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Friday – Too far away

Well it’s definitely count down time – a bit like the old shearer’s wife’s lament. Friday too tired, Saturday too drunk, Sunday too far away. Well for us it’s Friday too far away.
Below is the route for the outbound journey and we will be taking 3 days which will give us a bit of time to investigate for future trips. I have had a close eye on the weather in “the pound” and, well, it’s all a bit pleasant really. They have had a little rain and showers so some of the tracks may be interesting but that’s half the fun.
Peter (brother) has been preparing his new van (should have brought a semi by the sounds of what he is packing). It hasn’t had a shake down run so the “pound” trip will be it which should be interesting. Janyce is pretty much ready now after the reno’s. 15 minutes to pack and were done.
Gaz is pretty much right (other member of tagalong tours). He is heading off Saturday so he will be doing the out bound a bit quicker than us. For Martin I will include a photo, shortly, of the finished kitchen including the tinsmith job I did on the stove top.
Bring on Friday

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Our theme for this trip

Last trip as many would know we had a bit of a theme running and it seemed pretty popular to the multitude of followers of our blog (last count about 5 people). So this time we have been urged to do the same by our ardent and loyal followers. With that in mind we tried to figure out what to do this time and we have decided its to be “where’s Dougal”. For those that are not familiar with Dougal he is the Daffodil Day bear and we are using last years. In at least one photo on each post while we are away Dougal will be in it, all you have to do is find him. The person with the most correct entry will receive a prize of some sort. I was suggesting a rock from the Skytrek Track  duly autographed all members of Di and Dave’s Tagalong tours, however, Di is not convinced this is at all appropriate so we will have to come up with something. A photo of Dougal will be forthcoming so you know what you are looking for.  For those that follow Sue and Ian’s blog – no I didn’t steal their idea – I merely used it as reference and research, anyway we aren’t on a pub crawl. Anyway its Daffodil day on the 26th Aug so go and buy something and support them (web http://www.daffodilday.com.au/content/daffodil-day-facts)  Below is this years bear, Dougal the Super Hero.

And this is Tagalong tours “Dougal” in his Mambo top for our trip.
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Its nearly that time again

 Well it’s nearly time for this years sojourn and we are off to the Flinders Ranges shortly. Its been pretty hectic as we had to have a few things done to the van since last year and why is it ends up being a bit of a rush to get things finished on time. The roof of Janyce (the jayco) had to be resealed and then the service and after all that we decided to have an awning fitted.

 

We got her back and then had to replace the bench tops and table. Photos show the new bench tops on process of being fitted. I can say I have just about renovated any kind of accommodation now. So the old girl has had a bit of a spruce up. With the six months we have had I can’t wait till the only thing I can see in the rear view mirror is Janyce. As usual the travel blog will be up and running so if anyone reads it I hope you enjoy.
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The road home

Well its time to pack up and head for home. We had a great trip and had a good time rain and all. The sun is shining as we pack. From here Gaz, Shaz are heading in a different direction.  Di and I will head almost straight home while Gaz will head down the coast so we said our good byes and off we went. We had a slight change of plans early in the trip (not all by design) and went through Newcastle. We ended up going around the wharf area where the coal ships are loaded. Very interesting as was Newcastle – might be worth a closer look on a future trip. We ended up back on the Newcastle freeway near Donaldson.  After that pretty uneventful except for the rain – again. It rained from Donaldson till we got to Gundagai. We planned to stay at Gundagai over night and booked into the van park. Patto’s law kicked in as we came out of the office flat tyre on the van.  The park wasn’t bad but was almost on the Hume freeway was very noisy. Next morning we headed off after getting the tyre fixed and apart from RAIN it was a good trip.
We rated, after some discussion, the amenities at Gundagai a 4. One ply toilet paper just doesn’t cut it. And whilst the standard was good we were spoilt at Anna Bay.
Well our trip started as it ended, raining, but in the end it didn’t matter we had a great time and have seen just a little more of this great country. The pictures are of an Austin 7 and I was wondering what it would have been like to travel this country in one of these little go karts. Now that sounds like a plan!!!!!
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Anna Bay – Day 4

