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Novices on the road
  • Jacqui Zuidema
  • Jamie Zuidema

Novices on the road

Outback and east coast Australia Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 16, 2022
  • Novices on the road

    Visit to Eloise

    May 26, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    A quick visit to Canberra to see Eloise. Accommodation for this leg was a motel. A couple of dinners with Eloise, a trip to Parliament House and the museum where I really enjoyed a textile exhibition. Jamie just waited me out. We also got to watch Eloise play football again 🏉.Read more

  • Novices on the road

    Barham

    May 30, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Just an overnight stop. Lovely caravan park on the banks of the Murray. Somehow our Andersen plug was destroyer and live wires were hanging down. Went to Cohuna the next morning and had it fixed. Visited Keith and Ellie for a couple of hours. Thanks for the cuppa☕️Read more

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    Hopetoun

    June 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Over the past few days we wound our way along the Silo Art trail. Staying overnight in Rupanyup and Hopetoun (2 nights). Celebrated my birthday in the freezing cold with wind and rain. Very simple Pasta was the birthday dinner and mums fruit cake stood in as the birthday cake. Huge murals on the silos are amazing and interesting to read the story of the art and artist. Camp fire dinners at Lake Lascelles both nights in Hopetoun, burgers night one and a curry in the camp oven night 2. Yum. We made a friend with a man who called us the “young love bugs.” 🤣❤️ We explained that we are not that young to which he replied “compared with most of the people on the road you are.” He supplied us with some firewood too. 🔥 We kept toasty warm in front of the fire. I also managed a spot of bird watching. Beautiful soft sunrises and sunsets. 🌅🌄Read more

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    Barmera

    June 4, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Arrived in Lake Bonney from Hopetoun. Dinner at the Barmera Sports Club with our neighbours Barbara and David. A fun night and a joint win of the meat tray, which was dinner tonight. Very pretty town and waterfront. View of the lake out our back window. Gin tasting and lunch at Rustons distillery. The Gin experience was amazing. Beautifully presented and some great tasting Gin. A walk along the Murray in Renmark and then back to keep warm in the caravan. Mostly just needed to get out of the wind weather was 17oCRead more

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    Barossa Valley and Kapunda

    June 9, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We stayed in the Kapunda caravan park for 5 nights. Mostly Jamie worked and I toured the area. Lots of beautiful scenery, but very overcast and wet. Both Kapunda and Barossa have an interesting history and beautiful old buildings. Of course their were wineries visited and lots of local produce bought. Not just wine 🍷…….but food as well. 🫒🧀the Museum’s and displays on Kapunda history very interesting especially those about the founders and early settlers of the region.
    Wines purchased from Kalleske wines, Henty farm and First drop (very limited storage!)
    I had a lovely visit to Maggie Beer’s Pheasant farm. Lots of purchases followed by a visit to a shop that sold lots of local produce.
    A trip to Seppeltsfield was also amazing. Lots of history,artisans at work and a shop that sells beauty products made from olive oil.
    On our first night we went out to dinner with Cath and Andrew to a great pub. The Uraidla pub was beautifully restored and food and wine divine. It was so lovely to see Cath and Andrew after, we think, about 15 years. Thanks guys for dropping everything and booking dinner. It felt more like we caught up last week not 15 years ago.

    We also had dinner at the Greenock Pub. So cozy and great food.

    In Kapunda I went down the street each day and had coffee and visited Coopers Fresh, to buy fresh fruit and veg, sourdough bread and other local goodies. Hopefully we have enough yummy things to jazz up our outback meals. Onto the Clare Valley but we forgot it’s a long weekend. We managed to find a powered site (for the heater) in Yacka about 30 mins from Clare.    Read more

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    More wineries

    June 11, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    More wineries visited and more wine purchased. We are now loaded with wine so time to leave before we overload the car.
    Camp ground at Yacka was lovely and peaceful but a bit damp and muddy. Cold is just the norm now.

    Lovely winery called the Sussex Squire was our first stop. We then visited Mad Bastard wines, Paulette wines and Wilson’s. Paulette have a fantastic wine and tasting experience with the food having a native theme.

