‘Pre retirement’ trial

We are taking 6 months leave from work to see more of this beautiful country we call home.
Will we return…….. En savoir plus

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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 2 (96)
13 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Friday the 13th 😳
Sunny and blue skies with high 28☀️

🏡 Home for night
We decided to stayed on at Lake Hume Ludlows Reserve

🚴🏻 23km bike ride
🏃🏼 5.5km run

👍🏻Getting back out adventuring on the bikes 🚴‍♀️🚴
👎🏻 We’re def feeling it, it’s been a while since we were last on the bikes 😩

Early start to our day courtesy of the early morning fishermen, but we were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise 🌅

We’re getting back into the flow of being on the road so decided to get out and explore a little of the area ……..

First we got on the bikes 🚴‍♀️🚴
Our destination - the Hume Dam wall, 23km there and back.
We set off around Lake Hume using the High Country Rail Trail but that didn’t take us the whole way there and we found ourselves on a 100km/hr section of road which was not ideal 🛣️
The dam however was amazing, built in 1936, it was the biggest in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest in the world, holding 2982GL but currently only at 26% capacity 💧

Then the Seagull headed out for a short 5.5km run around Lake Hume 🏃

We received a lovely unexpected call from a friend who we hadn’t been able to coordinate meeting up with whilst home and it was great to catch up on their news and recent holiday. Catchup calls and messages with friends and family mean so much to us as they help us to stay connected despite not being around ☎️

At camp we settled in for a relaxed Friday evening with cocktails and home made pizza 🍕🍹 and was able to enjoy being outside with no bugs to spoil the night for the first time in ages 🙏🏻

Those camped up nearby were traveling with a cat 🐈‍⬛ and took it for a walk on a lead, now that got us thinking 🤔…….En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 3 (97)
14–17 févr., Australie ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
♥️ Valentine’s Day ♥️
Dads heavenly birthday 🤍🕊️

24 Km Ebden to Tallangatta Vic
Sunny and blue skies with high 30☀️

🏡Home for a couple of nights
Tallangatta Showgrounds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
$25 pn power & water,
showers, toilets, dump point
Flatish spots, some shade
Lovely caretakers Mel and Lee
Next to rail trail
Optus reception

🏃🏼5km Park Run
🚶🏼5km walk

👍🏻Tallangatta- most friendliest park run so far 🥇
👎🏻Live music wasn’t on after we had walked to the pub ☹️

Some very mixed feelings today 😕
Thinking about the holes that are left when those you love are no longer around, whilst trying to enjoy and take advantage of everything the day has in store

Another early start with another beautiful sunrise 🌅 this time to move on and head into Tallangatta in time for Parkrun
And we are so glad we did, it has to be THE most friendliest Parkrun we’ve been to so far 🏆.
Everyone was so friendly and were welcomed to join them for breakfast at a lovely local cafe - The Yellow Picket Fence which did fantastic coffee and breakfast wraps (but everything looked awesome) ☕️
Amazingly we met people who had relocated from our own neighbourhood, including someone who had previously run with PTR- small world 🌎
We learnt ALOT about the trails, hikes and camps around the area 🥰 and the Seagull is already planning his next trail run adventure 🏃

Once set up at camp we went off to explore more of the area, this time by car and a 90km scenic drive around Lake Hume 🚙
The lake is fed by the Mitta Mitta river from the south and the Murray from the North 🏞️
Tallangatta is known as the ‘the town that moved’ as it was relocated to its current spot in 1956 to allow for the expansion of the lake.
So our first stop was the site of Old Tallangatta, then we took Lake Road to Bethanga, and couldn’t resist a stop at the Hotel for a drink 🍻and chat with their resident alpaca🦙 . Then onto Kurrajong Gap Lookout, through Belbridge and over the Bethanga Bridge. Somewhere along the journey we must have crossed into NSW as we crossed back into Victoria on our return via the Murray Valley Highway.

