mentioned in these pages that on our very first freedom camp foray, the first person that we met turned out to be a member of the caravan club that we obliviously later joined. We had travelled many thousands of kilometres with our mate Veewee before realising through Facebook that she was a friend of Woody’s cousin, then discovered that she and Woody were distantly related by marriage and have since found another genealogical link. I’m constantly amazed at how many people we meet on the road who have in some way crossed our paths in life before. There … Continue reading Serendipitous moments and six degrees of separation
On every trip there comes a time when I get the sudden feeling in the pit of my stomach ‘that’s it we’ve reached the turning point’. That knowledge that from here on everything is ‘on the way home’. Continue reading The Turning Point
Jamieson, Vic The tiny town of Jamieson is at the junction of the Jamieson and Upper Goulburn Rivers. Below the town, the rivers become an arm of man-made Lake Eildon which was built to supply Victorians back in 1956. For … Continue reading Jamieson River Walk
Whether it be through luck or good judgment some towns have saved some beautiful examples of iron lacework. These examples are from two very different towns. Firstly the raw mining town of Broken Hill in NSW with its juxtaposition of … Continue reading Iron Lacework of Broken Hill and Maryborough
Sofala, NSW About halfway between Mudgee and Bathurst in New South Wales you’ll find the gold mining town of Sofala. When we first visited the town our GPS was totally confused as to where we were and indeed Sofala with … Continue reading Sofala
One of the strangest things about caravanning is that each place feels different. Even when you’ve closed the blinds and locked the door at night, something in your sub-conscience knows that you’re in a different place from last night. Is it the smell or sounds barely audible? Is it the level of the van that almost always varies? Is it different insects making tiny sounds or something slightly climatic? Whatever combination it is, those changes do become pleasantly welcoming and addictive. Continue reading Something in the air
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