Jayne & I are travelling in Australia for the year. Our house is tenanted, our "stuff" is in storage, and we aren't planning to be back in Canberra until late March 2018.
We have a BT50, a 16 foot New Age Manta Ray caravan and plenty of time to take things slow and easy - to have a good look around this beautiful country of ours.
Part of the reason we stopped in Gin Gin was to get ourselves a satellite TV system as we have both got fed up with the TV signal disappearing midway through programs for no apparent reason.
Our little van has a nice digital TV with a roof-mounted Wineguard antenna and we were actually quite surprised at the level of TV reception we were getting. Our neighbours at various stops on the way have complained about not getting TV reception at all.
My brother Graham showed us the satellite TV system he and Dee have onboard their BlueSky caravan and it was impressive. Good reception, TV & radio basically anywhere in the country, irrespective of ground based reception. He also showed us that it was minimum fuss to set up and not hugely expensive.
We saw a Solar 'N' Sat ute while we were in Bundy and thought we'd check them out in Gin Gin.
Big thanks to Adrian at Solar N Sat who supplied, installed, checked out and demonstrated how to use our new Sat King receiver. It uses VAST Satellite TV on the Optus D3 satellite. So far, it has worked a treat!
Our only misadventure so far was when a cow bumped the dish - alignment went out and the picture disappeared. That was a quick one to troubleshoot & fix !
We're nearly at the point where we are going to basically turn left - head inland and leave the beautiful Queensland coastline behind.
Our journey from Bundaberg has been, as is becoming normal for us, quite leisurely and relaxing.
We stayed in a "primitive" bush camp at Workman's Beach near Agnes Waters for a few nights and are currently about 12 kilometres from Gladstone at the most unusual caravan park we have ever seen! A little more on that later, but first the promised military hardware from Gin Gin.
I didn't get the drone up, but managed to get these pics before we left. We saw another 40 odd military vehicles in various sized convoys between Gin Gin & Miriam Vale as we drove north.
Coming to you live from Gin Gin . . . just westish of Bundaberg.
We've been settled here at the showgrounds for a few nights now - just chilling out and enjoying ourselves doing - well not very much of anything really . . . except for some updates to the blog . . . strumming a few tunes, experimenting with the Sizzler BBQ and watching a parade of military vehicles that would make a North Korean dictator proud on his birthday.
I'm going to try and get the Phantom drone up in the morning to get some pix of the show ground oval stacked full of Army vehicles heading back to Brisbane after an exercise just north of here.
Anyway - back to the Bundaberg Brewery - home of the most awesome brewed soft drinks in the country. I have been a huge fan of their brewed softdrinks for years. I'm a regular consumer of the Ginger Beer and Lemon, Lime and Bitters; and have tried some of their other flavours after Coles at Gungahlin started stocking mixed six-packs a couple of years ago.
The brewery experience is a BIG step above the mixed-six-packs. There are actually 16 varieties . . . 15 that you can buy in the shops and one cola variety that is sold exclusively at the Barrel.
The Barrel - home of Bundaberg Brewed Drinks
The interactive tour experience includes a tasting at the end that includes ALL 16 VARIETIES. The tasting cups are small, but you end up suitably fizzed and bubbly after trying all 16. There is also an awesome shop onsite where you can buy all of the varieties in quantities to suit. Jayne & I left fizzy, bubbling and burping for the rest of the afternoon - with a small stash of stubbies to take away in the Manta.
We also visited the Holy Grail for rum drinkers in Australia - the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, where Bundy Rum in all of its glorious varieties is made.
Bundaberg Distillery
We did the guided tour of the distillery, which included entry to the museum and a tasting afterwards at the Bundy Bar.
Because of the highly explosive nature of the stuff that goes on in the distillery, we were not able to have any electronic devices with us. Our phones, cameras, fitbits etc were all locked up behind a roller door outside the factory before the tour started, so no photos to share from the tour.
Mickey looking worried before the tour !
Seems its not worth taking the risk of a random spark with over 2.1 BILLION dollars worth of rum onsite - especially after they have already had 2 huge fires at the factory over the years.
A lot more available than Bundy Original
Our intrepid guide Scott, who quite surprisingly seemed totally in love with his job at the distillery took us for a tour that showed the sugar-cane factory next door, the molasses storage pits, fermenters, stills, maturation vats and bond stores and finally the newly opened visitor's centre and bar.
The tour was great - informative and educational and with a tasting treat at the end. We managed to escape with a moderately small bill for a bottle of smooth salted caramel Royal Liqueur and a bottle of the hand crafted Blenders Edition 2015 limited release.
The Blenders actually won the award for the world's best rum in 2016.
I also tasted the distillery absolute premium rum - Solara. It was heaven in a bottle - and included in the tour tasting.
