Early on in our winter trip, at Wandoan, we had shared a camp fire and several glasses of wine with a couple who had rented out their farm in Victoria to travel around Australia for 5 years. They were heading off the following day for Roma to visit the cattle sales, the largest in the country processing half a million cows each year. So when we noticed we would be passing very close to Roma as we wended our way slowly back towards New South Wales, we decided to have a look. 

We needed to start putting a few more kms between stops so drove 3.5 hours to Yuleba and set up camp at Judds Lagoon, planning to drive into Roma in the morning. The campsites in Roma itself had not looked very appealing but we did need to find a place where we could happily leave the caravan unattended all day, Yuleba was a free camp and seemed to fit the bill with enough campers around to make the place feel safe but not so many as to make it feel crowded (we don't like anywhere too peopley these days). 

It was the fifth day of the final Ashes test so we hoped to be able to listen to the coverage and were dismayed to find no coverage at Judds Lagoon even though a huge Testra tower was positioned just outside the entrance and Wikicamps had said there was good mobile coverage there. We discovered later on the trip that there had been a massive Testra outage so we would not have been able to see the cricket wherever we were. It was a top spot however, camping among the trees on the banks of the lagoon with plenty of spaces for camp fires and even bags of wood for sale with an honesty box. Apart from the single drop toilet being very smelly indeed, it was a good choice. 

On the journey to Yuleba we had travelled along one of many country roads which are essentially just a strip ot tarmac the width of one vehicle laid along the centre of a much wider dirt road. When another vehicle approaches from the opposite direction, the protocol is to both move aside and put one set of wheels on the dirt while the vehicles pass each other. Ian bought a CB radio for this trip and we have enjoyed being able to talk to the massive trucks as they pulled up close behind us to let them know we would move out of the way as soon as safe to do so. There has always been a sticker on the rear of our caravan saying what channel we were on so, for the seven years we have had the van prior to owning our CB, I can only imagine that truck drivers have been radioing us and yelling at us to get the f**k out of the way while we have been happily oblivious.

 We got up early and drove 60kms to the Roma Saleyards. The road in was only one lane each way and used constantly by road trains which made it a little unpleasant but worth it to reach the cattle sales. The set up was amazing, unbelievably huge with hundreds of pens full of cattle as far as the eye could see. They had made a real effort to make the operation accessible to tourists. There was an excellent visitor information centre and cafe with walkways above the cattle pens so visitors could watch the auctions and see all the cattle without getting in the way. Nobody seemed to mind Harvey being there but we kept him away from the livestock and took it in turns to go and watch. The auctioneer was accompanied by couple of helpers, including one with a huge paintbrush and bucket of yellow paint. They would move along a platform on one side of the first pen while potential buyers moved along a platform on the opposite side, each cow would be pointed out, auctioned, when sold a splodge of yellow paint was daubed on its back then the whole party moved on to the next one. It was all very quick and soon the newly purchased cattle were being loaded into trucks and going off to their new homes. 

The town of Roma was fun too. It was a big town with bottle trees lining the streets. We had heard about a shop which was apparently a must see, the Ace Drapery Store No.2. There were several Ace stores but number 2 was the best. There were boxes piled up both inside and outside the windows (a bit like Hartex in South Harrow but on steroids). They sold everything and I mean everything. The customers squeezed down the aisles between mountains of assorted stuff and of course the owner knew where everything was but the most astonishing was the fabric aisle with thousands and thousands of bolts of every kind of fabric you could imagine, fantastic. We finished off our day with a quick visit to Roma's largest bottle tree then back to camp.

 After all the excitement of Roma we needed to make some progress south so decided to head for the Nindigully Pub which seems to be a bit of a pilgrimage for caravanners. A dirt road took us into Surat covered in red dust, there is a sign as you come into the town asking trucks to stop and let some of the dust drop off before entering the town. Surat was nice, on the original Cobb and Co route with a very informative visitor centre and Cobb and Co museum. When we stopped for coffee someone pointed out that we had a cable trailing and we had destroyed the plug on the end of it so we diverted to St.George where we were able to buy a replacement. St.George was a bit ordinary but served its purpose and we were soon on our way again.

