Young to Queanbeyan – Broken Air-conditioner – Caravaning around Australia.

Posted on December 22, 2023 by paulinerose18

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“.

No matter where you are you can still have a Christmas tree

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.

Teaching Ann & Ali to play Qwirkle, my favourite new game.

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

Tamworth, Orange & Parkes – caravaning around Australia.

Posted on December 18, 2023 by paulinerose18

On the road again with a new thermostat in place the drive to Tamworth was stressful. I was dreading every hill, thinking the car would play up. Mr C was like a cat on a tin roof – trying to see the dash on the driver’s side. “What’s the temp doing” – me “fine”, “have you got cruise control on?” Me – “no“, eventually he settled down. Thankfully there were not too many hills on the way to Tamworth because we avoided them. The countryside was beautiful – as I was driving, I thought the hills looked like a patchwork quilt of different shades of green, yellow, beige and white for the homes against a backdrop of blue skies – it was awesome.

We were going to stay a night or two in Tamworth but decided against it as we had spent two extra nights in Armidale. We stopped for lunch at the Tamworth Visitors Centre, spoke to the lovely volunteers at the centre about the best way to get to Orange. There are many routes to take, I asked for a copy of the map, sadly they don’t sell them.

I met a group of women who were animal rescue volunteers, they had a baby Joey well not really a Joey, I can’t remember the name of the marsupial, but it looks like a Joey and a baby Wombat. We spent ages talking about how they feed the babies and take care of them, it was fascinating. Mr C was busy taking photos of the giant guitar.

The town of Tamworth was just like many of the towns we had been through, I was expecting something different – because it was Tamworth, known for its country singing. I guess the best time to be here would be for the country music festival, which is in January, just a bit too far away – next time. Mr C & I took our obligatory photos with the big golden guitar, looked at the music museum and hall of fame. We filled up with fuel, I purchased a map of NSW it has much better detail of where we needed to go and continued to Orange, Mr C was the navigator which I was really pleased about – despite us trying to avoid hills we came across them.

At one point I pulled over into a rest bay as the car was struggling and just made it up one of the hills – we waited for about an hour for the car to cool and I then continued. Only to find a few more hills and the car continued to struggle, it was really stressful – at this point we were about 2kms from a 24hr rest bay – we arrived at The Black Stump just north of Coolah. I called it a day. It was a nice rest area with toilets and a few other people around – we had a light dinner and an early night.

I thought, ‘wow’ – there is a place called the Black Stump I’d heard the saying “beyond the black stump” meaning ‘the middle of nowhere” but I didn’t think there was an actual place – well this is it – there is a black stump – a tree that was burnt. The local Aboriginal Gamilaraay people called the area ‘Weetalibah-Wallangan’, meaning ‘the place where the fire went out and left a burnt stump’ We stayed the night. I googled The Black Stump for the purpose of my blog and found an interesting post giving some history – click the link to read further.

I thought it would be better if the car broke down then we would know what the problem was – the car was all day at the Ford dealer in Armidale. Now we have to book it in again at Orange. Frustrating!!!!!!

Morning coffee break was made in a town called Wellington. I could not get used to the idea there was a Wellington in NSW – the only Wellington I know is in New Zealand – it took some getting used to. I thought this was a unique little town, it was vibrant however, some empty shops, beautiful buildings, it was lovely. Called into the Information Centre again they were very helpful. Gave us a run down on the history of the town and its name – yes, the town was named after the Duke of Wellington (England). We picked up a couple of postcards, some freebee doggie high visibility kerchiefs about driver reviver and we had brunch at the “Four Fat Cats” – which happened to be an old infant school building – it was great.

Orange

I remember going to Orange for a weekend as a nursing student, oh so many years ago. It seems very different now – I loved the tree lined streets and the beautiful old houses with the Bull-nose verandas, it’s all so very pretty and Australian.