I loved it, but at a mere $189 per bottle, found the 2015 Blenders was better bang-4-buck for an unemployed trainee nomad, so that one came home with us.
One lovely little nip per night !
Anyway, we have well and truly explored Gin Gin on foot and had a few nice drives to explore a little further afield. We've met some nice folks here, including a couple all the way from Bungendore ! Small world . . .
The butcher at the back of the showground is brilliant - Jayne bought some pork belly a couple of days ago so we had a bit of a Masterchef afternoon cooking it up a few different ways. Our neighbours loved the smells coming out of our little Sizzler BBQ, which is a very handy and versatile little BBQ and oven.
The Traveller's Rest Cafe has apparently been winning awards and commendations for its pies for years. We tried one of their 2016 winners - a Laksa pie. Its a little hard to describe, but worth a try if you're ever up this way. Traveller's Rest doesn't have a website, but do have a Facebook page.
After our Cape York trip in 2010, Jayne & I both recognised the value of having access to "electronic" news - radio, TV or internet. Big things can and do happen while one is away from home and with no reliable connection to the outside world. On the Cape trip, Kevin Rudd was PM one day, and Julia the next.
We figure that its good to have access to information about weather alerts, crazed gunmen roaming the outback, zombie apocalypses - who can tell what's gonna be big news!
Our favourite game at the moment is "What has Donald done?" We check the news each day to see what the "leader of the free world" has got up to - who he has sacked, pissed off, threatened or otherwise blown up with the Mother of All Bombs.
Its a great fun game, but it needs a reliable connection, which I'll reveal some more about in our next post ! Also be a good time to have a look at some of the tech goodies we've brought with us to help stay in touch.
After a bunch of family time in Brisbane and Hervey Bay, we are back on the road and exploring again.
I guess this is where we are transitioning from travelling "with a purpose" to travelling just cause we can. Canberra to Brisbane was to visit Matt, Megan & Josh and Brisbane to Hervey Bay was to spend some time with my brother Graham and his lovely wife Deirdre.
We are easing back into nomad mode v e r y s l o w l y. Our first day out of Hervey Bay took us all the way to Howard - a mere 40 kilometres away. We overnighted at the most awesome farmstead/BnB/camp ground that we've ever stopped at. Check out the amazing online reviews & photos - Goodenough4thebushb&b is a hidden gem.
The weather has been beautiful and warm, but has been raining fairly consistently since we've been up in Qld. Apparently this is very unusual during the autumn & winter months, but is very welcome after the threat of water restrictions. Hard to believe after all that Debbie flooding, but prior to the cyclone, it had been a very long, hot summer.
Anyway, on to beautiful Bundaberg and surrounds. We were nestled away under a beautiful shade tree at the Bagara Beach Caravan Park for a few nights while we pottered around Bundaberg and the Coral Coast.
Bert Hinkler's house, moved all the way from Somerset, UK
Bert Hinkler was a local Bundaberg boy and the Hinkler Hall of Aviation is a brilliant celebration of his life and achievements. Its a modern facility with plenty of interactive displays including flight simulators. The replica of Hinkler's Avro Baby aeroplane and a nearby HUGE box brownie camera are a great combination. It emails you the pic that you took within minutes. There's plenty of information about Bert Hinkler at the Hinkler House Memorial Museum & Research Association Inc website if you're interested.
Bert Hinkler set some serious records in the 35hp Avro Baby
The weblink for diving ex HMAS Tobruk is perhaps a little premature - the ship is currently moored at Bundaberg after travelling from Sydney in December last year. It is apparently due to be scuttled near Hervey Bay this month.
Ex-HMAS Tobruk will soon become a world class dive site
Anyway, this has been a bit of a catch up on some of our Bundaberg adventures over the last week or so. More to come, including the Distillery tour soon !
Yep me again still trying to catch up. For nearly the last month we have been visiting family in Brisbane (Birkdale) - Matthew, Megan and Joshie and Hervey Bay - Graham, Deirdre and Ralphie (the wonder dog).
We have got to do some great stuff that we have been posting regularly on our respective Facebook pages, however not everyone has access to these.
In Brisbane had the rare treat of spending some real quality time with Joshua and was even able to drop him off and do pick-up at school. Josh fought with the Jedi, droning and jamming with uncle Mick, Southbank and The Wheel rides at Southbank, swimming and of course boating with the family.
At Matt's home
Mick and Josh having a jam
Mick, Josh and Matt contemplating fishing
We made a quick dash to Hervey Bay so that Matthew and family could join us for a few days over the Anzac weekend camping. On Anzac Day we moved the van to Graham and Deirdre's home - you will not believe where the two brothers parked the van in, the picture doesn't do it justice with a ninety degree angle in front of the sheds and a single lane between carport and brick wall- truely amazing.
