Hello all,
Well I was going to do a blog yesterday afternoon after we arrived in Bourke, but
after cranking through 5 loads of washing in my little caravan washing
machine, I just wanted to sit down and relax. As it was, I headed over
to the amenities block before the 5 o'clock rush for a longer than usual
shower (as the water wasn't ours!). Ample time to shave legs and wash hair- I
even blow dried it afterwards. I felt like a new woman!!
Since my first blog, which was done in Broken Hill, we have continued to travel North into days and days of beautiful weather. On leaving Broken Hill, we headed to Wilcannia. Nice enough town, but it does have a reputation for it's locals. So we decided to stay on private property just North of the town at a place called 'Warrawong on the Darling'. This is a lovely place right on the Darling River with great grassed sites and new amenities (not that we use them as we have our own bathroom). The hosts supply cheese and biccys at 5pm around the fire pit and everyone comes together and share stories. It was here that we found out the dirt road between Wilcannia and Bourke was in good condition, which was the road we were hoping to travel.
'Warrawong on the Darling'
The dirt road was great. We were able to sit on about 80 km/hr quite comfortably and there was basically no traffic as the oldies are happier going the longer way round on the bitumen. We decided to stay the night at a National Park camp site called Coach and Horse camp, which is part of the Paroo National Park. This camp ground is beautifully set out with large camp sites, electric BBQ's and 2 air-loos. We picked a beautiful site facing the river which had just been vacated by another couple. We liked to spot so much we stayed a second night.
Coach & Horse camp- Paroo National Park: on the Darling River
The days at the moment are just lovely. Between 20-25C, but very cold nights- about 8C. The early evening comes in cold really quickly around 4.30pm and you need to head inside unless you have a fire going. We are sleeping with flannelette sheets, blanket and quilt, but are running around in shorts and tee shirts during the day. Washing is getting dried in hours and I am already getting a tan, but still look like an abominable snowman at night!!
On Thursday we left Paroo National Park and headed to Tilpa. The only thing in Tilpa is a pub, but it is a brilliant one- full of jokes and sayings written on the walls. We arrived at 10.30am thinking we could have a coffee. But the machine was broken so, of course, we had a beer. Well, it was midday somewhere- probably New Zealand!!
Beer o'clock at 10.30am!!
The next town was a place called Louth. Nice enough small town but the caravan park looked very average. We had decided to stay at a homestead after Paroo NP, but we were actually travelling on the East side of the Darling and the homesteads we'd read about were on the Western side. There was a property just near Louth called Trilby Station, which advertises that it has been on The Great Outdoors and Australian Postcards. We decided to head there and we are so glad we did. The property is just beautiful and the owners are just brilliant. When you check in you are given a booklet with mud maps of the property and a history of the place. It was fascinating reading. We selected our river view site (one of about 15 sites) and set up quickly. Sitting in the sun reading the booklet and taking in the river views was just magic. We actually decided to stay here 2 nights and went for a lovely long walk around the property on Friday. There were a few other people camped around the place but you never hear or see them as the river camp sites are very well placed so they all seem secluded and separate. This is just a lovely place to while away the days doing nothing.....
Louth pub- I'm loving the attractions!!
Trilby Station- water just makes things so much better!
On leaving Trilby Station we headed to Bourke. Now, I liked Bourke. It has some lovely little shops, a great IGA and a busy main street, but after buying our lotto tickets at the newsagency, grabbing some money out of the ATM and doing a quick shop at the IGA, we headed just out of town to the 'Kidman's Camp Country Resort'. Now this place is like a resort- beautiful grassed sites, lovely trees all around the resort and fantastic amenities. And we met about 4 people who were all driving Mazda BT-50's. All are very impressed with the vehicle as are we. It is an absolute pleasure to drive- says Anthony as I still have not had a drive as yet. Well, we are only travelling less than 200 km/day so it really isn't worth it!!!
The obstacle course of road kill
Right now we are in a place called Cunnamulla. The road today (in between Bourke and here) was just littered with dead roos, goats and wild pigs. We even saw a feral cat run across the road. There is so much dead stuff on the side of the roads that the eagles, crows and other birds are everywhere just living off the road kill. At one stage we were ducking and weaving around the road kill like they were skittles we were trying not to knock over. Luckily there wasn't a lot of on coming traffic other wise we would have had to drive over them- yuck!!
Anty pie
Today for "lunner" (our main meal- somewhere in between lunch & dinner!) we had curry pies. The other day Anthony cooked up a lamb curry full of veggies and lamb four quarter chops. We had a lot left over and after watching Better Homes and Gardens last night, Anthony thought he would make pies with the left overs!!! Well, they were the best bl**dy left over pies I have ever tasted- and they looked fantastic!!!
This is Poo Bear- he advertises the dump point in Cunnamulla!!
Sorry, didn't get to sent this last night- We have stopped for a coffee now (10am Monday morning) so am finishing off the blog and sending it out.
Keep smiling through cold, chattering teeth. We have blue skies and are happy little vegemites!!
Love, Jules and Anthony xxx
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