Echuca.

                      

                                                      Old Port Echuca

Good to stay over for two nights in Moama Echuca. Cross over the bridge from Moama and you are in Victoria. One reversing light was out in the truck so John had to drive to Repco and they put a new globe in for us. 

Maiden's Inn Caravan Park is right on the river, only five minutes from the Old Port of Echuca where John and I strolled around the old buildings and had a coffee in the Star Hotel. We didn't take a paddle steamer cruise, we have on an earlier trip, over twenty years ago. We know we will go on a couple of boats during this trip. Although there is something grand about a paddle steamer that you imagine them in their heyday transporting goods along the Murray River.

We found a couple of historic houses near the park, one the old telegraph station.

       

We found a dirt road along the river, driving through the tall gums and seeing a lot of the trees with their roots exposed where flood waters had immersed them in raging floods in years gone by. 

We had a quiet afternoon back at the park, after a sunny start to the day, the rain came forcing us indoors and denying us the chance of sitting by the river.

        

                                   The old Telegraph Station c 1840's

Forbes, Hay and Moama

        

                                        

                                                 Water Fountain in Forbes Park

The four of us are enjoying our time on the road. Most days we only drive approximately five or six hour days including stops for our morning tea at rest stops where the thermos of hot water comes out and we all have a good chat before driving on to our next destination. So far since leaving home we have only had one night stopovers. As the time goes on and we reach other areas we might have liked on a previous trips, then we will have more days to look around. Moama is one of those scenic areas on the Murray where at least a two night stay is warranted.

            

   

                                                          A pub in Forbes

We had a quick photo stop in Forbes then onto Hay. We haven't seen much wildlife yet, a fox beside the road and a few emus on the drive from Hay over yo Moama. 

Before leaving Hay, John and I had a closer look at the Murrimbidgee River along a bush track. 

       

     

We saw a lot of big trucks over the Hay Plains, although nothing like what is ahead of us in the north of Western Australia and into Queensland. 

       

 

     We are now settled in Moama for two nights and tomorrow will have a look at the old port of Echuca. 

        

Country New South Wales

        

    

We set off from home about 8 am on Sunday and drove all day into rain. Luckily only light falls in some areas but annoying all the same. We didn't see much sun.

We met up with Bob and Elaine at the twin service stations at Wyong and had a coffee stop. Elaine and Bob were delighted to see their son Mark and his three children. They came to say goodbye as they won't see them until September. 

We had an easy drive to our first overnight stop in a small country town, Dunedoo, about 400 Kim's from home. We were settled in about 3pm and were very happy to have an early night after our happy hour and a light dinner. Elaine had made a lamb shank and vegetable soup and shared enough with me to last for two dinners. 

I had a few bags of food and medications I hadn't unpacked but realised that I just don't have the storage we had in the larger motorhome. I think I did too much food shopping. I'll live and learn.

Our beds were comfy and we felt cozy under our thick quilts and blankets. John is an early riser so I must try going to bed a little earlier at night.

                                   

                                           Morning tea at a rest stop on the Newell Highway

We left Dunedoo about 8.30 am and after a morning stop at a roadside rest area continued to Parkes to visit the Radio Telescope visitor centre. I remember the movie they made about the role the Radio Telescope played during the Apollo 11 mission. We all took a few photos and had a light lunch at the cafe.

We continued onto Forbes and were settled into the caravan park about 3.30 pm.

       

FREE CAMPS V CARAVAN PARKS

       

                                    Mary Pool free camp in the Kimberly area of Western Australia

John and I have been travelling in a motorhome since 2007 and in all that time we have only stayed in caravan parks. We have never felt the need to free camp, we like our creature comforts too much. If it's hot we need air con and power and water are on site whereas at a free camp we might be lucky to have a toilet and certainly no water and not much chance of a shower block. 

We are self contained in that we have water tanks and shower and toilet. Free camping means no hot water for a shower onboard. Our fridge works on solar or power, we have gas for cooking, so no worry there. 

Since we started talking about this year's trip we spoke of trying the free camps every so often. We also have the off road vehicle now, which will make it easier to access some of the camps. 

Bob and Elaine have said they will also free camp, something they haven't done before either. 

I'm researching recipes for easy bread or flatbread we can have fresh and make when we have power supply and away from supermarkets. In some isolated areas I have bought frozen bread and realised later it's 12 months old!  I don't want to so desperate again. 

