Step 24 Young - Junee via Temora

Tuesday 18th Jan

Up early this morning  and quickly off to the bakery to pick up the pies. Since the bakery was also a proper coffee shop we didn't think that Herbie's rule of not having cappuccinos at a bakery applied and took a chance. Phew, not bad at all.

Forgot to mention the uniquely NSW method of angle parking. Reverse in to kerb.   Di loves it, one day she did it seven times in three different parking spots before she let us out to go to the coffee shop.
Proof readers note: Dianne strongly refutes this allegation

Despite the web site not making the place sound all that attractive we decided to take Georgie's advice and checked out the Temora Air Museum. Predictably my dad's advice was better than the Internet and it turned out to be a good choice. All the aircraft they have on display are airworthy, and they fly too. Di was all cultured out, having visited the car museum yesterday so she stayed in MM and caught up with e-mails and phone calls while I toured around.

I was going to give the guy a hand to put this lot back together but Di pointed out that after I rebuilt my Escort engine it caught on fire while she was driving it.

After lunch in MM (budget conscious) headed off to Junee

For the last day or so (and it turned out for quite a few days after) we have been literally bombarded by white butterflies. They have been absolutely plastering the front of MM. I believe that I shall call them - Suicide Butterflies (in Latin Suicidus Butterflyus).

The reason for our visit to Junee was another Kendall Snr recommendation - the Junee Licorice factory - yummo.

Unfortunately we were a little late to see them actually making the licorice but we did see them doing some choc coating and we got to taste some. We also did the tour which included a Licorice Vertical Bowling competition, which we duly won. Woo hoo, a free packet of licorice.

Editors note: Licorice Vertical Bowling involves one person (Steve) lobbing a giant blob of licorice through a hatch about 15 ft off the ground which duly fall down a shaft and knocks over a set of nine pins which the other person (Di) tries to catch before they hit the ground. Extremely difficult but we triumphed.

Had a quick look around Junee Railway Square but didn't go out to the Junee Railway Turntable - the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. I'll probably rue that as a missed opportunity later in life. But then again, maybe not.

As Di and I constitute a quorum for the executive planning committee for this trip we had a planning meeting over drinks and nibblies. Given there was nothing in particular we wanted to see for a while we decided to make a dash for Mildura tomorrow.

Step 23 Forbes to Young (via Cowra) 172 kms

Monday 17th Jan

Well it's a full and action packed day today readers, so hang on tight.

Preparation is all important when there's a lot to do, so as soon as we left the caravan park we headed straight into Maccas for breakfast. Bless them and their $5.95 special which includes a reasonable approximation of a cappuccino.

Then it was off to McFeeters Motor Museum a kilometre up the road. That's McFeeters not to be confused with McFeast which was a special edition of hamburger offered by McDonalds in the 1990's. Yet again, I digress. The motor museum was setup and run by Mum & Dad McFeeter, ex wool merchants, with a passion for cars and not a little business acumen by the look of it. There's over $3 million bucks invested in the place but the building has been setup so that if it doesn't work out as a motor museum in can be converted quite quickly into a Motel.

When this car was new this would not have been allowed. Women driving? Unbelievable, next they will be wanting the Vote!

This is a $100,000 Honda CRX. Unfortunately not all the money the guy spent on it was his. After he went to jail the police auctioned it off.

After bidding Ma & Pa McFeeter a fond farewell we headed off to Cowra, stopping first at the Information Centre to watch the presentation about the Prison breakout by the Japanese POW's held there during the Second World War. The presentation was done with a hologram talking you through the events - very well done too. In contrast to the Japanese suicide banzai charge of the prison fences, the Italian POWs indulged in market gardening, singing and chatting up the local women.

The hologram was great but this guy's performance was a bit wooden.

After a rather pleasant iced coffee and chicken wrap at the cafe we moved on to the Japanese gardens on the other side of town and apparently on the other side of Japanese culture. The place, designed by Ken Nakajima, is beautifully set-up and just oozes tranquility. Like Bonnie Doon "so much serenity"

Headed off from Cowra and drove on down to Young (which is not). Now according to the signs and the brochures Young is the Cherry capital of Australia (according to Vicki the Cherry capital is some town in Tasmania, but since she couldn't remember the name of it and she hasn't printed any brochures we're going with Young).

Now while Di has me eating more fresh fruit these days than ever before I couldn't come at the fresh cherries so we ducked into a bakery to check out the Cherry Pies. If it's good enough for John Mellencamp to write about them in songs I figured they would be worth a try. Apparently the people in the bakery didn't think so and they didn't actually have any. But, true to the renowned country hospitality the lady offered to have one baked for us tomorrow morning. How could we refuse. Just to be on the safe side, ie to avoid sharing issues, we got her to bake us individual pies. That done we were committed to checking in for the night. Young Tourist Park was quite neat but nothing to write home about (although given you are reading this apparently it was enough to write in a blog about). The lady at reception showed us photo's of the park before Christmas and it was under about 3 feet of water, so yet again we have timed our run right.

