Moree December 2013

December 3^rd, We finished packing up and drove 123 Klms to Moree. A lot of Road Trains use that stretch of highway and thankfully there were a lot of straight sections where they could pass us without any trouble. As soon as we drove into Moree I started looking for a place that did Rego Inspections. Both the Caravan and the car were due for Registration on the 8^th December. I was directed to the NRMA Workshop and they did the Inspection on the Caravan while we waited. It passed, once I replaced the rear numberplate light  unit, and we then went to the Gwyder Carapark and booked in for a 12 night stay. We have stayed here before and this is the only Park that has a complex of 4 Artesian Pools and a 25 metre cold Lap Pool, in their Park. Val has been looking forward to coming back to this Park for ages, as she will spend all her spare time in that Artesian water. I did a bit of setting up, then at 3pm took the car back to the NRMA Workshop and, thankfully, it passed its Rego Inspection.

December 4^th, I changed from NRMA green slip Insurance to GIO and saved $60, then went to the RTA to lodge the Rego Papers, now we’re all good for the next 12 months! We went into Town and Val did some Millers Shopping, while I joined the local Library. Our caravan friends from Goondiwindi were at this Park, so we had a few afternoon drinks with them as they were leaving in the morning.

December 13^th, For a change, I decided to go to the local Art Gallery this morning, as the Information Centre had told me there wasn’t a Museum in Moree but the Art Gallery had a few Artifacts on display. What a disappointment, they were in the middle of a changeover, so most of the walls were bare. There were 2 small displays of Aboriginal Paintings and Artifacts which were very good. Upstairs there were some paintings hanging on the walls but it wasn’t a style of painting that I appreciated. The only savior for my visit to the upstairs area was a very good piece of Sculpture tucked into a corner. As I left the Art Gallery, my only thought was “that the most interesting thing here was the old Commercial Bank Building that housed the Gallery”.

December 14^th, This is our last day in Moree and apart from starting to pack up, my last trip into Town was to return my Library books and get my $11 Visitors deposit back. We have both enjoyed our stay here with all our days spent in the same way. Val has been dieting and exercising in the Hot Artesian Pools for 2 hours in the afternoon and again for 2 hours at night. The Pools are open till 10pm and Val has lost 6 kilos and is very happy about that. I did a lot of reading and had a 30 minute soak in the pool most afternoons. Tomorrow we leave for Gunnedah for an overnight stay.

Goondiwindi, November 2013

November 26^th, We finished packing up and headed for Goondiwindi. It was only a 203Klm trip but the road was very “Rock and Roll”, probably due to the large number of big trucks that use it. We didn’t book ahead, as it isn’t necessary at this time of year, so our first stop was the Information Centre to get a list of the local caravan Parks. We have found that not all Caravan Parks are listed in our NRMA or Queensland Caravan and Camping Books. We decided to have some lunch at the Victoria Hotel, browse through the Information we had and select a Park to stay at. Once again, the lunch special was very large and enjoyable meal. We booked into the Goondiwindi Tourist Park (Top Tourist) and got ourselves on our site. When we opened up the door to the Caravan, I couldn’t believe the mess! We had a cardboard box of vegetables all over the floor, a rock salt container had tipped over in a top cupboard and spilled onto the floor, the lid of the Slow Cooker had fallen from the top bunk (luckily didn’t break), sample jars of chutney in the fridge had broken and our “Porta Loo” was on its side. So, a big clean-up job before we can make a start on setting up on our site. We soon found out that there was a group of Newcastle School Students in the Park, who were set up (with their tents) around the big Camp Kitchen and this Park also is popular with the Truckie’s working in the area. After we finished setting up we went around the Park putting up Val’s condiment signs. After the Students came home from their days outing, a group of them appeared at our Van to try the “free samples”, as noted on Val’s sign. Val had her first sale when one of the boys bought a “Fiery Chilli Tomato Chutney” for his Dad. Around 6pm a group of “Truckie’s” came over to the BBQ area (next to our Van) and started cooking their dinner. Val promptly takes one of her product list over and came back with 2 orders to be filled in the next couple of days. Later on tonight another group of Students came wandering over for a tasting and were all impressed with Val’s Lemon Butter.

 

November 27^th, I went into Town to join the Library and had a look at the Gunsynd Museum, the famous “Goondiwindi Grey”. This is Goondiwindi’s claim to fame, aside from being a great Cotton Growing area. The Museum is in the same building as the Library. It’s interesting to find out that this famous racehorse was not born from famous sires and was never expected to do any better than win a few local races. We joined the Truckie’s and the Park Owner (Peter), at the BBQ area, for dinner and had a very entertaining evening.

November 28^th, I went into Town and had a browse through The Custom House Museum. it isn't a large Museum but it still had plenty of local artefacts and was worth the time. i enjoyed it! It was a scorcher today with the temperature getting up to 37deg. Late in the afternoon, Val was very excited when she spotted a family of Tawny Frog Mouth Owls up in a tree behind our Caravan.

November 29^th, Today started off being very overcast and just before lunch brought the rain with it. Late afternoon it developed into a thunder storm for an hour then continued with heavy rain for the rest of the night. This has been the most rain we have encountered in many many months. It was so heavy at times, that we did get a few drops inside the Van but nothing to be concerned about.

December 1^st, We met with Jacq and Bill, Thelma and Allen, in the BBQ Area for “Happy Hour” drinks. Jacq and Bill are leaving in the morning, Thelma and Allen and ourselves, leave the following day. We had a good time, enjoyed a few drinks and said our goodbyes.

December 2^nd, We did our packing up this afternoon, ready to leave in the morning for Moree. Around 6pm we gathered in the BBQ Area, for drinks and a BBQ with the Truckie friends, that we have met during our stay here at this Park. Val made a Potato Bake and a Rice Salad and Tiny (Tony Small) BBQ’d some lamb heart pieces for an entrée. We all tried some heart and thought it wasn’t too bad. The Potato bake and salad were a hit with everyone. Tiny and Paul took a doggy pack of rice salad for their lunch tomorrow.