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
We camp the night on the other side of town at the Newey Reservoir Reserve. There is a large sealed parking bay overlooking the reservoir. It is reedy, moody and filled with the chatter of a million birds. This is a wondrous free camp. Walking around the lake shore and on the lawns is a treat and campers sit watching the sky turn pink over the lake at sundown. Continue reading Newey Recreation Reserve, Cobar, NSW
The Homebush Hotel dates back to 1878 and is situated 30kms north of Balranald on the Ivanhoe Road at Penarie, NSW. Chooks peck about the grounds. Out front there is a cairn commemorating the sealing of the road in 1969. The rather small pub has been extended to include a dining room and a function room at the back. Above the bar there is a pump action shot gun and shearing paraphernalia. This is an area of sheep stations, really big sheep stations. The walls are adorned with photos of sheep and wool and a shearing mural.This pub is a … Continue reading Homebush Hotel
Ten kilometres down the Sturt Highway and east of Balranald, NSW, is Yanga homestead. Yanga station is large, so large that it has 160kms of river frontage to the Murrumbidgee River. The homestead is situated on a peninsula overlooking vast Lake Yanga. Now a National Park Yanga station was once 85,000 hectares and the largest privately owned station in the southern hemisphere* From the homestead one can see both the sunrise and the sunset over the lake. Chiefly a sheep station it was established in the 1840’s. Construction of the homestead was commenced in the 1870’s of drop log design … Continue reading Yanga Station
Our friend Kay lives in the NSW Southern Highlands. The house is set in 105 acres of bushland garden and farmland and it overlooks a series of lakes. There are black cockatoos of the yellow tailed variety. Rosellas and king parrots squabbling in the garden and swans gliding on the dam. The evening is still but far from quiet as there is a cacophony of voices rising up from the dams, a gaggle of croaks and squawks. As we traipse out of the cosy farm house towards our vans Kay asks us to shake out our shoes. They have deadly … Continue reading Spiders
We had just set up in the caravan park at Sawtell on the NSW coast. It was a lovely sunny day, parrots were chattering in the trees and there was the sound of the surf in the distance. A newish motor home pulled in opposite us and all hell broke loose. Tirades of abuse were hurled at the gentleman driving while wife attempted to guide him into the reasonably sized camp site. Campers peered from windows and from behind annexe screens. No one was game to help and certainly not while language like that was being bandied about and so … Continue reading Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea
We slip out of Broken Hill to the Living Desert Park, which is 12kms away, to see the sculpture park at sunset. The sculptures are made from Wilcannia sandstone and almost glow in the light of the setting sun. The views of both the desert and back towards Broken Hill are sublime and it is wonderful to see the changing colours of the desert as the sun sets across the landscape. People have brought wine and there is a hush. They are sitting on rocky outcrops quietly toasting the end of the day and the sheer majesty of it all. Continue reading The Living Desert Sculpture Park
Its early morning at Crescent Head in northern NSW and the surfers are already out working the break. After breakfast I step outside the van and my ankle is nudged by a fat brown rabbit, he likes multigrain bread and nuzzles my fingers. Continue reading What’s Up Doc?
Eden is a commercial fishing hub on the New South Wales south coast. It sits high on a hill overlooking the deep water harbour of Twofold Bay. I tour the Whaling Museum and learn that land based whaling stopped here in 1930 when ‘Old Tom’ the Killer whale died. He used to herd the Right whales in close to shore so that the men could come out and harpoon them. The men would then put marker buoys on the carcasses and leave them for the Killer whales to have their fill (usually the tongues and lips, hmm tasty). The following … Continue reading How Times Have Changed
There’s great excitement when the new camp kitchen opens at Evans Head caravan park. Continue reading The New Camp Kitchen
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