near Barraba NSW
Sunday 8th July.
John and I left Tea Gardens on Friday and drove through Raymond Terrace to Maitland and the New England highway stopping at Aberdeen for morning tea in the park. John only drove until Murrurundi and we booked into the Pages River caravan park for the night. Its a council run park, only one other small van there for the night . It was very quiet and we had a good night's rest. John couldn't stay awake for the footy and was asleep early.
I miscalculated and said that Saturday morning's temp was about 5c but I think it was only about 1c. It was very chilly!
We were on the road early after breakfast, had a morning tea stop at Barraba and were in Bingara by lunchtime. Passing through Tamworth, I think every horse and float in Australia was at the giant Livestock centre. Lots of big rigs and many horses.
We have had two nights at Bingara caravan park, it is well maintained and friendly. John walked into town to get a paper and bread, it was a long walk and some kind soul drove him some of the way back. The Gwydir River is close by. The days are lovely, the nights very cold. It was 1c this morning. We have decided to stay at Glenlyon Dam tomorrow night. It's in Texas, Queensland, just over the border.
Gwydir River
John and I are planning to leave home on 2nd July and head towards the Sunshine Coast first, with a stop in at the Gold Coast. We will pick the motor home up on 1st July and set off for Hawks Nest/ Tea Gardens for three nights on 2nd. John has done up an itinerary with us heading off to South Australia, but we are going to do the trip in reverse, heading towards warm weather first.
Sydney is in a rainy period this week, we hope it's nicer next week for the start of our winter trip.
We are off to a Probus outing on Thursday, a train to Newcastle and lunch at Stockton, reached by a ferry.
June 12th
We have settled in our new place, We moved on the 16th May. John and I love our new home. The boxes are all unpacked and we are getting organised, slowly. We only have one neighbour and the bush is at our doorstep. John has been on a few bush walks already. Kay stayed one night and joined John on a bushwalk. John managed to bring back a couple of leeches and he seems to be collecting them as several more have found their way into his shoes. Bec also had a night here, Kath and the children have visited a couple of times.
There isn't any space to keep the motorhome in the yard, but we will leave it on the street the night before a trip so we can pack and then the night after a trip, before it is returned to Suncamper for storage.
The plan is to leave home around the first week of July and return in the middle to end of August. We hope to travel via Broken Hill to the Flinders Ranges then up the Red Centre to Darwin. We will return through Queensland and home.
April 2013
Mudgee was a welcome break from packing. We are still two weeks out from moving. The six nights in Mudgee went quickly, the weather wa almost perfect. Only one thunderstorm, while at home it rained almost every day.We stayed camped in the Riverside CP, one day we drove to Gulgong for a few hours. We were close enough to town in Mudgee to walk up to the shops and cafes.
I got some beetroot relish, made by the Mudgee Food Company,it was very tasty. We went back two or three days to the same cafe, The Quick Brown Fox. It had the best apple cake.
Once home again, we got back into the packing. We also had another house viewing, we had only been to one open house and found another house in the meantime that we missed out on, thank goodness. All good, the viewing only confirmed our interest in our new home.
I wanted to start this blog in January, but got busy putting the house on the market, so now it's March. John and I had no travel plans in the motorhome but had a New Zealand cruise booked for the 31st January.
We enjoyed the 13 nights around New Zealand on the Carnival Spirit, the same ship we had gone to Alaska on in 2005. We each had a day being sea sick, but not at the same time.
John and I started packing a couple of months before the house went on the market, we still have some packing to go, but the garage is full of boxes and we are getting there.
The townhouse sold in early March, a week later we found our new home in Hornsby. Settlement is the middle of May. We have decided to have a week away in the motorhome after Easter, it might make the time go faster until we move.
The caravan park is booked in Mudgee for six nights. Hopefully, we can walk into the town, we might do a road trip out to Gulgong one day, the rest of the time the motor home can stay parked on site.
We spent a few days at Hawk's Nest with Bec for her birthday, it's now autumn but we are having an extended summer. The weather has been ideal and it looks like being a warm Easter.
Nathan and John are going back for a night soon, we need an old tv and a lounge taken to the tip. We found a couple of python skins in the back room also, not nice. We knew we had a resident snake in the roof but it might be time to remove it. he seems to be encouraging more.
near Barraba NSW