The Nindigully Pub was built in 1864 and is preserved as originally built. The camping was in the huge dirt car park surrounding the pub and was packed, a donation got us toilets and showers and a spot to park. We had dinner in the pub garden which was pleasant but not really to our taste (very peopley) and the place had really got the hang of cashing in on its name. There were t-shirts, hats, stubby holders, fridge magnets, you name it, they had printed Nindigully Pub on it and were selling it by the shedload. 

Fantastic showers at Nindigully before we drove 30 minutes to Mundingi which straddles the Queensland/NSW border. We free camped on the banks of the Barwon River which was in Queensland and the town was in New South Wales. It was a wonderful place to stay with toilets and BBQs and amazing gnarley trees full of kites, it was like being back in Rickmansworth where the kites would constantly circle above. Still no budgies but we saw some beautiful kingfishers and herons and Ian finally caught a fish, only a little yellow belly but a catch all the same. The town was lovely too and had a great sculpture trail which led visitors all through the neighbourhood. We would stay in Mundingi again for sure.

 After excellent egg and bacon rolls in Flocks Cafe in Mundingi we headed south to Attunga which was truly horrible so continued for a last stop in one of our regular overnighters the First Fleet camping area in Wallabadah. We were away for a month altogether and found some fabulous places to stay. Queensland had really pulled out all the stops with the new free camping areas and I hope we will be back to try some different ones next year. 

  Last night was not only our final one at the splendid Silver wattle Caravan Park in Mount Morgan but, being a Saturday, was also the night of the charity dinner laid on by the owners. The food was excellent and the $20 per head plus the money raised in the raffle was donated to the Royal Flying Doctors. 

 The weather had been wonderful for the entire trip so far but we were predicted a bit of rain for the next couple of days so we packed most of our bits away after dinner ready to leave in the morning. It is worth noting that extra care should be taken on the roads around Mount Morgan and Rockhampton, there were three nasty accidents just in the five days we were staying in the area, we even saw one of them. I can't guess at the reason because the roads were better than in many places we have visited. 

Our next destination was 1770, so named because the town was built on the site of Captain Cook's second landing in Australia in May 1770. Apparently the name should be written in full, Seventeen Seventy, but the locals use the numbers and so will I.  

We had called ahead and booked The Summit, a dog friendly caravan site, because 1770 is a very popular tourist destination. On the way we stopped for a coffee at Caliope Historic Village. The coffee was terrible but the setting delightful with pretty gardens full of birds snacking on the feeders strung in the trees. It was extremely pleasant watching Double Barred Finches (the photo at the top of this page) Brown Honeyeaters and peaceful Doves munching away so we pretended to enjoy the coffee so as not to spoil the serenity. There was also a very popular area for free camping and we made a mental note to return in the future.

 When we arrived at The Summit ($30 unpowered, brand new amenities, off lead dog area) we discovered it was attached to a dog training school and offered doggie day care. The sites were all on a slope overlooking a small dam, very pleasant. Apparently there was a view over Agnes Water Beach from the very top of the hill but we forgot to go and look when the rain stopped. We drove in to Agnes Water passing a large number of buildings under construction including a new shopping centre which had only opened the day before. Agnes Water is right next to 1770 and supposedly beautiful but hotels and resorts had been built all the way along the shore line making sure the view could not be enjoyed by anyone but their customers, very disappointing. When we eventually scrambled on to the beach it was lovely but not somewhere I would visit again. However, we found a splendid fish and chip shop and, as we were leaving, the town centre was starting to fill up with campers and cars which clearly planned to stay for the night. That will teach the town planners for allowing the whole waterfront to be built up, usually the illegal overnighters find discreet spots to set up but there were none left so they set up right by the hotels and resorts, ha ha. 

