The plan for this trip is to revisit some favorite places in the Kimberley and see lots of new places, including a drive along the Great Central Road from Laverton,WA to Uluru, in the Red Centre, NT.
Here is the map of our proposed route (taken from the Wiki Camps planner). The red line shows where we’ve been and the green line is the plan for the rest of the trip.
In order to focus on what we really want to see in WA, we decided to travel quickly through NSW, Queensland and parts of the Northern Territory (NT). Then Dick found a music festival in Queensland that sort of fitted with our itinerary, so we included it.
We’ve had some really nice camping spots in the first two weeks, and we’ve enjoyed hot pools, spa baths and bathtubs. There’s always something interesting to find when you look for it.
Moree is known for thermal springs so in an ordinary caravan park there, we scored a campsite by the river and a soak in the 41C thermal pool. We also used the last of our NSW free dinner vouchers so we could leave NSW with a clear conscience. The NSW government gave each citizen 2x$25 restaurant vouchers and 2x$25 entertainment vouchers to stimulate business in the state. We did our bit on the eating!These painted silos at Thallon encourage people to stop or camp there.Here I am with the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat, Queensland’s most endangered mammal. In the 1970’s only about 35 remained, so a conservation program was started and now there are more than 200 in two colonies.
So between visiting the silos and William the Wombat, we covered the sights of Thallon; and then found a lovely free camp along the Moonie River.
No one else around so we could play our ukuleles, and we did a walk along this beautiful river which is available for free camping.Enjoyed our first campfire for the trip and used Dick’s handy device (chunk of wood with a slot in it) to get our photo.
Dick did his balance class on Zoom before we left the free camp and headed for Charlotte Plains Station (sheep or cattle farm) with its hot bore and bath tubs. The owner told us the property has been in her family for 98 years. Dick told her she didn’t look that old!
The bore water comes from the Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest underground reservoirs on earth. It is 100-250 million years old and takes up one-fifth of Australia. The oldest groundwater has been dated to near 2 million years old. The depths of the aquifer systems range from 100m-3000m and the water is predominantly fresh and safe for human and animal consumption.So of course, we had a bath! We also had a nice, quiet night in a pleasant setting. Good to see stations coming up with ways to attract paying customers.
Scored a pleasant riverside camp in a good caravan park in Cunnamulla, explored the town, Dick bought appropriate outback style boots and we took the mandatory photo with the ‘Cunnamulla Fella’ made famous in a Slim Dusty song of the same name.
The town of Cunnamulla has erected a statute of ‘The Cunnamulla Fella’ as a tribute to the writer of the song (Stan Coster) and the singer (Slim Dusty). The statute is double life size bronze.Fossils of the Diprotodon, the largest known marsupials to have ever lived, have been found in the Eulo area and are on display in the Eromanga Natural History Museum. This life size statute is in Eulo. Diprotodons are giant wombat-like marsupials who lived in Australia between 1.6million and 45,000 years ago. Their name means “two forward teeth”. Another Queensland dinosaur area!
Celebrating an early family Christmas on 13th December enabled us to do a little trip down the south coast of NSW to finish off the year. As luck would have it, that timing also enabled us to leave Sydney before the travel restrictions tightened up again and we were able to celebrate together with family and friends, which would not have been possible on the 25th December due to new Covid restrictions caused by a recent outbreak.
Our family Christmas morning – the present session.
The big traditional turkey dinner!
Departed Sydney on the 18th December and spent a few days at Tuross Heads, camped right on the lake. Its a great fishing place which was not the attraction for us. Our initial plan was to be with friends (Chris & Chris), but as they couldn’t be there we spent our time exploring a very nice part of the coast.
Our campsite on the lake (and also next to a busy road).
Our explorations included visiting the Moruya markets, lunch in Moruya, plus lovely beach walks, coffee and lunch stops at Tuross Heads. We decided a good way to support these local communities, who have suffered through the fires and lost most of their tourists due to Covid, would be to eat lunch out as much as possible in addition to caravan park fees, groceries and fuel purchases.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES – same exact place, two photos taken by different bystanders on two very different days. Bright skies and sunshine versus cloudy squalls and wind.
These trees are a key feature of the Tuross Heads foreshore. A cairn commemorates Hector McWilliam who planted the 200 Norfolk Island Pines in the town and owned property in the area. Hector McWilliam planted the 200 trees after being told they would not grow in the area. McWilliam, a one-time real estate salesman, acquired the Mylott property in 1924, attempting, with little success, to sell land in the area and make it a tourist spot. Hector was very generous to the community with his donation of the foreshore land and the distinctive Norfolk Island Pines that adorn it.