Back at camp we enjoyed a lovely cheese platter 🧀🥖 with a glass of sparkling red 🍷, perfect romantic dinner for two 😜💕
Followed by what would have been a lovely evening lakeside stroll through Tallangatta but was just a stroll due to the lack of water😜, but still the sunset over the hills was beautiful 🌅
On our way back we popped into the pub (only 1 currently open) and was disappointed to find no life music as advertised (perhaps they all go home early in the country 🤷🏼‍♀️) but despite that it was a very ‘interesting’ experience 🤪En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 4 (98)
15 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 30☀️

🚴🏻 24.5km bike ride
🏃🏼 14km trail run

👍🏻 Finding vert again, there’s been little elevation in recent trail runs ⛰️🏃🏼
👎🏻 All this bike riding is great for the legs, but not so great for the derrière 🍑

More exploring today…..
First we jumped on our bikes and the High Country Rail Trail ⛰️ 🚴🏻‍♀️🚴🏻, which has a gate from the Showgrounds, and rode from Tallangatta to Huon, crossing the Sandy Creek Bridge, out and back (24.5km). The 600m bridge would normally cross the lake when full and is sat on the original rail pylons from the bridge that services the Cudgewa branch line, which was closed in 1981
As an added bonus there was a wild apple tree overhanging the trail offered its wares to those passing by 🍏🍎

Later, following advice from locals, the Seagull took to the trails. Heading for Mount Tallangatta ⛰️ - 560m elevation, 7km straight up and 7 km down.
It was a killer, not for the faint hearted, some serious climbing which felt like 5600m - not helped by 30 degrees full sun ☀️

Dinner tonight was veggie pasta 🍝, a concoction made from all the ‘stuff’ that needed to be eaten - left overs and things needing to go before we cross the border into NSW. The aromas coming from camp SOTR were awesome, if only smell-o-vision was a thing, tasted just as good 😋

Then we relocated to sit and watch the sun set over the hills with a glass of yesterdays bubbles 🥂- it’s definitely leftovers day today 😜

And got to play with the sprinklers 💦En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 5 (99)
16 février, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 33☀️

🤸Pilates and strength training sessions

👍🏻 Dipping our toes in the crystal clear waters of the Murray
👎🏻 Seeing the devastation caused by the recent bush fires

More exploring today …..
This time an epic 283km drive through the stunning Australian High Country 🏞️
Our plan was to head to Corryong, Man From Snowy River Country, then follow the Murray River back to Lake Hume

But after chatting with the lovely lady at Corryong tourist information office we detoured to the Kosciuszko National Park, the start of the Murray River.

First to Khancoban (NSW), nestled at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, to see Khancoban Dam and Spillway then to the Murray 1 Power Station, both part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
The original scheme was constructed between 1949 and 1974 and was an engineering wonder consisting of 7 power stations and 16 major dams connected by 80km of aqueducts and 145km of tunnels. During construction more than 100,000 workers from over 30 countries worked on the scheme, with a reported 121 loosing their lives.

We then followed the Murray, back to Lake Hume, stopping at the Jingellic Pub (NSW) along the way.

We were so amazed by the crystal clear waters of the Murray we couldn’t resist dipping our toes in, we are so used to seeing it brown and muddy but here you can actually see the riverbed 🤩

Unfortunately a lot of the area we drove through has been impacted by the recent bush fires, with recovery works in place.
We have travelled through fire affected areas previously working with recovery teams but nothing quite prepares you for the devastation. Fire affected properties, scorched earth, blackened trees, all the green erased from the landscape 🪾. But even at this early stage there are signs of the green returning, grass is peeping through and trunks and branches are showing signs of new life
It was quite heartbreaking and humbling to witness 😔En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
🩵 It’s our Vaniversary 🩵
17 février, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
We have reached a wonderful milestone on our ‘Pre Retirement Trial’, where to next tour……

100 days adventuring with MancHester 🎉🥳

And we have loved every day 🩵

We have learnt so much about ourselves, what works for us and how we like to travel

So what’s next…..
This trip was planned to help us decide what was next for us
It has, and we are very excited for what is to come 🥰

But this current trip isn’t over yet, we still have so much to see and do before we head home, so we are continuing on our adventures

And of course we will celebrate our milestone ……
Not with a fancy hotel and west end show
But with a night in a caravan park and a stand up comedian - much more us 😍