Not a good nights sleep - kept dreaming of the cherry pies ;-)

Step 22 Bathurst - Forbes via Parkes (250 km's)

Saturday 15th Jan

The rain is back ! Nothing too severe but yet again it occurs on a day when we are travelling. Mmmm?

Just in case we don’t see one for awhile, we stopped at Aldis on the way out of town.

Stopped in Orange for Di to duck into the bakery and she came out with bread rolls AND a proper cream bun, one without real cream. Yep mock cream makes a proper cream bun. I love you Di :-)

Editors note: remember to call Ripley - Believe it or not Orange is not famous for Oranges, it’s famous for stone fruit. I know, I know, how do these things happen?

This was in a Park at Parkes - it reminded me of the Hogwarts Express

Got to Parkes Radio Telescope at 1:00pm in time to have rolls for lunch in MM. Would have had the cream bun too but I ate that over a 100km’s ago.

To be honest, and call me a scientific philistine here, but I am not entirely convinced about this whole “radio” telescope thing. It appears to me that they “listen” to the sky and if they hear a G sharp coming in from the general direction of “ a long way away” they interpret that as  wow, there is a giant gaseous planet 400,000 kms in diameter orbitting Aplha Centauri”.  It’s certainly not the way we did things at the European Space Agency when I worked there (in PC support). 

Anyway, before I was tempted to share my thoughts with the CSIRO staff there we drove back through Parkes heading for Forbes. Imagine our disappointment when we discovered we had missed the annual Elvis festival by mere days. We were going to remove some of that disappointment by visiting the Elvis museum at the Parkes information centre but decided to save the $10 a head and play the pokies somewhere and pretend we were in Vegas (like when I had a job).

Editors note: No one  has actually been able to tell us why there is an annual Elvis festival or a permanent Elvis museum in Parkes. But the guy in the burger shop did look strangely familiar and when he gave me my change he did say “thank you very much”. 

Boom boom.

Think we discovered part of the problem in Bathurst - someone left the gate open

Checked in to the Country Club Caravan Park for two nights, eventually. The lady who runs the place had just sent her 5 grandchildren home (all aged under 10) after having them for two weeks. I think she was quite glad of adult conversation to be honest so we did end up having quite a loooong chat. She was so excited she gave us a discount on the standard $24 per night fee so the budget for January is looking good still.   

Sunday 16th Jan

OK, now this is the weather we were expecting, it’s hot and sunny. Albeit with a nice cool breeze every now and then.

But in big news, we are going to have to hit the RSL’s and other clubs again because the breakfast bacon was the last of the meat tray raffle meat ! 

Walked in to town via the Information centre and their Ben Hall exhibition and video. Interesting how we make heroes of our villains.

Di, while she refused to admit it, got quite homesick for Geeelong on the walk because we passed a tractor shop. Memories of Shannon Avenue came flooding back and I think I saw her choke back a tear. In fact she was so emotional she couldn’t even drag herself up on the steps to get a photo.

Forbes itself is another town that has managed to preserve a lot of it’s history and heritage. Prospering on the back of the local gold rush it has managed to survive and prosper. Most importantly, it has a coffee shop that is open on Sundays, and, they make a very nice iced coffee (no cream - we are watching our figures).

The park in the centre of town also had a plaque commemorating the Light Horsemen so I have included a photo, just for you Jean. xx

Well that’s about us up to date now, we are heading over to the camp kitchen tonight for our first proper happy hour. To be honest there aren’t that many people in the park but we got invited by  a couple from Cairns this morning so we will wander over. Just to be polite and sociable. Hopefully Di doesn't get so sociable she falls over. Again.

Tomorrow it’s off to Cowra, stopping off at McFeeters Motor Museum here in Forbes before we leave.

Step 21 Mudgee - Bathurst (153 km's)

Wednesday 12th Jan

Moving on from Mudgee to Bathurst today and for those of you playing along at home mark today as a toilet emptying day.

Very nice drive but hilly to Bathurst via Sofala, allegedly Australia’s oldest surviving gold town. Who am I to doubt the Bathurst District Council. I must say that while we were there we did see Australia’s oldest surviving beard. Unfortunately I was too shy to get a photo. Quite possibly I was also a bit nervous as the guy attached to the beard did look quite “eccentric” and as I have always said to Elke - “don’t make eye contact with nutters.” 

Anyway, I digress, lovely little village.

I'm sorry Di, I will listen next time.

Continued on to the historic village of Peel (maiden name of Wilma Smith and Amelia, one of my work daughters). Unfortunately it’s not only an historic village but it appears to be history, because all we could find were tiny signs at either end of nothing.