    A visit to Farrell Flat for some Silo art and Tea and cake in the local - had had plenty to drink at this point. Not sure what to make of the publican there!

    A campfire at the campground with a couple of other campers was a great pre dinner drink and chat. Jamie learned a lot about cropping and we also learnt about the quandong.    Read more

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    Orroroo

    June 12, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Along the way from Yacka to Orroroo we past some beautiful scenery and historic towns. Jamestown and Petersbrough were beautiful. We visited the Railway museum in Peterbrough and Bundaleer Forest and sculpture walk near Jamestown. Both very interesting! I knew I’d like the sculptures but was surprised by how much I enjoyed the tour of the old railway. Hosted by a volunteer who was a railway worker many years ago. There was even a turn table and some sheds very similar to those in Thomas the tank🚂.
    We ended the evening with a G&T, a camp fire and another sunset view. I seem never to tire of these. 😀🌄

    The Orroroo caravan park was well set up with good facilities not to mention the camp fire pit and mountain views.    Read more

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    Warren Gorge

    June 15, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Hiked 5km through Warren Gorge, just out of Quorn, this afternoon after Jamie finished his zoom sessions. We saw an abundance of wildlife including goats on rocks, Wallabies, grazing sheep and what I think are Australian Ringneck Parrots. There seemed to be very few species of plants that thrive in that environment. We managed to avoid rain but saw a rainbow 🌈 It was a great way to finish the day.Read more

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    Quorn. Work stop #2

    June 16, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Quorn is a quiet town Mon - Thurs but gets busier in the later part of the week and weekends- all those tourists!
    The Caravan park is a lovely bush setting with compact but clean bathrooms and wonderful other amenities.

    Arriving on Queens birthday public holiday, we stopped at the Qandong cafe for coffee and to taste the Qandongs. Scones with Quandong jam and cream were delicious. we then checked into the caravan park, set up camp and went directly to the transcontinental to watch the footy. Unfortunately it was only Jamie happy with the result. 😢 We ended the day with a counter meal there.

    Silo art in Quorn takes the form of a digital display projected onto the silos. It was great, as was the sunset happening in the background. It was informative as well as a stunning light show.

    Whilst Jamie was working I did a few walks around town and gardens, shopping for necessities, chatting to other campers, the dreaded washing including sheets and towels. Don’t think I’ll complain again about changing the doona in a big bedroom, where you can walk around the bed😂.
    The weather was a little warmer both during the day and night. Up to 17oC.    Read more

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    Wilpena Pound

    June 18, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    After a very easy drive up the highway to Wipena Pound we set up camp in an unpowered site but with access to camp amenities. The days were lively but the nights a little chilly especially without the use of our heater. When we return we are having a diesel heater installed. 🤣

    We then set off on a hike to the old Hills homestead and Wangarra lookouts. It was a beautiful walk through the Pond gap, along the creek to the homestead and then a fairly easy climb to the lookouts, giving us our first high view of Wilpena Pound.

    The next day was a busy one for us. It began quite leisurely but soon any thoughts of leisure were forgotten as we trekked up Mt Ohlssen Bagge. This was a 4 hour walk up a very high mountain. Well it felt like a huge mountain. The track was rough and I would call 2/3rds of the walk a cross between bush whacking and rock climbing. At times the track was not clearly marked and we lost the trail a couple of times. After more rock climbing and scaling the mountain top we found the track again to continue on our merry way- or not so merry in my case. It is confirmed I AM NOT A HARD CORE WALKER! Many might have known that already but for some reason I wanted to try a hard walk again- well the first one for over 20 years. Jamie very patiently put up with me or at least tried to ignore me. But I made it and it was definitely worth the walk. After lunch back at camp we headed out in the car along one of the smaller tracks to Bunyeroo Gorge, Razorback lookout, Brachina Gorge and Stokes hill lookout. A beautiful drive through gorge’s and creek beds and a few trips over hills and along ridge tops. It was beautiful. We finished the tour watching the sunset from Stokes Hill lookout. We finished the evening with dinner and Gins at the Wilpena Pound resort restaurant.    Read more