 Just down the road 1770 was a different story entirely. The marina housed a cafe, a couple of shops and a tackle supplies, all a bit old, quirky and pleasingly tatty. Excellent gardens with a pathway and little playgrounds and sitting areas stretched the full length of the coastline for everyone to enjoy with an extremely windy lookout area at the end of the point. Agnes Water and 1770 were like chalk and cheese and I know which I preferred. 

Back inland and slightly south for 2 hours brought us to Mount Perry where we headed for the showground because it had good reviews. It turned out to be a fair way out of town with only three caravans camped there so we took a look at the caravan park right in the centre of town. It was pretty good and only $22 unpowered so that was where we set up. As usual, the unpowered sites were the prettiest and quietest and we are often the only van in the unpowered area. Caravanners seem determined to rig up their vans with all kinds of solar and battery set ups and then choose not to use them, preferring to camp cheek by jowl with dozens of others on the powered sites where they are all so close they can hear each other snoring. 

Mount Perry was an old gold mining town and we discovered there was quite a bit to see. We had breakfast at the cafe/general store then visited the art gallery. The art was a bit ordinary but at the back was a fascinating information display about Florence Broadhurst, a local who became a celebrated fabric and wallpaper designer and was murdered in Sydney. After that we took in the museum and the smelter. The smelter area was massive and the walk up to it was pleasant with plaques clearly marking where shops, school etc were when the gold and copper mining were in their heyday and the population was far greater than today. 

The best attraction for me was the Boolboonda Tunnel, the longest unsupported tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere. It was home to loads of microbats and a bit creepy but thrilling all at the same time. The whole town was bristling with historic bits and bobs and apparently receives quite a number of weekend and holiday visitors who stay at The Federal Hotel which was the, beautifully restored, old picture house or one of the several boutique hotels in the town. 

 After a few days at Mount Perry we drove to Wuruma Dam, a free camping area north of Eidsvold. The dam was huge and there were quite a number of people camped there, it was a very long road in though so you would not want to forget anything. We had stocked up in Eidsvold on the way, biggish town, a bit strange. They was a butcher proudly displaying a sign saying where his meat was murdered and I said hello to a friendly chap who was promptly arrested and taken away in a police car. The dam had a grocery man who turned up every second day with basics and campers could phone him with any requests. It was wonderfully peaceful and we had an excellent view over the dam where there were quite a few birds to watch but still no budgies. This was the only time we regretted not bringing our kayaks on the trip, most people were there with boats or kayaks fishing for Redclaw, a type of yabbie. The walk along the dam wall was interesting but the place was a bit too remote to stay for very long, we had already missed the fifth Ashes Test as the only place to get any kind of signal was over by the toilets, a ten minute walk away so after four days we moved on again. 

We were heading for Theodore but passed through the tiny town of Cracow. Again the place to camp was the Heritage Centre for a $10 donation with power, hot showers and spotless toilets. The Heritage Centre was good too, paid for by a big mining company who had an operation nearby, all the interactive displays worked and covered the history of the town. one information board amused me, it was explaining that the town was first settled by a man whose Polish wife was from Krakow. It then went on to say that nobody knows where the town (Cracow, pronounced Crack Oh) got its name, I think I could take a wild guess! 

 The town was dotted with little windmills all made by one artist who got the parts for them from old pedestal fans, a group of Guinea Fowl wandered around free and it was a very pleasant place to stop. We thought we should spend some money in the pub as we could not imagine how it survived in the little town, we soon found out at about 7pm when the place filled up with workers from the mine and was soon jumping like a Friday night in our old local, The Load of Hay! 

