TRACKING THROUGH THE SNOW TO NYNGAN ON THE BOGAN

4th August 2015

We took the advice of the tourist agent again the next day, 4^th of August, and stuck to touring the countryside rather than walking.  The history of Bathurst is extremely interesting, both from a settlement point of view and the gold mining days and both are very evident in the Old gold mining towns of Sofala and Hill End.

Sofala is the oldest surviving gold town and during the 1850’s it had a main street which was 16Kms long and housed tens of thousands of hopeful gold seekers or merchants and purveyors of food to keep the miners happy. Although this town is still inhabited by many and the old buildings are evidently restored or still lived in, we decided to make our way over the mountain range to the famous historic site of Hill End on the River Turon.

 This beautiful site has been protected and many buildings have been restored to represent them as they were in the 1870’s. As you walk down the main street, you can envisage the activity and life as it once was because the buildings still standing have been faithfully and accurately restored. 

The last pub (one of 52 during the town’s heyday) still offers accommodation, meals and drinks, and just down the road, side by side are elegant houses, shops ,slab huts and the old Presbyterian Church painted by Russell Drysdale.

5^th August 2015.

 The weather has not improved!  Yesterday the mercury did not get above 6 degrees all day, even in the sun! 

It was time to move on. I know we are supposed to be heading north to the warmer weather, but we do have to drive through this cold spell to get there. And we did as evidenced by the temperature gauge in the car.  2 degrees as we drove through Orange

 and I kid you not!!!!!    SNOW.

We finally arrived at NYNGAN , gateway to the outback, and settled on the banks of the BOGAN River. Its much warmer here. 13  degrees Celsius. So we have decided to camp here for a few days and Blob on the Banks of the Bogan River.

THE BOGAN CAMP

AROUND THE TRACK @ BATHURST

3^rd August 2015

We headed North,…. North to Bathurst, surely it would be warmer than Cooma?

WRONG! Our first day here and last night it got down to minus 1 degree, even worse, the thermometer did not get any higher than 9 degrees today, much colder than Cooma!

We found the best way to keep warm was to take the advice of the local Tourist Information Centre and forget the walking tours. We chose to follow several self drive guided tours and found our way to Chifly Dam….even the pelicans and cormorants weren’t game to dip into the grey, chilly looking waters!  A quick look at the structure of the dam and then Paul suggested a hot lap would be more suitable 

We did what every self respecting  V8 petrol head would do!!!

A fast lap at Mount Panorama !  We left “The Beast” securely in the paddock and took Collie for a run around the circuit! 

I suppose you could have called it more of a trot. No speeding here…we had to come down Conrod straight at 60Kms an hour! 

Paul said not to mention that the speedo did get up to about 80 at one stage !!!

FAMILY FAREWELLS AND FINAL PREPARATION

15^th July to the 2^nd of August.

It was no secret that the original catalyst  for our decision to leave Victor Harbor was to find somewhere warmer to live.

We achieved that in our first night away from Victor Harbor. We headed SOUTH to Naracoorte to spend some time with both my parents and my brother as we knew we would not be seeing them for some time.

The first night in our caravan the temperature for Naracoorte fell to -1 degrees. We felt better the next day when we discovered that the overnight temperature in Victor Harbor was -3 degrees.

 I revisited a few of my childhood memories and showed Paul the family farm out at Quindamere and the old Binnum Hall where we had many family occasions. It was also the original school building attended by my mother.

I was amazed at how tiny the HALL was!! It seemed so much bigger when I was a small girl!

Having finished our first round of family farewells we headed off to CANBERRA  via Bendigo and Lake Hume. We were also aware that it was not going to get any warmer!!! We were correct! The second night in Canberra saw the mercury fall to minus 4 degrees. (It’s illegal to drive with any ice on your windscreen, so Paul ventured out into the frost to remove the ice). NOT GETTING ANY WARMER!!

Our final farewells took place at COOMA where we spent time with Emma and Nigel and Nigel’s parents. Emma and Nigel are off to England for 12 months so these were the hardest goodbyes we had to make since leaving Victor Harbor. While we were there we ventured down to Jindabyne for a final look at the snow country and to reminisce about the old skiing days! Not missing them at all.

 A small church at Old Adaminiby on the shores of Lake Eucumbene.  Most of the town has been submerged by the rising waters of the dam.

"Have we taken the wrong turn??? That's SNOW on the top of the mountains!

Time to head North to the warmer weather, so with the temperature climbing to 13 degrees in Cooma, we packed the van up and headed to Bathurst, that’s north. Surely its going to be warmer than Cooma?

The Track around Australia

15^th July 2015     The Track around Australia.

Previous trips in our camper trailer to varying destinations across Australia have left us with a desire to see even more of this beautiful country.

