Star and Philosopher

Wilpena

2011-03-14T14:58:00.000+11:00

We have decided to stay here in Wilpena for three months. It is quiet and peaceful and the wildlife is exceptional. The scenery is stunning and the people are great.

Wilpena Pound Flinders Ranges South Australia

2011-03-12T16:26:00.000+11:00

We are in the Wilpena caravan and campground for the next four days. It is situated in the Flinders Ranges National Park and it covers 50 hectares set amongst river red gums, native pines and abundant wildlife. We are just a short walk from the entrance to Wilpena Pound and we have found it be a perfect base for exploring the area.

In this natural bush setting, we have encountered kangaroos and emus grazing while wedge-tail eagles soar overhead. Last night we went out to look at the stars and found a kangaroo grazing by the front of our Winnebago. It saw us and then started coming towards us after food, we tried to get it away but it just kept coming. We went inside and it came up to the door and was looking in the door and trying to get it. Apparently people feed them and the poor old kangaroos think every human will feed them. They can become very aggressive towards you if you don't feed them. The night sky is to die for - black as ink with beautiful stars and no road noise - bliss!!!

Nackara Rest Area, Orroroo and Hawker

2011-03-10T18:28:00.000+11:00

We found a lovely little rest area at Nackara and stayed the night. It was off the road and we shared it with one other couple. A lovely campfire just topped off the night.

At Orroroo we spent the day looking through the town - a nice little and nice feeling town. The locals were very friendly and helpful and very proud of their town.

The place was full of corrugated iron sculptures such as these beautiful horses.

Today we moved on to Hawker located in the Flinders Ranges. There has been a lot of rain in the last two weeks and there have been lots of road closures. Today (after checking the road closures and making sure we could get through) we came the back way to Hawker via Carrieton and Cradock. There was a lot of wildlife (the most we have seen this trip) a fox, emus, wallabies, wedge tail eagles and sheep.

Nyngan, Cobar and Broken Hill

2011-03-10T18:11:00.000+11:00

We stayed at the Nyngan Riverside Caravan Park which is uniquely located on the Bogan River, it was an easy walk to town, a haven for skiers, fishermen, birdwatchers and people just looking for a relaxing time on the banks of the Bogan! It was a large park divided into 2 parts - 1 part was near the river and the other part was further up.

At Cobar we experienced one of the hottest days so far on our trip it got to 45 degrees and the wind was really warm. Not a lot to see here but the locals were friendly.

We then went to Broken Hill and stayed for 7 days. The weather was a little cooler thankfully. Broken Hill is an isolated mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales. The world's largest mining company, BHP Billtion has roots in the town. We enjoyed our time in Broken Hill and it was a great walk into town from the Caravan Park.

We went to a restaurant on the Lode line called Broken Earth - it was great for the sunset and the food.

We have been to Broken Hill before and since then there has been a new tourist site called the The Living Desert and Sculptures. It is nestled amongst the Barrier Ranges and is located 9km from the City of Broken Hill. It is a unique 2400ha reserve which commenced in 1992. The topography, scenery and views within the reserve are breathtaking and are captured throughout the numerous walking trails. These sculptures are all hand done and no power tools were used at all.

Gilgandra, Coonamble and Moree

2011-03-03T19:54:00.000+11:00

Gilgandra is a smallish country town of 3000 people on the Castlereagh River in NSW's central west. It is situated at the junction of the Newell, Oxley and Castlereagh Highways, between Dubbo and Coonabarabran, 476 km north-west of Sydney and 280 m above sea-level. Known as the "Town of Windmills", Gilgandra once had a skyline dotted with windmills. As there was no reticulated town water supply until 1966, most residents supplied their own water needs from individual windmills, drawing water from the sub-artesian basin.
Gilgandra is a service centre to a mixed farming area focused principally on cropping, sheep and cattle, although pigs, poultry, aquaculture, ostriches, emus, deer, olives, buffaloes and a eucalypt plantation all contribute to the local economy.

Coonamble is a town about 50 km E of Quambone and 30 km E by N of Narraway State Forest. It is on the Castlereagh Hwy on the Western Plains, 518 km NW of Sydney. It unfortunately is typical of a lot of remote towns because there are a lot of shops vacant - and in Coonamble the shops close at 4 pm.

Moree is situated in northwest New South Wales 640 kilometers from Sydney and 480 kilometers from Brisbane. Moree has an enthusiastic supportive friendly caring community with a great lifestyle and many great sporting opportunities. It is a larger country town with lots of gardens and parks. It is also renowned for its natural spas direct from the Artesian basin. There are 2 spas one at a constant 41 degrees C and the cooler pool at 38 degrees C.

