Day 7 – Toowoomba, Dalby, Jimbour Homestead, Kingaroy

Another chilly start to the day this morning but at least the wind had died down so it warmed up nicely as the day progressed. It was a ‘move on’ day so we packed up in our now time honoured tradition – we are a well oiled machine. We also decided we couldn’t leave Toowoomba without checking out Toowoomba Botanic Gardens at Queens Park. They were stunning, even though it’s not really a great time of the year for gardens. Gaz and I had a stroll around for a while and then we hit the road for Dalby. I should also say we loved our accommodation at Toowoomba – I voted it best shower and best Wifi so far.

Being Mothers’ Day, we got to speak to my Mum, the kids, and grandkids which was really good. At Dalby we met up with Kev and Maz and strolled through a park there where I dropped a couple more painted rocks. Speaking of rocks, I have now had two posts where people have found my rocks and posted that on the NSW Rocks Facebook page. Good to see they are being enjoyed. We had a coffee in the Main Street, went for another stroll around town where we did some shopping, and then back in the car to head for Jimbour Homestead, about half an hour away.

Jimbour Homestead was fabulous. It is an historic home built in the 1870s with beautiful surrounding gardens, the gardens being open to the public. We took a picnic lunch and spent a lovely hour or two wandering around the grounds enjoying the beauty of the area and learning a bit about the history of the place. They also apparently have large events and concerts there. All in all a great spot to break the trip.

Our last little leg of about an hour to Kingaroy was uneventful, well, after we wove our way through a huge mob of cattle that were wandering the road. Our cabin is very comfortable, a bit bigger than the others have been and Maz anointed it with her own special Japanese Tea Ceremony, courtesy of the new tea set she received from Jordan this morning for Mother’s Day. We bought our dinner from the Supa IGA in town – it was a bit disappointing really but we were all a bit tired tonight and no one could be bothered to cook. We did try some flavoured Kingaroy peanuts that were pretty cool. An early night tonight.

Day 6 – Toowoomba

No need to get up early this morning so slept in til after 7, very comfy bed, very warm and snug so it was hard to get up at all. Although it was sunny it was blowing a gale outside so I thought it might be an idea to do some washing and hang it on the communal line at the caravan park. My initial reluctance to get out of bed was vindicated when I came back from hanging the washing at about 8:30 and said to Gary ‘it feels freezing out there’. I though I may have been exaggerating but my weather app confirmed that although the temp was 7.9 it did indeed ‘feel like’ 0.2! The wind continued all day and it was really cold ALL DAY.

With the domestic duties out of the way, Maz, Kev & I spent some time looking at our activities over the next few days – looking at opening hours, road conditions, distances etc. Gaz had found a pub TAB just ‘round the corner and was placing all his bets based on the tips he received last night. He even passed on the tip in the first race to the caravan park proprietor who promptly placed his bet. Thankfully that one got up, even though Gaz later discovered he had made a mistake and the horse he backed wasn’t really a tip after all. Oh, well, the luck of the Irish I guess.

In the meantime, we had all decided to rendezvous at Picnic Point Park where there is a fantastic café and lookout as well as a fabulous park. The scones Gaz and I shared were to die for – best ever … and that’s a big call. The cream was the best I had ever tasted. Although a bit chilly outside, we were rugged up and enjoyed the sunshine and the view. I took the opportunity to drop a few rocks as well … and for the first time I actually saw a little girl pick one up. She had been eyeing my progress as I hid the rocks and ran and picked the ‘be kind’ rock from inside the rotunda. I hope she enjoys it!

Maz and Kev went on to the Japanese Gardens which they said were amazing while Gaz and I went shopping for warmer jackets! After a quick lunch back at the cabin, Gaz, Kev & I walked the short distance to the pub to watch the mighty Newcastle Knights take on (and demolish) the Canterbury Bulldogs. The pub was packed and they had big screens everywhere – with both the footy and the races on so we were all covered. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any dart boards to continue training in my chosen sport…

Tonight we first went to a bar called The Moose where we met with Jordan and Angus and Jordan’s friend, Cindy, for a pre-dinner drink. It was then onto an awesome Turkish restaurant called Sofra where they had squeezed us in for an 8:15 sitting. It was worth the wait – great food, including some fantastic lamb cutlets that were to die for, great company and a really fun evening all ‘round. Home by 10:30 and in bed by 11 ready to move on again tomorrow.

