Category: Taking Directions

Qld, Taking Directions4 Comments

Don’t Follow Us We’re Lost

Itching for Hitching

Aug 2013 Queensland About three quarters of the way from Hervey bay to Tin Can Bay Gabbi Garmin suddenly announces our arrival at Tin Can Bay, which is interesting because we’re in the middle of a huge pine plantation and there is no ocean in sight. We turn off her life support then shock her back to reality and soon she’s back on track again and talking with her mate the satellite. Funny how these devices never say “sorry”. Same trip but this time we are in the new suburb of Warner in Brisbane trying to find a friend’s house. … Continue reading Don’t Follow Us We’re Lost

Taking Directions6 Comments

Taking Directions…from locals

Itching for Hitching

We’re in a shopping centre somewhere in Perth and Woody questions some poor stranger about the whereabouts of the nearest Dan Murphy liquor store. I keep insisting that Google is easier but Woody reckons it is much more fun scanning the crowds for a likely ‘drinker’ then having a bit of a chat. He doesn’t factor in the difficulty of deciphering the resulting instructions….”just go down there oh, about a kilometre, turn left at the service station, then right or is it left…..?” Continue reading Taking Directions…from locals

Qld, Taking Directions3 Comments

It’s a matter of how you look at it

Itching for Hitching

Bravely we decide to do the self drive tour of Kingaroy, we came undone doing this in Charters Towers when Woody threatened to fling the talking CD out the car window. Anyway we do our best to follow the weird instructions which are as cryptic as a car trial. Out past ex Queensland Premier Joe Bjelke Peterson’s Bethany property then back across town to the Mt Wooroolin lookout with its 360 degree view of the area. More intriguing than the view is the lookout structure itself. It is almost as though someone was trying to avoid building steps and instead … Continue reading It’s a matter of how you look at it

Taking Directions, WA4 Comments

Where are we now Mal?

Itching for Hitching

We’ve been on the road for some time now and travelled 4000 kilometres, yet for some time I have had the sneaking suspicion that no one else in our little group knows where we are actually going. As I walk out of the water after my swim the others sheepishly declare that they were pondering what they would do if I had drowned. The Indian Ocean thankfully isn’t all that rough. Their answer was to stay in Geraldton forever as they didn’t know where we were headed or how to get home! It’s nice to be needed isn’t it? Continue reading Where are we now Mal?

Taking Directions, WA5 Comments

Lost in Translation

Itching for Hitching

When we checked in at the Big4 caravan park on the beach at Port Denison in WA the receptionist told us that the sunsets have been good and that we should grab an empty box and watch the sunset with a glass of wine. To explain that: a box is a cabin and WA law prevents you from drinking in an outdoor public place. So we took her advice and toddled off with our drinks to the verandah of an empty cabin and happily drank legally while watching nature put on a stunning show.     Continue reading Lost in Translation

Freedom Camp, Places, Taking Directions, VicLeave a comment

Sebastian, Vic

Itching for Hitching

We intend to spend the night at the Sebastian Recreation Reserve so we take the Marong Bypass to avoid Bendigo. It is still raining, steady soaking rain. Gabbi Garmin decides to send us down a shortcut and before we know it we are sliding along on a stretch of very wet clay road, hanging on and hoping that our new four wheel drive does what it is meant to do. By the time we reach Sebastian we look like we’ve been to the outback with red mud from top to tail. Needless to say Gabbi gets told once again. Sebastian … Continue reading Sebastian, Vic

Taking Directions, VicLeave a comment

GPS

Itching for Hitching

With each trip we learn a little more and we decide that we need more in the way of maps than an outdated Atlas and two Camps Guides, oh and of course Google Maps on the iPhone. We now have our new Garmin GPS plugged in and it has been updated with the most recent maps as well as the Free Camps from the OZ Camps web site, which show as Points of Interest on the GPS. Wow there’s nothing stopping us now! She’s even directing us around our own suburb, this is a little disconcerting, “no, we are not … Continue reading GPS

Qld, Taking DirectionsLeave a comment

Oh, There’s Nothing in Blackall

Itching for Hitching

We have stopped in Barcaldine, Qld and chat to a couple who tell us that we should stay the night in ‘Barky’ as there is little to see in Blackall apart from the wool scour and that the free camp would be too wet from all the rain. But we had been intrigued by the humorous brochure for Blackall so we turn south. Through 100kms of gidgee (or Gidyea) scrub to Blackall and what a charming little town it is. There are avenues of bottle trees and lots of green grass. We set up at the free camp on the … Continue reading Oh, There’s Nothing in Blackall