Free Entertainment

It’s Monday morning in Rainbow Beach in Qld and in front of us there is a rather noisy camp of people who we’ve noticed won’t walk to the toilet, they drive! And no, they’re not disabled, we’ve checked that out. This morning ‘the boss’, as we’ve begun to call him, is pacing back and forth talking loudly into his phone. I think that he wants to feel needed but isn’t, the staff are probably glad that he’s away with the family for a few days. We hear all about a concrete pour that went wrong last Friday because one of … Continue reading Free Entertainment

Lion’s Den Hotel

We take the short drive from Cooktown, Qld to have lunch at the famous Lion’s Den Hotel. It is a curiosity pub of the highest order. Set on the banks of the Little Annan River the back paddock is spacious and available to campers for a small fee. The pub has been operating since the tin mining days of the 1880’s when the miners would record their beer tab on the walls. Tourists still write notes on the walls. Hanging from the ceiling there are: shark jaws, cattle skulls, T shirts, bras, g strings, ski goggles, caps, miners hard hats, … Continue reading Lion’s Den Hotel

Australia Day 2016

My Country The love of field and coppice, Of green and shaded lanes. Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins, Strong love of grey-blue distance Brown streams and soft dim skies I know but cannot share it, My love is otherwise. I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me! A stark white ring-barked forest All tragic to the moon, The sapphire-misted mountains, The hot gold … Continue reading Australia Day 2016

Abi’s Story

We recently spent a weekend with friends at the Heathcote Wine Festival in Victoria, sampling a few wines and having a lot of laughs. Our mates T & T have a gorgeous little King Charles Cavalier called Abi and like most dogs she loves caravanning with a passion. T & T had only recently upgraded to a spacious new Jayco Silverline van. You know the ones, with the big black wraparound front window and a slide out to give even more living space inside. This was their second trip in only a few weeks in the van, so you could … Continue reading Abi’s Story

Coombah Roadhouse

The Coombah roadhouse is the only roadhouse or in fact commercial building on the 266 kilometres of Silver City Highway between Wentworth and Broken Hill in south western NSW. This used to be known as the ‘Crystal Highway’ because of the amount of broken windscreen glass on the road but windscreens are better constructed these days. To break the monotony on this long straight north south highway, emus dash across the road when you least expect it. Whilst driving one tends to say “oh look there’s an emu running beside us” and before you know it he’s dashing across the … Continue reading Coombah Roadhouse

In For a Service

Being a woman of a certain age I recently and nervously checked in for my regular colonoscopy. As I laid there on the operating table in my stunning backless blue hospital gown my Gastro Enterologist, whilst waiting for the anaesthetist to do his job, was cheerily trying to relax me by asking how the caravanning was going. “I’d just love to talk my wife into caravanning” he said “what sort of four wheel drive do you have?” “We bought a Jeep” I said and promptly fell into unconsciousness.   Continue reading In For a Service

Wanna give it a go? Why not hire?

Have I piqued your interest yet? Would you like to try caravanning but don’t want to outlay your hard earned cash on a rig when you’re still unsure? Don’t be disheartened there are options available to help you make a decision. You could do what we did. We hired a Britz Motorhome and toured the North Island of New Zealand. It was a reasonably inexpensive holiday as for the price of a hire vehicle there were low accommodation costs and most of our meals were prepared onboard. New Zealand’s motor camps are reasonably priced and of an exceptionally high standard, … Continue reading Wanna give it a go? Why not hire?

Homeless or Rich Beyond Belief?

This post was inspired by a post that I read by author and blogger Jan Hawkins https://janhawkinsau.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/oldies-at-large-the-friends-you-make/ We were recently camped lazily beside a river in Victoria. The corellas chattered and called in the gum trees and sometimes a water fowl would hoot. Four owls slept in the tree above. There was little else to do but enjoy the summer warmth beside the river. Camped nearby was a gentleman who had decided to change his life on retirement. He left his boarding house as it was depressing him and purchased a good sound tent, a kayak and some fishing gear. … Continue reading Homeless or Rich Beyond Belief?

Salmon Holes, Torndirrup National Park, Albany

We are intrigued by a place on the map called Salmon Holes. We discover that the steep, wet and slippery granite rocks are covered in fishermen and they are hauling in large salmon. The salmon apparently take refuge in the calm waters of this spot. They maybe calm waters for the salmon but they threaten the fishermen with every wave and over the course of the next few months of our travels through WA three fishermen are drowned at this place. Continue reading Salmon Holes, Torndirrup National Park, Albany

Caravanning is Like Sex

Yep, you read that correctly, caravanning is like sex! You just cannot get enough of it. There’s the build up, counting down the days until you can sneak away. The preparation, packing the van and each time you open the door to put food on board or a few clothes, the smell of the van heightens your senses and sets you to longing, only a few more days, only a few more days. Then you start baking for it, luscious casseroles and heart warming pastas go into the freezer for those cold inland nights. And the warm sweet smell of … Continue reading Caravanning is Like Sex