July 2018 We had to make a difficult decision this morning. Our coffee machine was as good as dead. It was 10 years old, was originally my Dad’s and has been bouncing around the country in the caravan for 6 of those 10 years. Yes, it was time to go into to Townsville to buy a replacement while we are close to a plethora of home wares shops. And what better than going shopping when it’s raining. Continue reading More Java Blues
July 2018 Our coffee machine is on its last legs and as we head south we do a quick loop the loop in Innisfail to find a decent cup of coffee but instead we find a Chinese temple. We shouldn’t … Continue reading Marvellous Innisfail
An important issue for caravanning seniors is drugs. Before we leave on a long trip we get new prescriptions from our doctor then buy enough medicine to keep us going until we are in a large town or city. As our journey evolves we continue to check our stocks and make sure that we have enough. Woody needs regular blood tests and all that requires is a town large enough to have a pathology centre, they then ring his results through within 24 hours. Though we did meet a guy recently who was so frightened of needles that he plans … Continue reading Drugs and Baby Boomers
Because the RV repairman lives in Ilfracombe and our fridge is on the blink we have booked into our old favourite the Ilfracombe Caravan Park. We roll on in feeling like we’ve come home and who should be staying next door at the Wellshot Pub but our mates TnT (Gawd, I thought we left them behind in Warracknabeal, Vic a month or two back) who are visiting with the ‘Country Pub Camping’ Facebook group. We catch up for drinks in the pub ‘beer garden’ and meet the illustrious Jackie B the founder of the incredibly successful Country Pub Camping group. … Continue reading We were at Ilfracombe June 2018
One must not always think of Queensland as being warm. In winter inland nights are icy and in August in Warwick we find ourselves diving into the caravan for a quick change into long pants and jumpers just so that we can buy some lunch. And for those who know Woody and his love of shorts, that is seriously cold. But the good folks of Warwick have been hard at work to ensure that old Tom Byrnes here is kept warm in his striking scarf and beanie. Thanks to Margaret From Pyrenees to Pennines for the prompt. Continue reading Yarn Bombing
I must apologise to regular non Australian readers as I failed to explain some of the local terminology in the last two posts, excited as I was about being in The Outback. Here’s a few explanations: Yowah, an opal fossicking town in Western Queensland. The prize there being Yowah nuts, boulders with opal inside. Donga, an accommodation room in a purpose-built shipping type container, usually three dongas to a container. Often used in mining camps, is it any wonder the occupants of these fly home every month, not to see their families but to experience a real bedroom. Gidgee, a … Continue reading Are We There Yet?
May 2018 From Yowah we hit the road again and for another one and a half hours of red dirt and mulga, though at one point we are arrested, as we crest a ridge, by a fabulous view of hundreds of kilometres of …wait for it… red dirt and mulga. (sorry no photo, I was driving) Around lunchtime we pull into Toompine Hotel known as “The pub without a town”. A corrugated classic with an old tennis court out front and a row of accommodation dongas happily labelled Toompine Terraces. Built in 1893 The Toompine was once a Cobb & … Continue reading Toompine
May 2018 At Eulo we cross the Paroo River and shortly after turn north onto a good single lane bitumen road. The countryside is dry red dirt, stony with gidgee and mulga. It feels like we are in the middle … Continue reading Off into the mulga to Yowah
We always mix our accommodation and rarely choose the cheapest for the sake of cost. We tend to choose the best option available for the location. Be it Caravan Parks, Showgrounds, Camp Grounds, Pubs, Clubs, Farm Stays, National Parks or Freedom Camps. Friends who choose only to stay in caravan parks often ask why we stay in other places. This comparison of two consecutive days when pressing on to get home may help to explain our logic. Long distance, tired, pull into a depressing rundown highway caravan park where half the toilets have been locked to save on cleaning, have … Continue reading Compare the days
August 2018 On down the Newell Highway south of West Wyalong, with eyes peeled “There’s the Mirrool Creek, quick turn here, before the railway line!” Yep, Mirrool ‘Home of the silo kick’. Towering grain silos, a park and a pub. … Continue reading Mirrool Hotel
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