But more about that later. In the meantime, a quick catch up on all the really exciting things we've been doing and seeing.
While we were in Charleville, we went to the Comos Centre. Bloody amazing, skies so clear that their telescopes can pick up stars you wouldn't believe...and best of all, we saw Saturn with its ring of moons. It was truly spectacular.
Dunno if I told you, we met up with a couple from Kilmore, John and Wendy, bloody terrific couple, so no more to report there except we keep on bumping into them, (sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not).
Stopped at Blackall and enjoyed more country singing, (naturally John and Wendy were there). Then onto Longreach via Isisford. Isisford is sort of off the beaten track, almost like an outdoor museum of old buildings. Lovely place. On the way we came across all manner of animals including Brolgas, wild pigs, brumbies, kangaroos, eagles, emus and untold numbers of brahman cattle, (they've had a very good season up here).
Oh yes, we also bumped into with John and Wendy at Isisford.
Next Longreach. Stockmans Hall of Fame was OK but the Qantas museum was fantastic. Also went on a paddle steamer ride on the Thomson River which to begin with seemed like a waste of time and money. But when we got back to the shore, we were treated to a camp meal and Milton!
Milton is a retired, 70 year old shearer who comes to Longreach every year because he loves the bush, and more importantly he loves keeping the tradition of bush poetry alive.
He was fantastic. Funny as hell, melancholy, downright sad, uplifting...he had a poem for almost every situation and emotion. Mally and I really enjoyed the night...it reinforced what we probably already knew, that there is a real Australian spirit and larrikanism that is alive and well in outback NSW and Queensland. Which is sort of different to the rest of Autralia. There it's terrifc and varied scenery, outback NSW and Queensland it's pretty boring grazing country but a real sense of Australian history and culture.
On to Winton, Banjo Patterson country and more country music and bush poetry.
Next stop, Mt Isa. The mine with a town attached to it.
Haven't come across John and Wendy for a while, but we met this funny old fella' as we were coming in to the caravan park who very loudly explained that Evernews were great vans...and so was his...a Paramount.
Now, we didn't take issue with him because he was so loud, but had to cut the conversation short when he exclaimed that "Jaycos were a loud of junk, and why would you buy one when you would have to trade it in after 2 years...'cause they're a heap of /#*>!".
We were standing in amongst I reckon 10 vans, about 6 of which were Jaycos and many of which were occupied at the time...by their owners. Interesting the people you meet on the road.
Next stop Gregory Downs and Lawn Hill National Park...a bloody lovely experience. About 350kms north of Mt Isa, Gregory Downs is in the middle of nowhere. There's a pub and about six people live in the town.
It's all cattle country and really not too interesting, but when you get out to Lawn Hill, all that changes. There's a permanent spring fed river and a series of cascades with palm trees and bamboo along the banks...it's hard to imagine how the countryside can change from semi arid to lush green so absruptly.
Spent the next couple of days investigating the area around Gregory Downs based on local knowledge provided by Mick and Dawn. They actually live in Bayswater in Melbourne and come up and stay for 7 months every year to act as caretakers at the camp ground. Really great people but they've been doing this for 8 years, get their food and lodgings and bugger all else...and they don't even get on with the owner of the camp.
Anyway, they sent us to 3 beautiful spots along the Gregory Rive, 1 of which you would never find, (and you will never find because we will never tell you and neither will Mick). Beautiful clear water, fish, birds, peace, quiet...bloody paradise.
Then, Normantown and only 75kms to the Gulf...sounds like we are Burke and Wills and in some ways we felt like we were. 'Cause we went bush bashing to the cairn that marks the location of Burke and Wills most northerly camp, (camp 119). These guys were so close to achieving their goal of reaching the sea it is heartbreaking.
So now we sit in bloke heaven...it's called Karumba, it's at the mouth of the Normanton River and I reckon every bloke here except me has a wife who loves him...they're all got BOATS!
Admittedly they're all tinnies, but at least they're boats. Many of them come up here for the dry season, (some stay as long as 6 months and have been doing it for multiple years).
And why are they here...because of the Barramundi, Jew fish, Grunters, Sharks...you name, it's here, (including the crocs and a few midges).
Currently it's about 30 degrees, nice sea breeze and we've just finished lunch...fresh prawns straight from the co-op.
Ah life's good.
Suppose it's time for a little lie down now.
So, until next time, it's adios, adieu, benvenuti and wishing you were here...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Keep the seat warm...