Day 5 – Stanthorpe, Toowoomba, Eureka Stud - Cambooya

Although we went to bed last night marvelling at the night sky, brilliant with stars, clouds had started to gather when we awoke this morning and so it was not ridiculously chilly. I think that cloud cover saved us from a nasty frost. Peter and Tere Bonner, our hosts (remember, the distant cousins who forgot who we are?) had prepared a fabulous breakfast for us and joined us in the magnificent repast. There were hash browns, sausages, roast tomatoes, scrambled eggs, toast, fruit, yoghurt, juice, and so much more! It was a fabulous breakfast and we really enjoyed their company, solving the problems of the world.

Leaving at about 9am we headed back into Stanthorpe where Gary saw to a few shopping chores, including purchasing another wedding ring as his had slipped off somewhere unknown the previous day. I took the opportunity to upload the photos and blog. Our next stop was Stanthorpe Cemetery where I had promised my niece Jo who is doing our family tree that I would look up some grave stones and photograph them for her. The wind had picked up and it was a bit chilly but Gaz and I braved the elements and the total lack of knowledge where any of the graves were to begin our search. About an hour later we felt we had captured as much as we were going to and we headed off for Toowoomba.

An uneventful trip found us arriving in Toowoomba a couple of hours later, perfectly timed as we just finished our first audio book of the trip – The Rosie Effect (book 2 in the series). We listened to The Rosie Project on our last trip and I have The Rosie Result (book 3) to read while we are away. I love those books! We unpacked the car, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then joined Kev and Maz on a trip out to Eureka Stud at Cambooya, a small town about 20km out of Toowoomba. Their daughter, Jordan, lives on the property with her partner, Angus, and we were invited for a tour of the horse stud and then dinner with Angus’ parents. We had a great afternoon and evening! Angus showed us all over the property, explaining all the different aspects of breeding racehorses – a topic close to Gary’s heart – well the ones that run fast and win anyway.

After the great tour, we went to Jordan and Angus’ house for some pre-dinner drinks and hi-jinks. Jordan insisted we play darts, teaming up in pairs. It was a pretty close contest but Gaz and I prevailed in the end with me throwing a double 2 to win the game. I didn’t know I can play darts! At least I now have a sport that I can indulge in with my crook ankle.

We then wandered a couple of hundred yards to the main house where we met Angus’ parents and brother, had more drinks, nibblies, and a fabulous meal. The last plate had barely been removed before Jordan was once again organising a game for us to play. This time it was Perudo, a very strange dice game where you have to lie and deceive your opponents. Once again I won, this timed teamed up with Kev. I was happy to pull an all nighter playing all the games they could throw at me, but strangely the others did not see this as a fun experience and we called it a night, arriving home about 11pm. Another great day.

Day 4 – Moree, Goondiwindi, Stanthorpe

Our first time on this trip to pack up and move on, we left Moree a little after 9am and headed north. We enjoyed another easy trip along the plain, loved the scenery and marvelled at the extensive paddocks under cultivation. There was a smattering of cotton along the side of the road that we assumed had fallen from passing trucks.

After an hour and a half or so, we found ourselves across the border in Qld in the beautiful town of Goondiwindi. Neither of us had been there before and we both were surprised how pretty (and green) it was. We needed to grab some picnic supplies from Coles and then we found our way to the Tourist Information Centre to wait for Kev and Maz. While we were waiting we had a chance to look at the special exhibition to Gunsynd – the Goondiwindi Grey. Gaz regaled me with stories – mainly how the horse he backed beat Gunsynd in the 1973 Melbourne Cup … but otherwise it was a great horse etc etc etc. There was also an art exhibition that I had a quick gallop (see what I did there?) through, and we also chatted to the lovely guide who gave us some tips for nice parks and cafes.

Kev & Maz finally arrived after taking a wrong turn on the way into town and it was decided that a cup of coffee was needed. Kev has had a sore eye for sometime now and sought advice from a pharmacist who suggested he hop in to see Steve, the lovely town optometrist. Unfortunately Steve was in Moree for the day! While this was going on, Maz and I checked out the old border bridge, the statue of Gunsynd, and some other weird commemorative thing around a tree. As best we could make out this is where the townspeople used to gather to watch the level of the river rise before they built the levee bank.

When we finally met up with the fellas it was decided it was now lunchtime so we made our way to the botanical gardens for a picnic. Lovely spot near some water … not too many gardens though we did see pelicans. I left some rocks behind, though there will be one less as we saw a massive crow come along and pick up my ‘peace’ rock as we were driving away. I was stunned! The others tell me crows pick golf balls up all the time – I hope my rock brings him happiness!