It seems coincidental that Mr C and I both spent time in our early adult life crossing paths in and around NSW – the early 70’s (however me being younger than him, I wasn’t married).

As we were driving through Orange, Mr C was grumpy and said, “I really don’t like Orange”. I asked him, “why not” – “I just don’t like it“, I sensed there was another reason, and pressed him further, and to my surprise, the following story was told (Mr C is ok with me sharing his story).

Mr C was 22yrs old and newly married when he lived in Canberra. He was driving between Bathurst and Orange with his mate Barry. They were just visiting Orange. He was driving into Orange almost in the township. When Barry said, “I can hear music in the bush” Mr C looked behind him and in the rear vision mirror and said, “no it’s a police car trying to get past me”. In saying that he pulled over. Then the police car pulled in behind him. Mr C got out of his car, the police man got out of the passenger seat and came to him. “You’re under arrest” Mr C said “Yer wot”. Then the police proceeded to tell him, you were driving too fast. The policeman asked what speed where you doing? – Mr C said “70mile an hour” – he said – the policeman said, “we were doing over 107 mile an hour and we couldn’t catch you pulling away from us”. “Nah mate you got that all wrong” – said Mr C, “oh no“, said the policeman and put him in the police car – Barry drove Mr C’s car to the police station. The police were joking in the car with Mr C – saying “what mileage do you get out of that beast (he had a 351 Fairmont) Allan Moffatt only gets 4 miles to the gallon out of his out of his GT Falcon” – Mr C laughed and said, “I don’t drive at silly speeds I get 18 miles to the gallon“. When he got to the Police Station, they took his belt and put him in a little box and charged him with speeding. Then Barry had to find $200 to bail him out.

Mr C could not drive to Orange for his Court appearance, so he hired a mate of a mate with an aeroplane (normal little Cessna) to fly him to and from Orange – he got mate rates for the flight. The Court outcome was a $300 fine and 12 months suspension of licence in NSW. Everyone thought it was an excessive outcome because magistrate had no jurisdiction in ACT. Barry previously had got a DUI not his first and he paid $150 fine and 6 months suspension. – I think Mr C still feels hard done by and suffers from PTSD about Orange.

Despite Mr C’s dislike of Orange, we still enjoyed our time in Orange. Our car went into the Ford dealership for another look at why it doesn’t like hills. We were very impressed with the service we received, they found the problem – it was an Exhaust Gass Regulator (EGR), it needed to be replaced – this regulator when not working correctly will put the car in limp mode and this happened each time, we went up a high hill – thank goodness the issue is resolved. Three Ford dealerships have looked at the car, how hard can it be.

Parkes

It had been over 40 years since I had last visited Parks, it has grown exponentially. My dear friend Karen and I were nursing students and I went home with Karen to Parkes to meet her family, I recall it was a lovely time. To go back and see how much Parkes has changed and to see Karen’s mother again was delightful. We also visited the Parkes Radio telescope – read the history here. I first saw it back in the 1970’s and it looked like a dish in the middle of no-where – now the trees have grown, it was also upgraded in the 1980’s and there is a café, where we had lunch and watched the birds.

Anyone know what the name of this bird is please? we have tried to find it but have not had any luck.

Bathurst

Mr C wanted to go to Mt Panorama and so we did, I was not that interested until I saw it and the track. You can actually drive the track at 60 Km/per/hour, our 4-wheel drive was not exactly the car to drive – I did the first loop, it was fun, I was surprised how tight the corners were and how steep the mountain was – it was fun.

Mr C did two laps, one to practice and the second for fun, he enjoyed it but wished he was in racing car not a 4-wheel drive. There was no chance of speeding, we passed a marked and unmarked police car on the track, so 60km it was – we both had fun.

Bathurst was also a nice town; I was impressed with the Court House it was rather grand compared to other towns we had seen. As usual there were many churches around the town – you can guarantee churches and pubs in all the towns.

