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April/May 2023

April - Mei 2023
NSW & SA
Ballina
South West Rocks
Port Macquarie
Murrumbidgee & Murray Rivers
Barossa Valley
Flinders Ranges
The Eyre Peninsular with the Fine’s
The “Back of Bourke” Baca selengkapnya
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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    1
    Hari 21

    Tumby Bay - Amazing Street Art

    7 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Although a small town, Tumby Bay has set itself up as the street art capital of the Eyre Peninsula. On almost every street are one or more mural on walls and buildings that are interesting and attractive.
    It also has a large silo art painting that is different to others because the painting was done horizontally across the curves of the 4 silos rather the usual vertical painting done down each silo. This made the design difficult to avoid gaps when viewing the silos from a position other than the one intended by the painter. Hence the viewing area directs visitors down one end of the silos section these gaps in the painting are not seen.
    We spent all morning walking around the town seeking out the various street art murals. The weather was overcast, cool, and intermittent rain, and being a Sunday shops and most eating places were closed. So by the early afternoon we made our way back to the caravans for a restful afternoon doing some cleaning of the vans.
    As late afternoon approached the usual campfire was started. We cooked the meal tonight with BBQ lamb bought at the Spear Creek Caravan Park, and as an experiment the vegetables were cooked in the air fryer. The meat was a bit tougher than expected and the vegetables a bit undercooked - not one of our better culinary outcomes.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    1
    Hari 22

    Port Lincoln & Coffin Bay

    8 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today we headed for the popular tourist destination of Coffin Bay. Along the way we dropped into Point Boston and then onto Port Lincoln which is the unofficial capital of the Eyre Peninsula.
    Both places would have looked better if the sky had been blue as that would have changed the colour of the water, but today remained overcast and the clouds caused the water to be a gray colour.
    Some shopping and lunch in Port Lincoln before completing the short distance to Coffin Bay. As we left Port Lincoln we stopped at the famous Fresh Fish Place to buy some fish for our future dinners.
    On arrival the initial impressions of Coffin Bay were very favourable with the small bay and surrounding hills creating a very attractive landscape. We will stay here for 3 nights and have a good look around this popular place. We signed into the Discovery Coffin Bay Caravan Park which is always booked out but fortunately Sue and Mark had made a booking for us about a month ago. It was housekeeping time with Carolina pleased that at last we had power, water, and laundry facilities available to do a lot of clothes washing while Peter set up and cleaned van.
    Coffin Bay is famous for its oysters and tomorrow we will indulge. For today a twilight walk along the coast whet the appetite of the sights Coffin Bay has to offer.
    For anyone who has been trying to follow our trip using the Garmin tracking link we apologise that our Garmin InReach satellite tracker and communicator which has been working flawlessly for years unexpectedly failed a few days ago. We think the problem has now been fixed and the Garmin link for our trip should work normally from now on.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 23

    Oyster Country

    9 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Coffin Bay is famous for its oysters. The natural oyster of the area was harvested too much by the aboriginals of the area and over time disappeared, so the Pacific Oyster common in other places in Australia was brought in and is now the oyster type farmed here.
    Coffin Bay is the first place we have ever seen an oyster vending machine!! Select the number of oysters you want, whether you want them shucked or closed, pay your money, and the are dispensed for you!! You can even select a shucking knife as an option!!
    The weather today was cloudy and some rain. Very unpredictable. This cast a dampener on the day because the lovely views we had expected could not be seen at their best with the grey water colours. We saw a family of emus who wandered around the caravan park, and we drove around town during which we saw an unusual house with all sorts of metal sculptures outside. We had thought about taking an oyster boat tour which goes out to some of the oyster beds where you don some waders, and then pick your own oysters for eating later. The boat did operate but we decided the weather today did not really suit this type of trip.
    So in oyster country what do you do if the weather is not good? Of course you eat oysters! Our oyster feast began when Mark and Sue brought some for us to share in the afternoon outside our caravan. The oysters needed to be opened so Peter and Mark did the shucking while Sue and Carolina did most of the eating! Together with some wine, the afternoon bad weather blues disappeared at the same speed as did the oysters and wine - decadent but very enjoyable!
    Having partaken of an oyster afternoon it was then decided to head to the Oyster HQ restaurant nearby. The plan has been to have some more oysters, but then we saw the seafood chowder! Amazing! So with some more wine to wash down the food we had some seafood chowder and some extra tapas for a lovely dinner. A very pleasant way to end a day in Oyster Country.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 24

    At Last the Sun Shines!