  After a very pleasant couple of nights at the Heritage Centre in Wandoan, we set off north again on our journey to reach the tropics. The weather was already warm this far up but we were determined to reach our target, so after a quick coffee and a visit to the world's cheapest op shop, we were on our way. The plan was to stop at Biloela next, a town which had been regularly in the news as the townsfolk had campaigned to keep their neighbours, a refugee Sri Lankan family, in Australia. We thought this little place deserved to have some of our traveller dollars but the drive along the road in revealed Biloela to be massive and a bit like Slough so we decided to give it a miss and continued to nearby Goovigen in the Banana Shire region which had been recommended by a man called Neil we had chatted to in Condamine a few days ago. 

We passed two huge Wedge Tailed Eagles snacking on a dead kangaroo in a field as we pulled into Goovigen Recreation Grounds and there was Neil set up near the entrance. He was right, this was a great spot to stop. $10 a night donation for power and water or $5 without, hot showers, toilets, a playground and a big oval to walk the dog around. There were spaces for around 12 vans to comfortably camp there and it was full by evening. The town was tiny but had clearly once been a buzzing little place with a railway station , shops and a pub. All of those were closed down now, perhaps the cheap camping initiative will help to change that.

  We found out we had stumbled upon and accidentally been following The Great Inland Way, which runs from Melbourne to Brisbane and features all these wonderful places to stop cheaply. Most of the travellers we met had taken this route out of Victoria to escape the winter down there, many did so every year and bumped into others they had met on previous years in exactly the same spot. That would not suit us, we like to try and see new places each time we get the caravan out. 

On the first morning I woke to an amazing dawn chorus so set my alarm to be up in time to see it the next day. We were determined to see budgies this trip so I was hopeful but all I saw were Butcher Birds and Choughs. Pleasant Lake was supposed to be a local attraction so we drove there to find it was no more than a puddle and not very pleasant so we continued to Victoria Lake which was very pretty. There were no campers there but people complain that it gets quite messy in the busy season because some campers do not know how to behave in an area with no toilets, I think we will give that one a miss. 

The campers all gathered around a big fire in the evening and I discovered two things: 1) Not many caravanners share my political views, there were some rather offensive comments thrown around regarding the upcoming  referendum for a Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 2) I could not live permanently on the road like many of these campers. Some have a plan but others just seem to drift from place to place, I cannot see how one could maintain friendships or hobbies in that situation.

 It was time to move on to Rockhampton which lies on the Tropic of Capricorn. We knew there would not be any free or cheapo camps and were warned it would be difficult to find camping vacancies in Rockhampton, it was so we chose to stay about a 40 minute drive south in Mount Morgan at the Silver Wattle Caravan Park. What a beautiful spot, because we don't need power we bagged the best site in the whole place, right at the top of the park with views over the Mount Morgan range. Everything was spotless, there were even buckets in the showers to collect the first flow of water before it reached the desired temperature to then pour on the flowerbeds as there had been no rain for months. The town itself was a 5 minute drive away and a reasonable size with supermarket, coffee shop etc. 

We drove in to Rockhampton the next day and did all the touristy things like posing in front of the Tropic of Capricorn sign at the visitor centre where we chose our ferry for a trip over to Great Keppel Island the next day. We also went for a short walk in the Botanic Gardens, no dogs allowed so we couldn't leave Harvey in the car for too long. 

The gardens were beautiful and had recently been overtaken by a huge colony of bats. The trees were absolutely full of them and apparently they were becoming a bit of a nuisance but we loved them. Rockhampton is a big town and very ordinary in parts but has some wonderful old buildings lining the riverside, after a wander along there we set off home to Mount Morgan. 

Back at the caravan park there was a Happy Hour around the fire where the owners handed out spring rolls and damper, they even provide a complete meal on a Saturday night for $20 which all goes to the Flying Doctors. The park is very high up so beautifully cool at night and warm during the day, very green even though it was so dry and we could see fires burning in the hills surrounding us.

 Up early the next day to drive to Yeppoon for the ferry over to Great Keppel, one of the Barrier Reef Islands. All the ferries take dogs and we went with Freedom Fast cats $55 each and $5 for Harvey. The crossing was only 30 minutes and Harvey was not too sure about it but the island was glorious, turquoise sea and white beaches. 

