Gunnedah to Sydney, Xmas 2013

December 15^th, It was a short drive to Gunnedah, The home of the Koalas. We were told that they have the biggest Koala Population in the World. We spent our overnight stay at the Council short stay Park, next to the Showground. The caretaker had a garden with heaps of green tomatoes but Val couldn’t get him to part with any, as he is grooming them for Gunnedah’s Annual Tomato Growing Contest. We were told the contest started some years ago, when local people were bragging about who had grown the biggest tomato.

December 16^th, We headed off for another one night stay at Singleton before going on to Sydney tomorrow. Before we reached the next Town, we encountered herds of cows feeding along the roadside, which was a fascinating sight.  We had to slow right down as they would just wander across the road, not concerned by road traffic, to join their friends on the other side. We stopped at Muswellbrook, for a coffee/ lunch break, at the Information Centre Coffee Shop. After a nice lunch we headed off and around 10 klms out of Muswellbrook, I started to feel wobble through the steering wheel and the brake pedal pulsed on stopping. I checked the front wheels and couldn’t find a problem, like “about to fall off” but did find the left side hub was very hot. We waited on the side of the road, to let the hub cool down and then hopefully would be able to get to Singleton, and have the car checked out by a Mechanic. We headed off, driving slowly, but the wobble was getting worse, and so 2 klms further on I found a wide enough spot to pull to the side, off the Highway. I rang the NRMA and was told we would have an hour wait before they could get to us. The next phone call was from the local NRMA Depot and   The Tow Truck then took us to the Riverside Cabin and Van Park and put us on our site, then took our car back to the Depot for assessment in the morning.

after giving him my version of our problem, he decided we would no doubt need a tow truck and I made sure he knew that we were towing a Caravan. It was hot on the roadside and Val sat in the Van, coolest spot to read her “take 5” magazine, while I kept watch for the Towie. He eventually turned up, after a phone call to determine exactly where we were, and we disconnected the Van and put the Car on his “tilt tray” Truck. After a lot of fiddling we eventually got the Van connected to his tow bar and had to drive a couple of k’s down the road to turn around at a Power Station off ramp and head back to the NRMA depot at Muswellbrook. So, 5 hours after our roadside stop we were finally back at Muswellbrook.

December 17^th, I walked down to the main street and bought a few items at IGA. It was late morning and I was only a short walk from the NRMA depot, so went down to see how they were getting on, as I had been told they would look at my car first thing this morning. Not so, they hadn’t started but it was next job and I would get a call in around an hour. I walked back to the Park and when no call came after 3 hours, I rang them again and LO and Behold, they had just finished evaluating my problem! The problem was not wheel bearings, as I had thought, but a stuck brake cylinder piston, which had caused the overheating of the brake disc, causing it to warp and accentuate the problem. I needed a new set of discs and brake pads at a total cost of $700, including labour. Before accepting this quote, I rang Dianne (who works for Heartland Holden in Blacktown) and she told me that her people could buy those parts for $200 and fit them for no cost. However, when your out in the backblocks you have to “grin and bear it”, so I gave the go-ahead and was told it would be first job in the morning and we would be able to move on to Sydney.

December 18^th, No word about our car at 12 o’clock, so we walked into Town to IGA and did a bit of shopping, Around 12.45pm the call came to say the car was finished, so I left Val at IGA and walked down to the NRMA Depot. The lady behind the desk tells me that the mechanic forgot to add the Diagnostic Charge to the Quote and it will now be $835. I wasn’t Happy, as you can imagine, so she called the mechanic to talk to me and his story was that he quoted for all the mechanical work and had kept to his quote and I was told when the car was booked in that there would be a diagnostic charge. I told him I was not told and he went off to leave the Office Staff to handle the situation. I wasn’t getting anywhere with solving our dispute, so I rang Val, and as expected she went off her brain and all the staff could hear her response from the phone. The head lady went off and I assume spoke to the Boss and came back with an offer to give us Staff Discount, so that brought it down to $743. I paid the account and got out to pick up Val before she got to the NRMA Office. We got to Singleton and our navigator took us via the Putty Road, which was the shortest way to Windsor then on to Rouse Hill. What a torturous, narrow, windy 120 Klms of mountain road. Val was beside herself! We arrived at the OK Caravan Park at Rouse Hill around 5pm, reported to the Office by phone and were told to put our Van on site and fix them up tomorrow. We went over to Greg and Dianne’s and Val took over Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner, which she had already prepared.

December 19^th, I finished setting up the Van and Annexe and took the boat off the car, so we could go into the underground car park at the Shopping Centres.

December 20^th, The Girls came over today and we all went to rouse Hill Shopping Centre. Val went shopping with Jessica while Annaliese and I went to the movies. We saw “Frozen”, which we both enjoyed immensely. We met up with Val and Jessica at the food court for lunch and then wandered around the shops some more. We dropped the girls back home and drove to Drummoyne, to meet Steven and Ed for dinner

at PJ’s Hotel. The meals were fair, the entertainer was too loud but the company was great.

December 22^nd, We went to Winston Hills Shopping Centre and did the last of our Christmas Shopping. On the way home we stopped off at Greg and Dianne’s, for afternoon tea, and caught up with Sue and Mark (Dianne’s parents) who are in Sydney for Christmas.

December 23^rd, Dianne took the “Territory” into heartland Holden, for a Service and to check the front end for any further problems, after the brake problem in Muswellbrook. Late in the afternoon Dianne called to say that they needed to keep the car in overnight and would have it finished tomorrow. I had told Dianne to have them fix any problems that they found.