    10 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    To date our trip through the Eyre Peninsula has been met with overcast and rainy conditions. However that all changed today when at last the clouds cleared and the sun came out. And what a change this made to the sights around Coffin Bay! Suddenly the blue water opened up the views and the true beauty of Coffin Bay was revealed. Glass smooth blue water, lots of islands and peninsulas, and scenic views that extended as far as the eye could see.
    So today we started with a long walk on the Oyster Walk, a tourist walk that winds its way around the Coffin Bay town. We were restricted to how far we could walk because some of the walk went through the National Park where of course dogs are prohibited.
    We then returned to the car and took a very scenic drive into the near hinterland of Coffin Bay on some gravel and then 4WD tracks through the length of the long peninsula that runs opposite to and across the bay from the township of Coffin Bay. The 4WD track was a bit rough in places but finally took us into a small beach directly opposite the town.
    On the way back we came across a pig farm (yes it did smell very much like a pig farm!) which featured a small cafe and pork sales shop. It was unusual so we dropped in for a cappu and bought some pork to put on the BBQ sometime during the next week.
    Then we caught up with Mark & Sue again, left Chanel in the caravan, and took a drive through the National Park. Wow, what great views we saw!! Long sheer cliffs above blue water, secluded beaches, picturesque islands just off the coast, and all the time being aware that there was nothing south of our position out past the Great Australian Bight until you reached Antarctica! From time to time we came across emus, kangaroos, even rabbits. A really pleasant drive with great views!
    After a very pleasant day it was time for another dozen oysters washed down with some vino before heading to the local pub for a fish meal. Life is so tough when you are on a caravan trip….
    Coffin Bay has been a very worthwhile stopover full of lovely views and some surprises. Tomorrow we leave here to head further west on the Eyre Peninsula.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    1
    Hari 25

    Stonehenge revisited

    11 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Today was a relatively short day of around 250km as we headed further west towards Streaky Bay. Great weather but a cool wind that added a chill factor when exposed to it. Along the way we had a look at Kiana and then stopped in Elliston for a coffee. Elliston had a some more street mural paintings on some of the buildings which is becoming popular in small towns.
    Beyond Ellison we stopped at a farm bakery alongside the road who make bread and rolls everyday and put them in an honesty stall on the side of the road. You can take the bread and put the money into an honesty box.
    Then it was off to Venus Bay, a small village set among some lovely coastal scenery which until recently boasted only 20 residents. It now it has become popular and the population has risen to (wait for it) 169 people, and during the summer months all accommodation and caravan parks are fully booked out.
    A short distance beyond Venus Bay was our campsite for the night at a free camp called Murphy’s Haystacks, and what an interesting place this turned out to be! Stonehenge revisited - the area has some amazing large stone rocks, pillars, and boulders reminiscent of Stonehenge and a smaller version of The Olgas. Three sets of these rocks are in the area all of which are only about 10 mins walk from the campsite. During the early days of horse-driven coaches taking people out this way, these stones became known as The Haystacks. Amazing stone formations overlooking the surrounding plains and farmland. Despite being very unusual which you would think would make the stones important to the early aboriginals, it was surprising that there were no aboriginal paintings on any of the rocks. We spent about an hour wandering amongst these amazing rock structures. Very different and very interesting!!
    Returning to the campsite it was time to prepare for the campfire, something we have not been able to use for the last few days while staying at a caravan park. Lots of firewood was around, so with fish, salad, pumpkin, & mashed potato on the menu, we settled in for a very pleasant dinner and fire. The sun set and stars came out as we talked for a long time around a very good large and warm fire.
    Tonight was our last with Mark & Sue as they head further west while we start heading back east tomorrow. We will miss their company. The four of us have had a very nice time together over the last week and hopefully we can all do a similar trip together another time. All the best to them as they continue their journey to Broome.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 26