We had a leisurely walk around the park and the town, then I had the best ice-cream in Bathurst – it was Annies’s ice-cream shop, it was just delish, I could’ve had two but thankfully restrained myself. It was time to drive back to Orange and plan the next part of our trip now that the car was fixed. We had stayed two extra nights in Orange due to the car repairs and now it was time to move on. I’m so ready to go home, but we still have much to see.

The car trouble has put a dampener on our holiday, it has been so stressful but now hopefully it will be clear sailing the rest of the trip. I’m looking forward to Xmas with our friends – thankfully all Xmas cards have been sent to family and friends.

Lesson – We have been on the road for nearly six months – there are bound to be some hiccups along the way when you are traveling towing a caravan. So just accept that this will happen and go with the flow.

Next blog will be Young – Queanbeyan then the countdown home will begin after Christmas.

Tenterfield – Armidale – Caravaning around Australia.

Posted on December 8, 2023 by paulinerose18

Tenterfield was Mr C’s choice, he loves the song by Peter Allen “The Tenterfield Saddler” so we googled where to find the Saddler’s House. After driving up and down the main street we couldn’t find it (only later to find we had driven past it several times, it was tucked away between two new buildings) we ended up at the Railway Station and discovered they had a market happening – great, we ambled around the market, asked a few locals where the house was, we were given directions. I discovered a Christmas Cake home baked stall and for the first time bought a Christmas Cake, at least it was home made. There were several Churches around the town – one I think was for sale, not sure how that works.

Tenterfield is a bustling little town, who all claim Peter Allen as their success story. What was great for Mr C was to experience the place of the song, Peter Allen did a great job. There were some beautiful old and new houses and the local people where all very friendly and helpful. It really is worth a visit. The only problem was museums were closed on the weekends.

Old man Barry, dressed and groomed impeccably with a light blue shirt, navy jumper shirt collar out, grey pants, grey socks and slip on brown leather shoes was sitting outside the shop to greet visitors. As he spoke to you, he used his wooden walking stick to extenuate important information. I guessed Barry was well into his eighties, he spoke with a quiet English accent, although he was Australian. He knew George Woolnough and was happy to share the family stories to anyone who would listen, he was a lovely man full of local knowledge. As I spoke to him, he told me, “I’ve come home to die, no better place than home”. I wasn’t sure how to respond to his comment, so I just smiled. Mr C bought a leather belt from the saddlery which is still functional. We had brunch at one of the many places to eat and then headed for Armidale.

Armidale

Mr C drove to Armidale, the journey was very picturesque, farming country. We encountered only two small episodes of the car struggling up hills, but the gears changed, and Betsy kept on going. We stopped at Glen Innes which has the standing stones and honouring Celtic people past and present. We did not stay long as we wanted to get to Armidale and get our car sorted out. I was surprised to see the names of the places, this is The New England area, there is Glen Innes, Stonehenge, Glencoe, Ben Lomond, I thought I was in the United Kingdom for a while there. Even street names were common English or from the deep South of America.

I was looking forward to arriving, I was meeting my dear midwifery friend, sadly she informed us that she has COVID. Arriving on Saturday meant that we had to wait until Monday before sorting our car.

Arrived at Highlander Van Park, we set up the caravan, doesn’t take us long now – we are real professionals now. Kettle on, cuppa and some home baked scones from the Tenterfield markets. Mr C noticed he had a sore neck – “honey, just check my neck” when I looked, I could see a body and some legs kicking about. “Oh, my goodness, you have a tick“, major surgery time.

Driving without having to pull the caravan was a real treat. Our first outing was to Wollomombi Falls and walk. The falls is a single fall into the Wollomombi River, it was good, but not as spectacular as the Wallaman Falls which we saw a few months ago. I enjoyed the walk whilst Mr C sat in the car – I was surprised to see the dog fence again, but then remembered in Qld they said it did go as far as NSW and parts of SA.

