18th May 2019–Charleville

Distance: 426km
Fuel: 42L

Wasn’t sure which way to go today but in the end decided to go west, initially thought I might stay at Mitchell but once I arrived at that town it was still early so decided to push on to Charleville.

I didn’t stop in Roma because it is not long since I was last there. Click here to see that visit.

Passed through various scenery, some open paddocks others more wooded. The weather so far on this trip has been perfect.

Stopped a couple of times once at Muckadilla – somewhere I have stopped before, it is a tiny town, little more than a service station and a few buildings but let’s face it who would not want to stop somewhere called Muckadilla? The name just appeals, even better they even offer free camp sites behind the community hall.

At Charleville found a caravan park that I had stayed at before which was pleasant enough and set up before going for a walk. Charleville is also a place I have visited a couple of times before, the last time not that long ago, I have seen the Bilbys before and it was closed while a show was in progress so I didn’t stop. Click here to see the last visit.

There must have been a rodeo in town because the commentary could be heard all afternoon and evening from the caravan park the activities were followed by a band which was quite enjoyable.

Had a bit of a scare in the evening when I hurt my back and could hardly walk but fortunately by the morning it was back to normal.

17th May 2019–Miles, Qld

Distance: 365km
Fuel: 40L

Good sleep, only down to 15C in the camper during the night so the summer doona was fine. As usual up about 6.30am and straight into the shower before having breakfast.

Reasonable drive to Miles stopped a couple times as before the stretch my legs and use the composting loo much like yesterday.

Arrive in Miles just before 1pm not that pleased with the caravan park I thought it was a bit pricey even though it has brand new unisex toilets/showers. It is crammed between the highway and a railway track so noise might be an issue.

After setting up went across the road to the Miles Historical Museum. It is one of those community museums full of nic nacs and junk, always quite interesting though some rooms were a bit like visiting my grandmother.

16th May 2019–Moree

Distance: 419Km
Fuel: 44L

It was quite a cold night, temperature in the camper got down to 8C but I was warm under my winter doona. Up early at 6.30am for a hot shower which warmed me up no end. Didn’t leave the camp site until nearly 9am after packing up very leisurely.

Still heading north toward Queensland, travelled via Coonabarabran and Narrabri, stopped a few times on the way including one stop at Pluto. This is the outer limit of the scale model of the solar system using the dome at Siding Springs observatory as the sun.

Arrived at Moree just after 2pm, found a caravan park and checked in. Had a drive through site, naturally drove through with the kitchen facing the sun so had to turn the camper around! but once I was satisfied unhitched and set up the camper (takes about 5 minutes because there is nothing on TV so I didn’t want to set up the Tv aerial).

Drove to a Puma service station and filled up with fuel and, after returning to the camp, parked the car and went for a walk into the town. I have been to Moree before.

It still has one of the old playground Rockets but it is unfortunately sealed shut however next to it is a much larger, more modern and presumably safer version.

Returned to the caravan park just as it got dark, had a bite to eat and a couple of beers. Nice day.

15 May 2019 North to Mudgee

Distance: 347.5km
Fuel: 32L

The journey I hate. Decided to head north toward Sydney and then west through the Blue Mountains. Set off at about 8.30 and immediately was stalled in the Wollongong workers rush but it was OK once I hit Picton Road and headed north on the Hume Highway. Then the Sydney traffic, as always, was hell followed by the inevitable road works in the Blue Mountains, such a relief to reach Lithgow and know that you are back to sane traffic conditions.

From then on it was easy, I only stopped once just to stretch my legs before reaching Mudgee just after 1pm. Found the Caravan Park and checked in – reasonable price at $25 for a powered site.

After setting up I had a cup of tea, drove to get fuel before returning and going for a walk into the town. It is a pretty town.

There is even a decent looking club within a few minutes walk of the caravan park though I didn’t go, ended up watching ‘The Weekly’’ and reading my book.