    The Western Edge

    12 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today started with a hiccup. When we started our normally very reliable Land Cruiser some warning lights illuminated indicating a possible problem. Mark had a diagnostic tool available that logs into the car OBD system to find out what problem was indicating. A key suspect was that last night the car battery played up requiring a jump start, so we suspected the warnings were spurious caused by the temporary low voltage that had occurred. We rang Toyota service in Port Lincoln who confirmed our thoughts and was happy for us to continue driving the car providing the warning did not re-occur after the fault was cleared. So we cleared the fault and continued our journey and were pleased that the fault did not re-occur. Hopefully the problem will not re-occur for the remainder of our trip. The battery is on its last legs and will need to be replaced.
    These problems delayed our departure, but today was a relatively low mileage day anyway.
    Streaky Bay was only 40kms away and this is a very nice small country town located in the coast. It is clearly a popular tourist stopover because the place was full of caravans and grey nomads. Lots of small shops and a very nice seaside waterfront area, a number of very attractive well-kept old buildings which were very well preserved, with a nice jetty and a number of cafes and food outlets. It was a very pleasant stopover for our morning coffee.
    Then it was off to a famous free camp area at Perlubie Beach, famous because caravans are permitted to drive onto and camp right on the sand in the beach. It has become so popular that a permit is now required to stay there and the number of caravans per night is limited to 30. We were not stying there this time but we wanted to see it for future reference. It is a long white sand beach with good camping facilities, but one of the features we have noticed about many SA beaches is the large amount of seaweed and kelp that piles up on the beach after being washed ashore. This spoils what would otherwise be a lovely long white sand beach.
    After a quick look around the Perlubie Beach campground we continued to our final destination for the day at Smoky Bay.
    Smoky Bay is the most western edge of our trip where we turn around and each day from now on will have us heading east back towards Noosa. This is also the place where Mark and Sue leave us and continue their journey further west. We checked into the Smoky Bay caravan park and bid farewell to Mark & Sue as they headed off to Ceduna.
    Smoky Bay is also famous for its oysters, so after settling in we went to the Oyster outlet area and bought a dozen of the largest and most delicious oysters we have ever tasted! Wow!! A great way to celebrate the western extremity of our trip!
    Smoky Bay has a very laid-back atmosphere and is a place that would be great for a relaxing beach holiday and is probably very popular in the summer months. We walked around feeling very much at home, chatting easily with a few of the locals, and thoroughly enjoying this small town. It was one of the nicest small towns we have seen on this trip. The only downside was that the Internet was a bit like the town - very laid back and slow - which was a bit frustrating.
    Tomorrow will be an early start with around 500km of driving ahead.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 27

    The Road to Déjà Vu

    13 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The alarm sounded at 6am and in the dark we got things ready for leaving Smoky Bay. Today is going to be the longest day of our trip with about 500km to be travelled. We find the ideal max distance for caravanning is around 350km per day as this amounts to about 4 hours of driving, and with a 1-hour coffee or lunch break halfway through, the travelling time is around 5 hours. So leaving at 8am means arriving around 1pm which gives time to set up camp and then explore the new destination.
    Of course there are times when longer distances are required and today was one of those times.
    We were on the road just after 7am with a 38km gravel road easterly shortcut first up to get quick access to the A1 Eyre Highway and then heading for Port Augusta. A perfect day for driving with blue skies, nil wind, and very little traffic on the roads. All we had to do was drive carefully as the sun rose to watch out for kangaroos.
    The drive was uneventful including the mandatory coffee break at a very busy coffee shop and bakery at Wudinna, and then a short break to look at the silo art and the Big Galah at Kimba.
    The road scenery changed a lot and at times the road itself was a straight line that disappeared into the horizon with trees lining either side. Unfortunately Carolina was feeling a bit off colour today and used the long drive to curl up on her seat and have a long sleep.
    Our destination today was a free campsite that we had stayed at earlier on this trip - Hancock’s Lookout just on the eastern side of Port Augusta. When we were here last time it was cold and intermittently raining and in the morning we had cold heavy fog. But today is sky clear and 10 degrees warmer so we thought we should not leave SA without a last stop at the free camp with the best panoramic views! So with a feeling of Déjà Vu we climbed the gravel road to the top of the lockout at 2000’ above sea level and set up camp with a lovely panoramic view over the Spencer Gulf.
    There is another thing that has changed since we were last here. If you look at the campsite photo carefully you will note the caravan is very dirty. Throughout this trip Carolina has been wanting to regularly wash the car and caravan, but this is a big job, and in any case what is the point as they will only get dirty again quickly as we continue our travels. So the big clean up will come when we get back to Noosa in about 8 days.
    Being 2000’amsl, even though the day is warmer than last time it will still get cool at night so a campfire will be needed.
    Tonight is clear skies and no moon, so the sunset was very nice and the night sky turned out to be great for star gazing using the Sky Tonight app to identify the stars/planets and constellations while keeping warm around the campfire. Déjà Vu is not so bad after all.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 28