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    Blinman

    June 19, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Blinman was a short lunch stop on the way to Arkaroola. On the way we passed “the Great Wall of china”. Not sure what it was built for but it was an impressive sight and feat. Very interesting little town with an active community. Blinman does not belong to any shire so the residents all work together to get access to services. There is also an old Copper mine there which we did a tour of. It was restored and is run by the townsfolk. For lunch we had the choice of the town pub or the Bilman bakery. After a mine tour we opted for a traditional Cornish pasty from the bakery. The last 8th of the pasty is not filled with meet and veggies but instead apples giving us a complete 2 course lunch. 😀 It would have been very hard work being a miner or family member in this remote location. Very hot in Summer and in winter nights can get into the minuses. There were tourists all over the tiny town.
    After leaving Blinman, we also left the bitumen roads for a few days.    Read more

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    Arkaroola

    June 21, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We arrived in Arkaroola on the 18/6 and left on 21/6/22. It actually rained a very fine light rain the whole way there. The dirt road was in reasonable condition and we found a campsite I. The pretty rough caravan park. This time we had power.
    Whilst in Arkaroola we did their Ridge top tour which was breathtaking. We were fortunate enough to seek Arkaroola after some good rains and the landscape was often green. Our driver and your guide Pierre was French but he looked the part, drove well was informative and entertaining as we scaled the cliffs , made steep descents and bounced through the creek beds. All whilst looking at the most spectacular landscape. Our cage of fellow tourists were fun which added to the trip. A definite highlight so far. We were late leaving and therefore returned after dark. It was cold by then and we did t take our jackets. 🤣. Apparently I didn’t learn from that same mistake the Pease family made when we went 30+ years ago. Imagine me not remembering that ! They offered tea and Lamingtons at the top but not too many took. Drink at the top!!! We again had dinner out. All that eating out is about to end though😢    Read more

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    Arkaroola to Marree

    June 22, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We left Arkaroola and drove on a very rough windy road over the Gammon Ranges,with lots of flood ways and creek crossings, most of which were dry. A couple of puddles here and there. We arrived in Copley and Brought lunch (pies) from the Copley bakery. We then drove about 6kms south to Leigh Creek where we stopped at Foodland to purchase some supplies. Our destination for the day - Marree.
    Along the way we stopped at the Farina ruins. Farina was once a town but now all that is left is the station. However the ruins are slowly being partially restored and maintained by volunteers who spend time replacing stone. There is however an operating bakery there. The bread is baked in the restored underground oven. We purchased some lovely sourdough bread and slices after making our way around the ruins which we can see are laid out in the town grid.
    By about 4pm we made it to Marree. It was very underwhelming and there was a lot less of a town than we expected. However the caravan park was good although water pressure was non existent. Just a trickle for a shower.
    A lot of dust to clean out of the van    Read more

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    The Birdsville track day 1

    June 22, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We left Maree around 9:30 on 22/6/22 to head out along the Birdsville track. We planned to stay one night on the track before reaching Birdsville on the 23rd.
    We were not prepared for the green that spread out before us as we began our trip up the track. The road was mostly gravel and a little stoney in places. There were also areas that were a little muddy and othered with deepish ruts in the track. Overall driving conditions were fairly good. We drove to Mungeraniee roadhouse for lunch. We topped up our fuel and the sat a while in the pub/roadhouse. Drank a refreshing bitters lime and lemon. Jamie ate an enormous camel burger 🍔 for lunch. I was glad I just ordered a toastie. We also had a plate of slices for dessert. A little unexpected lunch for us. Back on the road for another couple of hours and then we pulled into Clifton Hill camp area. This comprised of a toilet, a lot of rocks and couple or tiny trees or bushes. There was one other couple staying there.
    For the second day in a row we had to de-dust the van. It was covered with dust. We think it is getting in through the back where the bed folds out. It was more challenging to clean here where we didn’t want to use too much of our water.

