Tamworth an Australian Mecca (bit disappointing really tho !)
Well we arived here after really looking forward to the visit BUT it turned out to be a bit of a fizzer.Tamworth is renowned thru out the world as the hub for Country Music , BUT the music from what I have seen is around January where the accomodation rates soar and people pay excessively for the shows that are probably really great to attend. The Information Centre (and we have visited many well stocked premises thru out our travels) was a wee bit poor with souvenirs being low on choice and NOT much on display to promote this musical capital in New South Wales.The parking rules are difficult to understand as parking in the High streets is reverse angle !! We looked arounf and the ONLY icon we could find was on the Highway and is a giant gold coloured guitar (not sure what it is supposed to depict? unless the area was once inhabited by giant strumming guitarists?) BUT now we can cross Tamworth of our must visit list as we have now been there !!
Stanthorpe and Glenn Innes New South Wales and other places
We were up early today after our first night in the bus after a few months relocating houses.We travelled thru Stanthorpe a large apple growing area that comes apparent when passing by virtue of the large advertising Big Apple model (no relation to New York) Australians are renowned for large iconic models (hopefully Tamworth will have a large Guitar or the like !!!) We have settled in for the night at Glenn Innes a very Gaelic community mainly Scots/Welsh and Isle of Mann (did you know the Manx cat (I.O.M) has NO tail?) We passed thru the Gap in the Great Dividing Range which at times wa a wee bit scary because some of the road is disappearing down the mountain !! (Roadworks are being rectified as I write) We passed thru Tenterfield (just over the NSW border) where apparently the Federation of Australia was born The speech was made by Sir Henry Parkes The campsite here is again very friendly and tomorrow we are heading for the Country (not to be confused with Country & Western as advised by a local,my neice) music capital of Australia Tamworth
Towards Ipswich Qld and our first stop is The Ettamagah Pub Palmview
Its been a while since being on the road and we forgot how tiring it can be !We travelled 360 kms on our first leg towards Melbourne and the Ferry.By passing Brisbane (it is SO large) and being the last weekend afore Xmas the roads were extremely busy ! We had lunch an the iconic Ettamogah Pub originally a carton in the Australian Post from 1960 – 1998 immortalised by the late Ken Maynard depicting bush “ockers” rough life in a disorganised pub !! We have booked into a caravan park a short distance from Ipswich Qld and will continue tomorrow after a much needed rest !! We passed an amazing downhill bridge going across the motorway ! Ive been around this ole world but Never seen the like !!!
On we go !! WE ARE READY !!
All packed and we will hit the road tomorrow (Saturday) early next blog will be a couple of days away and hopefully will have pics of places we have visited I will be able to update out Around Australia Google map as we go >The eastern Coast has had quite a bit of rain recently and we are hopeful on missing these areas with advance warnings Around 200kms per day is our target and we do not want to do lots of mileage in a day in order to get good blog pictures !! House has been handed over to sis in law and the premises made secure OFF WE GO and as the saying goes TO INFINITY & BEYOND !!!
Almost ready to Travel on
Saturday departure day is approaching rapidly,Annie is busy plotting our course to Melbourne where we will board the ferry on New Years Eve (an experience I am looking forward to) I have been securing the house and charging batteries up for the cameras,I pad etc .Water tank on the bus filled,generator tested and running smoothly.New nieces will look after our house while we away and Annies sister will take care of our mail that will be forwarded to Post Offices thru-out Tasmania.Hopefully this blog will then be inundated with lots of pictures
New years Eve should be a hoot!!)
Our FIRST Cane Toad and how to eradicate them
Today we had our first Cane Toad experience by finding ONE in our water logged Garden ! Tough Annie “sprayed” it !!Most Australians don’t like toads . Other people believe that the toads themselves aren’t really to blame for being in the wrong place (Australia) – after all, they didn’t ask to be brought here! Me and Annie feel this way – so that although cane toads don’t belong in Australia, and their numbers should be reduced as much as possible, it’s also important to be sure that toads are killed humanely.
To kill a toad humanely, the easiest ( I dont think so !! Annie will have to do it !) approach is to pick the animal up (gloves are a good idea, to ensure you don’t get exposed to the toad’s poison!) and put it in a plastic bag, then pop the bag into the fridge. After a few hours the toad will be pretty much asleep (although still very much alive) and you can pop the bag into the freezer. Leave it there for a long time – preferably a few days ( I dont think I will use this method !! takes up my ice making room !!)– because there are lots of stories about apparently-frozen toads coming back to life if they haven’t spent long enough in the freezer! Our local plumber says he just puts them in his bin !1 (too cruel for me that method) Gaining popularity in Queensland is the use of DETTOL , apparently a quick spray kills the frog within 30 seconds ! Then he can be buried (in the bin !!) Sadly these creatures are decimating small animal life and need to be controlled taking into consideration upto 35 000 eggs per frog are hatched ! Wow !!
Ahh Queensland ! Raining one day? Pissing it down the next !!
Living in the Perth area of Western Australia for nigh on 30 yrs I thought Id seen heavy downpours!! WRONG !! Here in Hervey Bay I have TROPICAL rain fall at its best !! from empty my 5000 litre water-tank will fill in around 2 hours easily !! When the sun is at its best my back garden need s a pick axe to break thru the surface ! BUT after one of these regular rains my garden virtually turns into a swamp ( I’m trying to get Annie to take a walk on the marshy ground ,but she wont !) Across the road from us is a storm drainage system approx 6 feet deep ( mm) and that quickly turns into a raging river !! Nice to watch and hopefully it doesn’t overflow !! Our bus is currently parked in the garden and I’m very reluctant to move it in this rain in case it disappears below the ground surface !! Hopefully we will get the Sun for a few days as we are hoping to continue our travels towards Tasmania next Saturday.We will board the Ferry on new Years Eve SO? fingers crossed all works out.Phil the satellite man has installed our new new TV box enabling us to get ALL Australian TV stations including all State (delayed) programmes as they go to air Today we are having our early Xmas Party with Anns sister coz we have no idea yet where we will be around Xmas
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 