May 2018, North Bourke, outback NSW. You can’t go wrong in Bourke as both caravan parks are excellent. This time we chose Kidman’s Camp and it’s an oasis with grassy sites, palms, bougainvilleas and two swimming pools which makes for … Continue reading Kidman’s Camp Caravan Park
April 2017, Crowdy Bay, NSW On the headland above tranquil Crowdy Bay is what has to be one of Australia’s more unusual lighthouses. A small light tower with a matching workroom attached, it was a James Barnet design. Construction was … Continue reading Crowdy Bay Lighthouse
Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by the Northern Rivers region of northern NSW. We once visited a distant uncle in Kempsey and he showed us the flood marks high up the wall, near the ceiling of his furniture store. It was hard for us to comprehend such a flood. Big wide life-giving rivers carrying so much valuable water out to sea for the betterment of prawns. At Taree, the Manning with its delta islands between Manning Point and Harrington. Vast tracts of sand, waterlogged forests of paperbark and oyster farms. The Macleay River at Kempsey, wide … Continue reading The Big Rivers
March 2013, Newcastle, NSW A lone surfer strolls up the beach just after sunrise. The morning light illuminates Nobbys Lighthouse, a few hundred metres away espresso machines gurgle into life and a city wakes to a new day. Continue reading Nobbys Beach
Oct 2012, Approaching Broken Hill, NSW The road signs tell us we are now on Central Standard Time (South Australian Time even though we’re in NSW) and our clever little iPhones suddenly drop back a half hour. We pull into … Continue reading It’s Just a Matter of Time
August 2018 On down the Newell Highway south of West Wyalong, with eyes peeled “There’s the Mirrool Creek, quick turn here, before the railway line!” Yep, Mirrool ‘Home of the silo kick’. Towering grain silos, a park and a pub. … Continue reading Mirrool Hotel
May 2018 An icy autumn morning and the bush smells fresh and clean. The Kidman Way has very little traffic but we’ve never seen so much wildlife. Kangaroos, emus and goats and plenty of dead ones too. Woody is up to his old tricks and flat out swatting flies on the windscreen with the back of his hand. This is a long straight stretch and a sign says ‘Welcome to Outback NSW’. Then my phone rings, it’s a crank call from Norway…oh for God’s sake, can’t we just go bush once in a while? Continue reading Leave me alone
On the Kidman Way the Barringun (NSW) Roadhouse is almost on the Qld border and can best be described as an absolute shocker in a sea of red dirt, but perhaps I’m talking it up. We stretch our legs have … Continue reading Barringun
May 2018 We set up camp at Sandy Point Reserve on the banks of the Murrumbidgee at Hay, NSW just before we realised that our fridge had broken down. The reserve is on a large swathe of river floodplain with space enough for hundreds of RV’s. The park is neat and tidy with plenty of rubbish bins, BBQ’s, picnic tables, a boat ramp and best of all flushing loos. Town isn’t far away either. It’s also a perfect stopover for Southerners travelling north. We’re going to have to return to this place when we’re less stressed. Continue reading Sandy Point Reserve, Hay