Prolonging the excitement and anticipation, before heading out to Mt Panorama race track we stopped at Bunnings to get the raw materials for a fly screen blind for the sliding door of MM. In the car park we constructed what can only be described as an engineering work of art. Calling on all my experience from my time spent at RMIT on my engineering degree, we fashioned a roll up blind out of two pieces of fly screen, a piece of dowel and gaffer tape (in honour of a multitude of race mechanics at the Great Race over the years). We can all only wonder what Di & I  could have achieved had I continued in the degree for more than 6 weeks of the first year. Now that I think about it, Di did most of the design and construction. 

Mission accomplished it was off to the National Motor Racing Museum, right behind Conrod straight, near Murray’s corner. (Someone out there will know something about the Great Race and understand this)  Aaah memories: hours of sitting in front of tele; a light aircraft trip to the race with Mario; our unforgettable first wedding anniversary (spent at a Bathurst watching BBQ). It all came flooding back.

The glory days - when Ford could win

Then, it was time.

A lap of the world famous Mt Panorama Circuit. 

In Mighty Merc

In the rain.

Lap record looking fairly safe then. But then again, Clarkson has done a spectacular lap of the Nurburgring in a Ford Transit for Top Gear so anything is possible.

Strap yourselves in then for  a 6.213km ride that motor racing enthusiasts around the world dream of (race cam pictures provided by D C Kendall (Mrs.) )

On the start line

Heading down Pit straight

Over the top - through the Esses

Down Conrod Straight - wipers on

Could this day get any better? Well yes it could, on the way to checking in at the park we stopped at an Aldis supermarket!

To top it off the Big 4 caravan park that we checked in to was extremely pleasant and reasonably priced, within budget.

View from the back of MM

Thu 13th Jan

Quiet day around the park, Di catching up on washing and Steve updating blog (which you read last week).

In a nice finish to the day we watched the last episode of Series 1 of NCIS, oh that Gibbs is such a wag :-)

Fri 14th Jan

Caught the local bus into town to have a look around and take a few photo’s.

Discovered that without a concession card buses are not a cheap way of getting around. Also discovered that Di and I are the only two people in Bathurst without a concession card. In fact the second bus driver was so shocked he nearly gave us the discount anyway.

A lot of locals here - Bathurst Court House

While on the discovery trail we also noticed that the primary industry in Bathurst appears to be producing babies. (OK I might be being a little harsh, but not a lot).

Given we are still in NSW headed for the lunch special at the RSL. Unfortunately it wasn’t very special. In fact it was very ordinary. On reflection I should have noticed it said “Curried lamb” not “Lamb curry”.  It seems that even when you pay $8.90 you can’t be guaranteed of a good meal these days!

Finished the day on a better note - yep, starting watching series 2 of NCIS.

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?    

Step 19 Tenterfield to Tamworth (via Glen Innes & Armidale) 335 km

Sunday 9th January

True to form it was raining as we left but ever the adventurers we decided to drive to the lookout anyway. And we almost made it.

Even after the bitumen ran out, we continued

When the cracks in the road got deeper we continued

After the river crossing we continued

But then we got to a point where there was actually room to turn around – we did

Back on the bitumen we headed on down to Glen Innes, where the rain stopped long enough for us to do a quick walk of the main street and stretch our legs. With respect to our budget we even avoided spending any money.

Just out of Glen Innes is the amazing standing rocks, which are a poor man's Stone Henge. Given the rich man's Stonehenge, at Stonehenge, is not all that exciting, this is decidely underwhelming

Lesson for today: When you have already had one failed off road adventure for the day, if you see a dirt road and a sign saying 1.7km to Captain Thunderbolt caves” don't take it.” In my defence, I had read a bit about Thunderbolt the bushranger in all the tourist guides, and 1.7 kms didn't seem that far. But anyway, now I know, it is. Another U-turn and we were back on the bitumen and on our way.

Stopped for lunch in MM in Armidale and then had a wander around. These country NSW towns are quite pretty and have an amazing number of preserved buildings from early settlement. Armidale even has 2 cathedrals. One Anglican and one of the opposition.

Back on the road again managed to fulfil my Thunderbolt fix for the day by stopping at the statue right on the main highway – OK, I know. But if we had come to the statue first I probably wouldn't have bothered with the cave.

Did our now customary drive through of the destination town – Tamworth and then checked into the Austin Caravan Park for 2 nights.

Another BBQ dinner, courtesy of the Tweed Heads Bowls Club meat raffles and then we wandered out to the pub next door to check out the live entertainment. Got Di as far as the door where she heard the “entertainment” and turned around and went back to the van. Turns out they do do both kinds of music here Country AND Western and Di is not that keen on either.

Lesson for today:  “When buying take away beer other than VB or Tooheys at a NSW country pub, check the expiry date – they don't sell much of that fancy city boy stuff”.

