Day 27 Tuesday 7/7/20 Lawrence to Alstonville, some cloud 18 We wake to a nippy morning and fog across the paddocks. We take a wrong turn and find that little Lawrence is much bigger than we first thought and up … Continue reading Banned on the Run, Day 27 – Alstonville
Day 62, 13/9/2019 Friday, Nambucca Heads to Morisset, just 20 It’s time to say goodbye to this captivating area. We spot an osprey nest atop a pole, in a paddock. Smoke still hangs in the air. The Pacific Highway thankfully, is quiet. We quickly get back into the rhythm of the road. Woody stabbing the Scan button on the radio to find John Laws then groaning when the only station is full of static. Yay. And so, it’s Pacific Highway, bone jarring, NSW concrete highway all the way with no towns to break the monotony. We keep ourselves sane by … Continue reading Follow the Sun – Nambucca to Morisset
Winter 2017, Bellingen, NSW They’re an artistic lot up on the New South Wales north coast and it certainly shows when you see what they’ve done to the showgrounds toilets. By the way, the showgrounds are excellent for peaceful overnight … Continue reading Bellingen Showgrounds
Mar 2019, Canberra, ACT The Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), is an outstanding facility. There is parking for hundreds of caravans, campers and the big rigs, the fifth wheelers and buses. The office staff are cheery and organised and surprise … Continue reading It’s EPIC
The Maryborough Showgrounds is enormous. There’s plenty of room for camping, clean dunnies and only mild highway sounds in the distance. While we stay there’s a gymkhana, billy cart racing and some great country music happening way over the other side of the park. The sort of things that you would never, ever see in a caravan park. This is a perfect base for unhitching and exploring the Fraser Coast and historic Maryborough. Just passing through? What could be better than just swinging off the highway and putting your feet up here? Where: Bruce Highway, Maryborough, Qld and a short … Continue reading Maryborough Showgrounds
July 2018, Finch Hatton, Qld Inland from Mackay the Pioneer Valley is positively bucolic. Small sugar towns, old Queenslanders surrounded by palms and cane, acres of cane. Sugar mills belching steam high into the air. Marian, the town where Dame Nellie Melba once lived as a young bride in an unsuccessful marriage. Towns like Mirani, Gargett where we stop to walk through the market and then we arrive at Finch Hatton. The Main Street of Finch Hatton, where a railway line once ran is lined with palms and big old mango trees. There’s a pub, a general store, a real … Continue reading Finch Hatton
May 2018, heading north We rock along the Kidman Way north of Bourke listening to ‘Macca on a Sunday’ on ABC radio and singing along to ‘The monkey sings soprano round Stanthorpe in July’. Now there’s a meaningful song title … Continue reading It’d freeze the walls off a bark humpy
A delightful and cheaper alternative in the Byron Bay area is the Alstonville Showgrounds. Situated a block behind the centre of a charming little town there is a choice of camping on the oval or under the protection of a … Continue reading Alstonville Showgrounds
Winter 2014 At Mullumbimby Leagues Club we ask a couple of regulars for the camp ground caretaker. “See that bloody big Norfolk pine over there, ask for Marg”. Bordered by the footy ground, a golf course and the river, the … Continue reading Mullumbimby Leagues Club
There is no caravan park in the Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Kenilworth, Qld, they don’t need one. The showgrounds are huge and well maintained. When we arrive Brian the caretaker is moving his van under the newly renovated house that comes with the job. Given Queenslanders passion for moving buildings hither and thither I wonder where they moved the house from? We are backed up to colourful bromeliad gardens. There are brand new toilets and showers are just a short walk away. Across the street is Jocks and Frocks laundromat. The brightly painted shops of town are busy and … Continue reading Kenilworth Showgrounds