There were a couple of nice cafes and a bar but I was a bit disappointed when I ventured inland to find derelict buildings and tumbledown fences. Apparently these resort islands were huge in the 1980s but have since fallen out of popularity, however we had a nice time and Harvey was happier on the return journey. 

Took a quick detour to Emu Park after disembarking the ferry, gorgeous town, very child friendly with a huge park on the waterfront which had been developed with a fund to help people work again after COVID. It featured a wonderful singing ship sculpture which was installed 200 years after Captain Cook found and named the Keppel Coast. 

 By the time July comes around we have usually had enough of winter, even though the season is much shorter and considerably warmer than the winters we were used to back in England. Last year we went away for the month but started down in Victoria where is was much colder than home so this year we headed for a month in nice, warm Queensland with the aim of reaching the tropics and hanging around up there until it was safe to return. 

Ian fancied stopping at Barraba again so we drove 5 hours to the Glenriddle Reserve on Split Rock Dam. We arrived at 5pm so there was enough daylight left to set up and build a fire. It was beautiful as usual, cows roaming feely, fish jumping out of the water and heaps of birds but really cold overnight. We woke up to frost, yes frost! I have not seen frost since I left England nearly 9  years ago and I was hoping never to come across it again. It soon disappeared when the sun got up and the weather during the day was gorgeous. We spent our time doing very little other than walking and picking endless burrs out of the dog.

 It was time to press on after a couple of days and cross the border into Queensland. As usual, we had not planned ahead apart from a vague idea about reaching Rockhampton and visiting Great Keppel Island so we consulted the Camps 11 atlas and Wikicamps, both told us that Tara, 5 hours north, was a good free camp so that was where we headed. The facilities were excellent, as promised, but it wasn't really our cup of tea. We got the very last space in the cramped gravel area in the middle of a park, it was only $10 with power so very cheap but packed. Nice hot showers and clean toilets but, if we had to stop there again we would just park in the overnight stay car park where we would not have to unhook but would still be able to use the amenities. Tara is one of a number of towns in the area where the council have made a real effort to encourage caravanners to visit so we decided to just move a short distance to try another one. 

After only a 45 minute drive we came to Caliguel Lagoon in Condamine, another new, council camping area. This one was amazing. It was free with spotless toilets, a cold shower, a camp kitchen with free gas bbqs and about 6 pitches even had power, all free! The camping area was on the banks of the lagoon so beautiful too. We got chatting to a group of retired men all travelling alone, who meet up there every year, they told us about a few other places in the area which were equally good and free or very cheap too. 

 One of these was Meandarra which we drove to have a look at and discovered it to be even better, mainly because there was a town in walking distance which was not the case with Caliguel Lagoon. The road between Condamine and Meandarra was dead straight, we encountered a few roadtrains, saw a number of emus in the paddocks on either side and lots of pretty red flowers dotted the roadside all the way along, we found out later they are a pest called Mother of Millions, but they looked very attractive. The camping at Meandarra was on the river in Apex Park, which was good, but further along we came to Dillon Park which was fantastic, beautiful and peaceful on the river with toilets and hot showers and flocks of Red Rumped Parrots, there was hardly anyone there because they had seen Apex Park first.. The town was mainly agricultural although it did have a large ANZAC Museum, a library and a School of the Arts, nearly all country towns seem to have a School of the Arts, I have never actually seen anyone using one. 

 Back at Caliguel Lagoon we lit a fire and watched thousands of corellas in the trees and a glorious sunset to the sounds of the three old chaps next door giggling their way through rather a lot of port. Quite a number of families turned up the previous evening for the weekend making the place feel pretty busy so we moved on and left them to it. 

