Committed Travellers

After our cup of tea, we packed up and were on the road by 8 am. We drove the 100 kms to Armidale to have breakfast at the Goldfish Bowl. As it is still school holidays we were able to park outside St Mary’s Primary, just up the road.

We bought two loaves of sourdough bread and a couple of treats to take with us. My muesli was a bit too rustic, and the yoghurt was not creamy like our favourite Farmers Union Greek style yoghurt. The poached pear was lovely and Bluey enjoyed a taste.

There was little traffic on the road to Tamworth. At 34° it was very hot when we arrived at our North Tamworth caravan park, so we just unhooked and connected the power to run the air conditioning. After settling the critters and having some lunch, we drove to Tamworth to buy a few items and to refuel the Toyota. At Wests Leagues Club, tall posters of entertainers have been placed around poles. I doubt Beccy and Adam will appreciate the smokers’ bin being placed by their posters.

Cloud cover reduced the temperature enough for me to connect water hoses and put on the shade panel to give us privacy from our close neighbours and protection from the morning sun. With unstable weather forecast, I wasn’t putting out our awning.

Tilly wanted to say hello to her friends sitting at the camp kitchen. She was put off by the presence of a Maltese dog, so her adoring fans had to struggle out of their seats to pat her.

Our friends didn’t arrive until after 7 pm, having back tracked to a tyre shop when a rear tyre on the motorhome had low pressure. It was raining when they arrived and the rain continued. Tamworth has not had the rain that much of the country has received, so tonight’s soaking will generally be welcome, but not by any campers who have arrived early for the Tamworth Country Music Festival!

Another Roadie friend heading to Tamworth has mechanical issues with her motorhome stuck in second gear! She will hopefully be able to get it repaired and not miss too much of the festival.

There has been intermittent light rain and drizzle today, with an overnight minimum temperature of 16° and a pleasant high of 24°. We had coffee in town, then found a replacement bath mat and foot stool for me in the cheap shops.

Yesterday, our car received two dents from a trolley in the Woolworths carpark. Anita noticed them when I drove back to our van. Fortunately, there was no further damage today.

I saw a sign to the Glen Innes Highlands Skywalk, so decided to investigate. This is located near the Standing Stones, and is not well signposted. The skywalk description is a gross exaggeration as there are three not-very-high viewing platforms. This was constructed with a $2 million grant from the State Government, supposedly to boost tourism. The views were good but not exceptional.

With the cooler weather, I was able to get some caravan jobs done. A new issue of rust on our wheel studs is probably due to the wet weather and fine dust generated by the waste disposal depot next to our caravan storage depot. I used a wire brush to remove the rust, then sprayed on some RP7 lubricant. I may need to come up with a longer-term solution if the rust recurs.

I remounted our carbon monoxide alarm and digital fridge thermometer on the wall using self-adhesive Velcro. When parked long-term in the hot sun, the glue on the Velcro fails.

Anita bleached our drains and flushed them with hot water. I packed away the drain hoses and fresh water hose ready for our departure tomorrow morning.

On our walk this morning, we had to avoid barking dogs rushing at fences. We bought coffees on our way home to enjoy with our sourdough toast. With my extra walking this afternoon, I have done 8 kms today. Bluey only did the first 2 kms.

At the Visitor Information, we got some maps and information about walks and drives around the local area. Our first stop was the Victorian era Railway Station which opened in 1884. After the line closed in 1989, the station was used as a restaurant, but that has since closed, and the building is boarded up. There is an interesting form of ventilation on part of the roof.

Many of the commercial and retail buildings along Grey St are historic. Most facades are well preserved, but at street level most of the buildings have been “modernised”. One exception is this 1870 former jewellery store where even the glass frontage and doors appear to be original.

These are some of the most impressive buildings – the town hall, the NAB, the Great Central Hotel established 1874, and The Bank Guesthouse. The town hall is described as High Victorian “grand” town hall, with features from the French Renaissance and Italianate styles.

A few buildings still have their original slate roofs. Part of the roof of St Joseph’s Catholic Church shows the build up of lichen that can damage slate roofs.