Today Di and I had a few things we wanted to do. First point of call was the sea rescue base at Tomaree Point. There is a museum, the sea rescue operations centre, a great view and a wonderful coffee shop. We sampled all four areas and whilst the volunteers manning the station were good they could not beat the coffee and scones. Duly recharged we headed for Tomaree point for a bit of walking. You know there are comedians everywhere and this place has its fair share. The walk we chose was listed as “moderate” what they forgot to say was what that meant. Was it moderately hard, moderately easy, moderately difficult etc.
You see in Katoomba they rated the walks similarly I.e easy, moderate, hard or difficult and subtitled with a fitness level. For instance the Fergul steps were difficult and required a good level of fitness. The walk we chose was moderate so off we toddle blissfully unaware of the comedian. This walk would have rated the same as the Fergul steps in Katoomba – it had just as many blood steps and as steep. But we made it and were rewarded by the most magnificent views of the Nelson Bay area. Oh I forgot to mention the snake which slowed our progress. A 1.5 meter diamond python decided it was going to share the path with us. Di had other ideas and we nearly never made the top but Bardi Grub Patto stepped in and we coaxed the rather spectacular python to increase his distance between Di and our direction of travel and onward we went. The descent was uneventful except for a rather large monitor or goanna which we did not see but were assured by the rather excited couple, on the side of the path, existed. After that the day was rather uneventful, lunch at NSW best fish and chip shop (that’s what the sign said) back to the van and a walk up to the Buribi SLSC to see the sand dunes (because they are not your every day sand hills)
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Anna Bay – Day 3

Today Gaz and I have booked an off shore fishing charter. So it was an early start to proceedings as we had to be at the wharf at 6.00 am. Everything supplied so sounded like a good choice for us. We were chauffeured to our boat by Shaz who sacrificed a sleep in for us.
We meet our other participants at the wharf which meant we had 6 on the boat plus 2 crew. We met the skipper on the wharf who turned out to be the boat owner but he didn’t come with us – chatted us up then nicked off leaving us with Gilligan (sorry deck hand Chad and the “Captain”) and we set sail (well not actually sail more the throb of a diesel engine) off into the wild blue yonder. The sun was just rising and the view as we moved out of the harbour was great. Past the coast guard station at Tomaree point and out in to the open sea. It was a reasonable successful day. I of course got nothing, zilch, zero but every one else managed a fish or two. Gaz managed a gummy shark about 1.3 mtrs which gave him some curry. We were at a depth of about 200 ft so that’s a lot of fishing line to reel in. He however had another handicap – seasickness. While yours truly was fairing exceptionally well Gaz had been violently seasick from the second marker. If you can imagine this the boat rotating between about 45 deg in the 3 mtr swell leaning over the side reeling in a foul hooked fish weighing 3 to 4 kg with gear that was just about stuffed all the while being seasick with Gilligan and the skipper providing useless advise on the probable species of an, as yet, unseen fish. He did get the fish in and managed to survive the rest of the trip albeit a bit weaker. The fish was enjoyed as an evening meal and Gaz plucked up markedly as we came through the channel into closed waters. It was however an effort worth of mention.
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Anna Bay – Day 2

Well today the weather gods smiled we had a glorious day. Di and Shaz decided that they would have a girls day so Gaz and I had a blokes day (said in a very deep voice for effect). We headed out to fighter world which is attached to Williamtown air force base. They have a good collection of fighter aircraft which we could view and climb around.
 There were even a couple of cockpit sections of fuselage which you could get into and sit in the pilot seat. For someone a bit keen on planes it was all very nice. David the manager there was a wealth of knowledge on the history of each. Most of the exhibits are part of the Point Cook museum and they had planes from New Zealand, Korean and Indian air forces. We spent most of the morning poking and prodding around the exhibits. There is also a viewing platform which looks out over the airfield and today the F18 hornets were in action. They were just awesome to watch and very loud.
Di and Shaz ended up at the macadamia nut farm which was not that far from fighter world. Unfortunately it is not the right time of the season so not much was happening but I did see a photo of the morning tea and it looked pretty good and then a spot of scrap booking I believe.
After lunch it was a fishing expedition for Gaz and I. The break water looked pretty good and so we ventured on. We caught a few, which all were returned to the water (except for the ones the pelicans caught as we released our catches). These bloody pelican must have eyes in their bums they could spot a hookup from the other end of the break water and would be on top of your catch as you reeled in. They would literally be coming at you as you unhooked. No keepers for us but very pleasant. The girls had a relaxing afternoon building up their vitamin B in the sunshine.
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Katoomba – Nelson Bay (Anna bay)