Welcome to my Blog

I have moved my blog from its old Google server to this server. Things have not always copied across accurately and some of the links might not work so please bear with me as I try to correct things. There seems to be a particular problem with some of the maps so I am trying to correct that – apparently it is a Google Maps bug.

If you want to be notified when there is a new post please enter your email address in the box at the bottom of the right hand sidebar. I only add posts when I travel so this blog can remain static for weeks then suddenly get a series of daily entries.

Anyway I hope you enjoy them. You can follow or catch up with a specific journey by clicking on the name of the journey in the “Category” list at the right, there is even a monthly list too.

Home again.

9th March 2019

Distance: 643km
Fuel: 63L

Set off about 9am, like yesterday not an inspiring drive being mostly on the Hume Highway.

Stopped at Holbrook for lunch, tried the bakery first but it was packed so crossed the road to a cafe/restaurant and had a very nice lunch.

Afterwards wandered up to the submarine just to stretch the legs.

The original plan was to stop overnight at somewhere like Junee but at the turn off for Junee decided to press on for home.

The final stop was at Gundagai at the Dog on the Tuckerbox again just to stretch the legs, it was a long drive, far longer than I like to do these days but eventually arrived home in the late afternoon.

Trip Summary

Distance Travelled: 3237km
Fuel: 325L
Average Park cost: $29.10

The Route

Shepperton

8th March 2019

Distance: 411km
Fuel: 44L

Not an exciting day – making the way back home. A lot of the journey was driving on the Hume Highway.

Booked in at Shepparton’s Lake Victoria Holiday Park.

Walked beside the Goulburn River and Lake Victoria in the evening.

Great Ocean Road

7th March 2019

Distance: 101.9

After yesterday’s visit to the spectacular sights on the Great Ocean Rd west of Port Campbell, this morning we set off to visit the natural structures on the eastern side of Port Campbell.

Loch Ard Gorge, Broken Head and the Thunder Cave

Don’t know if the Thunder Cave is a new platform but I don’t recall seeing it on a previous visit.

!2 Apostles

No longer twelve, possibly eight or ten? but the area was packed with people – I don’t remember this from a previous visit. It is starting to get like the Blue Mountains attractions – something to be avoided.

Kept travelling east with the intention of having lunch at Lavers Hill but found the local cafe in the middle of a power cut. Fortunately they still had hot pies but obviously no coffee or hot drinks.

Returned to Port Campbell and walked up the ‘Discovery Walk’ on the other side of the creek. It actually was worth the stairs with good views over the town.

Port Campbell

6th March 2019

Distance: 258km

Time to leave Mount Gambier, it is a town I like very much but time to move on to The Great Ocean Road.

Pretty uneventful drive cutting across country and avoiding major towns (such as there are) until reaching the Great Ocean Road where we periodically stopped to enjoy the views.

Bay of Islands

The Grotto

London Bridge

Unfortunately one of the arches collapsed a few years ago.

The Arch

The weather was really cold with a strong southerly wind reducing the temperature to an apparent 7’C. It just never let up.

We arrived at Port Campbell checked in and set up camp the wind was still bitterly cold making the 15’C seem like 7’C according to BOM.

Port MacDonnell

5th March 2019

Distance: 88km
Fuel: 9L

The weather was forecast to be showery and so it was but only brief showers of a few minutes interspersed with sunshine.

Drove the 25km to Port MacDonnell (the southernmost town in South Australia) and paid a visit to the Tourist information office which was also the local library and Maritime Museum.

Opposite were some large murals.

The museum was quite interesting showing the local history but as a maritime museum it was a bit tedious being a history of ship wrecks along the coast including one which resulted in 89 deaths

Next door to the museum was the old Customs House with a German WWII mine in the courtyard – the Germans mined the sea route from Adelaide to Melbourne.

Next visit was to the site of the old lighthouse with its spectacular coastal views.

Had intended to drive along the coast but the road suddenly ended and the sat nav showed the route via Mount Gambier which seemed a bit of a waste of time.

Stopped at Mount Schank one of the many local extinct volcanos, there was a path to the rim. It was pretty steep but the views made it worth the effort.