    Mad Max Country

    14 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Australia’s outback is always fascinating. Long distances through ever changing scenery, small towns some with only a pub and a general store, others with a life and soul of their own despite their isolation.
    Fascinating people can be found along the way and we met one of these today when we stopped at a roadhouse for coffee at the small outback town of Yunta. He was a truckie from Kununurra named Barry, a friendly guy who took a shine to Chanel. He took us of a story about a dog from Kununurra who was going to be put. down but was bought by someone who lived in Perth, so this truckie agreed to take him in the truck cab to Perth. Along the way his trucking schedule changed due to the floods and instead he drove more than 20,000km in the next 4 weeks around Australia with this dog until he finally got back to Perth. The ABC did a TV article on this story which he showed us:
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-27/abandone…
    A really interesting character to meet over a coffee in the middle of nowhere.
    Today we headed inland towards one of Australia’s most famous outback towns, Broken Hill, also known as Silver City. With a history going back to the 1880s and being the birthplace of Australia’s largest company BHP this city has a lot to offer the tourist.
    So as the kilometres ticked by we looked forward to a short 2-night stay that would give us a taste of this town.
    Researching what to do at each place we visit really is the key to a successful trip. But sometimes the details slip through the cracks. Today we found out when we arrived at Broken Hill that one of the main attractions, Silverton, is almost totally closed on Mondays. Our plan for tomorrow, Monday, was to spend half a day seeing the sights and attractions of Silverton. So despite driving 400km we jumped in the car and drove another 30km to get to Silverton before they closed today.
    Silverton looks like a town from an old western movie with lovely turn of the century buildings set in a real outback environment. As a result it has been used in a number of well known movies including Mad Max 2, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, A Town like Alice, Wake in Fright, Razorback, just to name a few.
    We had 45 mins to go before the Max Max 2 Museum closed so this was our first stop. Movie memorabilia including a large number of vehicles used by Mel Gibson and others was on display. The Silverton Hotel was heaving with people for the Mother’s Day Sunday Session. While having a couple of drinks there a herd of cattle trotted down the dirt road in front of the hotel to add that extra bit of country & western atmosphere. A mixture of odd colours decorated the John Dynon art gallery, and the wide flat horizon at the Mundi Mundi lookout showed off the outback very well.
    Silverton was an interesting place aimed at the tourist. However on our last trip we spent a few days at Lightning Ridge which we felt had more to offer.
    So after a long day it was back to Broken Hill for a Mother’s Day dinner at the Silver City Chinese restaurant. Tomorrow we will spend the whole day looking around Silver City.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 29

    Broken Hill in a whirlwind 10 hours

    15 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    The Silver City has so much to offer the tourist. Lots of things to see and do, but in our case we had so little time to get this done. To do justice to the sights and attractions of this fascinating town you should really set aside a minimum of 3-4 days. However our time schedule here will only allow us one full day as we have to get back to Noosa by next weekend. So today was always going to be action-packed.
    We were up early and started seeing the sights at 8am and finally ended with a beautiful sunset at 6pm. 10 hours of busy but very interesting and varied touring.
    During the day we did a full tour of the Royal Flying Doctor Service facilities which has a big base and historical museum in Broken Hill, and learned about the important role it has played to those living in the remote outback for the last nearly 100 years. We had a delicious milkshake and waffle at the famous retro 1950s Bells Milk-bar. We gazed in awe at the multitude of amazing paintings at the Pro Hart Gallery and marvelled at his Rolls Royce collection and the prolific way he painted more than 100,000 paintings in his 78 year life! We walked much of the Heritage Trail in the city including the infamous Palace Hotel where Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed and where the annual Broken Heel drag festival is held We visited the sobering Miners Memorial that held an honour plaque and a rose for each of those many many miners who have died over the last 100 years in the mines of the Silver City. Unfortunately the mining museums that we wanted so much to visit were closed until later in the week which was a big disappointment.
    Then as the afternoon was drawing to a close we experienced the highlight of the day when we went to the Living Desert Sculptures that are located around 10km outside Broken Hill up on one of the ridges with a great view of the city. These sculptures pick up the early morning sun as well as the sunset and are a very unique collection from sculptors from many places around the world. We had been told these were best viewed just before sunset to pick up the colours and then we should stay and see the sunset - and the advice was right. It was a truly unique experience to see these very unusual sculpture statues lit up by the orange sunset with the setting sun sky alight behind them. A great way to end a busy but fascinating day touring one of Australia’s most interesting outback towns.
    Then it was back to the Broken Hill Racecourse free camp where we had stayed for our 2 nights here which is a well kept campground and a very nice place to stay. A relaxing fish dinner watching TV ended a very pleasant day.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • PelancongApril/May 2023
    Hari 30