After our usual scrumptious picnic, we set off for what we thought was an easy 2 hour drive to Stanthorpe. OMG. The first bit of the road to Inglewood was good, but then it turned nasty. Not that the road was shocking … maybe not great, but not too bad … it was the kangaroos/wallabies. Dead and alive they were everywhere … and this was 3pm, well before dusk. They even had signs warning you how many crashes there had been. We slowed way down and precariously made our way towards our destination. Then there were sheep on the road; just dotted here and there, not what you’d call a flock. We saw one sheep run across the road in front of us and make a diving leap across a cattle grid – very impressive – I gave it an 8.5.

After that harrowing adventure we were more than happy to see Stanthorpe but then remembered we had another 20 minutes on back roads to get to our final destination – Aloomba Lavender Farm in Liston. This is near where my mum grew up and where I holidayed every year as a child. The owners are some sort of cousins but I don’t think they have a clue who I am. It’s a great spot though – very peaceful. We are in the B&B and Kev & Maz are ‘camping’ in their van.

It turned pretty cold after the sun set but we looked forward to heading back into town for a night out with my cousins, Clare and Kim (who did remember me) at a very nice Italian Restaurant, Anna’s. If you ever go there, do yourself a favour and order the stuffed mushrooms! We had a great evening and even managed to make it back to the farm unscathed, although we did dodge a possum, hare and a rabbit on the trip back. No kangaroos. Big day and in bed by 11. No phone or internet coverage here so I’ll have to post this tomorrow morning when back in town.

Day 3 – Lightning Ridge

The alarm rang out at the (dare I say) alarming time of 5:40am. It takes Gaz and me a while to get going so we needed a bit of time to be ready for our 7am departure time, determined the previous night after a few too many wines. We made a brief stop at Woolies to get some stuff for a picnic lunch and then headed west.

It’s a nearly 3 hour trip with a brief sojourn in Collarenebri which is about halfway. Now we were seeing some outback style scenery and lots (and lots) of native fauna and a few introduced beasts as well. These included (and I hope I don’t forget any as there was a bit of a spotting competition going on): emus, wedge-tail eagles, fox, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, kangaroos (sadly mostly as road kill ), galahs, crows, hmm … that’s all I recall … I was the driver after all.

Having landed at the Tourist Information Centre at Lightning Ridge, we planned our day and hot-footed it to the Black Hand Mine where we were able to check out the fantastic carvings on the walls and learn how they mine opals. We had to go down (and of course later back up) a lot of steep stairs cut out of the sandstone. It was very surprising, entertaining, and educational. They even let us take Buddy down as long as there was a water tight undertaking that there would be no “accidents”, and Buddy was true to his word, performing brilliantly. The carvings were amazing!

We then popped back to the park for our picnic lunch which was, once again, very nice. Highlights were all of us, and a number of other picnickers who joined in, looking in the grass, dirt and dust for Gaz’s wedding ring which flew off his finger when he vigorously shooed a fly. That’s what happens when you lose heaps of weight lol. Kev was the winner in finding the lost ring by the way. I also dropped a few more rocks.

After filling up, we were then energised enough to drive 200m down the road for the others to get a coffee. While there we checked out some Opal shops and museums. After a short drive through town, we finished with a very quick tour of a ‘castle’ built entirely out of rock. Apparently it has been featured on one of the ‘Home & Garden’ type shows and there was quite a story behind it … which is a little long to go into here. Suffice it to say that even though it is 23 years old, it is now heritage listed so it can’t be torn down.

Determined to return to Moree before dusk, we left for our return journey which was unremarkable. We couldn’t miss out on a last minute dip in the thermal pools, grabbed some take away, tidied up for a quick getaway tomorrow and then bed.

Day 2 – Moree sights

After a chilly night, (got down to about 4 degrees), it was a bit hard to drag myself out of bed. I did finally make it out and sprinted to turn on the gas heater thoughtfully supplied. It didn’t take long to warm up however. By 9:30am it was about 16 degrees. By then I had already spent 40 minutes in the thermal pools – I’m thinking of moving here permanently!

We all gathered at about 10am and set out for a casual drive around Moree. We found the Information Centre (where Gaz found his Australian star sign is Python – he bought a book mark), visited an Aboriginal art gallery, (where Gaz & Kev had a coffee), did a bit of grocery shopping (where we somehow lost Gaz because he went out a different exit and couldn’t find us); and visited the Anzac Centenary Park where there was a lovely tribute to those who left from Moree and died in WWI.