    

                       

 I have a breadmaker at home but if I keep adding more appliances in the motorhome we won't be able to fit in ourselves.  I have a small electric oven  I use when we are away to cook scones, slices etc, here's hoping the bread turns out good enough to enjoy. I'll aim to bake some bread similar to the above picture.

Two weeks until Trip

I've been home for two weeks from Europe and now time to think about the around Australia trip. John went to the Caravan and Camping show while I was away with Bob and Elaine and bought some new steps for climbing up to our bed in the motorhome. He also got a broom with a retractable handle which is easier to store. We haven't as much space in the Sherwood as we had in the Sydney. Which is not a bad thing as the more space you have the more stuff you think you need. 

          

The cold weather will follow us for the first part of the trip. We are heading west through NSW over to Victoria and along the Murray River towns then into South Australia and across the Nullabor. I'm guessing we won't get warmer weather until at least Kalgoorlie. Even then it's not the coast, but Elaine and Bob will head towards Perth while we keep inland until we meet up with them again further north. 

We had to rethink and add warmer clothes and bed linen. We went to the south coast in February and only needed a sheet and a quilt if we had a cool night. I did buy a wool quilt each and recently bought a wool blanket for extra warmth.  The warm sheets will be a bonus too, the cotton ones packed away until we get North.

         

I think we will be glad of our deisel heater as well.  

We have bought a single electric hot plate as it won't take up as much storage as the double hot plates did. 

If we free camp we will use the gas hot plates for cooking. 

       

   

On the road with Elaine and Bob

            

                                                    Morning coffee on the road

John and Bob have known one another for many years, they both were at Stowe Australia and both retired the same year. We all got our trip vehicles that first year although didn't travel together for a couple of years. John and I did our first big trip with other friends, up to Darwin through the Red Centre and across to the Kimberley area of Western Australia, then home via Queensland.

Our first trip with Bob and Elaine was down to Bright in Victoria after we went to a wedding in Forbes. 

Since then we have enjoyed some good holidays on the road, sadly one year after planning a trip to the Gulf we had to cancel for a month and never managed to catch up with Bob and Elaine as they were that four weeks ahead of us. Very handy to be advised of the places to see as we did the same route! Some trips that John has planned to out of the way places have Bob and Elaine shaking their heads but they always come along.

 Our trip to the Flinders Ranges last year had us going our seperate ways for a few days when we stayed an extra day in a country town. Another time on a previous trip we had to leave them and come home when John had some serious health issues.

When we mentioned this new trip for this year, Bob did up a detailed itinerary that suited us all.  John and I missed some areas in the west last time, so we will head inland for two weeks while our travel companions do the beautiful Indian Pacific Coast drive. We will all meet up and have a few adventures to swap.

Bob and Elaine pull a caravan and their tow vehicle is a Toyota Aurian. It's a comfortable car and Bob often drives us around local tourist sites from where we are camped. 

I like to cook for us, so along with the boys cooking bbqs Elaine and I do other dinners including roasts and cutlet meals, scones etc. some nights we eat together other nights stay in our own "homes" and give one another space. John goes to bed early most nights so "Happy Hour "  is very early and dinner sometimes before the sun goes down.

It works for us and we all enjoy our outback life.

        

                     Bob and Elaine's caravan and tow vehicle

          

                                           In Broken Hill last year

               

                Camped at Wilmington SA

The Sherwood 4WD

       

       The Sherwood took us to the South Coast in February for a week. It was a good to test the new vehicle and to go back to Suncamper with anything that needed changing or adding. We had had new power points added before the trip and were glad we did. A double power point near the table worked well for computer and charging the cameras. The fridge is smaller than the one we had in the Sydney, I've had to buy less freezer food and remember there is less cupboard space for extra food. We did ok for the week but the next trip will be three to four months. 

I need another grab rail near the top of the steps as I enter and that will be added before next trip. John also is having some large hooks put in his roomy tool box on the back of the vehicle.  The vehicle comes with two solar panels which will power the batteries when we free camp. 

The single beds worked out ok. It's a lot easier for us to get out during the night. The downside is there is an extension to the end of the bed that if left extended during the day would cut down the bench space. If we were short people we could probably do without the extension. We bought cotton sheets for summer but will get flannelette ones to go with the thick quilts for winter. The temperatures  in western NSW  in the winter can drop to minus Celsius in some areas. We did have a deisel heater added for warmth if we are free camping as we intend to do.  We won't be doing a lot of free camping as we like our creature comforts  especially our air con in the hot weather.  The caravan parks will still have our presence for much of the trip.