 We headed north again but did not want to spend too much time driving so aimed for Wandoan, just 1 hour 10 minutes away. We stopped at Miles on the way which is quite a big, smart town with both an IGA and a Foodworks so picked up some supplies then pressed on to Wandoan. There were 3 choices of places to stay so we had a look at all of them. One was free and right in the small town, the second was a paid showground just outside but the third was a the Juandah Historical Site. Juandah won hands down, it was brilliant. We parked the van among the historic buildings and were able to use the old open kitchen as our outdoor area. For $10 a night unpowered, $15 powered there were hot showers, clean toilets and unlimited entry to the historic buildings and museum. We have been to a few pioneer museums and this was one of the better ones, the story of the explorer Leichhardt is documented in the museum and we were interested to discover he had visited Port Stephens (our home) and Claremont Ferrand (where we had both been on school skiing trips in the 1970s). The caretakers were travelers themselves and were just looking after the place for a month, apparently it is not always open because of the difficulties finding caretakers to take on the job. The town was only a 15 minute walk but mostly shut apart from offices of several large gas fracking companies. The pub was a bit ordinary but it was great to see our first bottle trees of the trip. 

 I have been neglecting my blogging duties recently so this is a quick catch up before I move on to reporting on our recent Big Trip.

Back in March we waved goodbye to my sister Gill then set off the next day for a little break. We had spotted Glenriddle Reserve, on the banks of Split Rock Dam outside Barraba, when we were scampering home from Moree to escape the approaching floods. it was about a five hour drive from home so quite local in Australian terms. 

When we arrived there were about 4 vans there and we set up camp on the banks of the dam. It was beautiful, a massive lake with heaps of bird life, cows roaming about and incredibly peaceful with nice, clean long drop toilets. We foolishly did not think to bring our kayaks but others were not so silly and were paddling around happily, Ian tried a bit of fishing but the fish were not interested in playing.

 Clouds started to gather late in the afternoon and a storm came through overnight. It was so massive it washed the chocks away from behind our wheels and caused various bits of damage as people rushed out to put their awnings in. Everyone was a bit shell shocked in the morning, checking around for damage and borrowing tools to carry out emergency repairs.

It was all sunny after that and we visited the town, driving past the silos painted with pictures that look like Prince Harry, a few times. The town was pretty nice but, apart from the IGA, everything seemed to be shut but on Thursday that all changed and there were decent cafes, nice gift and clothes shops all open.

Back at camp, everything changed on Friday afternoon with families and groups arriving for the weekend. We will take note next time that you need to camp quite near the edge or, come the weekend, someone will squeeze in between you and the water. We didn't mind because we were going home on Saturday but we will know for next time.

About a month later a friend told me how good the birdwatching was in Chichester State Forest so we decided to go. The State Forest is just beyond Dungog so less than two hours from home. The only thing we knew about Dungog was that it was the place featured on news around the world when a house washed down the street in the big storm of 2015. For some reason I had a picture in my mind of a down and out little mining town but I could not have been more wrong! It was a beautiful place in rolling hills with views from just about everywhere. The shops were smart and open and some of the houses were gorgeous, however flooding was clearly an ever present danger with huge flood channels cut along the sides of all the streets. 

The lady in the visitor centre gave us a map of the Chichester State Forest campgrounds but neglected to tell us that;

a) the direct road was closed 

b) heavy rain was forecast

So, off we set up the gravel road climbing higher and higher for about half an hour, no mean feat towing a caravan, when we came to the point where the road was blocked. It had obviously been closed for some months so we were a bit miffed not to have been warned. We backtracked and found another road up to the Frying Pan Creek Campground. We checked the Teleghary Campground first but it was muddy and a bit gloomy so we pressed on to Frying Pan Creek which was much more open. As we pulled in a procession of caravans was leaving, they stopped us and told us we would have to leave as heavy rain was expected and camping would be impossible for the next two days as it was possible to get washed away up there.

Back down the long and winding gravel track we eventually stopped at Dungog Showground which was very ordinary with traffic noise and a really complicated QR code booking in system which we completed only to be repeatedly asked by caretakers whether we had paid or not, you would think they would know with an online system.