    We sat by our camp fire, had a champagne and ate dinner whist watching the sun set in the desert. The daytime temperature was around 21oC and the evening wasn’t too cold.    Read more

  • Novices on the road

    Beyond Birdsville - The beginning

    June 24, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Another short travel day around 180kms. Birdsville- Bedourie. Bedourie means dust storm. Not much here in this little town which holds the shire headquarters for Diamantina shire, which has 3 towns and a total population of around 300. Bedourie is right on the edge of the Simpson desert. In the town there is a spa where the water comes straight out of a thermal spring and is 40oC. Very hot. Today was 24oC and my second day in shorts and first in bathers, yay. 😀 again there was plenty of water in creeks and along the side of the road but none across the road. The road from Birdsville to Bedourie was mostly sealed. They were in the process of sealing another section, but instead of closing half the road at a time they were creating a new road alongside the gravel / Sandy track.
    We stopped at the Cutaburra crossing over the Eyre creek. It was a lovely spot with so much bird life. It was a constant chatter of bird calls as we got out of the car. Saw a snake on the edge of the road as we drove out.    Read more

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    Mount Isa

    June 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    A long day of travel today about 500kms of mostly narrow sealed roads from Bedourie to Mount Isa. The road trip passed through 2 towns and the most exciting part was the 6 or so wedge tailed eagles we saw.
    Not a lot to see in Mt Isa. Big town with a lot of mining around it. Good amenities but not a lot else going for it.
    We didn’t book a caravan park and we’re lucky enough to get a site but for one night only. Mount Isa is the biggest town by far we have visited since leaving Victoria. Streets were neat enough but buildings old, rundown and abandoned. We had lots of warnings to lock up everything but no dramas.
    Our van electrics not working properly for the step and awning. Not sure if it has been caused by dust, rocks, bouncing around or all of the above. As no vacancies in any parks for Sunday night we’ll drive to Cloncurry and see if we can get it fixed there.    Read more

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    Mary Kathleen

    June 26, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    On the road between Mount Isa and Cloncurry is the abandoned or rather dismantled uranium mine and township of Mary Kathleen. All that is left of the town is the bitumen street layout and some slabs and footings from the buildings. It was a very interesting and lovely few hours of exploring from an unexpected find. It was also a fantastic free camp site but we only stayed for lunch as were booked into Cloncurry caravan park for the night. Definitely somewhere to go back to. There would have been 30 vehicles camping here across the site.
    The drive to Cloncurry is only about 120 kms but it is a good road mainly used by Road trailers and caravaners although it is Qld school holidays.
    Day was finished off well watching the magpies defeat the Giants    Read more

  • Novices on the road

    Walkabout hotel

    June 28, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We’ve been in Cloncurry since 26/6 and will leave tomorrow. An unexpected longer stay. In this busy town. We had someone look at our electrics in the caravan and they have done a temporary fix so that we can operate the awning and step. Not the worst things to be without in the van though. Jamie also had to put in some work hours, so I have enjoyed relaxing in Cloncurry. The caravan park is very busy but pretty enough. Today we drove to the Walkabout pub for lunch. The McKinlay pub permanently changed its name after it was used in Crocodile Dundee. We enjoyed a beer and burger whilst reading all the fun stuff inside.
    We were going to head to Adele’s Grove/Lawn Hill National Park but they are expecting quiet a lot of rain on Thursday. Thought we might put it off a few days and head up to Karumba first then go back to Lawn Hill as 20mls of rain, a wet camp ground and a little caravan doesn’t really hold a lot of appeal😂……and Jamie needs reception for a zoom on Thursday.    Read more

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    Reaching the ocean

    June 29, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Arrived at Karumba, on the Gulf of Carpentaria this afternoon. It’s lovely to see the sea again. I definitely have an affinity with the ocean. Whilst the inland is vast and beautiful, the ocean is where I belong! We are at Karumba point where the river flows out to the gulf. It’s a bit different to Victoria though. Lots of Mangroves - the same, but only a little sand with rocks and dirt. Oh…. and there are also salt water crocs ! 🐊We watched the sunset from the tavern but it was a little cloudier than I would have liked. But still so relaxing to watch the interplay between the setting sun and the water. Great fisherman’s basket for dinner and a short stroll back to the caravan park to walk off the beers and the basket🤣……along the road not the mangrove/crocodile beach.
    Plenty of Brolgas along the way from Normanton to Karumba. It got to the stage that instead of getting excited I would just casually remark “there’s more Brolga’s.” Jamie is always so thrilled with bird talk!!!!
    It also appears that I like finding tyre swings!😀    Read more