December 24^th, We got our car back early afternoon and I could notice how much better it was running. It felt tighter and the rattles from underneath were gone. Dianne had no idea how much it was going to cost me and said not to worry; her boss will sort it out eventually and let us know. Steven and Ed were having a few  friends call in for Dinner and a Christmas drink, so we joined them and had a nice evening, getting home around 2am.

December 25^th, Christmas Day and it rained all day! Both Families gathered at Greg and Diannes place, for Christmas Lunch. They had the lunch table set up nicely and we enjoyed a great meal. We were shown a great family game and had an enjoyable afternoon with all the Family.

December 26^th, We had a drive around today and found that the only places open were the Hotels, so we ended up at “The Mean Fiddler”, a Tavern just on the main road, up from our Caravan Park at Rouse Hill. We hadn’t been there before, so we walked right through the whole complex and were surprised how big it was. They had mist sprayers around all the outdoor eating areas, to keep the customers cool in the hot weather. The food looked good, as well. We had a few drinks, a flutter on the pokies and went home with a small win.

December 27^th, I started packing up this morning, ready to leave tomorrow, for Blacksmiths Beach. We met up with Greg, Dianne, Jessica and Annaliese for lunch at the Coffee Club, in Rouse Hill Shopping Centre. After enjoying our lunch we all wandered around the Shops and I finally bought a new hat from the Cancer Council Shop. We had dinner at Greg and Dianne’s and were entertained by Greg and Jessica who were trying to ride a “Uni-Cycle” which had been bought as a family present for Christmas. It’s a wonder that neither of them was hurt!  

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.

Dalby November 2013

 November 19^th, We finished packing up and drove down to Dalby. We called into the Information Centre to check on the Caravan Parks in this Town and to pick up some brochures on the sights. There was only one Caravan Park listed in our NRMA Book but the Information Centre put us onto another, just on the edge of Town, called “Pioneer Village Caravan Park”. We drove out to the Park and went in to check on their price for a week’s stay and it was $55 cheaper, so we booked in. They only had a drive through site available, which isn’t a problem, so we got ourselves set up. What we soon discovered is that this park has Workers Accommodation out the back for 150 people, with their own facilities including a Restaurant and a Gym. Most of those workers would be in the Gas Mining Industry. The Caravan Park side is full of permanent/semi permanent people who are also working in this area. After Dinner I went onto the Centrelink Site to put in my change of address, because my Pension Number has a few 8’s in it, I wasn’t able to log on no matter what I tried ( No. 8 is one of the keys not working on my keypad). In frustration I gave up!

November 20^th, It was very hot today and we were happy to go to the Shopping Centre to escape the heat and restock our larder. I had noticed yesterday, that there was a Computer Shop in the main street, so I went in to see if they could repair my Laptop keypad problem. They didn’t think they could get it done in my timeframe but suggested that the cheapest way to overcome my problem was to use a “plug-in” keypad. This had also been suggested at the last 2 places, where I had asked about repairs, but I was now at the stage where I couldn’t take it anymore, so I bought a $30 keypad, Yippee!

November 21^st, I walked over the road, from our Caravan Park, to the Pioneer Park Museum and filled in 3 hours wandering around. It is a collection of 22 buildings, relocated to that site and manned by the local Historical Society and they have an amazing collection of local items. A lot of the buildings house collections, donated or on loan from local people. This is the sort of thing I like to browse through, when we stop at country Towns, while Val is happy to browse the Shops. We drove into Town for a look around; it was 37deg. so we needed to escape the heat. I parked in the Coles carpark and sat in the car with the motor off but with the air conditioner still running. When Val came back to the car, it wouldn’t start. There was a loud clicking noise coming from the starter motor and the fan belt was barley moving on each clicking sound!  There was nothing I could do, other than look at the engine compartment like I had some idea that I might be able to find the problem and tell all the passing shoppers what my problem was. I rang the NRMA Roadside Service number and was surprised to be answered by the RACQ Operator. I asked her “how come” and she informed me that if you called from Queensland it automatically switched the call to the RACQ, that’s progress for you! After getting my details she said we will have a service van there within the hour. I sent Val off to the Woolworths Centre, in the main street, to do her thing while I waited for the RACQ. About 50 minutes later the RACQ Service Guy came and checked the battery and said it was down slightly, the alternator was putting charge into the battery and asked had I been using the auxiliary power, which I had in running the air con. He hooked up his booster cables to the battery and “lo and Behold, a Miracle” the car started up. What I hadn’t realized was that as well as running the air con. I had the headlights “ON” as well, as I have them set on “Auto” and I was in the shade! So my options were to put in a new battery at $175 or run the engine for ½ hour and see how the battery goes. You can guess which option I went with! I picked up Val and we went to the RSL for a needed Chardy and a flutter, in the cool.

November 22^nd, I drove into Town to get Val some ingredients for her lemon butter, so I took the opportunity to get a few photos and check out the Creek that runs through Town. It had plenty of water in it and some nice parkland areas along its banks, so I was thinking it would probably have fish in it. No fishing rod with me so I went home for lunch and to help Val with the Lemon Butter production.

November 25^th, We went into Town to do a bit of shopping and had a very nice lunch at one of the Pubs in Town. I had the $9 steak special, which was a typical country pub sized meal, so I didn’t need much for tea tonight. We started packing up to leave, in the morning, for Goondiwindi.