You know sometimes you just have to wonder who you have pee’d off so bad that they take great joy in retribution. It poured all night in Katoomba and I know it’s a long time since some of us have seen a good shower of rain and I should be grateful the drought has broken but why on the 2 weeks we decide to go away is my question. It was still raining when we got up, and after we had a wonderful breakfast as we hooked up the vans, infact it didn’t stop all the way to Anna Bay. So we pulled on to our camp site and hibernated. It couldn’t get any worse I guess (the weather that is) No photos to day didn’t even open the bag.
Nelson Bay – Day 1
Well it didn’t get worse but it didn’t get any better until lunch time. Rained and blew a gale all night and they say rain on a tin roof is romantic go figure. We headed into Nelson Bay and had a walk around the town and then drove a long the bay inland for quite a way. We couldn’t get out of the car – guess why it was pouring. The gods smiled on us about lunch time and we spied a little blue sky. We had a little cleaning and maintenance to do on the van so that was the first priority in for the fine weather. Gaz and I then had a stroll along the beach checking out the scenery (and likely fishing spots). There is an orange algae in the water up here at the moment which could account for the dozens of dead birds on the beach. The sea was quite rough and choppy and you could sea the orange tinge in the white water. Guess if we catch anything it will be catch and release. I wouldn’t fancy being in the same company as the birds. Weather is supposed to improve again tomorrow so we will see what transpires.
We have rated the ensuite an 8 which is quite high but it deserves it. Di has deducted points because it is raised off the ground and there are 3 steps to get to the landing (yes it has a landing). Di has become unforgiving of stairs or steps since her little mishap.  They are clean and quite new. There is also 2 ply toilet paper and a mop, bucket, broom, brush and shovel. Very important when half the sand in Anna Bay seems to stick to your boots.
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Katoomba ­– Day 6 The Final day

Today is our last day in Katoomba although it won’t be the last time we will be here because we will come back. We have only scratched the surface of this magnificent area. Today Gaz and I decided to tackle two walks, the first around the Katoomba cascades to warm up and then we descended the Fueber Steps I didn’t take the GPS so I can’t say how far we walked or through what elevations we descended and ascended all I know is I don’t want to see another step for a while.
The path (and steps) took us under the Katoomba falls then descended down the rock face. It eventually ended up at the base of the scenic rail station. We didn’t go all the way we were probably 400 or 500 mtrs short (vertically) but we had to climb all the way back and people a lot younger than me were struggling. But make it we did and not in to bad a shape I might add. We will be sorry to go but also looking forward to Nelson Bay. We have about a three hour drive tomorrow mostly on motorway so should be pretty easy – as long as my navigation holds up. The van park was almost empty until a short while ago and is rapidly filling up with maui campers some over seas club must have booked every Maui in Australia. We have just chated to a couple of the travellers and they are from Holland and will be in Aussie land for 28 day then their off to the land of the long white cloud for 28 days.

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Katoomba – Day 5

What can I say today we woke to another (ho hum) reasonable day. We slacked off today and sat around talking to Gaz and Shaz till nearly 10 and then we had some tough decisions – should we go for a walk, should we go back to the gardens and walk or which track, lookout or water fall should we do today. The decisions we need to make. Before anything could happen though I had to photograph Ken the park curator. A very interesting and funny man with only one down fall he is a mad keen collingwood supporter. The photo is of his office, Ken was supposed to be in the shot with his scarf but he dodged so we only got the office. His wife tells me that most of the collingwood decorations have gone but she hasn’t been able to get the collingwood donna cover off the bed. Collingwood supports what a bunch. This information is for Maxi at Kerang who unfortunately is also a collingwood supporter. In the end Di and I headed off west along the cliff road, found a dirt road and kept driving. It was a pleasant trip although we jarred Di’s jaw a few times. The picture is of the facilities they provide site seers with around here, all very civilised and comfy.
After our “off road excursion” we headed up to Blackheath to the Rhododendron Gardens again for a leisurely stroll through more of the gardens. Di made the comment that Aunty Pearl would have loved it and I’m sure where ever she is it probably resembles something like this. And the ladies at the kiosk serve wonderful scones with jam and cream as well. From there it was east again to the Leura Cascades and a stroll to the bottom. The walk brings you out at the cliff face just above the falls.
We found a few fungi which made Di happy. From the Cascade we headed for Wentworth falls. Two things happened to end our quest for yet another falls walk: 1) David’s navigation failed again and we ended up at the Wentworth lake and 2) the thunder final provided a down pour so we cut our losses and headed for Leura Township for lunch and met up with Gaz and Shaz. A pleasant fare we had and thought a walk along the shopping precinct would be good, until the heavens opened. Time to return to the camp and so ended another day of toil and sweat. Oh how the other half live.