We are late risers, no matter how hard we try, we still seem to sleep in. We might have been up several times in the night or had a later night however, as there is no urgency to be awake in the morning, we just sleep in. On days we have to leave the caravan park we have to be out by 10am, seems a silly time really but that’s the rule. The evening before leaving Orange, it looked like a storm was coming in, so we packed up the awning and put the chairs on top of the car – this usually gives us more time in the morning.

In the mornings, Mr C likes to finish his coffee before doing anything else, this means he can’t do any jobs in-between, whereas me, I drink my cuppa tea whilst doing the breakfast dishes and putting stuff away – just another one of those differences between us. We still manage to get out about 10am sometimes even 1030hrs.

Mr C took the first 2hrs, it was sheer bliss driving again. Finally, we feel confident again driving and towing the caravan after a few weeks of car trouble and extra expense. Our journey took us from Orange via Canowindra, Cowra, Koorawatha to Young about 162kms. However, that doesn’t account for the times we stop for photos, or just because we want to look at something.

We drove through Canowindra, a fabulous historic town, busing with people. Many of the buildings had Santas on most shops. This town was also made famous for its fossils and has the Australian Fish Fossil Museum click the link to read more. Sir David Attenborough visited Canowindra in 2013 and described the unearthed specimens as ‘world class.’ The museum was interesting to see, sadly fossils are not my thing, but I understand the importance of the find.

Young, the capital town for cherry growing. Sadly, we missed the cherry festival, which was early in December, however we still got to see the cherry orchards and buy some fresh cherries. Again, we stopped at the Tourist Information Centre, Brian a very cheerful man who was a volunteer a font of knowledge, so very helpful. We left with a hand full of maps, a bottle of cherry liquor and a couple of. cherry magnets and a few recommendations for where to have lunch. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the recommended places and just kept driving. We stopped at several Cherry farms to compare prices – funny they were roughly much of a muchness – except for the cherry pies, they varied in price. I bought our cherry pie at the first place we stopped, which turned out to have the best price.

Wombat – what a funny name for an area, I didn’t see any wombats. We stopped at a quaint cafe for lunch, it was a late lunch, the kitchen was closed. However, the kind lady offered us tea and a (yummy) pie, which we accepted with glee – something to eat. Once we were finished, we still had to find some cherries luckily about 15mins up the highway we found Malabah farm. I parked the van outside and walked up a very steep hill to the farm shop – I was breathless, (so unfit) I saw a sign that read “pick your own cherries”, I thought, God no! The woman approached me and asked, “how can I help you?”, I responded with “do I have to pick my own cherries” (I was not in the mood). She laughed, “No, just choose which variety you want” – she had three boxes full of cherries – I can’t remember the names, I tasted several from each box – and chose the ones that were the plumpest, they were delish. I bought a two kg of cherries.

Brian from the Young information centre – said “make sure you stop at Murrumburrah and say hello to Bill the bastard” and so we did- Bill the bastard – is about Australia’s greatest warhorse. Not to be confused with the movie Warhorse. The only warhorse movie I knew about was the one Steven Spielberg made in 2011 about the famous horse from WW1. Bill worked tirelessly carrying loads up and wounded soldiers down steep winding tracks – read Bills history here click the link. It was interesting, I’m pleased we stopped.

Queanbeyan

Originally, we were going to be in the ACT early December. I contacted my friends Ann and Ali and they invited us to stay on their beautiful property in Queanbeyan for a few days (that was what we thought). As the time came closer and our delays it was more likely to be mid-December. Ann and Ali kindly invited us to stay for Christmas. Our plan was made, we would stay for Xmas and Mr C and I would take a mini break down south (Batemans Bay), without the caravan (as it turned out the van was in for repair).

I just love Christmas, I love soaking the fruit for the Christmas cake and baking it days before Christmas, having a sugar fest afternoon tea putting up the tree with the grandchildren, making Florentines for Faye, cooking the turkey, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings (no matter how hot it is) and celebrating with our family. It is also filled with sadness as Scott is never to celebrate again with us. He used to come over Christmas morning and help us set up for the day. His large frame bounding through the front door and straight into the kitchen to make his cuppa coffee (or I would have a pot already made) and 4 slices of vegemite toast before asking “ok mum what needs to be done“- so being invited for Christmas was a big thing for me – it meant that we would be with friends and in a loving home, all things dear to my heart. Mr C knew how important being in a home was for me and we agreed to stay with Ann and Ali in Queanbeyan for Christmas we would park up our caravan on their property. They also have a quaint little cottage, they offered us, but I said, “no we’ll stay in the caravan“.

On arriving at the property late in the afternoon, I parked the caravan at the gate and Ann came to greet us. Mr C, Ann and I all looked where would be the best place to park the caravan, after much discussion it was decided, just behind the cottage. I got into the car and drove forward slowly, Mr C was directing me forward – I was watching the shrubs either side of the caravan, when I saw Mr C waving his arms and shouting to stop – I was still moving forward slowly, I couldn’t see why I had to stop, but did so anyway – only to hear a loud crunch…… I thought what the hell…..at first, I thought it was the bathroom skylight – BUT when I got out to look, I had hit the air conditioner on the lower limb of a broken tree branch – YES, the air conditioner was now broken…… DAM, Dam, Dam – I was gutted. After reviewing the damage, I reversed slightly and away from the tree and then parked the van. Now we have to get it repaired.

Ann again offered us the cottage, she said there’s a comfy bed and an ensuite…… well by now we jumped at the idea. It’s a beautiful little cottage, totally self-contained and the bed is so very comfortable. We were delighted and very grateful. What great hospitality and dinner to boot, we were just so spoiled.

Mr C use to live in Hoskinstown about 15 minutes from Queanbeyan. First place on the list to see was to find the house he used to live in. However, we needed fuel in the car, we were going to refill with the jerrycan however, Mr C thought we had enough to get to petrol station. Mr C was so excited about seeing the old house we both forgot about refilling the car. Thankfully the house was not hard, it was a short drive from where we were staying – for Mr C it was like walking down memory lane – I heard a lot of his stories of his early twenties and when he first had his two boys, Danny & Ben. I was happy for him, that he could visit and relive some of those memories. Oh, when we got back in the car and to the petrol station Mr C had 2km of fuel left – close call Mr C.

On our way back we met a farming family putting up their Xmas decorations – Hay bales like you’ve never seen before – I got out of the car and took some photos and spoke with them, it was fab. Apparently, this happens every year – the locals wait for it to happen. Xmas is in the air – I can feel it!

We will be staying here now until after Xmas, with a short mini break in-between to explore down south (Batemans Bay) and the Northern beaches of NSW.

Until the next blog, the mini break – take care, have a blessed and peaceful Christmas.