Here’s to the next chapter in our lives 🥂En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 6 (100)
17–21 févr., Australie ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
🩵our 100 day vaniversary 🩵🥳

138Km Tallangatta Vic to The Rock NSW
Sunny and blue skies with high 33☀️

🏡Home for night
The Rock Recreation Ground ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Donation campground - payment details in toilet block
Toilets and showers, bins, dump point
Flatish sites, some shade
Optus reception

🏃🏼15km trail run
🤸Pilates session

👍🏻 100 days adventuring with MancHester on this trip- going to treat ourselves for reaching that milestone 🥰
👎🏻 We’re def feeling some different muscles after a few days of strength/pilates training 😩

Early start to the day saw the Seagull soaring up 610m of elevation to Mt Granya Summit on a 15km trail run 🏃🏼 within the Mt Granya State Park whilst Justine set down the mat for another Pilates sesh 🤸

Then it was pack up, fill up 💦 and back on the road
We’ve loved our base in Tallangatta, so much that what was planned as a 1 night stopover ended up as a 3 night stay.

But now we are officially starting our tour of NSW 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

First stop ………..
Coles 😜 to restock on fruit and veg having crossed the border

Next stop-The Ettamogah Pub, Table Top NSW
We have had this pub on our ‘must visit’ list ✅
It is the original iconic pub (built 1987) in a series inspired by the cartoons of Ken Maynard and feature distinctive, cartoonish sloping walls with a truck perched on the roof.
There is camping available on site but we headed on our way after popping in for a drink 🍻, looking around👀, signing the visitors book ✍🏻 and having a good chat with barman Amos 💬, mainly about trail running 😜

As we drove through Yerong we both immediately said ‘no ye right’ 🤣, think it’s having the same stupid sense of humour that keeps us together …. or perhaps others away 🤔

Final stop-The Rock
We’ve stopped here as we wanted to visit The Rock Nature Reserve - Kengal Aboriginal Place and hike to The Rock summit lookout ⛰️. But felt it was way too hot when we arrived (32 degrees) to embark on what we believe is a pretty strenuous hike 🥵, so we’ve decided to camp up and tackle the hike in the morning when it’s a little cooler 🙏🏻

Nothing better than sitting back after setting up camp, relaxing and listening to the leaves rustling in the breeze 🍃, the birds singing their songs 🦜 and a generator running in the distance 😠- let’s hope it doesn’t go all night 🤞🏻En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 7 (101)
18 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Overcast morning ☁️, sunny with clear blue skies by midday ☀️ high of 29 degrees

🏡Home for night
It was only supposed to be a one nighter but we’ve decided to stay on at The Rock Recreation Ground for a few more days (the beauty of having no real plans 😜) ‘cause something’s coming to town and we don’t want to miss it 😊

🚶🏼6.5 km hike

👍🏻 Chatting with locals at the ‘Bowlo’ 💬
👎🏻 The bloody cockies 🙉

Our reason for coming to The Rock was The Rock, a geological giant souring 364m above the plains.
It was originally called ‘The Hanging Rock' because of an overhang on its eastern face, but after this collapsed in 1874 it now simply 'The Rock’.

We set off early before the heat of the day to hike to the summit, taking the Yugay track up and returned via the Yerong track - a total of 6.5km and 452m elevation .
Both tracks are grade 4 but we definitely chose the best way for the loop as Yugay is more challenging and requires some rock scrambling at times to reach the ridge. On the way up we passed The Towers an area where the Peregrine Falcons nest.
During the hike we met Dave who was in training for his next trail running event and ran 2 loops of the trail to our one 😳

After some housekeeping/maintenance jobs we wandered into town and got as far as the bowling club ‘the bowlo’ - clearly the place to be on a Wednesday evening.
We chatted to the locals and watched the social bowling- whilst secretly yearning to get out and have a go 😜

Had dinner watching the sun going down on The Rock thinking ‘we walked all the way up there this morning’ WOWEn savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 8 (102)
19 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 33☀️

🤸Pilates, yoga, strength sesh
🏃🏼5km run

👍🏻 Great service from tourist information ℹ️
👎🏻 No free camping close to Wagga Wagga for us 💰