After more long beach walks, a good uke practice doing Christmas Carols and a pleasant alfresco meal by the lake, we said goodbye to Tuross Lakes. Getting an early start (thats 10am for us), we headed off to Bombala for our catchup with Chris and Chris. Stopped in Bega for lunch and a Zoom medical appointment. Had a pleasant evening with our friends.
The Troopy (Chris & Chris’ vehicle) and Belle side by side, and Dick doing his balance class.
Lots of talking and planning future trips…..
Then we headed back to the coast and a new camp on Lake Wonboyn, very near the Victorian border, which was still open so there were quite a few people around. No places were full but it was only a few days before Christmas.
Its pretty quiet in Wonboyn – these guys took their time crossing the road as we drove in to the Holiday Park
On our evening walk we met Santa and she invited us to a locals Xmas drinks by the lake. Note the burnt out trees.
We hired a boat and explored Lake Wonboyn. Dick is plotting our course on his phone.
Late afternoon sun ………this picture sums up Lake Wonboyn beautifully for me.
This King Parrot seemed to like me. He hung around our camp a lot.
Exploring in Eden – a lovely cafe lunch and drives and walks along the scenic Eden coast.
Our Christmas day started with lots of family phone calls before we went off exploring Wonboyn Beach. The 5 km trip on a very rough 4WD track got us to a lovely deserted beach. The south coast has a never-ending stream of hidden lakes and beaches to explore. We’d never heard of this area and initially planned to go to Ben Boyd NP but decided to explore Wonboyn instead.
Had a great beach and bush walk. No one else around. More burnt out forests. There was still an eery feeling in that bush.
It was such a beautiful spot we decided to free camp at the beach (instead of returning to the holiday park) before heading off to our next camp in the mountains, Kosciuszko National Park.
A scary 15 minutes during the drive to the mountains. Out of nowhere we were caught in the middle of a dreadful hail and snow storm. It felt like the windscreen was going to be smashed in. We had to stop and wait for it to die down. Ten minutes later we were in sunshine.
Our campsite for three nights in Kosciusko National Park. Good place for walking but not so good for sitting outside as the March flies were ferocious. Good for quiet nights as no tv or internet.
Enjoying the 7km Waterfall walk on a warm 24C day.
One of our favorite alpine walks is the Porcupine Trail. Here is the view from the top.
Lots of delicate and beautiful wildflowers on this 6km walk.
The trees and views are magnificent, and the walk is not strenuous so makes for a pleasant time.
To celebrate Dick’s birthday, we went for a nice lunch in a cafe in Jindabyne. He totally indulged himself in an old favorite (the hamburger) and the cafe staff indulged him with a candle on his cake.
You never know who you will meet driving along the road. As we left Jindabyne, C&C were driving in so we had a roadside chat before we headed off back to the coast.
Our next camp was on Wallaga Lake, between the lake and the ocean. NSW has so many amazing coastal places to visit.
We did a stunning walk along the coast. The mountain in the background was called Mount Dromedary by Captain Cook in 1770 because he thought it looked like a dromedary camel. The local Yuin people call it Gulaga, the Mother Mountain.
In the 1970’s aboriginal people campaigned against logging on the mountains. After years of slow progress the whole area was handed over to the Yuin people and is now jointly managed by the aboriginal owners and National Parks and Wildlife Services.
After a 3km walk along this picturesque coast, we hitchhiked a ride back to Belle. Sounds lazy but we had a lunch commitment.
Almost looks like we could have been in Paris, but it was La Gallette, a crepe/gallette cafe in Tilba Tilba. Lets call it a second birthday lunch for Dick.
For old times sake we checked out Mystery Bay, then drove around Bermagui and did a scenic drive around the coastline stopping at Blue Pool where we saw seals frolicking in the water. All very scenic and a beautiful part of the world. The next day we got home after another nice lunch out in Berry. It was a relaxing time away.
I’ll finish this blog with a note on our family weekend away in early January. Back to the Berry area where we enjoyed just having some time away together; and had the bonus of beautiful weather, a scenic coastal walk, lots of games, good food, and even stargazing in a very dark sky.
A stunning coastal walk, but Maggie, Helen & Anthony’s new golden retriever puppy, had to be carried most of the way, so they didn’t get to do the whole 5 km walk from Minnamurra to Bone Beach.
Lots of inside and outside games, although we all know who the most coordinated ones are. I think the kids were surprised the jenga tower got as high as it did with Dick and I playing.
Our place for the weekend had a great view. With the magic of Dick’s phone we got some nice group photos. That weekend was a lovely way to start the new year.