After all that it was back to our cabin where we rustled up a scrumptious lunch, (Gaz had used all those minutes wisely at Woolies after all), and planned our afternoon. The boys went to play golf and said it was … challenging … but enjoyable. Maz, Buddy and I headed back into the historical area of the CBD where we did our own walking tour … because we had left the guide obtained from the Information Centre at home. I’m sure ours was much more interesting as we guessed at the significance and past uses of the older, mostly Art Deco, buildings.

We also spent a lovely time at the BAMM (Bank Art Museum Moree), housed in the glorious old CBC building. We were given special dispensation to walk around holding Buddy after Maz spun them a line about me and Gaz being old Bankies and knowing people who had worked and lived there. The artwork was amazing and we were particularly taken with a statue entitled Fear of Intimacy and scrutinised it for some time. It was all great and we enjoyed checking out the old CBC Bank as well.

Continuing around the block, we poked around a few more artsy stores and marvelled at the wide footpaths and old architecture. Then it was time to do a random drive through the residential streets which was also fascinating, observing the old and the new. We found a park and I dropped a few more rocks and then we headed back.

I found my way back to the thermal pools and found Gaz & Kev easing away their golfing pains. We met some people from … of all places … Belmont Sth, only a mile or so from where Kev & Maz live. It was quite busy at the pools – lots of oldies … like us. A few drinks on our front porch and it was time for me to cook dinner. I was going great guns slicing onions for the Beef Stroganoff when I decided to also slice my thumb pretty deeply. As the others said, some people will go to extraordinary lengths to get out of cooking dinner and washing up. It took a while to staunch the flow of blood and lots of bandaids and various other wrappings to try to contain it. Oh well the Strog still tasted good!

Big day tomorrow – early start as we’re off to Lightning Ridge for a day trip – nearly 3 hours each way!

2019 Road Trip - Day 1 Newcastle to Moree

Day 1 Newcastle to Moree

After careful planning, much discussion, list making and preparation, the day dawned bright, but coolish, for our foray to the north west of the state as we began our (now) annual odyssey with our friends Marion and Kevin. Gaz and I had mostly packed the night before so it was fairly effortless to throw some last minute things together, pack the car and set off.

Leaving at the pre-determined time of 9am, the trip was almost derailed before it started - after travelling exactly 50 metres we saw our daughter-in-law Alyce and (almost) 2 year-old grandson Ollie had arrived to hang out at our place. Gaz was already wondering how he would go not seeing the grandkids for 3 weeks and this almost tipped him over the edge. “Stop the car”, he cried, promptly jumping from the almost still moving car to run and give him one last farewell hug.

With final waves and blowing of kisses we then moved a whole one km down the road to fill the car with petrol – something Gaz forgot to do yesterday. My pushbike and bike rack had already started moving with a startling mind of its own, twisting alarmingly despite being tightened within an inch of its life. “That’s it”, I exclaimed. “We’re going back home and ditching it.” I couldn’t stand the stress of it having a mind of its own for the next 2168km! So, no biking for me.

Our final attempt to leave was successful and we enjoyed an uneventful trip to Willow Tree where we stopped for a cuppa, meeting up with Kev and Maz who arrived 20 minutes ahead of us due to our false starts. They are travelling with their caravan and trusty canine companion Buddy, who was perfectly behaved as usual. I took the opportunity to ‘drop’ some of my painted rocks – part of a movement where you decorate rocks, drop them in parks, post on NSW Rocks Facebook site, and then kids can find them and keep them or re-hide them elsewhere, also posting when they’re found. You put your postcode on the back so you can see how far they travel. Kids love the treasure hunt and I enjoy the craft aspect, so it’s a win/win.

We agreed we would meet up at Narrabri for a late picnic lunch and enjoyed another uneventful though pleasant trip along the Breeza Plain. The scenery was great – I love a good plain! We saw some cotton growing alongside the highway and lots of water by the side of the road. I guess they’ve have some rain recently. A few more dropped rocks, a brief look through the Narrabri Tourist Information Centre and we were back on the road for our last short leg to Moree.

We are staying at a caravan park that has five hot mineral pools. After a hastily cooked, yet scrumptious BBQ dinner, Gaz, Maz & I hot footed it off to the pools. Ahhh, very relaxing. They are all different temperatures – Maz and I liked it HOT! They don’t close until 10pm so we stayed until then, a short stroll back to the cabin, shower, and ready for bed. Great first day.