Our peace and tranquility was shattered at 7am 📣, not by a generator but by the local council doing road works right next to us 🚧

So as we were up early we had no excuse not to fit in a training session before we drove into Wagga Wagga 🏋🏼🤸🏼🏃🏼

Had a couple of jobs that we needed to tick off our list in the city ✅
Whilst there we popped into the Tourist Information and came away with lots of great info 📝.
Then went to check out the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery 🖼️ which surprised us- in a good way, and was free which was an added bonus.
We had hoped to visit the Botanic Gardens and Zoo but it was getting a little too hot so we thought we would save that for another day
Instead we went to check out a couple of free camps in the area that we thought might be as a good base for a few days, unfortunately neither looked particularly promising as both were quite full already with more permanent residents 😔

Loving the NSW not so sneaky road side speed cameras 📷
There’s a sign before ‘speed camera ahead’ one on the car with flashing lights ‘this is a speed camera’ and afterwards ‘your speed has been checked’
No excuse really 🤷🏼‍♀️

Back home we reviewed all the information we’d collated and think we have a plan for the next few days 🤔……

Evening entertainment was provided for us by the emergence of everyone on the neighbourhood (or so it seemed) for a game of touch rugby on the reserve, so we just turned our chairs around and watched the action 🏉
As soon as the game ended, all the people and cars disappeared and we were left with ourselves and the birdsEn savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 9 (103)
20 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
Sunny and blue skies with high 36☀️

🚴🏼‍♀️ 3km bike ride

👍🏻 Tom Curtain and the Katherine Outback Experience🎶 📖 🐎
👎🏻 Having to replan our next few days 😔

Headed into Wagga Wagga, jumped on our bikes 🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏼 and set out to explore the Botanic Gardens 🪴⛩️, Zoo 🦘🦌 Aviary 🦚🦜 and the Museum of the Riverina, all free - how good is that 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Not the longest ride in the world, but def interesting.

Had THE BEST night at the Tom Curtain and the Katherine Outback Experience
We had no idea the show was coming to town until after we had arrived, but thought we’d stay on a few more days just to catch it, and we’re so glad we did 😊
It was such a fun, family friendly, interactive event with goats 🐐 dogs 🐕 horses 🐎, full of laughter, story telling and music
We even won a prize for our dancing 💃🏼🕺🏼

PSA 📣
For our friends from home, it’s on in Mornington 13th March - treat yourself to a fun night out

We’ve really enjoyed our unexpected stay at The Rock and this evening the night sky gave us its best performance yet with the most amazing stars and Milky Way 🌌En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 10 (104)
21–24 févr., Australie ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
113 Km The Rock to Adelong NSW

Sunny and blue skies with high 36☀️

🏡Home for night
Adelong Showgrounds ⭐️⭐️
72 hr donation campground- box at gate with a request for $10
Toilets- need your own loo paper (not particular clean during our visit)
Bins, water fill up & dump point
Limited flat sites, limited shade
Optus reception

👍🏻 Aviation Heritage Centre, RAAF Wagga- great free museum run by volunteers
👎🏻 The Seagull’s not his usual self today 😔

We have loved our unexpected stay at the Rock but it’s time for us to move on….
We had planned to head to Tumbarumba, but it turns out Tumba Fest is on, who knew 🤷🏼‍♀️
Everyone but us it would seem as it’s currently chockers

So …….

We headed out of Wagga Wagga, stopping at the Aviation Heritage Centre at RAAF Wagga 🛩️.
It’s a great free museum, run by volunteers and currently only open Sat/Sun so we were very glad to be passing by at the right time.

And decided to stop at Adelong, a small town with a rich history including its heritage Main Street and the Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins – one of the best-preserved examples of the region's gold rush past ⛏️. It also has a scenic sculpture walk along the river.