Gara Gorge was another beautiful spot of fresh water, it is also known as the Blue Hole. There was a great walk that I did, but as usual I am always worried about getting lost, as I have no sense of direction. The waters of the Gara feed into the Macleay system. There used to be a hydroelectric scheme at the Gara Gorge back in 1894 – you can see some of the remnants around the place. I did dip my feet into the water, but it was cold.

The tourist information centre conducts a free city bus tour, that we participated in with another couple. It was 2.5hours long and took us all around the city of Armidale – this included the New England University. Armidale does not have the population for a city but is named so because it has two cathedrals – St Peters Anglican and St Mary and Joseph Cathedrals. The city has so many churches, it is known as the city of churches and for the centre of education, teaching.

We also went for a short drive to Uralla and Gostwyck – our first stop was Gostwyck, it has the most beautiful private chapel. The chapel All Saints Anglican is on private land and therefore not used by the public, it is picture perfect. The beautiful trees are Elm trees, the seeds were brought out from England and planted at the same time the chapel was built in the early 1900s.

Uralla is a charming town, lots of old buildings, some nice coffee shops and boutique shops a couple of pubs and of course a couple of churches – seems the same in most of these towns. Uralla is also home to an infamous Captain Thunderbolt the last of the bushrangers. Uralla also hosts homes to fairies, they built fairy doors during COVID for the children of the town. We also missed the Uralla Fairy Festival, it would’ve been nice to see. It looks like a novel idea for the town.

Car – Ford Everest

The car went in for a service, it was an in-between (last service was Cairns) service to see what the problem was. It turns out that the thermostat needed to be replaced. Mr C asked about the transmission – however, this could only be checked once the new thermostat was in place. We waited a day for the part to arrive and then a day to fit. We had two quiet days, washing, cleaning etc just chilling days. We caught a taxi in for the Carols at St Peters one evening and the rest has been chilling and me catching up with my blogs and reading. Mr C picked the car up today with a new thermostat and no further information was forthcoming as to what the problem was. Mr C is not very happy with the level of service he received from the Ford dealership. We do not feel confident moving forward with the car, fingers crossed.

It was funny to see both Tenterfield and Armidale laying claim to Peter Allen, they both argued he was connected more to one town or the other. The bottom line is he was born in Tenterfield and raised in Armidale – however his roots were in Tenterfield. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

We are ready packed up to leave in the morning heading to Tamworth. Here’s hoping there is nothing further wrong with the car. Mr C’s tick is gone and cleared up. We’ve enjoyed Armidale, sad I missed my friend due to COVID. Ready for the next part of our journey – Tamworth, Orange and Parkes.

See you at the next blog.

Nambucca Heads to Armidale via Tenterfield caravaning around Australia

Posted on December 7, 2023 by paulinerose18

Nambucca Heads

Leaving Lismore our decision was to either stay at Coffs Harbour or Nambucca Heads. As younger people we had both spent time in Coffs Harbour, oh so many years ago. Also discussed not staying in big cities so Nambucca Heads it was. As we drove through Coffs, we commented on how much it had grown. Plus, my friend Helen lives in Nambucca – yes, another Helen. I was fortunate to meet Helen whilst working in Esperance WA and said to her, if I’m ever on the East Coast I would look you up and so I did.

Our caravan park was Ingenia Holidays – White Albatross, V-Wall, fantastic park with a beach and tidal lagoon 100meters from our caravan. It was cloudy, I was hoping it would not rain. Our stay was only for 2 nights – the first day we arrived about 4pm later than I had hoped for however we unhitched and went for a drive around the town.

