Aug 2018, Maryborough, Qld We’re having a rather social time in Maryborough catching up with ‘on the road’ friends, with family and others who’ve decided to put down roots at nearby Hervey Bay. Short on time Woody races into the … Continue reading Of tears and cheese
Braddons Lookout over the Forth Valley, Tasmania The North West Coast of Tasmania is rich fertile volcanic farmland where valley after chocolate soil valley stretches from the highlands to the sea. Idyllic picturebook farmland once tended by a dear friend. A friend who avidly followed these pages. Rest in Peace Garth you will forever hold a special place in our hearts. Continue reading Braddons Lookout
May 2014, Lake Boga, Vic Woody checks the battery charger and discovers that it isn’t being charged by the caravan park mains power. This is interesting because not only ours but three other vans were having power problems when we first hooked up here. On top of that the park is having new electrical cabling put in. Something is amiss. We pop into Swan Hill for some new fuses but they don’t fix our problem so we may have to rule out free camping on the way home. Eventually we get enough charge from the car via our Anderson plug … Continue reading Power problems
Winter 2014, somewhere in the Gulf We’re heading south on the Burke Developmental Road towards Cloncurry. It’s the sort of morning that can only be described as magnificent and we have the road to ourselves. A flock of bright green budgies rises up from the scrub and wheels in front of us splat, splat, splat, yuck! Continue reading Oh, what a beautiful morning
Anyone who has been following this blog for a while will know that I recently had cataract surgery. Now any woman who has had this procedure will tell you that the new lenses bring every speck of dirt and every cobweb, no matter how high your ceilings are, into sharp detail. My hair has been various shades of bottled blonde since I was in my thirties. OK, a long time. Even when we’re on the road I colour my hair, slapping on the chemicals and wrapping my head in plastic wrap. Last weekend I was cleaning the house and colouring … Continue reading Why cataract surgery can be dangerous for women
Mar 2019 This most recent trip took us through Gippsland, up the Sapphire Coast, across the Great Dividing Range to Canberra and back down the Hume Highway to Melbourne and home. Every trip has its surprises and this one was … Continue reading Finding gems on the Sapphire Coast
Loch – There’s a possum growling outside our window. Toora – We have a rabbit under our van. I’m calling it Rosemary after the herbs along the fence. A wind farm is on the hill behind us, swooshing like an ultrasound of my heart. Marlay Point – We nod off as waves lap the shore fanned by a stiff breeze. Gillards Beach and Broulee – pounding surf. Albury – traffic, bloody traffic, why did we choose a city? Whorouly – more growling possums, like old men with consumption. Continue reading Night Noises
Mar 2019, Whorouly, Vic We’re camped at Whorouly Recreation Reserve and the pub, like many in the bush opens at 3 in the afternoon. We stroll over the bridge admiring the cow paddocks. Graham is the publican and an all-round … Continue reading Whorouly Hotel
Freedom camping is all about keeping devices charged. Phones and Kindles and iPads and the like must be charged whenever we have 240volt power. When we don’t have ‘town power’ we use an inverter to power up our devices via our van’s 12volt plug. We all have a variety of methods of charging things up and avoiding the dreaded flat battery. When freedom camping the nights are dark, black as pitch. There’s no glow from the microwave clock to light the way to the bathroom and there’s no glimmer of a street light through a gap in the blinds when … Continue reading At least it’s not a red light!
Mar 2019, Whorouly, Vic (out the back o’ Wang) The road dips to cross a pebbly stream (The Ovens), we pass a few nut groves and the large supported vines of kiwi fruit farms and suddenly we’re there, Whorouly. Pronounced … Continue reading Whorouly Recreation Reserve