We thought this would be a good base to explore the region for a few days, and so once set up we headed for the Tourist Information at Tumut ℹ️, and came away with some great info 📖

Today was a little too hot to set out exploring the trails 🚶🏼‍♀️🏃🏼🚴, but the next few days are expected to be cooler (and wetter) so that will be perfect 🤞🏻

The Seagull isn’t particularly feeling it today, he’s not his usual self. Being on the road isn’t all rainbows 🌈 and unicorns 🦄 and you def need to focus on your physical and mental wellbeing.
So the afternoon was spent doing nothing much, sitting back, watching the local cricket match 🏏 and relaxing. Hopefully he’ll be back on track tomorrow

We found some spiced rum in the van so Saturday night cocktails were Dark and Stormy’s 🍹-probably should have saved those for tomorrow and the predicted rain and storms 🤣En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 11 (105)
22 février, Australie ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
Overcast and humid with high 28 ☁️, almost constant rain as predicted from midday 🌧️ with a reported total of 6.2-15mm - was expected to be 20-30mm

🚶🏼5.5km hike
🚶🏼‍♀️2km walk

👍🏻 Hiking in warm rain 🚶🏼☔️
👎🏻 Tried to spend 💰in town but couldn’t, nowhere open for dinner 😕

We knew it would be cooler today and was keen to get out on the trails with some light refreshing rain, but we didn’t factor in the humidity - WOW 🥵

Headed out to the Snowy Mountains and Kosciusko National Park to hike the Blowering Cliffs track to the Blowering Falls 🚶🏼.
It’s a challenging grade 4 trail, up and down 6km return and 252m of elevation ⛰️ with scenic views of Blowering Dam.
At the top we were surprised to find a little running water as it’s been so dry for so long, but rain had just started to fall in the area- perhaps it was from that 🤷🏼‍♀️
We were caught in the rains as we started to descend, which was refreshing and brought with it the most amazing petrichor aromas.

Whilst in the National Park we went to check out the Blowering Power Station and Blowering Dam and Spillway, part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
Unfortunately access has been temporarily restricted and you can’t currently get up to the lookout point which was disappointing but the we looked very small against the dam wall

Stopped for a picnic lunch at Tumut, nestled at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains on the Tumut River. After lunch we did the River Walk, past Bat Island 🦇 and the Labyrinth for Peace.

A little wet and bedraggled we popped into The Royal Hotel for a drink with plans to treat ourselves to dinner, unfortunately there is no service on a Sunday and the kitchen is currently closed at the Services & Citizens Club so we had to go home to cook 😕

Spent the evening in Hester listening to the constant rain - can’t complain as it was the 28th Nov when we last experienced rain on our travels 😳 and the farmers and locals are very happy to see it ☔️
And we’re looking forward to tucking ourselves under the covers and listening to the rain in bed tonight for the first time in ages 🛌En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 12 (106)
23 février, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Overcast morning ☁️, sunny later in the day ⛅️ with high 33

🏃🏼12km run
🤸🏼Pilates, yoga session
🚶🏼‍♀️3km walk
🚶🏼6km hike

👍🏻 Hike to Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins
👎🏻 Weak coffee ☕️ and tasteless strawberry milkshake 🥤 - very disappointing 😔

We were woke early by noisy neighbours (locals) 📣 with dogs barking, engines idling and angle grinders running
So what do you do when that happens?
Get up and go for a run🏃🏼, well the Seagull does 😜

He headed to the Tumut State Forest to run trails within it and the Wereboldera State Conservation Area, a total of 12km and 666m elevation 🏃🏼- his message on finishing ‘that was brutal, but it didn’t kill me 💪🏻’

After our mornings exercise 🏃🏼🤸🏼, and the inevitable washing of our training gear, we set out to explore Adelong which is nestled on the bank of the Adelong Creek.

Gold was discovered in Adelong in 1852 and by 1876 it was the 3rd most productive gold field in the country ⛏️
The town has retained its character and walking along the Main Street it’s easy to spot its heritage past with its old store fronts and theatre.
We have fallen in love with a property currently for sale, it was once the Commercial Bank of Sydney (1882) and then a pharmacy, and we could see ourselves bringing new life to the old building 🤔

Stopped for drinks and a caramel slice -just for research purposes (rated 6/10), unfortunately the coffee ☕️ and milkshake🥤 were not that great 😔

Fuelled up we set off to hike the 6km (return) trail from town along the Adelong Creek, taking in part of the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail, to the Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins.
Wandering through the stone ruins and mining relics you get an appreciation for how reef ore was processed at the site, until operations were ceased in 1914.
Whilst there we spotted a few people in the water trying their luck gold panning.
It’s a beautiful location and the water looked very inviting, if only we had our bathers.