As we drove around the area and through the State Forrest, the Kangaroos came out to greet us. There were some fabulous houses, we noted some rather small houses as well. As we drove down one of the streets, I spotted a dog, “Stop, look a Dingo” – Mr C…. “I don’t think so“…. Me “just stop please” by this time Mr C had spotted the dog and stopped the car. I got out and walked towards the truck with the dog leashed to the back of the truck and spoke to the dog – “Hi there, are you a friendly dog“, by this time a young man came strolling up to his truck, dressed in work clothes and boots, he was smiling at me. “hi” I said, “is this a Dingo?” he responded with “what do you think?” “Yes, it is it’s a fine-looking dog” “will he let me pat him“. with that I didn’t wait for a response, I put my open hand towards the dog….. the man says “go ahead see what he does“…… well the dog licked my hand and started playing with me. The man said, “he doesn’t do that to everyone, you must be special” my response, “Of course, he knows I love dogs“. we both laughed, Mr C was watching from the car. The man was visiting a young woman and her daughter, I think they were dating, or he was trying hard to date her. The young girl came over to say Hi and also pat the dog, by the way the Dingo’s name was Loki, so appropriate I thought, a bit mischievous (that’s if you know your Marvel movies). I said, “I didn’t think you could own Dingo’s” he responded with “I found him as a pup in the bush, he is now 4yrs old – you do have to be careful as he is a wild dog“. We left it at that, I thanked him for letting me have some doggie time and wished him all the best.

Helen picked us up the following morning a beautiful sunny day and we went for a drive – so good to be spoiled with a driver showing us and giving us a history of the area. Morning tea was in an arty town called Macksville, very quaint. We then went to Urunga Lagoon which has an amazing Footbridge about 2km long. Helen and I walked it solving the problems of the world, sharing our sadness at a “No” vote result. Mr C, sat happily on the beach front watching people and enjoying the sunshine. We also visited the many beaches all with glistening crystal blue water, at times I thought I was in Greece.

On our return to the caravan park – the V-Wall is a wall of rocks, shaped in a V which effectively acts as a breakwater creating a lagoon – it is an easy walk about 500meters. it’s a rock gallery of art and anyone can paint on the rocks. I left our mark on the rocks. I went for a swim in the lagoon, the water was a bit fresh but fabulous. We then had dinner overlooking the lagoon and watching the sunset at the V-Wall Pavillion. What more could you ask for – just perfect.

My contribution to the local art….. Fat Cat and Kez

Waterfall Way – Bellingen – Mt Dorrigo

From Coffs Harbour along Waterfall Way through Bellingen and Dorrigo was 2.5hrs (191kms). A steep mountainous winding road. We thought ok, we can do this, Ian as a young man had driven this road before and so we began the journey.

Our first stop was a beautiful quirky town of Bellingen. We stopped parked the caravan and went for a walk around the town. Had a coffee, sausage rolls and vanilla slice from the beautiful Swedish Bakery, I also bought some chocolate from the sweet shop for our drive. On the road again to Dorrigo.

The Car Problem

As Mr C was driving up the mountain, the car slowly began to struggle on the steeper sections. I was beginning to get worried as I could sense Mr C’s concern. I asked him “is your foot on the accelerator” as the car was going so slow – he responded with “Of course, its to the floor”. We then heard the gears change and for a moment thought the car would pick up speed, but alas it continued to struggle – at this point I asked Mr C what we are going to do…. as the car was struggling – I kept saying “come on Betsy you can do it“, it was like Thomas the tank little engine that couldn’t – and the car clearly now couldn’t – lucky for us there happened to be a turning point in the opposite direction and Mr C turned the car into the bay – we both gave a sigh of relief that we were off the road safely. We both sat and looked at the car, by now the car was over heated…. we just sat in disbelief that this could happen and now considered our options.

Our car stopped – the little engine that couldn’t. Turn-a-round point.

Our alternative route

After looking at the map and speaking with a friend who has local knowledge about the roads we decided to go back to Coffs Harbour to Armidale via Grafton, Casino and Tenterfield 6hrs and 15 mins 513 km. This now meant that Mr C had to reverse the caravan into the oncoming traffic around a blind bend – I had to go up the road and stop the oncoming traffic to allow for this to happen. Mr C had good vision of the upcoming traffic – it was stressful, I was now a traffic warden – the cars stopped as we turned, we allowed them to overtake, and we continued down the hill without any further ado.

