Step 20 Tamworth - Mudgee (via Dunedoo) - 315 km

Tuesday 11^th Jan 

Day started with lots of texts and phone calls from people making sure we hadn't floated away and given the devastation in Queensland and parts of NSW we could understand the concern. We had been following things on the internet but without TV we hadn't really realised the amount of coverage it was getting. It's amazing to think that some of the roads we had travelled down on Saturday were actually underwater. Elke told us later that in the UK the TV reports are showing a map of the flood area overlaid on a map of Europe and it's covering an area larger than France & Germany combined. Well done again Di on working out we need to keep heading south.

Meanwhile back on the Kendall travels we drove on and arrived in Gunnedah in sunshine and muggy warmth for a coffee break. Decided to check out the Maccas free Internet connection, well that and their cappuccinos & blueberry muffin. Main reason for the stop though was to check the flood warnings ahead of us but all seemed ok.

Di then took over the driving for her first stint since the trip began and her first drive of MM since the test drive. Since you are reading this now you will be relieved to see that we survived (the next question is will I survive her reading this blog entry ). 

Stopped for lunch at the rest area beside the legendary black stump, so apparently for the last few days it would appear we have actually been out beyond the Black Stump.

Drove on in to Mudgee, again an amazing, thriving country metropolis. OK metropolis might be a bit strong but it's bigger than small. 

Couldn't have parked here with the trailer !

Not only that but they did a very nice iced coffee at Elton's on the main street. I asked them how the boss was getting on with the new baby (and who was the mum and who was the dad) but they gave me that look that I get a lot so we just smiled and moved on.

Two choices in Mudgee for parks, the Riverside or the Mudgee Valley Tourist Park. Call me overly cautious but at the moment Riverside sounded like it could become "River middle" pretty quick so we checked in to the Mudgee Valley Tourist Park. This was not only a relief to us but must have been for the owners as well as we were the only van in the park. They did have a few cabins occupied but otherwise business is pretty slow.

Had a bit of a change for dinner tonight and went across to the camp kitchen to take advantage of the great facilities. Didn't want to have too much of a change though so it was steak from the meat raffles again. This freezer in MM is taking on Dr Who, Tardis like characteristics – how much bloody meat is in there?