Helping Hand for Sheryll
While waiting for Annie to do the food shop I got chatting to a lovely lady (Sheryll) who is promoting her massage business (No not that kind) She sounds a very positive person and I’m sure she will do very well. Originally from New Zealand’s North Island she has been in Australia around 7 years IF you are in this area (Broken Hill ) give her a call I know I will if we return.
Cobar via Wilcannia Broken Hil and Silverton Part 1
We left early with intentions of staying at Wilcannia BUT the campsite had recently been flooded so we opted to travel on to Broken Hill. Annie wanted to visit Silverton an ex silver mining town boasting originally a population of 3000 now reduced to 70 since the mines closed and Broken Hill (25 kms away ) is the main town Silverton because of its remoteness was the scene for movies like Mad Max 2,Razorback and a Town like Alice the Australian series ,We decided to Unhitch the car for the first time and BUGGA the bloody battery was flat and we are in a campsite with contact to the outside via computer or phone due to lack of reception !! PANIC set in very quickly! And wouldn’t you know it? Scott the campsite owner is a qualified mechanic!! Problem sorted and we really must get to learn more about hitching and unhitching bus/car!! We took the car for a drive to recharge the batteries and met a retired couple from Vancouver who are travelling in a car and at the same spot a retired Yorkshire man from Bradford (originally) travelling in a HUGE Winnebago and also pulling a car, We headed for the one and only pub (used to 8 pubs here and 3 breweries!!) The Silverton where we viewed photos of a bygone era (Mad Max etc) and a very nice informative land lady.On our pub departure we were greeted by a Donkey that apparently has freedom of the now defunct town All in All a very tiring day with frustrating motor problems and travelling almost 500 kms in the day
Goodbye Enngonia on towards Cobar NSW
We had a night in the “Oasis” the lone pub in Enngonia,the meal was lovely ,very cheap and very Pommie !! Sausage,Egg n Chips,luvli !! The Landlord and lady were very friendly and spent most of the night chatting to us.Next morning we set of towards Cobar passing thru Bourke ( Fred Hollows, the famous eye surgeon, was buried in Bourke after his death in 1993.).Stopping at Bourke Info office they advised of a few places to visit and we opted to go and see the local Aborignee Radio Station 2CUZ 106.5.It turned into a very interesting day being shown around the station and BOB is very talented in the making of Aboriginal artifacts including a demonstration of a bush Woomera (attached to a length of cord ,using arm circular movement it makes a sound that can be heard miles away (different lengths of wood make different sounds) This action was depicted in the first Crocodile Dundee movie.After filling up we found the brake connection from Bus to Car had been destroyed BUT after visiting the local RAC and a very helpful Engineer and $50 (which we considered very cheap) we went merrily on our way to our overnight destination of Cobar .The name Cobar is derived from the Aboriginal Ngiyampaa word Kuparr, Gubarr or Cuburra, meaning ‘red earth’ or ‘burnt earth’, the ochre used in making body paint for Corroborees.[3] [4] It has also been suggested, but it is less likely, that the name may represent an Aboriginal attempt to pronounce the word ‘copper Once again we are fortunate to meet lovely fellow travellors and coincidentally 2 ladies in a bus similar to our from Hervey Bay going to Perth as we are !! Pleasant night and now on to Willcannia
Because of the slow uploads pictures may not be available for the time being
Day 3 Bollon to Enngonia or Queensland to New South Wales
Day 3 Bollon to Enngonia
After the discovery that our aircon works via the Generator we had a comfortable night considering we were metres away from the Cemetry !! Todays travel was excellent! On our road trip we spotted Brolga birds Huge Eagles Hawks and a host of Budgies plus the usual scavenging Crows..Emus suddenly ran onto the road in front of us as did various sheep and a large Lizard ( we missed both!)dead Kangaroos sadly littered the roads that had been vehicle killed and the crows don’t waste much time making then disappear by feasting on the carcasses in large numbers We also spotted 2 kinds of pigs (ordinary and Hairy Boar) and a snake !! We are now in back yard of a pub settling in and will probably have a few beers later on. Puter reception is very poor here BUT we are in the outback.On the way here we stopped to fill up at Cunnamulla and inspected the statue of the Cunnamulla Man depicted in song by Slim Dusty.The town centre (consisting of 2 streets ) has an ornate water featured statue to keep locals happy