    A Day on an Outback Road

    16 Mei 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    We woke at 6am with an outside air temperature of 6 degrees. It was warm in the van as the gas heater had been on low all night and the all-composite construction of the Zone interior, walls, floor, and roof make for a very well insulated van. Our plan was to drive about 400km to a free camp about 60km from Cobar. This camp was a rest area close to the Barrier Highway which contained a number of camp sites in a bush environment and had very good reviews on WikiCamps. There was not much to do at such a campsite except relax, have a campfire, cook a meal, and chill out. So there was no point in getting there too early, and we planned to leave Broken Hill at a leisurely time of around 9am.
    In the meantime we went for a good walk around the racetrack area where our campsite is located. There is a large dirt racetrack and two main grandstands. Parts of the surrounding grass areas where the horses may be presented has been turned into the campground and provides very flat nice grassy areas with access to toilets and showers as well as a number of power and water sites for an extra fee. We are fully self-contained so we opted for a unpowered site that was away from the grandstand and under some trees which gave a nice bush setting and some privacy. After our walk we hitched up for the day ahead.
    Once underway the next decision was where are we planning to stop for a cappuccino? After due consultation with the GPS and Google Maps we decided that would be the the exciting outback town of Wilcannia. So with that target in mind we cruised for about 2 hours along the Barrier Highway only occasionally passing a truck or car coming the opposite way. The kilometres ticked by… and there it was! The big sign saying welcome to the RV Friendly town of Wilcannia! We could smell the coffee - or so we thought, because it turned out we were in for a shock.
    As we entered the reasonable sized town we starting searching for the cafe, it had to be somewhere near the main road. Up and down the main streets we went until it dawned on us that there is no cafe open in Wilcannia!!! Whaaaat!! That had to be wrong, so Carolina hopped out of the car and went into a Pharmacy that was open. When she came out the colour was drained from her face - there is no cafe open in Wilcannia!!
    With knees trembling from shock we pulled over on the side of the road next to a nice park and made our own cappuccinos in the van and drank them while looking at a group of ducks.
    Then something else caught Carolina’s eye. A black cockatoo! So camera in hand she rushed over and got a quick picture of this lovely bird before it flew away.
    Having now seen the sights of wonderful Wilcannia we headed out again on the Barrier Highway. Only 200 km to go to our camp site.
    Again the kilometres ticked over as the scenery varied slightly from flat wide plains to long areas of trees and slightly undulating hills. The outback of Australia can be a little monotonous but it does change and is never really boring. However Carolina was starting to get frustrated and wanted the day to finish and was very pleased when we around 3pm we turned into the Meadow Glen Rest Area campsite. It is quite a large tree and bush area with room for around 20 caravans spread among generally secluded bush sites. One item that immediately caught our attention was many of the trees have clocks hanging on them! Yes you read correctly, clocks! Clearly some previous caravanners have decided to make this a special site by hanging a clock on a tree and there are perhaps 15 clocks in the area. A funny and different way of distinguishing this campground.
    We set up and then relaxed over a rum & coke (or two) before cooking our final supply of Salvadorean papusas for a nice dinner next to a campfire. The campfire today was not one of our best ones and the wood did not burn easily or give out as much heat as normal. So it was an early night after just another day on an outback road.    Baca selengkapnya

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