Mr C did the first 2 hours of driving and we changed over in Grafton. The car was going well, no further overheating or problems. Mr C was tired and fell asleep in the car as i was driving. I came to Casino and thought I have 162km of fuel, I will fill up at the next station to allow Mr C to continue to rest. Unfortunately, this was the wrong decision – Mr C awoke startled and said “are we in Casino yet” I replied “No way passed it” – Mr C – “did you get fuel”, Me, “no I thought I’d let you keep sleeping and we can get it at the next town” – Mr C, “Ok good – how much is left” – me “about 130km” – he looked concerned – I said “don’t worry there are a couple more towns coming up“. Little did I know.

As I continued to drive, we noted the car beginning to struggle on a hill, I had the pedal to the metal and the car was not responding as it should – I was saying come on Besty, you can do it, and she did. I have to say it was worrying and I was concerned, the car didn’t overheat but this this time and the gears did change as they should.

The next concern was the fuel, each town we went through was small and had no fuel stations, we were still about 40-50km out of Tenterfield – I was stressed, the fuel gauge dropped to 30 – I said to Mr C, “we have to stop and use the jerry can fuel, we are not going to make it” – I felt like a complete fool that I did not fill up in Casino and I had not accounted for the heavy load in my calculations. We pulled over in Drake and a kind young man asked if we needed help, if we were ok – I said, “thanks we’re all good, just going to fill up using the jerry can” and sent him on his way. little did I know how heavy and difficult it is to fill the car up using this method – in hindsight I should have accepted his help. Funny thing as I drove on, we both thought the car performed much better – have no rationale for this (Perth Fuel).

We continued to Tenterfield without any further incidence. We stayed at the Tenterfield show grounds – I reversed park the caravan and was pleased to get out and go and have dinner – we were both tired and stressed.

The following morning, we explored Tenterfield (next blog) it was Mr C’s turn to drive, and I was very happy about that – it was going to be a 2–3-hour drive to Armidale.

Lesson for me: Fill up in major towns – don’t worry about Mr C sleeping.

Next blog – Tenterfield, Armidale & the car repair – see you there!

Prague

Posted on June 27, 2014 by paulinerose18

One of the first reflections of our trip in the Czech Republic – we spent one week in Prague.

We had gone on a walking tour of the Old Town – The old Town Square….The sky was blue, sun was shinning, there was a smell of cooked ham, smell of fresh coffee, cafe’s, people bustling, buskers playing….. it was an amazing square. History surrounded us, here we were in the 21st century looking up at a medieval clock that was created in 1410 – there are only three astronomical clocks that are working left in the world – as I looked at the clock I wondered how the hell could they tell the time, I sure as hell couldn’t, I was mesmerized by the clock. We waited with many others for the clock to reach the hour so that it would chime… I was surprised to see figures of the Apostles and across the clock stands Death, a skeleton that strikes the time upon the hour.

The square was located between Wenceslas Square and the Charles Bridge; There were several architectural styles including the Gothic Týn Church and baroque St. Nicholas Church. The tower at the Old Town Hall had panoramic views of Old Town shop. The Kinsky Place also held the art museum of the Czech National Gallery, we didn’t go in, just admired the building.

The square had several statues of religious people, cant remember all there names. The square was also home to a memorial to martyrs who were beheaded on that spot during the Old Town Square executions. There are 27 crosses that mark the pavement in their honor. There was a plaque which lists the names of all 27 victims it dated from 1911 – I do have a picture…but have to find it…

It was surreal to bump into fellow colleagues whilst in Prague, just on this day I ran into about 5 West Australians, how strange is that you are half way around the world and bump into people you work with – that really was no surprise as there were 480 Australians in Prague for the conference.

Reflecting on life!

Travels, holidays, general life musing

Tag Archives: holiday