Still another couple of days before we could get back into the State Forest so we went to Gresford and found the showground to be closed but a quick look on Wikicamps directed us to Camp on Allyn, a farm stay. It was not our usual cup of tea but very pleasant for a night or two at $15 per person unpowered, big pitches all with fire pits, spotless amenities and large off lead dog areas. There were only two showers and campers were encouraged to use their own if possible, all the buildings were corrugated iron with cutesy names like 'Country Dunnies' and everything looked brand new. It was busy with some big groups but rained all evening and night which unfortunately put paid to any party plans they had.

Lostock Dam was mentioned as a camp site so we drove along 20km of lumpy, pot holey road to have a look. It was one of those caravan parks with mainly permanent residents and an area set aside for touring vans. The place was nice but a long way from anywhere and not  cheap at $20 a night, unpowered.

Monday dawned dry and we were finally able to head back up the hills to Frying Pan Creek free camp. It was worth the wait, very pretty with a fabulous 'Problem Falls Walk' and quiet. Apparently it can get quite noisy at weekends with illegal motorbikes and the police cruised by asking if we had seen any while we were there.

 Ian managed to climb the rocks and fall in the water at Problem Falls but luckily only went in up to his ankles, which was fortunate because the temperature changes were incredible and he would have got very cold on the return journey if he had managed a proper dunking. By about 2.30 the sun would disappear behind the trees and we would have to start rugging up, by about 4pm, fleeces and coats were required. It was fab though with fungi, staghorn ferns, birds and the sound of running water.

 Left a sunny Lemon Tree Passage to head inland where many areas were still quite flooded. This sounds a little foolish but we were meeting Zoë, Shaun and the boys midway through their first big trip in their new caravan. They were travelling from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and we planned to meet them at a couple of the stops they were doing in New South Wales. 

At the end of our last trip we spotted details of a free camp on the Castlereagh River at Mendooran which looked quite interesting, so we decided to start  this trip with a couple of days there as it was only 30 minutes from the first town where we were to meet Zoë. The roads were badly potholed after all the rain, we are used to this at home but our potholes are mainly on side roads whereas these were on 100kmh routes, so we had to keep our wits about us on the Golden Highway. After a coffee stop in Denman we rocked up at Mendooran Rest Area and walked in cautiously to see how flooded it was. There were a few muddy areas but plenty of flat, dryish plots overlooking the river.

 If a camp is free we try to have dinner in the town so we headed to the pub  and ordered our meal. The landlady was a bit short with everyone and when I enquired about eating in the large garden with Harvey she said dogs were not allowed. We decided to get a take away instead and eat it  on a bench on the wide verandah overlooking the street, again she said no, that was an alcohol free zone. So there we were with a wine, a beer, a dog and a dilemma. In the end we tied Harvey to the outside of the garden fence while we ate inside the garden. Various locals came out to chat with us, I think they were a bit embarrassed about the frosty welcome we had received. One man said the pub had been sued because a dog bit a customer but I have my doubts.

It rained non stop over night and everything was pretty muddy when we woke up and walked into town to get a coffee. The town itself looked very sad with most shops closed, including a new cheese shop I had seen in the tourism literature and was looking forward to spending some money in.. There was a lady cleaning the front of the art shop (Nana's Knitting Nook more like) and she told us there were plans for a big celebration the following week to celebrate Mendooran's 170 year anniversary, the oldest town on the Castlereagh apparently. I hope it went well for them but, if they seriously want to attract visitors, they need to sort out that pub landlady and open the bloody cheese shop! 

