Qld, The Characters You Meet14 Comments

The Anthropologist

Itching for Hitching

We have an unexpected surprise at happy hour when two blokes tear into the camp in an old rusty ute with a couple of dogs in the back. Craig and David are locals and they enthral the boys with their stories of life around Quilpie and Charleville. David’s ancestors bought a mob of cattle in Melbourne and drove them northward following the rivers until they reached Quilpie. These days David has 255,000 acres at Quilpie and his son runs a helicopter mustering business. Seeing a good sized crowd around the fire, Craig of Aboriginal descent, suggests that he give a … Continue reading The Anthropologist

Caravanning Hints3 Comments

Awesome Apps for Aussie Travellers

Itching for Hitching

  Wiki Camps – if you only ever download one app then make it this one. With over 23,000 sites listed around Australia this has to be the most comprehensive camp site guide there is. Best of all it is constantly being updated by users. Roadtrip – starting to plan and map out your next trip? This app is simple to use and gives upfront distances between stops, which some competitors seem to think isn’t relevant. There is no limit to the number of stops either, some apps force you to pay for more if you want more stops. Six stops … Continue reading Awesome Apps for Aussie Travellers

Blogging28 Comments

To my 100 Followers …A very big THANK YOU

Itching for Hitching

When I started this blog back in October last year I never would have dreamt that I’d be writing this post. In my University of the Third Age (U3A) creative writing class my teacher had shouted “will you get a damned publisher!” Actually I think that the language was a little stronger than that. Anyway I thought oh dear I better do something about this and decided to make the jump into public blogging just to see if anyone really did want to read my musings. Now here we are 158 posts later, I started with a daily post challenge … Continue reading To my 100 Followers …A very big THANK YOU

Caravanning HintsLeave a comment

Techni Ice Fridge

Itching for Hitching

Last year we bought a Techni Ice fridge after realizing that keeping the beer in the caravan fridge wasn’t ideal. Either the vegetables were perfect and the beer not cold enough or the beer perfectly chilled and the vegetables frozen. In fact on one trip some small round tomatoes morphed into rock hard red billiard balls that had to be quickly dispatched into a bolognaise sauce. There was a lot of consideration as to which way to go 12 volt or ice box and eventually the ice box won. Why? Because there is nothing better than an icy, cold beer. … Continue reading Techni Ice Fridge

Freedom Camp, Qld7 Comments

TYTO Wetlands

Itching for Hitching

For Free Camp Friday here’s a camp that has been built by a thoughtful town that realizes the benefits of encouraging people to stay awhile. Ingham in Qld, known as the” Italian town” is welcoming and friendly. The information centre is at the TYTO Wetlands and there is a new 48 hour free camp beside the lake. The shopping centre is only a block away and there is an excellent fishmonger on the highway, the prawns are seriously sweet and juicy. Did I mention the Italian deli in town? The name Tyto is strange but it is the name of … Continue reading TYTO Wetlands

Vic, Well Bugger Me!3 Comments

Is There a Category for Caravans?

Itching for Hitching

We decide to spend a night in Mansfield as the town just happens to be gearing up for the High Country Targa Rally. The main street is lined with hay bales and there are race marshalls stationed on every corner. The caravan park is buzzing with motorsport talk and at 5:00pm in light rain we nip across to the owner’s house to take up his offer of watching the time trials from his deck. There are about fifteen of us crowded on the deck, the owner’s family, friends and patrons and we have the best view possible. Being on a … Continue reading Is There a Category for Caravans?

Qld, The Pubs3 Comments

Blue Heeler Hotel

Itching for Hitching

Some pubs in the outback like the Blue Heeler Hotel in Kynuna, Qld have very narrow doors, we just assumed that people were smaller in the old days. But hell no, it was to stop you from riding your horse into the bar. Spoil sports. The Blue Heeler Hotel has been here since the 1860’s when it was a Cobb and Co coaching stop and the gnarly old floor boards look like they’re original. If that’s not enough this hotel was where the shearers celebrated during the great shearer’s strike of 1894 when they set fire to the woolshed at … Continue reading Blue Heeler Hotel

Places, Vic8 Comments

A Tale of Two Towns

Itching for Hitching

  We’re wandering along Victoria’s Bass Coast and drop in to reacquaint ourselves with Walkerville South. The road ends at the boat ramp and a sign declares that driving on the beach is not permitted here except for the launching of boats. For those not familiar with this area, the two tiny towns of Walkerville South and Walkerville North overlook Waratah Bay and are a mere few hundred metres apart. In years gone by the locals used to drive onto the sand and make a quick dash around the dividing headland at low tide. With driving on the beach no … Continue reading A Tale of Two Towns

Caravanning Hints7 Comments

Getting It Up

Itching for Hitching

After deciding that this year we will slow down a little and stay longer in each location an annexe seemed like a good addition to our van. Thus with the Jeep filled with annexe paraphernalia we headed off to the coast for a few days to test the annexe out and make sure that it really performed as we’d hoped. With over bubbling excitement we started putting up our new annexe for the very first time and well, stuffed it up completely. According to the DVD getting the height of the caravan’s awning is the key to attaching the annexe … Continue reading Getting It Up

The Characters You Meet, Vic5 Comments

Digital Buzz

Itching for Hitching

We wait patiently for our fish and chips at the San Remo Fishermans Co-Op in Victoria. We can’t help but be impressed by the slick operation as the place is packed and baskets are dropping into the fryers one after the other. Oh no, are crayfish really $125kg! Growing up in a fishing town we used to pay 10 shillings each for them whenever unexpected guests dropped in. But that was the 1950’s before global markets. Outside the co-op the sun sparkles on the water, fishing trawlers are tied to the wharf and traffic plies the bridge to the island. … Continue reading Digital Buzz