  • Novices on the road

    A trying day on the road

    July 1, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We visited the Barra centre before leaving Karumba. It turns out this was very interesting. They have released thousands of baby Barra back into the creeks and lakes of the Gulf region. It is both a hatchery and an information centre.
    The day turned a bit ugly and we unexpectedly encountered very wet roads. This resulted in a very slow trip, very dirty car and some unplugged and damaged plugs from the car to the caravan. We are now on our third Andersen plug for the trip. We arrived at Burketown slightly before 3pm and after noticing the damaged plugs at our toilet stop, the first one where I encountered a road in the toilet bowl!🤣, we headed immediately to the mechanics. He was able to fix it but it wasn’t until after 5 that we had it all fixed. By then we had realised there was nowhere to stay in Burketown. We thought we’d head to the roadhouse about 20 mins down the road. Unfortunately a fairly matter of fact woman met us and told us her camp area was closed due to mud and we’d be best advised not to pull off the road as we would likely get bogged. So, breaking our pledge not to travel in the darkness we very slowly headed off to Gregory. The Darkness crept in quickly and we soon found ourselves on high alert with many cattle and Roos on or crossing the road. We were stared down by many a bull as we dared to interrupt their rest.
    Finally made it to Gregory roadhouse around 7:40. We joined about 20 other vans on the gravel by the pub, headed into the pub/roadhouse for a Parma and then went to bed.    Read more

  • Novices on the road

    Gregory downs & Lawn Hill N.P.

    July 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We awoke to a clearer sky but heard that roads were still wet. So we decided on a day trip to Lawn Hill National Park/ Boodjamulla. We moved the van to a recognised free camp area on higher ground and headed into the park after chatting to a lady who had been staying at Gregory for a week and , as you do, she had been chatting to many who came out of Lawn Hill. The road was Wet and slippery which resulted in an even more filthy car☹️ But we made it in unscathed. Adele’s grove was very boggy so we just walked though it but decided it would be worth coming back to for a few days camping. we then spent the remainder of the day taking some walks around Lawn Hill. After a bit of a walk along a track that wasn’t really a track we then walked to Indarri falls and Duwardarri lookout. The middle Gorge is spectacular from above. Canoeing went on our list of things to do when we returned the next day. Well Jamie canoed from the back of the boat while I took photos from the front.
    The road was much dryer on the way out. When we arrived back in Gregory with a filthy car we found that we were the go to for information from all incoming travellers. We had such experience!!!😂    Read more

  • Novices on the road

    Adels Grove

    July 3, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Beautiful, peaceful, relaxing. Sitting in our camp chairs facing Lawn Hill creek watching the birds, fish, and even a turtle sighting, is as soul refreshing as anything. Figs falling into the creek as birds eat them and fish swim up to finish the job. Jamie and I are sitting here at the end of a relaxing day with our G&T 🍹not even needing to reflect on life but just being present in the moment listening to the birds, water, wind and some chatter around us. We have met the neighbours for the evening, had our cold shower and enjoyed the early evening before cooking dinner. Add a campfire to the mix, a full tummy after a warm lamb and couscous salad, a 🍷 and ……… perfect! 😊 🔥
    As the weather has been unusually cool and wet there are very few campers around. Probably a real disappointment to the management as it’s school holiday time and probably one of the peek periods here- but a bonus for us!
    bird sightings around the area have included - sacred kingfisher, emus, Jabiru’s, Brolgas, sulphur crested and red tailed black cockatoos, shrike thrush, Willy wag tails and some others I’m yet to identify. I’m enjoying increasing my bird knowledge, using binoculars, camera, a bird book and an app.    Read more

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