Send an e-mail to Ron.
Back to Rons home page.
I note our last part of our travels as relayed to the group ended at our arrival at Moruya and our 3 night stay at
the rest area 7 km to the north. We then went back into town for shopping, made an appointment by phone for Sue to Visit Dr.
Anderson. From town, it was back across the bridge and along the north side of the river to the, so called, North Head
Primitive Campground. This is between the airport and the river and as we parked reasonably close to the airport terminal,
we were entertained that evening by the coming and going of various aircraft.
The next day we continued north along the coast and found Dr. Anderson's practice at Surf Beach. This was on the
Saturday and we now had to wait till Monday for a sample of Sues blood to be taken at Batemans Bay hospital. The first night
was spent a the lookout to the south of Batehaven Beach. We then checked out a couple of other spots and spent the second
night in front of the (apparently seldom used) yacht club which is on the way to the boat ramp and behind a large football
fields. We went to the hospital, bright and early around 8am, so as we could be sure of a parking place. We then spent
another night at the yacht club site before proceeding back to Dr. Anderson's to collect the blood test results .. all OK!
We were also awaiting the return of Michael, VK2YC, who we intended to visit. So the time spent doing the usual
"run around" with the medicos fitted nicely into this waiting period. There was one night more before Michaels return and
we spent that back at the lookout site south of Batehaven Beach. Arrangements were made to meet up with Michael between our
yacht club camp spot and the main road. This went as planned and we followed Michael back to his place. This was quite
further than I expected and involved many kilometres over gravel roads through forest areas.
Eventually we stopped overlooking the road into Michaels place. It descended down into a valley and up the other side
and looked rather rough and steep. Michael took us on a recce of the road and the various possible parking spots at his
property. We left Sue at the house, Michael took me back to the motorhome, and I drove it to the top of the hill were I
elected to park. An advantage of this elevated parking spot was that we had a good view down over the river. The roads down
closer to his house looked rather steep and narrow for our rig.
We had a pleasant few days with Michael and Kathy, dined well and saw some of his toys and treasures. Michael had to
take Sue down to the house so that she wouldn't witness me turning the motorhome and me driving down and up the hill! All
went well and we found our way back to the highway. Sue timed the trip and it took us half an hour. Northwards we went,
intending to spend a couple of days getting as far as Berry and looking up my sister, Helen. However, lack of a suitable
camp spot caused us to travel further and further until we were actually at Berry. We tried phoning Helen or husband Vic,
but no one was home.
I had heard, on numerous occasions, various motorhome chapters using the Berry Showground for meetings. After seeking
directions we found the Showground but it was rather busy with a football match in progress and the Lower Blue Mountains
Chapter there for the weekend. However, there was some free space and we managed to park ourselves. We managed to contact
Helen and Vic and they came to see us Sunday morning. After lunch in Berry, we went to their place just north of Berry. On
this visit with the trailer we had to park down near their shed rather than near the house.
Vic had recently upgraded to a larger helicopter, a 4 place R44. The next day he had a small job to do, which
involved picking up some equipment at Kangaroo Valley, then onto a landing spot beside the Shoalhaven River near Marulan.
After the job we continued on to around the Bungonia Caves area .. caves Vic and I (and others) had explored around 50 years
ago. There is some extremely rugged country in these parts through which the Shoalhaven River flows. Also, a deserted copper
mine which, according to Vic, was accessed via a flying fox across the river valley. Just to the north of the caves we came
across an extremely narrow valley with high vertical cliff sides .. quite interesting! The return trip was uneventful flying
back across the tops of the hills which are a little over 2,000 feet.
Departing from from Helen and Vics, we continued north past my birthplace, Kiama. I wanted to take a look at the
aircraft museum located on Albion Park airfield. Apparently, they restore historical aircraft to flying condition and keep
them flying. Some of the larger aircraft, I believe, include a Constellation, a Neptune and a Catalina. However, after
finding our way to the correct spot, we learnt the area is currently only open at the weekends. They are in the process of
building a massive sized new hanger .. the cost must be enormous.
I had elected to "try out" Macquarie Pass which forms a route between Albion Park up to the Moss Vale/Bowral area.
The top section proved quite steep with a number of hairpin bends. We had intended to stay overnight somewhere in this
vicinity, but once again, nothing seemed suitable. Thus we continued on through Bowral and Mittagong, had a short run on
the freeway (which I was really trying to avoid), and turned off west to travel through Bargo. From there we doing our usual
thing of finding a route to the west of Sydney. We have done this before with minor variations, but it always seems to
include The Oaks to Penrith section. This includes Mulgoa, where we have previously parked overnight, which we did again on
this occasion.
The next day we continued on past Penrith and used a different variation to our normal route direct to Windsor.
Normally, I would travel via Richmond, and make a point of passing the RAAF base on the Richmond to Windsor Road .. just for
old times sake! At Windsor, we took the Putty Road. This bypasses the normal coastal freeway route from Sydney north to west
of Newcastle. We had travelled via the Putty Road before, but this time we actually went the short distance from main road
into Putty. Not much to see, but we spent a wet afternoon and night camped on the edge of the road outside their hall.
From Putty, we continued north joining the New England Highway at Singleton. We were now retracing our previous route
south, also staying the night again at Burning Mountain rest area. However, this time we didn't park up in the normal,
somewhat congested and non level area, but at a level area on the entrance road. The penalty is that one is closer to highway
and must suffer a bit more noise from the all night traffic.
