On the road to Armidale

 Or up river and back down again.

 Locals talk a lot about going "up river", meaning up the Macleay river from Kempsey, so we thought we'd go on an adventure.
The road starts off following the Macleay through farmland but gets narrower as it rises to the tablelands. In fact it is not recommended for caravans, so we left ours behind and just took our trusty little tent.

The road passes a couple of free campsites, the first is Blackbird Flat about an hour and a half from home.
As you see it is a big grassy area, not too busy midweek.

There's a fence around the picnic shelter to keep the neighbouring cattle out!

I'm sure there would also be a few bovine intruders at the Georges Junction campsite - it is a travelling stock reserve.

In between these two campsites is a private one - Cracknback campground which is a nice spot next to the river as well and has hot showers. Not a free place though it is probably cattle-free.

As we had plenty of time we pushed onwards and upwards to the Styx River where there is a campsite and a separate picnic spot.
We had lunch in the Wattle Flat camping spot...complete with slither-past by a brown? snake!!

Then we camped at the Wattle Flat picnic area (it didn't say "no camping")....complete with platypus.

These facilities are in a state forest and there is the hazard of logging-trucks or roads closed due to logging activity (as happened to us)
There are pit toilets at both these places and bbqs but not much else. It's BYO!

The next day's essential stop was Wollombombi gorge which have some pretty big falls.
The gorge itself is vertigo-inducing and there are a couple of decent hour-long walks as well.
The well-set-out campground would be worth a visit too....but on this occasion I'd booked an airbnb place in Armidale for a bit of comfort.

There are very many delights on the New England Tablelands - New England National Park, Cathedral Rocks National Park, and several lookouts with and without waterfalls on the Waterfall Way which joins Armidale with Coffs Harbour.

Anyway on to Armidale which is a decent sized regional city with galleries, cafes and all sorts of civilised things. It bears further investigation.

We spent one night in the delightful Two Dogs Folly studio.

A beautifully restores miner's cottage which also has an adjoining cottage.
I loved it! It was just my style and very comfortable.

Then it was homeward bound but not before checking out Long Point past historic Hillgrove.
There's a rarely-used campsite there - at least it looked rarely used. A picnic spot and a couple of walks which take you to views of the upper Macleay.

So it was a good reconnaissance trip and we'll be back for sure.

Travelling west - how we got there

It's 4187 kms from our house to Perth!
Such a loooong way for us dragging our little home on wheels behind us.
We don't travel very fast.
For safety and fuel economy sake we usually travel at about 80kph....sometimes sneaking up to 100 on a good straight not-uphill stretch with the wind behind us!
Yes we are those slow old annoying travellers on the road.
When we went through Queensland and the Northern Territory 2 years ago we'd do, maybe, 400kms a day...
We're not early risers and we like to get to camp in time to set up properly (OK, it doesn't take that long!), have a look around, a cuppa or "happy hour" drink and relax a bit.
Nothing worse that rushing around every day!!

In our old camping days we'd often keep travelling after dinner and arrive at our campspot at 10 at night, set the tent up by the car headlights....haha! Those days are gone!

Anyway...on this BIG journey we put in some big days to cover a lot of distance in a short time so we'd have more time frolicking through the wildflowers.
We still always have a cup of tea in bed and breakfast, we stop to make a cuppa for morning tea and also stop for lunch - all very civilised.

Day 1: Kempsey to Dunedoo
Mr google told us to go towards Newcastle and up the Hunter Valley to get across the Great Dividing range. This is something we haven't done before but it sure beats going up and up and up through Wauchope to Walcha and Tamworth (not to diss those wonderful municipalities).
Yeah, it worked well and we were ensconced in the well-serviced little caravan park there.
Plugged in to the electricity in anticipation of a cold night and morning.

Day 2: to Emmdale Roadhouse
There are not too many choices along the Barrier Highway between Cobar and Broken Hill that have powered sites.
Not the best place we've ever stayed but they do have home-made cakes.

Day 3: to Broken Hill
It was a short day to Broken Hill so that we could do some shopping.
Importantly to replace the plastic step stool that someone ran over in the caravan at Dunedoo, that is temporarily standing in for the caravan's own inbuilt doorstep which got smashed at a tight turn in a petrol station a while back.
We have stayed at the racecourse at Broken Hill before but were a bit concerned this time that it wouldn't be open due to all the rain that was apparent.
Luckily for us it was and the lovely chatty caretaker Sam was there as well.

Day 4: to Kimba, South Australia
There are 3 camping options in Kimba, 2 free and the caravan park near the highway.
It was still cold so we opted for the caravan park.
The roadhouse adjacent is run by people who really know how to make the best curries!

Day 5: to Nullabor Roadhouse
I guess the Nullabor Roadhouse is a bit of a legend.
It's a good overnight stop.
It was my birthday and we had a pretty decent meal at the roadhouse.
No complaints from me when I don't have to cook!

Day 6: to Eucla
We left the van at the Nullabor Roadhouse and drove back a little and down to the Head of the Bight to see the whales which spend winter there and mate, give birth and loll around until it's time to head south again.
There were lots of whales - several mum and baby pairs and it's a beautiful spot on the cliffs.
So worthwhile.

Then we had a short hop to Eucla, just over the border into Western Australia, where there is a nice campsite with a view down to the ocean and a drive and walk to the old telegraph station and the old pier.

Day 7: to Newmans Waterhole somewhere along the Nullabor
Another long day but we reached a nice quiet free camp near a waterhole.
Yes it was a bit chilly in the morning but we toughed it out!

Day 8: we reach Kalgoorlie
OK we're still a fair way from the west coast, about 600kms actually but we feel that we have arrived!
This is where our explorations really begin.

Our longest drive was just over 600kms, but hey, there's no traffic!

We hit the road between 7.30 and 8 most mornings and got to camp around 4pm.
We swap driving every couple of hours.
This is a good easy day for us.

Ushuaia - living at the end of the world

One of my pleasures when travelling is wandering around a place and looking at all the different houses - lived-in, well-loved, forgotten, sad and lonely....they all have a story to tell.

Ushuaia - the town at the end of the world has a snuggled-up, tucked in feel.
Not surprising as it has short summers and looong, bitter winters.

It makes these homes all the more mysterious.

And some beautiful roses from a garden there....

because you have to stop and smell them sometimes!