We realized that school holidays and long service breaks did not provide us with the time needed to really achieve our goal, they just left us wanting more….

So we made a big DECISION!

A decision which had some people perplexed, but many envious or supportive of what we were about to do.

We sold the lot.

We put our house on the market and sold it on the 21^st May. There was no going back now!

The next concern was what were we going to do with our furniture? Gumtree seemed a very laborious and drawn out process.

Fortunately we were spared that problem as the new house owners bought the lot, so on the 29^th of May we had all our belongings either stored in a small shed, or in  “The Beast” (our caravan).

We moved into a holiday rental with the limited possessions needed for the next 12-18 months. Next we had to deal with the cars. The Prado went first, (too expensive to run) and we purchased a Holden Colorado, “Collie” for short. The Astra soon followed the same demise and we were officially a one vehicle family.

I retired on the 4th July, ironically US Independence day, and it became official, we were homeless and unemployed.

Having tied up all the loose ends and attended several farewell functions, we were ready to depart. We introduced Collie to The Beast and on the 15^th July we left Victor Harbor, my home for 39 years and Paul’s birth -place.

Collie meets The Beast.

Preparing for our big adventure. Stand by for further additions to The Track @ five with the Collie and The Beast........!

Homeward Bound

Days 50, 51, 52, and 53

Wednesday 30^th May to Saturday 2^nd June.

We left Jabiru at 9 am. With mixed feelings! The journey, our big adventure, was nearing the end, we were about to set our sights for home.

Home! That’s what makes the journey even more memorable, the comfortable feeling and the appreciation that home is where it all began with the months of planning. The anticipation of seeing our family and friends added to the desire to hurry this last stage of our trip along the track.

However; we weren’t quite finished with our adventuring! We had one more experience that we wished to complete. A meal at the iconic Daly Waters Pub. We had paid this pub a fleeting visit on a previous trip but were unable to stay the night so having no time constraints we decided to stay there the first night on the homeward bound track.

We met a new species of animal. They migrate North for the winter, these giant 4WD beasts towing huge caravans laden with air conditioners, TVs, Ensuite bathrooms and toilets. They are known for their social habits of gathering at free 24 hour way side stops at about 2 in the afternoon, their masters are in the grey nomad set and they set up their camp stools and watch as more beasts lurch in to take up any available space. They are very neat and park parallel to each other, the beast remains tethered to their loads ready for a quick getaway in the morning to race onwards to the next free overnight stop.

The beasts lined up and tethered ready for the next day

They do make one exception. It was apparent as we drove into Daly Waters. We had to join a huge queue to line up to be parked in the Caravan Park next to the pub. Fortunately they had a quiet spot at the back for we canvas dwellers, complete with grass and a more natural outlook.

Our beautiful campsite at Daly Waters. Note beasts tethered in paddock behind.

The evening at the pub was an experience that every Australian should have as “Chilli” the comedian/outback musician brought out the Aussie Ocker in all who dwelt there. The material of the jokes was such that only Australians could really appreciate the humour, plus it was good to see that our outback still had some real characters and wasn’t completely staffed by English, Irish, German, Scandinavian and Japanese back packers! The “Barra-Beef” meal was good too!

Quirky pub designed by Berlei ! What drink do they serve here, to get this reaction?

DJ's desk and rocking chair by the fire at Daly Waters pub

The next morning the beasts began humming and buzzing and in single file began their northward migration while we folded our tent and began the long trip South, mindful of the fact that we were heading into the cold weather country.

As we headed South we were passed by a constant convoy of the new species, and each time we passed a rest stop area after 2pm we could see them nestling down ready for the night.

We spent the next night at a small place called Aileron, which has a special place in our memories; we stayed there once before and were welcomed by a giant Aboriginal Sculpture on the hill, made by Steve Egan. As the sun set it looked as if he was watching over us and bidding us a safe farewell from his country.

10 m sculpture by Steve Egan, watching over campers at Aileron.

Our last night was spent in the same spot as our very first, in the bush, off the side of the road between Coober Pedy and Cadney Homestead. We sat by the campfire, watched the setting sun and reminisced of the many adventures we had experienced over the last seven weeks and talked longingly of home.

This last day Saturday was to be a marathon; we were completing the final dash for home. There would be no fiveses tonight, just a warm shower and our own beds.

Our last night on the track

  

Our last night on the track, same place as the first night. we watched the sun set and reminisced, was it really seven weeks ago. This track has really challenged our budget, relationship, and  desires to continue with this form of travel, but we won through, we ticked off both Tanami and Gibb River Road, but more important, we are already planning our next trip, but first we must get that axle fixed. Ouch$$$$

After travelling 12,620 Kms, at 8.30pm Saturday 2^nd June, the track came to an end.