Just loved Hervey Bay ate at Dan and Stephs' 'Eat' - they won the 2013 MKR -food was outstanding. We ventured out on the boat twice, swam on the Atolls and even caught five fish - but just tiddlers.
Fished a number of times from the Urangan Pier which is one of the longest in Australia and canoed in the ocean.
Learned what it was like to be a true local catching courtesy buses to the Boat Club and local pubs, Graham and Deirdre held a Countdown evening with true disco ball.
Mick and Dee preparing for Countdown party
We even went for a bout of trivia. While the last couple of days rained the weather was still shorts and T-shirts - can't complain about that.
Tuesday (9 May) we headed off from the Bay, I have a feeling we will be back - what a fabulous place.
We pointed the car and van north on our next adventure.
Well folks for everyone wondering what had happened to the updates, I must confess. Yes it was my turn and I must admit that I have been very slack since finishing work and just not wanting to sit at a computer and write.
We spent two lovely days at Narromine as we specifically wanted to visit the Aviation Museum and you guessed it - the only day it wasn't open was on Tuesday. We didn't mind as we stayed in the lovely caravan park next to the Airfield - narrominetouristpark.com.au. This place had the cleanest and largest toilet and shower blocks I have ever seen which is a credit to Terry and Jo who ran the place. They had a great system worked out with one of the clubs that delivered pizzas to your door - and they were a lovely treat from all the healthy eating we had been doing.
The Museum was awesome - the airfield was a RAAF base during WWII. The place is a credit to all of the volunteers who are involved in the displays, restorations and running the place. At $10.00 entry, less for seniors, it was a real blast. Some real WAAAF history too for us ladies that have served. Have a look at narromineaviationmuseum.org.au.
The town can also boast a sporting legend - Glen McGrath.
We headed off again as we really need to start getting closer to Brisbane if we were going to make it for the school holidays for Joshie. We did two quick overnighters one at Narrabri followed by Goondiwindi. If you ever are in Goondiwindi can highly recommend the showground for an overnight stay over. Once again I was amazed at the sparkling toilets and showers - think I should be running a rating system here🤓.
On Friday (7Apr) we made it to the outskirts of Brisbane and stayed at Lake Dyer Caravan Park. A really nice spot but such a pity the lake was closed - ahh still no fishing as the lake was under 20%. Now you know you are really in Queensland when you start to see signs warning about closing the toilet lid - and for someone that has had their bottom kissed you know you have to look.
Toilet warnings Qld style
Now I reckon that the people that run the place on behalf of the council must have been in some type of enforcement role in their previous life. There were rules and signs galore - weren't even allowed to adjust the shower head in the showers. It was really bizarre. Anyhow all of this became somewhat explainable when we headed into town (Laidley) to do some shopping and take a look around. Some real social issues here and not a great deal to see.
The Laidley Pioneer Village and Museum is quite a rare find and worth a visit.
On Sunday morning we headed of for the last trek to Brisbane to visit the first stop for family that we don't get to see too often.
Saturday has been and gone . . . and we're gone too !
We got underway reasonably on Saturday morning after Jayne finished work for the year on Friday afternoon.
The timing was pretty good - Sutton was fogbound and the night was "extra-blanket" chilly.
We haven't really got all that far, but we figure we've got plenty of time.
We are initially heading to Brisbane, to see Joshie for the second week of the Queensland school holidays. We have been keeping a bit of an eye on the news to see what's going on in the aftermath of cyclone Debbie and what roads may be affected. We are staying well clear of the flooded coastal areas.
The weather for us has been beaut so far - but we are only at Canowindra in mid-western NSW.
We stayed for a couple of nights in a brilliant little council operated caravan park on the edge of town.
Its small, well maintained & cheap as chips. Being from Canberra, we're not really used to HOT showers cause of the building code stuff, but the ones here are TOTALLY AWESOME ! Hot, good pressure and plentiful.
Our site at the Canowindra van park
Late afternoon sun on the silos near the van park
The demise of fossil fuels ? There are still 3 servos in town
Love these old signs. In a laneway off the main street.
As well as this blog, Mickey has a longstanding account on the photo sharing site flickr.com.
We will make sure that we upload photos to his flickr account as we travel round the countryside, hopefully in named albums as part of the "Our Big Trip" collection.
Over the next few posts on here, we will also try to sort out Instagram etc to give you a link or two.
Much like the good old Apollo space program countdowns of yesteryear, our countdown is progressing nicely for our departure from Canberra early on Saturday morning.
We've been staying in the Manta van at the Capital Country Holiday Park at Sutton on the northern outskirts of Canberra for the last couple of weeks, having a good taste of caravan living. It's been a bit of an adjustment - we are in a MUCH smaller space than we used to be, but even with Jayne going to work each day, its quite cosy and very manageable.
