Tag: Australia

Caravanning Hints5 Comments

A Chilling Issue

Itching for Hitching

We’re sitting on the dry banks of the Campaspe River at Ayson’s Reserve outside Elmore in Victoria. It’s summer and it’s hot, damned hot. Even the cockies have stopped their screeching. We loll about under our mates’ awning drinking cold beer and pondering this camping life. “How cold is the beer?” Any true blue Aussie would ask. Well the boys are playing with the remote thermometer and so far have checked our van fridge, Richie’s van fridge and Brian’s Techni Ice fridge. Richie’s Waeco will be next. I’m sure that by tonight we’ll have scientific proof as to which fridge is … Continue reading A Chilling Issue

Places, VicLeave a comment

A True Comfort Station

Itching for Hitching

Warracknabeal in Victoria is quite a large country town in the barley belt. There are impressive hotels and the shops are busy. The intersections are adorned with statues of dogs and sheep and bags of grain. I stumble across a Ladies Rest Room that has once been a shop and now provides a haven from the hustle and bustle. There are sitting rooms furnished with inviting antique armchairs and couches. There are mirrors and sideboards and flowers in vases. For the mums there are full baby change facilities and a sink and a basic kitchen to boil a jug or … Continue reading A True Comfort Station

In the Beginning6 Comments

Why the Blog?

Itching for Hitching

My husband and I retired from the workforce three years ago and among other things decided to take up caravanning. It has been an amazing experience. From learning all about caravans and towing them to the adventures that we’ve had and the people that we’ve met. I also joined a writing class at a nearby U3A (University of the Third Age), with the aim of learning how to write the story of my husband’s foster family’s history. Because I felt that their lives warranted something more than a long list of chronological events. Then poetry appeared on the scene. Something … Continue reading Why the Blog?

WA, Well Bugger Me!2 Comments

Renewing the Dead

Itching for Hitching

As it is only a short drive from where we are taking in the views at Kings Park in Perth, I drag poor Brian to the historic Karrakatta cemetery to find the graves of his great grandparents, Michael and Elizabeth Flynn. They had originally left Melbourne for the Kalgoorlie gold rush arriving in 1907. We find Elizabeth’s grave but not Michael’s, only the section where it should be. I get chatting to a woman who is photographing headstones for her website. I love those people their work is priceless when you live in another state or another country. She tells … Continue reading Renewing the Dead

Vic, When Things Just Go Wrong4 Comments

What Seniors Get Up To In Cars These Days

Itching for Hitching

We’re heading to Mildura in Victoria’s northwest. By lunchtime we leave the Sunraysia Highway at Ouyen, because we want to try the Mallee Bakery’s famous award winning vanilla slices. The pies are excellent but the “snot blocks” are pillows of ecstasy and gooilly delicious but bloody difficult to eat whilst driving. Brian has large globs of soft white icing dripping from his fingers and a mouth filled with crunchy pastry as he asks me to mop up the custard that has landed in big dollops in his lap. All too soon I realise that I’m tickling his unmentionables while wiping … Continue reading What Seniors Get Up To In Cars These Days

Point of Interest, WA, Well Bugger Me!2 Comments

The Waterwheel at Cape Leeuwin

Itching for Hitching

Not far from the Western Australian town of Augusta, at the very south west corner of Australia called Cape Leeuwin, there is an old water wheel that once provided spring water for the Cape Leeuwin light house keepers. It is now calcifying and turning to stone. The water still flows and drips over the waterwheel. The water is sweet. Continue reading The Waterwheel at Cape Leeuwin

Why CaravanningLeave a comment

Another Thing the Salesman Won’t Tell You

Itching for Hitching

Friends invited us to their place for New Year’s Eve. All of our club members were invited and to take the worry out of driving we were told to bring our vans as there is plenty of room. Now that’s an offer that we couldn’t refuse, because as all RVers know, there is no finer place to sleep than in your own home on wheels. Many is the time that we’ve happily given our bedroom to house guests while we’ve snored our heads off out in the drive way. We have friends who spend Christmas each year snoozing out front … Continue reading Another Thing the Salesman Won’t Tell You

Why CaravanningLeave a comment

Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Itching for Hitching

A few years ago friends were contemplating buying a caravan. I suggested that the best thing of all is that each morning when you look out your door you see a different view. For this the final post of 2015 I was going to put up my favourite photos of the year, but hey you can see those in the Photo Gallery any time. So here are some of our ‘Window Views’ of the year. I like to show some of the window or doorframe where possible, sometimes I forget to take a shot out the window, other times I … Continue reading Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Point of Interest, QldLeave a comment

The Gulflander

Itching for Hitching

As the wet season begins once more in northern Australia, I’m reminded of our visit to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the dry season of 2014. We assemble at the Normanton railway station in Far North Queensland at 8:00am to board the Gulflander train to go to Croydon 150kms away. The Gulflander is also known as the train that goes from nowhere to nowhere. The pretty little wooden station is all gussied up with flowers in pots and railway relics. In Queensland’s colour of maroon the diesel rail motor has three carriages. The 3ft 6inch wide line was opened in … Continue reading The Gulflander

Caravan Parks, NSW, Point of InterestLeave a comment

Why Not Prop Here?

Itching for Hitching

In southern NSW, we prop at the Temora  Aviation Caravan Park which is located in the airport grounds. Good amenities, grassy sites with power and water and a view of the airstrip. You see this town has focussed on airplane tourism. They have sold off chunks of airport land as house and hangar packages to owners of airplanes. The Temora Aircraft Museum is only a short walk from the caravan park. It has a large collection of old war birds and all are in working condition. The town has regular air shows when the planes are flown. Temora, was once home … Continue reading Why Not Prop Here?