St George/Moonie and Bollon in Queensland
We set off early today to scared to be adventurous and didconnect the car from the bus !! Travelled onto St George which is a lovely little town and the river thru recent floods is swollen . Going over the bridge/weir on the way out was spectacular with the extremely strong current depositing good top soil dragged downstream.We refuelled at Moonie (pop 30) and had a wander around this oil rich area.The Filling station come cafe come pub boasts the largest collection of wild pigs !!10 days ago the area was flooded with 8 inches of rain in one evening !! We will stay overnight at Bollon ( a very small town of one street!!) We had to get the garage owner from his cafe down one of the street to come and fill up Sadly we are seeing quite a lot of road kill (Kangaroos and wild pigs) The camp-site is Free and toilets and showers are provided along with the now obligatory Dump Point The River is a few feet from our door and very scenic too ! Our ob=vernight stay does NOT have power SO I have set up the generator and? IT WORKS !!!
The First Day of our New around Oz Trip
The days start was horrendous !Took us ages to fit the Hitch n Go setup to bus and car and it was bloody hot ! (7am)Eventually the job was done in about ONE hour (10 mins “they” said !) Next set the car in neutral as instructed in the hand book,all we managed was to drag the cat with a wheel turning! By this time the neighbours were out in force giving us kindly hints,still NO rotating car wheels!! Thats it ! Annie rang Sydney (the town coz I don,t know anyone called Sydney !) They very patiently went thru the “simple” instructions and? SUCCESS !! ALL wheels turned (I very nearly broke into a chorus of “The Wheel on the Bus goes Round and Round ” but sense prevailed and we waved our now people crowded street with a cheery wave! and off we went towards Dalby.On arriving we went to the local show-grounds that advertises cheap overnight stays Arrgghhh !!! they had shut down years ago !! We have eventually settled in for the night in a lovely pristine site in Dalby End of Day 1 thankfully
Luxxie Rig
All prepped and ready to Go !!
Monday can,t come quick enough for me and Annie. We once again set of around Australia looking for adventures anew,meeting great people seeing fantastic places and it will ALL be documented on my Blog On our travels we forget where we were a week ago ! and this is a briliant way of keeping us informed on happenings of the day The TV is sorted CB checked and working, Sattelite Dish set for easy use and set up
Where we have travelled in Australia in our bus Click for larger map
Click on Map for better view New Adventure begins Feb 2013 Not ALL places have been recorded
27 January, 2013 Wide Bay Flooding inc Hervey Bay
Ex tropical cyclone Oswald has left a path of destruction as it passed through the Wide Bay region. Hundreds on millimetres of rain fell on towns like Monto, Agnes Water, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie and Maryborough.We have lived here just over 12 months and NEVER any where in this world have I seen rain like we have just had.It is a break off from a Cyclone and the devastation caused by flooding includint homes,farms and swollen brooks and rivers People of Australia are very hardy when the going gets tough and pull together.I live in Hervey Bay and have a huge flood drain across the road from us,the water spilled out onto the road (approx 2 metres deep) kids were being stupid and actually trying to swim there,these drains are VERY fast flowing at times.The rain stopped just afore we were about to be flooded and our 5000 litre water tank was empty due to previous drought! (what a country) and filled in a matter of hours !!
pictures courtesy ABC
Australia Day 26th January
On this day proud ,very patriotic Australian people celebrate by having a Public Holiday and having all sorts of fun ,and in most capital cities ends wwith firework displays The date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.The English have St Georges ay in April but sadly do not celebrate the day as fervently as the Australian To all my family and friends in Oz and overseas Have a great Australia Day and celebrate to the fullest as we will !!
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 