Travelling Around Australia: January 2015

November 17^th 2014 to December 5^th 2014

This is my final blog; we have been home for almost 6 weeks but due to Christmas, New Year and a few parties during this period, I haven’t had time to sit down to complete the tales of our journey.

After we left Mackay we drove to Rockhampton to stay for a couple of nights and it was there that we made the decision to be home from Christmas. We had toyed with the idea and were in two minds about what we wanted to do. We decided to quickly travel down to the Murray River and spend a week on a houseboat before going home. We thought we needed a little holiday, after three years on the road. From Rockhampton we travelled down through Theodore, Taroom and then stayed the night at Condamine. The next day we drove through to Goondiwindi where we stopped to take a photo of the famous Goondiwindi Grey. We travelled further south through Moree and stayed at Narrabri for one night, where there was a swimming pool. The weather had been so hot; it was a very welcome relief.

On the road from Rockhampton

Taroom

Gunsynd, The Goondiwindi Grey

Goondiwindi

Next stop was Parkes, where we took time out to have a look at the Big Dish. This was another thing to cross off the bucket list. We stayed overnight at Forbes and again were relieved they had a pool. From Forbes we travelled to Tocumwal and camped on the beach there for three nights. What a fantastic spot this is. We were camped right on the river, had beautifully warm weather and were able to use the Hobie everyday. The beach was lovely with a nice sandy bottom, which made it very pleasant for swimming. Our last day there we were paddling on the river when we noticed some storm clouds rolling in. We paddled faster and just made it out of the water when the storm hit. Apart from the drenching rain, we had extremely high winds and after all this time on the road we had our first mishap; the wind caught the awning on the van and ripped it. The wind was so strong it picked up the Hobie and tossed it, but without damage, and the door to the van knocked me over; no damage to the door but I was left with a big bruise on my upper arm. We had a bit of cleaning up to do but thankfully the next morning was bright and sunny and we were able to dry everything before we left for Echuca.

The Big Dish

Tocumwal after the rain

Tocumwal during the rain

Our campsite at Tocumwal

The bridge at Tocumwal

The Bridge again

and again

Paddling toward the bridge

We so love the Murray River and being on the river in a houseboat is really very special. Dinky Di let us to take the houseboat out a day early so we spent eight nights cruising the river. We moved everyday as we wanted to make it to the Torrumbarry Weir. Torrumbarry is 80 kilometres from Echuca on the River and it took us two leisurely days to get there downstream and then four days to get back upstream. It was an extremely relaxing week with no towing, setting up and packing up; a great way to finish our journey. We had a very special time on the houseboat, just the two of us with divine weather, good music and swimming every day. Love that life!

On the houseboat

Captain Chris

Views from the houseboat

Wildlife on the river

Torrumbarry Weir

Pelican Pete

Views from the houseboat

Wildlife on the river

Wildlife at sunset on the Murray

Views from the river

Emmy Lou on the Murray at Echuca

Now it was time to go home, our journey was ending and although we were sad to be finishing it, we were also excited to be going home. On the way home to Lismore we stopped at Bendigo for three nights and had look around this delightful city; although we have been through Bendigo many times, we had never stopped there. We did the talking tram tour and visited the Chinese Joss House Temple. The vintage tram tour was delightful and the tram tells you stories about this city that was founded on one of the world’s richest goldfields. Stopping throughout the city where you can get off and on at your leisure, it takes you through the wide streetscapes and you can witness the grand architecture of Bendigo. We drove out to the Joss House Temple and as we were the only ones there we had a private tour by one of the volunteers, who told us some wonderful stories about this extraordinary Chinese Culture. Chinese history in Bendigo is amazing with over 5000 Chinese people living in and around the diggings in 1855. The building was constructed by hand in the 1860s and then taken over by the National Trust in 1968, restored and reopened to the public in 1972. It is now the sole remaining structure of this large settlement of Chinese. It was well worth a visit and before we left we shook out the Chinese fortune sticks to find that one of our readings was “Travellers Return.” Well that is exactly what we were doing; a very accurate reading.

Bendigo Architecture

Around Bendigo

Bendigo

Ready to catch the tram

Inside the tram

Around Bendigo

Joss House Temple

On the way to Lismore we stopped at Beaufort for lunch. If you are ever travelling in country Victoria you must visit this little town and have a meal at the Hand Made Cafe. The service is delightful and the food is delicious, it was well worth the stop.

We have been home for almost six weeks. During our first week at home we met up with many old friends and family with a get together in Geelong. It was a great turn-up and so good to see old faces again. Thank you all so much for coming to us. Of course with Christmas and the New Year we have been very busy and we have also started renovations on our house, so it is busy times. Friends from Perth came to visit before embarking on their journey to Tasmania. We met Val and Garry at Bretti Reserve, NSW in 2011 and stayed with them in Perth in 2013/2014. It was great to see them again.

Yes we are happy to be home, we are not happy that we are no longer travelling, but we have been blessed with the time we were able to spend touring this wonderful country of ours. We have had the best of times, met the best of people and seen the best of places. It was been a wonderful experience for me writing about our journey and even better that I could share it with you. There will be other adventures for us down the track, we are going to rediscover our own beautiful state with short trips in the roof top tent and do some off road stuff as well. Maybe I will share those journeys with you.

Cheers til next time.

Travelling Around Australia

Monday, January 12, 2015

Mackay to Home Final Blog