The next day and a short way further north, we turned off the New England Highway onto the Kamilaroi Highway. This
just manages to bypass Quirindi which we had visited on our way south. New territory now as we travelled towards Gunnedah but
spending the night on the way at Square Bush rest area. We were amazed at the size of Gunnedah, where we managed to park on a
Saturday morning and do some shopping at Woolworths. That afternoon we travelled a short distance east towards Tamworth and
overnighted at Red Bank rest area. Here, we met a group in four camper trailers. The four couples were heavily into visiting
various gem fields and we enjoyed "happy hour" with them.
From there, it was back into Tamworth past the overnight spot we previously used near Tamworth Airport. We tried a
couple of places to get one of our 9kg gas cylinders refilled and were eventually directed to Bunnings. We had been told, on
a number of occasions, that Bunnings was a good inexpensive place for gas refills. Thus I didn't enquire regarding the price,
but was amazed when I learnt it was almost $30 .. an expensive price in our opinion! Escaping Tamworth, we continued north
taking another new, for us, route via Manilla and Barraba to a rest area half way between Barraba and Bingara.
Here, I was inspired to light a fire and we had our usual, grilled to perfection (says I), lamb chops. On the next
day it was through Bingara and on to Warialda. We noted a sign along the road about Chinese meals at the Bowling Club. So, we
purchased some to take away. Close by, on the edge of town, we noted a sports field so we stopped there for Chinese lunch.
Continuing on, and further north, we took the more direct road to Goondiwindi via North Star.
I wasn't really intending to look up an old friend, Boy Cory, VK2DTH, who lived near by. Boy was 91 years old when we
visited him last about 4 years ago, so I wasn't even sure he was still alive. The road passes the North Star Post Office so I
thought I would make enquires there. I received some conflicting advice, but they were extremely helpful in providing phone
numbers to Boy and his son Peter. There was no answer from Boys number, so I tried Peter. I learnt that Boy, now 95, was
living in Perth with his new girl friend, Nancy. Boys wife had passed away a number of years ago, and it was by a strange
coincidence, Boy had read a West Australian newspaper article about a woman in Perth and her, and her families, war time
experiences in Europe. Boy realised he had known the woman, Nancy, in London during the war. It apparently took Boy
considerable effort to trace her in Perth, but he eventually succeeded via the Perth newspaper which did the original
article.
Peter suggested we visit, but I explained we had made arrangements to have our mail delivered to Goondiwindi and our
vehicle was due for its annual inspection and registration. I said we would continue onto Goondiwindi and possibly visit
later. Arriving in Goondiwindi, and parking in our usual spot, we picked up our mail and did some shopping. We then managed
to make arrangements for the vehicle inspection the following day. We chose to try out Town Common just west of Goondiwindi
that night. It had rained that afternoon and the black soil roads in the Common were reasonably wet, so we didn't venture
very far into this, apparently, very extensive area.
The vehicle inspection was the most casual we had ever experienced. Really just a verification that he had the
correct vehicle, a check on the lights, a check of the tyres and he said "I'll have it written out in five minutes". Eighty
odd dollars later we were on our way. Guess there are pros and cons with these inspections. On one hand I would have
preferred the complete and through safety inspection, and the knowledge things had been checked by an "expert". On the other,
one is then worried if they find things they want rectified. It was then off to the Queensland Transport office to pay the
registration fees. After a further walk etc. around town, we returned to our camp spot at the Common.
We rang Peter to say we would come out the following day. He and Gloria were in Toowoomba with medical appointments
and amongst other things, he said to use the back road if there had been much rain. Indeed, it had started to rain again, and
it was getting heavier as we proceeded towards their property. The 4,000 acre property runs across the sealed Bruxner Highway
and extends south a few kilometres to a gravel road running parallel to the Bruxner Highway. The houses are close to the
gravel road. So we thought the amount of rain was significant and we best use the gravel road to the rear entrance. This road
proved to be quite wet, narrow and with steep shoulders. Fortunately, we didn't meet any large vehicles as it would have been
a degree of risk involved in passing or being overtaken.
It was quite wet in front of their house where we parked and they arrived home that evening. Peters latest "toy" was
some differential GPS equipment. This consists of a base station transmitting the differential information to another GPS
arrangement fitted in one or another of his tractors. Using these techniques the manufacturers claimed the tractor location
to be accurate to within a 150 mm radius .. not bad! Thus, with suitable software, areas of planting and spraying is
precisely controlled.
The alternator of one large tractor wasn't charging, so, after checking some hopefully more likely sources of the
problem, Peter and I had to find a break in the wiring harness. This involved undoing quite a bit of the harness, which all
had to be taped back up on completion of the job.
A couple of days later when Peter installed the GPS unit into an even larger tractor (used for the actual planting),
he had a problem with an intermittent connection in the cigarette lighter socket he was trying o use as a power source. He had
the necessary parts and decided to install another lighter socket. I was pleased to be able to do this small job for him.
They were in a hurry to plant some crops after the rain. Sue and I were in a position to observe the long, hard hours these
people work. Apparently, the overall bottom line isn't all that great. As a consequence to all this, I really admire these
people and there is, no doubt, many others in the same situation.
We are a couple of weeks in our journey past North Star, but I will conclude this update at that point.
Send an e-mail to Ron.
Back to Rons home page.