For those of you who haven't been with us before...you'll get used to it.
(This paragraph is for Rob Preston. Rob is from England and plays golf very badly. For those of you who remember, Rob likes paragraphs. Rob has a very nice wife named Julie).
More about the seat later on.
We're off on the trip at last...
That became official when we were having lunch on the first day, (Hungry Jacks on the Hume Highway). This man at the table next to us must have seen us pull up with the van and asked Mal where we were travelling to. She told the man, (who was from Warrigal, let's call him Warren from Warrigal as we didn't get his name) that we were going north and they were going north too, (their van is a Jayco, ours is an Evernew).
Anyway, after they left, Mal said..."Gee, now it really feels like we are on our way because we just met our first set of caravan people travelling north". (We were at Diggers Rest...so you can imagine how exciting the rest of the trip is going to be!). For those of you who don't know where Diggers Rest is...it's almost a northern suburb of Melbourne, so we hadn't gone far.
We stayed the first night at Nagambie, only about 150kms north of Melbourne. The caravan park is beautiful, right on the Golbourn River.
We didn't meet anyone here, (mainly 'cause there wasn't anyone to meet), but a couple of strange things did happen...
They have very aggressive possums. The bloody things walk into the light at the communal barbecue and expect to be fed. Possums are nocturnal and can't really see in the light, so while I was trying to shoo them off, I felt like I was denying food to blind paupers. (God possums can make you feel guilty).
Next morning, I went to the ablution block, (isn't block a wonderful word) and proceeded to have a shower in me Y fronts, (I hadn't finished getting undressed for some reason. Dunno why, it may have something to do with age).
But there's more...I reached down and picked up the shampoo that I had very deliberately placed on the soap holder, only to discover it was underarm deodorant. (Probably is age when I think about it).
Later that night, Mal came back from the ablution block, (read dunnies) and was laughing her head off...she was wearing 2 Berkinstocks, (now you may think there's nothing funny in that but one was mine and the other was hers...and they were both left feet). Now that is definitely not old age, that's the white wine talkin' right there.
The next morning off we went, onward and upward. There were heaps of vans heading north and only a few heading south, (there were 2 Evernews heading south which we suspect were being returned to Heidelberg so that Bruce, (the owner of Evernew) can fix 'em, (our van is an Evernew).
Stayed at West Wyalong, didn't really meet anyone here so we'll move on.
Next day we visited the Dish at Parkes, it's amazing...gotta be pretty proud of Ozzie technology. We passed more trucks and stayed at Nyngan. It has a beautiful river with a sad name, (the Bogan) and fantastic caravan park with a bar the defies description. Sort of a cross between Wycliffe Downs and Daley Waters for those who have been there.
We did however meet some people at last...Kevin and June from Coffs Harbour. I started talking to Kevin when his wife appeared from around the back of their caravan and proceeded to tell me that he always does this, (this being talking to people). It was 3.30 in the afternoon and June was wearing a bright pink, (terry towelling) nighty and slippers, (she looked quite fetching really).
Probably the highlight of the trip so far has been Bourke. It really is the start of the real outback and has so much history attached to it. Henry Lawson was sent here to try to dry out, (the pub he used to drink at is still standing!). He spent the following 2 years writing some of his most memorable poetry.
The first shearers strikes occurred at Bourke, leading to the setting up of a workers union.
The Darling River is amazing, so much water so far outback...enough to support cotton growing, orchards of lime trees and heaps of other irrigated crops.
Probably the most moving moment was a visit to Fred Hollows grave...
We met John from Kilmore at Bourke, (his van is a Paramount, ours is an Evernew). John is a real nice bloke but we didn't see his wife 'cause she had a 48 hour bug, (she'd had it for 72 hours).
Oh yes, we also met Helen, (not Helen Goland or Helen Limbach who also talk a lot). This Helen lived in Murray Bridge. She had been in the Navy, been a music teacher and travelled at this time of year, playing her guitar and singing all kinds of songs for a gold coin donation. We went to one of her singalongs with a whole lot of other mature aged people, (a lot of them joined in the choruses).
Next night we went to a barbecue and log fire in the camp and this bloke, (a local cocky) stood up and started reciting some of Henry Lawson's poetry. It was fantastic...
From Bourke we travelled to Nardoo Station, (not Nardoo as in Indira, this is a 110,000 acre working cattle station). Had another night around a camp fire with about 40 other people and the property managers wife. She had just come in from mustering cattle and cooked a roast dinner for all of us. (Wish I could get my wife to multi-task).