I have been leading more of a life of leisure, slipping easily into relaxing by the pool or messing around on my guitar, with the occasional frantic burst of housework. It's amazing how quickly you can clean and tidy a 16 foot caravan when you really put your mind to it.
Today was mostly about packing for the weekend - getting those last minute things ready. We took some stuff out to our storage lockup in Yass - some of Jaynie's work stuff and some things that we had thought we might need on our travels, but on reflection, are just extra stuff that we don't really need or want to cart around the countryside.
Dastardly Rabbit has been busy of late too - he came out to Yass to check on things. If you looked at our Cape York trip blog several years ago, you may remember Dastardly . . . he's our mischievous furry travelling companion.
Storage looks all secure - Yass 2017
Inspecting a burnoff near Coffs Harbour
Practicing his flying skills at - Adele's Grove in FNQ 2010
Enjoying a beer on Thursday Island in 2010
Our next post should be a real one - the start of the trip proper. Jayne has one more day of work and we plan to head north early Saturday morning. 👍👍👍
We headed off for the weekend with a couple of good friends - Julie & Thommo. We've been tripping around the countryside with these fine folks for several years now and we all wanted to have one last camping trip before we headed off on our trip.
We chose Daly's Clearing in Belanglo State Forest because its a lovely, well maintained free-camping area and less than two hours drive from home.
Belanglo Forest may sound familiar - its renowned as Australia's killing fields after several gruesome murders including the infamous Backpacker Murders committed by Ivan Milat.
In 2012, Milat's great-nephew Matthew was convicted of a gruesome axe murder in the forest in 2010.
Skeletal remains found in the forest in 2010 were identified in 2015 as Karlie Pearce-Stevenson, who had been reported missing in Alice Springs in 2008 or 2009. This was another stranger-than-fiction episode, as Karlie's daughter Khandalyce was also murdered and dumped 1100km away in South Australia.
Despite its gruesome history, Belanglo is a popular place for more mundane activities like camping, 4 wheel driving and trail bike riding.
Lactarius deliciosus or Saffron Milk Cap mushroom
We discovered a new activity (to us anyway) after watching several groups of people heading off into the pine plantation with plastic bags and wicker baskets. One of our fellow campers told us they were looking for mushrooms that were edible, extremely tasty and apparently a great delicacy.
Dorothy and John had consumed a big bowl of these mushies the night before and were still with us, so we did the natural thing - took some pictures and googled with a passion to identify them. Turns out that these little beauties, which were growing throughout the forest are Lactarius deliciosus or Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms. Not only are they plentiful, they are also eminently edible and highly sought after.
We chatted with a group of young people from Sydney who were originally from Poland. They had driven down from Sydney for the day to collect mushrooms and hang out with each other in the forest. They had got themselves bucketloads of mushrooms and were cooking them up with Kransky for a rainy forest feast.
Lucas was cooking the mushrooms and told Julie & I his home grown, original Polish recipe. He gave us a bowl of his freshly cooked shrooms to taste and they were really nice. Beautiful texture and an interesting flavour - which were able to make with some of our crop that night for dinner.
Lucas' Recipe
Ingredients
6-8 medium sized mushrooms
2 rashers of bacon
Garlic to taste
2 tbsp clarified butter
Chopped parsley to taste
Method
Chop the bacon into small squares and cook over moderate heat to get some fat in the pan
Chop mushrooms - pretty well whatever size you want, but "smallish" works well
Add garlic
Add the mushrooms and cook slowly over low heat. The mushrooms absorb tons of water when they are growing in the rain and you need to cook off some of the water.
There will be a thick, orangey brown liquid in the pan . . . perfect !
Add the clarified butter and turn the heat up to moderate.
Stir well - mushies will brown up a little with the heat.
Serve and garnish with chopped parsley
We had ours with roast beef for dinner !
It was a rainy but warm weekend - great fun and great company and we did eventually get enough good weather that Julie & Thommo could pack up a mostly dry camper.
Thank goodness for the awning - where we spent a lot off the weekend chatting & laughing
Not the world's biggest bonfire - Thommo & Julie wondered where "firebug" Jayne had gone ?
Thommo & Jayne enjoying a glass of wine in the pine plantation
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Our first post - just a bit of text to get the ball rolling so to speak.
We are soon heading off for our 12 month adventure across, around, over and within Australia. Our trusty Mazda BT50 is the tug vehicle, combined with our New Age Manta Ray 16E Deluxe caravan.
These little babies will be our home away from home for the next year or so.
We've actually been living in the van for the last week while we finish things with our house. Today was the last day - a bit of cleaning, painting, grouting . . . Little jobs to make things sweet for our tenants, who move in on the 17th.
I'll try and make the next post a bit more interesting and informative. Add some photos, links and hopefully get things going a bit.