The former convent was relinquished by the Church in 1995. It has since had three owners but needs a lot of work on the 31 bedrooms.

Strong winds and a little rain brought the temperature down to 20°. Our neighbour kept coming out checking his awning. I helped him take it down with his wife holding the other end of the roller.

We wasted money having dinner at the Hereford Steakhouse. There was only one other couple eating there. The “decor” was plain brick walls, and the “ambience” was created by a television in another room broadcasting the cricket. My steak was OK, the beans under cooked, and the diane sauce gluggy. The dessert described as berry tirimisu consisted of hard biscuits covered in jam, a couple of strawberries, and leftover glace cherries, all smothered in cream.

Our early morning walk was shorter today as it was moving day. After breakfast we hooked up and were on the road just after 8 am.

If we had still been at the caravan park, we may have seen or heard the plane that crashed at Dugandan, about 1.5 kms from our site as the crow flies.

We refuelled at Warwick paying $1.78 per litre for premium diesel. The price was well over $2 per litre as we headed further south.

After having a short walk in Tenterfield, we ate at the Courtyard Cafe in the historic School of Arts building. Anita’s pie was a bit dry, but my New York cheesecake was great. It is a very dog-friendly cafe with a large undercover area.

The highway runs through the main street of Tenterfield, which is lined with historic buildings. Most have retained their original external features.

Anita booked us into the Glen Innes Showground for three nights. When we arrived, she realised she had confused this showground with the Armidale showground, where she thought we were going! We parked near the gate and 50 m from the new toilet/shower block. Once set up, we spent the afternoon in the van as it was hot outside.

We had an early meal at the Services Club. It was still warm when we walked the 800 m downhill. Our meals were very good and cheap. I had the lasagne special with salad and vegetables. Anita had to pause a couple of times walking back up the hill!

We walked past this lovely mural advertising a second-hand business. Otherwise, most of the houses we walked past were not as well kept as the Queenslanders in Boonah.

We were awake very early so walked all around Boonah. Bluey came with us willingly. Back at the caravan, I climbed up the ladder and tackled the job of swapping this damaged fan cover with one from the rear of the van.

The plastic has disintegrated due to sun damage. I unscrewed the two covers and inner deflectors, cleaned them, and screwed the good one on the rangehood fan. After removing the broken plastic, I used a stainless dog bowl to fill the hole, secured with duct tape.

We walked back into town for excellent coffee and dreadful raisin toast – it was an inch thick with barely a scraping of butter. We walked over 6 kms, then hid inside the air-conditioned caravan for the rest of the day.

In a nearby house a man was moving timber in his yard, supervised by a Tilly-look-a-like. This cat is twice the size of our 3 kgs girl.

When I took Bluey walking this morning, the drizzly rain caused us to head home early. After breakfast we picked up the Bushtracker and towed it home to pack the rest of our gear. Bluey and Tilly loitered near the front door, so they wouldn’t be left behind!

We were all set by 10 am, but drove off leaving our front gate open! Our friend called by our house and noticed the gate was open and phoned us to make sure we hadn’t left it open for a reason. Apart from that oversight, we had no issues preparing for our trip, and reacquainting ourselves with the van and towing.

We parked on the outskirts of Canungra for a lunch break at el Social. There was shade in the courtyard where Bluey was able to enjoy some watered-down decaf coffee. We had to walk over the bridge across Canungra Creek, but Bluey’s fear of heights causes him to be very wary of bridge railings where he can see down to water. I had to carry him on our walk in, but persuaded him he would be alright on the walk back.

There is evidence of the Christmas night storm along the Nerang Beaudesert Rd, with the remains of dozens of fallen trees and branches, damaged fences, and large signs. We travelled just south of the path taken by the tornado.

We had pre-booked a site for two nights at the Boonah Showground as it is a comfortable 100 kms drive from home. This gives us and the critters time to adjust to being on the road again.

It was still warm at 28° when I went exploring the surrounding streets of Boonah, but there was a breeze up on the hill. I passed dozens of well-kept historic timber Queenslanders.

This Victorian home has retained the original intricate fretwork on the veranda.

A shower of rain followed this rainbow.