Warren is a very typical and quiet rural town on the Macquarie River with a population of about 2200 people. It is located on the Oxley Highway, 545 km north-west of Sydney, 80 km west of Gilgandra and 197 metres above sea-level.
The area is dominated by sheep and cotton. In fact the shire council refers to itself as the 'Wool and Cotton Capital'. Merino sheep have long been bred locally and there is an Auscott Cotton Gin just out of town. Other local produce includes wheat, oats, sorghum and maize. The caravan where we stayed had its own lawn mower sheep - his name is Barney.

Cassilis to Dunedoo

2011-02-11T20:02:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we were in Cassilis about 250 kilometres from Newcastle which is about 300 kilometres from Sydney. We found ourselves a little rest area near the local bowling club. It was a very basic park but the scenery was just beautiful

Today we have moved to Dunedoo which is 90 kilometres North of Mudgee and 61 kilometres west of Dubbo in Central New South Wales. Dunedoo is set amongst the rolling hills and valleys striding the Talbragar River. A progressive country town, Dunedoo is the southern gateway to the Warrumbungles and is located at the junction of the Golden and Castlereagh Highways.

2011

2011-02-10T17:02:00.000+11:00

Hi and finally we are back! Had a great Christmas and New Year. Followed Oprah's advice and went to Lindeman Island for a week. What a great place to holiday!! Unfortunately 3 days after we left the cyclone went through and did some damage. The Island was evacuated so we feel blessed that we had great weather.

The resort was all inclusive so we didn't need any money the entire time we were there on the island. The children had all day drinks and snacks including ice-cream. The food was great with a different theme each night. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner - what more could you want?

There was a swim up bar so you could enjoy your drinks by the pool

Inverell

2010-11-17T17:22:00.003+11:00

We originally were going to stay for 2 days but eventually stayed for 7 nights. One of the reasons we decided to stay was the towns south of here were being bombarded with wild weather and there were lots of road closures. The town of Glen Innes looks prosperous and they have extra wide streets. There are lots of beautiful parklands and because they have had lots of rain this season it is the greenest it has been for a long time. Keith will get to go fossicking next time around. It has been pouring all night and the gentle MacIntyre river is now a raging rapid river. It happened so fast overnight and we move on towards Armidale today.

Glen Innes

2010-11-17T17:17:00.001+11:00

The weather has cooled off a lot! Glen Innes has Australia's Standing Stones a purpose built group of rocks that show true north, south, east & west and the winter and summer soltice. The stones are a direct link between Glen Innes and Scotland. They have a lot of Scottish history and tradition - they call Glen Inne region the Celtic Country.
The weekend after we were there they were hosting the Beardies festival. It is a local celebration of spring and gets its name from two of their early pioneers who had long flowing beards and helped new settlers in the 1840's.

Tenterfield

2010-11-17T17:10:00.001+11:00

We spent 8 nights in Tenterfield at the Showgrounds. We were there with 3 other ladies who were travelling seperately in their own motorhomes and enjoyed our time there. We went to the Melbourne Cup Lunch at the Tenterfield Bowling Club and arranged to go to the Wine Blending Dinner as part of the Tenterfield Food & Wine Festival. The wine blending was a new thing for us and after the blending we got to bottle our wine and take it home. The food for dinner was great and we wondered how they could make their money - it was really good value for money.
The Food and Wine show was on Saturday the 6th November from 10am until 4pm. It was held in the RSL hall and it was all under cover. This was the first time we had been to a Food and Wine Festival under cover usually they are outside. The town was small and the locals were telling us that the town was hurting so they have decided to concentrate on Tourism in an effort to get the town up and running again.

Stanthorpe

2010-11-17T17:05:00.000+11:00

We stayed at the Top of the Town caravan park about 3 kilometres out of town. These walks are getting easier now and we are still are enjoying them. Stanthorpe is renowned for its apples and fresh fruit stalls. We visited a cheese factory and an enormous store and restaurant called Vincenzo's. We are all stocked up on fresh fruit and cheese - wonderful!!!!!!!!

Warwick

2010-10-28T19:02:00.000+11:00

We arrived just before their big Rodeo weekend. There are a lot of people in town and a lot of interest in the Rodeo. It must generate millions of dollars for the town. We walked past the showgrounds and were amazed at how many people and horses were there. A nice little town very spacious, lots of music in the streets and the gardens are roses and lilac.