We loved our stay in Adelong 🥰, and if we had more time we would have moved on to camp at Jones Bridge and explore more of the trails and MTB tracks in the area, but (un)fortunately we have somewhere to be tomorrow so we need to pack up ready to head off…… until next time 😊En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 13 (107)
24–25 févr., Australie ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
79Km Adelong to Wagga Wagga NSW

Overcast with a high of 36 ⛅️

🏡Home for night
Big 4 Ingenia, Wagga Wagga ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
$51.30 P&W- incl Big 4 discount
Toilets, showers (with bath mats), laundry (with iron & ironing board), camp kitchen, pool, dump point
On the Murrumbidgee River
Big, flat sites, some with shade
Optus reception

🤸🏼Pilates, strength session
🚶🏼‍♀️5 km walk

👍🏻 Kitty, you didn’t disappoint 🥰
👎🏻 Wish we could have stayed longer to explore more of the Snowy Valley at Tumut 😕

We loved our stay in Adelong 🥰, and if we had more time we would have moved on to camp at Jones Bridge to explore more of the trails and MTB tracks in the area, but (un)fortunately we have a date tonight so we need to pack up and head off…… until next time 😊

And we headed into Wagga Wagga
The reason….
Our date is with Kitty Flannegan at the Civic Theatre

And the reason we choose the Big 4 was it’s location next to the Wiradjuri walking track and access along the river to the City/Theatre.

Our date with Kitty was our Vaniversary gift to ourselves🎁, for surviving 100 days living in our little home on wheels and not killing each other 😜
And we’re VERY excited😍
not only because she is one of our fav comedians
but because we’re going to have a night out together, in civilisation, where we get dressed up 👗👔 and might even treat ourselves to a nice glass of wine in real glass 🥂

But before that we needed to do those pesky jobs that keeps us moving ….. washing ($7 a load), drying, cleaning, water fill up, grocery shopping 🧺🧹🧽💧🛒…….

Scrubbed up we don’t look too bad for an old couple, but after we walked the 2.5km to the venue in 34 degrees we were a little hot and bothered 🥵 so it was nice to chill in the bar with a drink before the performance 🥂

And Kitty didn’t disappoint, it was a great show- no pics as we weren’t allowed but Chat Gp tried its best 😜

Afterwards we wandered in the Victory Memorial Gardens then went in search of ice cream for the walk home 🍦

What a great night 😊

Oh and Kitty, Big 4 have no shame in ‘encouraging’ a review 😜En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 14 (108)
25–27 févr., Australie ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
2 weeks back in the road 😊
107Km Wagga Wagga to Tumbarumba NSW
Overcast with high of 30 ⛅️, very humid with rain expected in the afternoon that didn’t happen

🏡Home for next couple of nights
Tumbarumba Caravan Park ⭐️⭐️
$37 P&W
Toilets & showers- not cleaned whilst we have been here, laundry, camp kitchen, dump point
Some shade
On the Tumbarumba Creek
Optus reception

🚶🏼‍♀️2km walk
🚴 16.5 km MTB ride

👍🏻 Great movie in a fabulous venue 📽️- Nest, Tumbarumba
👎🏻 Not quite peace and tranquility 😳

The road into Tumbawumba was VERY ‘undulating’ but as we were caught up behind a slow logging truck we couldn’t be blamed for slowing up the traffic 😜

Once set up we headed into town to Nest-an awesome venue that is both cafe 🍽️ and boutique cinema📽️.
Once a dark Masonic Lodge, it is now one of only a few single screen cinemas remaining.