It was very wet again when we woke the next morning, fortunately we had anticipated this and packed everything away the previous evening. As we drove out of town we passed the cheese shop just in case but it was still closed so I took my tourist dollars away with me. Ian needed to have his identity confirmed at a Centrelink office for his pension application (yes, we are that old) and discovered there was a really helpful system for remote towns where this could be carried our at participating Post Offices, so he checked online and found the closest was in Dunedoo, just 30 minutes away, in the wrong direction admittedly but not too far. When we got there the woman in the Post Office had no idea what she was supposed to do so we got back in the car and drove to Dubbo where there was a proper Centrelink Office. The whole thing was carried out in a jiffy there  even though we were now rather off our planned route. It had rained all day so we would not have been able to do much and now we were quite near Eumungerie, a favourite stop of ours. We pulled in to the camp ground expecting our usual, bone dry, $5 unpowered spot only to find the place was flooded and all the caravans had to be squeezed into one tiny area by the toilets. We were astonished, Eumungerie is one of the driest places I have ever visited! Anyway, it was all good and we trotted over to the Drover's Dog for a shnitty and chips, still couldn't take the dog but we left him in the van.

The caretaker was selling a few bits on the side so Ian bought a lightweight solar panel from him before we left then we drove the short trip to Tooraweenah in glorious sunshine at last. The Tooraweenah Caravan Park was delightful. $30 with power, quite old but clean and well kept with colourful murals on  walls, a dog exercise area, little metal sculptures and fairy houses which pleased Ted when he arrived. There was also a big area with a fire pit set up for the daily happy hour. At 5pm the owners came around handing out bags of crisps and inviting all the campers to bring a beer or wine over and join them around the fire.

 The next day we walked the boys into the tiny town and admired the old buildings, which were labelled with information about their history, then went to the playground. There was nothing much trading any more apart from the Post Office, pub and a mechanic but it was a great little town. In the afternoon we visited an emu farm. It was free to look around the shop and animal enclosures where they kept the chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and they do tours at certain times for $15. We bought Harvey some incredibly smelly emu jerky then went for a picnic in the Warrumbungles National Park . Harvey had to be kept hidden in the car and we took it in turns to walk down to the stream with Ted.

Back to the caravan park for the 5pm social where Ian made the mistake of offering help to a couple of women who had got into a real mess trying to park their new camper. They were very rude to him then ended up having a huge screaming match with each other about who was to blame for the parking disaster while we all sat and watched. 

It was Labor Day and NRL Grand Final weekend so we were expecting the next caravan park to be expensive. We stopped in Coonabarabran for coffee passing a huge anti vax protest and dodging a group offering to open us up to the Holy Ghost only to walk into another group trying to get us to come to their bible classes. We escaped and drove onto Narrabri which is a service town for the new inland railroad construction which should be finished in 2027. It will be freight only carrying huge trains from Melbourne to Brisbane taking 110 Road Trains off the roads every day. The size, variety and quantity of the equipment we saw taking part in the construction process was amazing.

We arrived at Moree Tourist Park and were pleasantly surprised to discover the powered sites were only $36 a night. It was quite a nice park with hot spas fed by the hot springs, lots of cabins there which were occupied by the rail workers. Ted liked the tiny playground especially when a cat strolled in and casually went down the slide. The playground backed on to the Mehi River and the key to the gate was kept at reception for people who wanted to fish there. The river runs through the centre of town and is usually pleasant and tranquil but it was brown and raging this time. It had burst its banks in some spots and, after we left, it rose up and flooded most of the town. 

Moree has a bit of a reputation and there are warnings everywhere about keeping your possessions locked up, but I like it. As long as you are sensible it is a great place to stay, the buildings are beautiful, there are plenty of cafes and good shops and it has the hot springs. We took the boys swimming at the public Artesian Baths. One pool is pretty warm where we played with the kids but the second is really hot and people just stand around in it. I find that creepy, rather like being in a bath with strangers.

 We stayed one more night after the family moved on but started to receive flood warning messages on our phones so decided it might be sensible to head home more quickly than we had planned. After a quick detour to see the Big Plane (it is just a plane so I don't think it should really count as a Big Thing) we scooted towards home, stopping for a quick look at a Lake in Barrabba which looked like a great place to stay but would be asking for trouble this trip.