We had dinner in the van rather than leave the critters alone on our first night. It took time and focus to set up our new smart TV, but so far it is very good with a much better picture than our old TV.

Our focus has shifted to our trip to Tamworth – getting the van ready and packing our food and other essentials. We have made two trips to the storage depot and will go again tomorrow morning to load the fridge.

I cleaned and refitted the hitch today. We take it off when not towing the van as it makes it difficult to park sometimes.

Last night I heard a loud noise involving our cat enclosure gate. I normally lock the pet door before it gets dark, but had forgotten to do that. When I investigated, Tilly was furred up to look twice her normal size. The gate she was watching has the plastic sheeting facing outside the enclosure, so I checked the security cameras and found the cause of the ruckus. This black cat was in our pool area enjoying the catnip. It then must have jumped up onto the wall and tried to get into the enclosure. It failed! We now have a good reason to shut the pet door at night time.

We have spent a lot of time researching for our trip to Europe later this year. Our library has a good selection of travel books to supplement our google searches.

The weather has continued to be hot and muggy with some rain overnight or during the day. This is forecast to continue for the next week, but not torrential rain. The river is still carrying a lot of debris. As it is tidal some of the debris is washed onto the beach, then taken away, only to come back on the next tide. A street sweeping truck finally cleared the leaf matter clogging our gutters and drains, which repeatedly caused minor flooding at the end of our street.

Bluey continues to be really clingy. As soon as one of us sits down, he wants to sit on our lap. We went to Alfons for breakfast, where dogs are not allowed on laps or seats. He didn’t understand that rule, and nor did we! It is near the groomer he doesn’t like, so he is shaking when I lift him out of the car and still a bit stressed until we order coffee.

We feel sorry for the tourists who paid for a holiday at the Gold Coast this year. There have been very few days when there wasn’t rain or a storm.

Yesterday we tried to see the floor under the bath as that is likely to be the same as the subfloor under the tiles. There is an access hole under a veranda beside the bathroom, which allowed the plumber to change our spa pump a couple of years ago. I couldn’t lean in far enough to see the floor. I will need a cheap borescope to see further.

We could see obvious signs of dampness on the brick wall, but this may have been caused by rainwater penetrative the veranda roof. The dark area to the left felt damp, and the salt line points to long-term exposure to water.

We have been packing food, clothes, and travel gear to take out to our caravan to make it ready for our trip to Tamworth. The critters are already sitting on clothes I put out to pack.

Bluey has been eating but is obviously not 100%. He took himself downstairs to the front door where he vomited part of his breakfast. We didn’t notice him go down. It’s a shame he didn’t use the doggy-door to take himself outside! He will go out the pet door, but he still hasn’t taken himself out through the pet door.

I fitted the last of the flyscreens and recruited Anita to help me put up the long roller blinds. I then spent time cleaning and tidying our wardrobe, and deciding what clothes I should donate to the op shop.

We haven’t seen any signs of damage following the bathroom flooding, but are waiting for a cool morning to inspect the void under the bath.

Our street is returning to normal with neighbours and their dogs returning from holidays. Harley the groodle always gives me cuddles. A cavoodle of similar colour joined the sniffing routine.

By the time we were awake, it was too warm to go walking. I took Bluey for a quick trip to the beach. After doing his business he just sat down and watched me walk to the bin. We fed the critters then took ourselves to the Australia Fair shopping centre for a walk in the air conditioning. Breakfast options there are poor, but we enjoyed our coffees.

After walking Bluey this afternoon with some of his friends, I have clocked up more than 11,000 steps.

Later I dropped Anita off for a hearing test, while I made deliveries to the op shop. She was fitted with hearing aids with single use batteries, so is organising a different pair that use rechargeable batteries. She can now hear the TV without it being set at a high volume.

This afternoon I refitted most of the flyscreens and blinds. While the ladders were out, we cleaned the rangehood and hard to reach areas near the cooktop. We were then able to put the furniture back in place.

Bluey chased a golden retriever along the beach, but he never follows her into the water. The river is brown with dirty runoff so is probably not very healthy. At home I found Tilly comfortable in the pillow bag.