And how small is this world. We got talking to Janis Hill...who went to Stewart Street State School in East Brunswick. That's where me and me 2 sisters went, (that's Lorraine, (not Lorraine from New Zealand but Lorraine, Cate and Shane's mother and my oldest sister) and Barbara, (that's my middle sister, Karl and Simon and Robbie's mother) to school in the 50's.
Janis is married to Rex, (their van is an Evernew, ours is an Evernew to only smaller). Janis and Rex live in Traralgon...she talks a lot but he's OK.
We're currently at Charleville. There's so many people on the road that there's caravans squeezed in everywhere, but everyone is pretty relaxed and friendly, especially the guy who was standing outside the toilet door this morning, who, as I left simply said with a wry grin..."Did you keep the seat warm for me..."
Sort of poetic that...
(This paragraph is for Rob Preston. Rob is from England and plays golf very badly. For those of you who remember, Rob likes paragraphs. Rob has a very nice wife named Julie).
More about the seat later on.
We're off on the trip at last...
That became official when we were having lunch on the first day, (Hungry Jacks on the Hume Highway). This man at the table next to us must have seen us pull up with the van and asked Mal where we were travelling to. She told the man, (who was from Warrigal, let's call him Warren from Warrigal as we didn't get his name) that we were going north and they were going north too, (their van is a Jayco, ours is an Evernew).
Anyway, after they left, Mal said..."Gee, now it really feels like we are on our way because we just met our first set of caravan people travelling north". (We were at Diggers Rest...so you can imagine how exciting the rest of the trip is going to be!). For those of you who don't know where Diggers Rest is...it's almost a northern suburb of Melbourne, so we hadn't gone far.
We stayed the first night at Nagambie, only about 150kms north of Melbourne. The caravan park is beautiful, right on the Golbourn River.
We didn't meet anyone here, (mainly 'cause there wasn't anyone to meet), but a couple of strange things did happen...
They have very aggressive possums. The bloody things walk into the light at the communal barbecue and expect to be fed. Possums are nocturnal and can't really see in the light, so while I was trying to shoo them off, I felt like I was denying food to blind paupers. (God possums can make you feel guilty).
Next morning, I went to the ablution block, (isn't block a wonderful word) and proceeded to have a shower in me Y fronts, (I hadn't finished getting undressed for some reason. Dunno why, it may have something to do with age).
But there's more...I reached down and picked up the shampoo that I had very deliberately placed on the soap holder, only to discover it was underarm deodorant. (Probably is age when I think about it).
Later that night, Mal came back from the ablution block, (read dunnies) and was laughing her head off...she was wearing 2 Berkinstocks, (now you may think there's nothing funny in that but one was mine and the other was hers...and they were both left feet). Now that is definitely not old age, that's the white wine talkin' right there.
The next morning off we went, onward and upward. There were heaps of vans heading north and only a few heading south, (there were 2 Evernews heading south which we suspect were being returned to Heidelberg so that Bruce, (the owner of Evernew) can fix 'em, (our van is an Evernew).
Stayed at West Wyalong, didn't really meet anyone here so we'll move on.
Next day we visited the Dish at Parkes, it's amazing...gotta be pretty proud of Ozzie technology. We passed more trucks and stayed at Nyngan. It has a beautiful river with a sad name, (the Bogan) and fantastic caravan park with a bar the defies description. Sort of a cross between Wycliffe Downs and Daley Waters for those who have been there.
We did however meet some people at last...Kevin and June from Coffs Harbour. I started talking to Kevin when his wife appeared from around the back of their caravan and proceeded to tell me that he always does this, (this being talking to people). It was 3.30 in the afternoon and June was wearing a bright pink, (terry towelling) nighty and slippers, (she looked quite fetching really).
Probably the highlight of the trip so far has been Bourke. It really is the start of the real outback and has so much history attached to it. Henry Lawson was sent here to try to dry out, (the pub he used to drink at is still standing!). He spent the following 2 years writing some of his most memorable poetry.
The first shearers strikes occurred at Bourke, leading to the setting up of a workers union.
The Darling River is amazing, so much water so far outback...enough to support cotton growing, orchards of lime trees and heaps of other irrigated crops.
Probably the most moving moment was a visit to Fred Hollows grave...
We met John from Kilmore at Bourke, (his van is a Paramount, ours is an Evernew). John is a real nice bloke but we didn't see his wife 'cause she had a 48 hour bug, (she'd had it for 72 hours).