Monday 10^th January

Woke to the sound of rain again, although a guy at the amenities block told me that if had woken up before 9:00 am it was actually quite nice. Did start to wonder whether the 7 metre bank on the river was going to be enough though. Judging by the look of the result of the flood before Christmas, we might be alright.

Once the rain dropped back to a light drizzle I walked down the road a couple of km's to the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum – who knew they were so many motorcycle museums in this part of the world? Much smaller than the one at Nabiac but quite entertaining none the less. Although I must admit I did tear up a little bit, pining for my little Suzuki all tucked away on the trailer back in Chinderah. Pined for it even more on the walk back to the caravan park.

In the afternoon we drove out to the Golden Guitar and Country Music Hall of Fame to try and increase Di's appreciation of Country Music before one of the hundreds of people who are arriving in town for the annual music festival discover she is a non-believer. This became even more important when I noticed that the gun and ammunition shop in town is doing a good trade.

Di and her Akubra - getting into the spirit of  Australia's Country Music Capital

Luckily the volounteer guide at the Hall of Fame was very enthustiastic and some of the enthusiasm rubbed off and I think Di will be safe.

Note: managed to swap the out of date beer for some Carlton Draught

Dinner tonight, you guessed it, more meat from the meat raffle. This time some very nice pork chops and roast vege's and the weather nice enough to eat outside for the second night in a row.

After tea, off to the pub and this time I managed to get Di inside for a couple of drinks and a listen to the band. Now while I didn't see her singing along (not even to that timeless classic The Gambler, 

“You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Know when to walk away, know when to run.

You never count your money, when you're sitting at the table,

There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.” .

Anyway as I say, Di wasn't singing along but I did notice a bit of foot tapping action under the table. Yee Haaaw

Step 18 Chinderah - Tenterfield (via Lismore & Casino) 252 kms

Well welcome back faithful followers, the Christmas New Year holidays are over and it's time to hit the road (and blog again).

It was great spending time with Mum and Dad / Doreen & George. Wonderful Xmas turkey, Hawaiian night at the Bowls Club for New years Eve and general catching up. Not so great that it rained for about 19 days out of the 22 we were there.

But Saturday 8^th Jan dawned grey and damp and after a mandatory farewell coffee at Kingscliff, packing and wrapping the motorbike on the trailer, a bit of running around for light bulbs for MM and lunch it was time to bid Chinderah and all the Chindereans farewell.

Emotional farewell - George & Trevor, well known Chindereans 

Light drizzle as we left turned into full on rain on the freeway but eventually it died down and we actually saw a bit of sun. The drive through the hills and valleys through Lismore, Casino & Tenterfield was extremely pleasant. Mighty Merc handling the hills a lot better without the 600 odd kilo's of bike and trailer dragging along behind.

Editors note: The drive through Lismore, Casino and Tenterfield was also a lot more pleasant than if we had left it another 48 hours because by Monday the road was cut in at least three places and we would have needed MM to be amphibious. Yet again listening to Di was the right thing to do,as if there was ever a doubt. It was Di who had checked the weather forecast and suggested getting the hell out of Dodge (Chinderah).

Drove through Lismore and Casino before arriving in Tenterfield where we cruised  the main street. Aah Tenterfield, in the immortal words of the great bard (Peter Allen) 

“Time is a traveller, 

Tenterfield saddler turn your head, 

Ride again jackeroo, 

I think I see kangaroo up ahead” 

Probably sounds better with Hugh Jackman singing (or Lee Kernaghan but definitely not the guy from Dancing with the Stars). Anyway it's amazing that that's what I thought of first about Tenterfield rather than the fact it was the site of Henry Parke's 1889 speech that started the push for Federation and the birth of Australia as a nation. Aah well, I was always a sucker for a show tune.

Tenterfield Saddler - well the sign said Saddler so I assume that's it

After our cultural drive through Tenterfield we checked into the Seven Knights van park, a fairly basic setup behind the BP garage. Despite the overcast weather we walked the kilometre or so back into town and consequently got caught in the heaviest rain of the day on the walk back. Lesson for today: “If it's been raining for three weeks solid and there is a break in the rain – still take an umbrella if you go for a walk.”

Special mention must be made of the number  of "award winning, bestest pie shops" that we have seen so far on our travels. There sure must be a lot of pie awards given out every year! 

After drying out back at MM BBQ'd some of the meat that Di had won in raffles at Chinderah.

Editors note: Di's track record on meat raffles is nothing short of phenomenal at the moment: 4 entries (one of which was free) for 3 wins.

After dinner we settled back to catch up on one of the 123 remaining episodes of NCIS and discovered one of the benefits of staying at park with a 24 hour petrol station out the front is that you can duck out and grab an ice cream to go with the viewing – it's the caravanning and camping equivalent of Village Gold Class Cinema.