We ordered lunch which was delivered to us as we settled into reclining armchairs to watch ‘Now you see me: Now you don’t’ 🎞️- we’ve had been wanting to watch this for ages and it was only showing today and tomorrow which was perfect timing 👌🏻
The food and the whole experience was fantastic 🥰

In the afternoon the Seagull headed into Mannus State Forest for a little fun on the MTB trails 🚴- 16.5km of fun 🤩

We soon discovered our beautifully peaceful caravan park isn’t all that it seems- it accommodates A LOT of contractors and workers, who are probably all lovely individuals but arrive enmasse in the afternoon to use the amenities and very loudly relax after a hard days work, then at 6am the chorus of doors banging and engines idling begins as they all prepare to set off for work 😳En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 15 (109)
26 février, Australie ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
Overcast with a high of 25 ⛅️

🚴 45km bike ride
🏃🏼 7.6km run

👍🏻 Love a good cider 🍻
👎🏻 Didn’t make it back to the Nest for one of their fabulous deserts 😔

As it was a little cooler today we decided to ride the Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail 🚴🏼‍♀️🚴.
Construction on the railway commenced in 1912 with the 1st train arriving in Tumbarumba on 9th March 1921. The line ceased operating in 1974 and the rail trail opened in 2020.
Leaving from the caravan park added a few kms and a little extra elevation to the ride so it ended being 47kms with 285m elevation.
At Rosewood we enjoyed a great coffee at the Rail Trail Cafe and made a visit to the Gnome Retirement Village - we didn’t get too close as we didn’t want to get a curse 😳 And on our ride back we disturbed an orchestra of kamikaze crickets 🦗🦗🦗

In the afternoon we drove into Batlow to The Apple Thief - Cider House 🍎- we definitely earned a treat today 😜
Sampled a few of their offerings and selected the Kingston Black and Apple & Lemon Myrtle Cider 🍻

The Seagull headed onto the trails for a last quick skiddadle before we head off tomorrow 🏃🏼- 7.6kms with 165m elevation 😊En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 16 (110)
27 févr.–1 mars, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
203 Km Tumbarumba to Narrandera NSW

Sun and cloud with high 33 ⛅️ some light rain 🌦️ and strong wind gusts into the evening 💨

🏡Home for the next couple of nights
Brewery Flat Reserve ⭐️⭐️
Free camp for self contained
Toilet, bins, fire pits, shelters with tables.
Flat sites, some shade
Some traffic noise from Newell Hwy
Can get muddy when wet
Optus reception

🚶🏼‍♀️3.5km walk

👍🏻 Friday night cocktails 🍹
👎🏻 Stinky potatoes, no chippettes for dinner 😔

Our journey took us back along the ‘undulating’ road 😳 then onto the Sturt Hwy to Narrandera

Why Narrandera?

Narrandera Rodeo is on this weekend and as we’ve never been to one we thought we’d go

We’re camped next to Lincoln’s Oakbank Brewery building, a 90-foot red brick tower on the Murrumbidgee River, at its height in 1921 it produced 20,000 gallons of stout, 10,000 bottles of beer and 15,000 bottles of cordial daily, now it forms part of a private dwelling

Once set up we headed into town for the tourist information ℹ️ and the Tiger Moth Memorial, the Destination and Discovery Hub to try our skills on their big playable guitar - built to promote local country music, and find the Hankinson Memorial Fountain, one of only two ceramic fountains created by Royal Doulton known to exist- the other being in India.

We needed to use the last dregs of the gas so dinner was Wagyu burgers on the Webber 🍔
Had planned chippetts, but found the potatoes had gone off - good job we don’t have smell-o-vision ‘cause that smell was putrid- yuk, joys of living in a van 😜

Ended the evening with Friday night cocktails 🍹

There’s def some weird creepy crawlies about here 🕷️🪲En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 17 (111)
28 février, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
Sunny morning ☀️cloudy afternoon ⛅️, high 34 with strong wind gusts into the evening 💨

🚴🏼‍♀️ 24km bike ride
🤸🏼Pilates sesh

👍🏻 Country Rodeo 🐎🐂
👎🏻 Wind 💨

We’re going on a bear hunt…..
…… for koalas 🐨
Koalas were introduced to Narrandera Nature Reserve, from French Island VIC and areas of NSW and QLD in 1972-1974, and it’s now home to more than 200 - surely we will see one

We jumped on the bikes for a loop of the wetlands, then followed the canal to the Flora and Fauna reserve where the trails took us along the Murrumbidgee River and past 1st and 2nd beach to the Murrumbidgee Valley Nature Reserve where we saw a Koala 🐨 - just the one.
We looped back along the Bundidgerry Creek and Lake Talbot, detouring into town to the Bakery, then returning home via the Skywalk over the lake.