Oh yes, we also met Helen, (not Helen Goland or Helen Limbach who also talk a lot). This Helen lived in Murray Bridge. She had been in the Navy, been a music teacher and travelled at this time of year, playing her guitar and singing all kinds of songs for a gold coin donation. We went to one of her singalongs with a whole lot of other mature aged people, (a lot of them joined in the choruses).
Next night we went to a barbecue and log fire in the camp and this bloke, (a local cocky) stood up and started reciting some of Henry Lawson's poetry. It was fantastic...
From Bourke we travelled to Nardoo Station, (not Nardoo as in Indira, this is a 110,000 acre working cattle station). Had another night around a camp fire with about 40 other people and the property managers wife. She had just come in from mustering cattle and cooked a roast dinner for all of us. (Wish I could get my wife to multi-task).
And how small is this world. We got talking to Janis Hill...who went to Stewart Street State School in East Brunswick. That's where me and me 2 sisters went, (that's Lorraine, (not Lorraine from New Zealand but Lorraine, Cate and Shane's mother and my oldest sister) and Barbara, (that's my middle sister, Karl and Simon and Robbie's mother) to school in the 50's.
Janis is married to Rex, (their van is an Evernew, ours is an Evernew to only smaller). Janis and Rex live in Traralgon...she talks a lot but he's OK.
We're currently at Charleville. There's so many people on the road that there's caravans squeezed in everywhere, but everyone is pretty relaxed and friendly, especially the guy who was standing outside the toilet door this morning, who, as I left simply said with a wry grin..."Did you keep the seat warm for me..."
Sort of poetic that...
Saturday, May 15, 2010
It's getting near that time...
As many of you may remember, Peter and his missus, (Marilyn, that's not Mrs Marilyn, Marilyn is her first name) last year took their caravan, (it's an Evernew) up the centre of Australia and down the West coast. It was an exciting and eventful trip during which we met many interesting people, (don't ask about the aboriginals).
Many of our friends, (these were mainly Marilyn's as Peter tends not to have many friends for some reason) were kept up to speed on all the goings on via email during the 4 month odessy; however this year we are trying a new tack...a blog!
The name of blog is RETIRINGTYPES. The origins of this name may not be obvious to all of you, (especially the English and New Zealanders), so I will explain...
RETIRING as in we are retired, ((but wait there's more). As you can already tell, we really are quite reserved and RETIRING, (get it, RETIRING!). I find that very funny...but there's more.
TYPES, as in TYPING...get it, that's how this blog came about, by TYPING.
Now if you put the both together you get RETIRINGTYPES... (having been in advertising really comes in handy sometimes).
So this blog is going to be all about our trip this year which will commence in June and last for four and a half months.
We will be going up through central NSW, then on to Mount Isa. Following that it will be on to Cooktown and then follow the coast and hinterland down ending up back in Victoria when the cold weather has passed and hopefully shortly after Mr Rudd and Mr Brumby have been removed from office.
So we hope you enjoy meeting interesting people, being told about interesting places and not discussing aboriginals. (There can be no promises made regarding photographs being sent through as the technology still remains a mystery.
We hope you all stay well and happy and look forward to keeping in touch...happy barmitzvah and shalom.
Many of our friends, (these were mainly Marilyn's as Peter tends not to have many friends for some reason) were kept up to speed on all the goings on via email during the 4 month odessy; however this year we are trying a new tack...a blog!
The name of blog is RETIRINGTYPES. The origins of this name may not be obvious to all of you, (especially the English and New Zealanders), so I will explain...
RETIRING as in we are retired, ((but wait there's more). As you can already tell, we really are quite reserved and RETIRING, (get it, RETIRING!). I find that very funny...but there's more.
TYPES, as in TYPING...get it, that's how this blog came about, by TYPING.
Now if you put the both together you get RETIRINGTYPES... (having been in advertising really comes in handy sometimes).
So this blog is going to be all about our trip this year which will commence in June and last for four and a half months.
We will be going up through central NSW, then on to Mount Isa. Following that it will be on to Cooktown and then follow the coast and hinterland down ending up back in Victoria when the cold weather has passed and hopefully shortly after Mr Rudd and Mr Brumby have been removed from office.
So we hope you enjoy meeting interesting people, being told about interesting places and not discussing aboriginals. (There can be no promises made regarding photographs being sent through as the technology still remains a mystery.
We hope you all stay well and happy and look forward to keeping in touch...happy barmitzvah and shalom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)