Allora

2010-10-28T18:59:00.000+11:00

What a beautiful independent camp site. Close to town and once again on a beautiful creek. It had very clean toilets, it was well lit and had a lot of tables and chairs. We would stay here again.

Toowoomba

2010-10-28T18:57:00.000+11:00

We love Toowoomba but this time around it was noisy, lots of cars and people. The motor village where we stayed was around 4 k's out of town but an easy walk. The population of Toowoomba area is about 120,000 people. We had a great stone grill steak for lunch and they could do gluten free. From our Caravan Park we could easily walk to 16 fast food outlets that is without counting any restaurants, cafes or food courts! We think that they were building houses and units without kitchens.

Dalby

2010-10-28T18:54:00.000+11:00

The caravan park was on the Myall creek and very close to town. It was a very easy walk to town and the town was very prosperous - not many shops for lease or for sale. It was a well kept town and it had a nice vibe. They had a lot of enjoyable walks along the creek with lots of sign boards about various sites on the creek.

Cooyar

2010-10-28T18:52:00.000+11:00

Cooyar was an independent park beside it's famous swing bridge. There was a $5 per night charge for the power and the toilets, etc were a bit of a walk. The pub was great and the locals were friendly. It was a quiet night.

Nanango

2010-10-28T18:49:00.002+11:00

We stayed at a caravan park not far out of town - Twin Gums Caravan Park.
We actually meet a neighbour of ours from about 27 years ago! How freaky! Nanago is famous for its chainsaw wooden sculptures and depicts the heritage of the town. There had been a lot of rain and the park was sodden but our site was high and dry.

Kingaroy

2010-10-28T18:48:00.001+11:00

We stayed at the Kingaroy showgrounds surrounded by beautiful gardens. From the showgrounds you could walk into town and also the Kingaroy cheese factory. We spent a morning at the factory and purchased some great cheeses - all hand made. Philosopher celebrated his birthday here and we had a great time.

Gympie

2010-10-12T21:38:00.000+11:00

We tried for two independent camp sites today but with all the rain the Mary River was very swollen and had a flood warning issued for it today - so that was when we decided to move on to Gympie.

Gympie is a large town with lots of steep hills so it was good to walk into town. There is lots of history background with the gold discoveries and a large timber monument to the timber workers.

Hervey Bay

2010-10-12T21:36:00.000+11:00

We are here for a week how glorious!!!

We have a beachfront site and can sit and stare at the water all day if we want to. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse about 4 days into our week. It has become very windy and the rain is tumbling down. The rain is not heavy just a niusance.

Hervey Bay is the whale watching capital of Australia so off we went on a tour. It was fantastic we saw 40 whales or more doing their thing.

AWESOME

Some strange signs though at a restaurant

Maryborough

2010-10-11T20:42:00.000+11:00

Another lovely town but it had a very old population. We caught up with some mail from Sydney.

Once again some excellent walks along the river and into town. We do a LOT of walking. The creator of Mary Poppins was born here.

Gin Gin

2010-10-11T20:33:00.000+11:00

We really loved Gin Gin. It was a small country town. It was an easy walk into town. The showgrounds had showers, toilets, water and power.

There was a Saturday market that was great to go to - lots of fresh fruit, veges and the usual market stalls including free puppies.

Lake Awoonga

2010-10-11T20:31:00.000+11:00

A huge lake that is stocked with Barramundi so the Caravan Park was over run by fishermen.

There had been lots of rain and some of the camp sites were extremely muddy.

We were lucky and got one that was high and dry with a great view of the lake from our own site. We walked quite a bit as the rain did stay away for a while.

2010-10-11T20:27:00.000+11:00

The Rockhampton Discovery Park was a beautifully kept and well maintained park. The amenities were great however the down side of the park was that the sites were quite steep to get into and lots of caravans scrapped their undersides. The shopping centres were close to this park. The rain began falling here and that was the end of our fine weather for a while. We did a lot of walking because we were here in May last year and did the touristy things then.
After a week we moved to the Riverside Tourist Park which was only across the bridge from the Rockhampton CBD. The Fitzroy river flowed beside the tourist park and there were lots of warnings about crocodiles in the river. The river was apparently good Barramundi fishing.

Clairview

2010-10-11T20:23:00.000+11:00

The other little gem was Claireview where we stopped at the independent park one night and then the other night we stayed at the caravan park to top up our water supplies and power our batteries for the computer, phones and camera. Both of the overnight stays were right on the water. It was a great spot and once again a place where roaring fires were set each night - even though the temperatures during the day have been around 32 degrees.