In the evening we went to our first country rodeo 🐎 🐂
Narrandera Rodeo is to one of the longest running successful professional rodeos in NSW and has some of the best roughriders, buckjumpers and bulls
It was such a fun event and the skill of the riders was amazing.
And we had a VERY close encounter with a bucking horse 🐎En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 18 (112)
1–3 mars, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
It’s Autumn🍁
102 Km Narrandera to Junee NSW

Overcast with drizzle for most of the day 🌧️ and a high of only 24 degrees (3.6mm rain recorded)

🏡Home for next few nights, to wait out the rain
Junee Ex-Services Memorial Club ⭐️
Free camp behind building for self contained vans
No facilities
Flat sites, some shade, can get muddy when wet
Dump point and water in town
Optus reception

🚶🏼‍♀️3km walk

👍🏻 Seagull loved exploring the trains🚂- he’s a bit of a nerd really 😜
👎🏻 Summers over and we’ve headed into autumn 🍂

Overcast all day with no sun so a great test for the vans new solar panels-batteries went from 87% 🪫 to 100% 🔋- got to be happy with that 😊

Today’s journey took us along the Canola Way, passing some interesting towns on our way to Junee, the historic railway town

First stop - the Roundhouse Railway Museum 🚂- $15 entry
It opened in 1947 as a state-of-the-art steam locomotive facility, and is now one of only a few working railway roundhouses in the southern hemisphere with half used for the museum and the rest for its original purpose of servicing and re-conditioning locomotives and rolling stock.
Thanks Derek for your informative guided tour, the Seagull loved it 🥰

Next stop - the Licorice & Chocolate Factory 🍫 where the Seagull put his chocolatier skills to the test 🧑🏻‍🍳
Dinner tonight - light salad followed by the Seagulls artisan freckle for desert 🤪

Final stop - the Ex-Services Memorial Club, as we were camping behind it would be rude not to pop in for drinks🍻.
And as an added bonus it was ‘Dancing with Jan’, an afternoon of boot-scooting fun
💃🏼 and the the NRL was being screened 🏉- so one drink became an afternoon ‘cause it was raining amd we had nowhere else to be 🤷🏼‍♀️

Whilst there was a short break in the rain we headed out for a walk around the town and to the (not very wet) Urban Wetlands. We also went to find the Monte Cristo Homestead, reported to be Australia's most haunted house 👻, but unfortunately we couldn’t get near as it’s closed off and up for sale
Haunted house anyone ????
We’d love it if anyone has $1.9m to give us 😜

What a change in the weather the 1st day of Autumn has brought for us, no sun to be seen and rain for most of the day
And there’s ALOT of rain forecast for the NSW Riverina over the next 48 hrs, with 60mm planned for us tomorrow and 44 the next day 🌧️☔️🌧️
Think we may be hunkering down for a couple of days 😳En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 19 (113)
2 mars, Australie ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
Overcast and raining most of the day 🌧️ (60mm predicted and 41 recorded), high 23

🚶🏼‍♀️4km hike

👍🏻 Found an old homestead on our hike 🚶🏼‍♀️
👎🏻 Rain, rain and more rain 🌧️

It’s rained all day but that didn’t stop us getting out to explore.

We headed to the Bethungra Rail Spiral to see the Melbourne to Sydney passenger trail pass through and over the tunnel.
Built in the 1940s it’s one of Australia's most significant rail engineering feats of its time and is the only 360-degree rail spiral in Australia.

Next we set off on a mystery hike 🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏼
A mystery because we knew where we wanted to end up but not how to get there 🤷🏼‍♀️
And it wasn’t via the Bethungra Dam, as that trail led to a dead end 😳
We eventually found a gate with a track leading into the Ulandra Nature Reserve, but there was no information about the reserve or trails. Still we followed the trail hoping we would find what we were looking for.
And we did 😊
The remnants of an old homestead- the shearing shed still standing but there wasn’t much left of the stone buildings 😔

Back home we hunkered down for the evening, all warm and cosy inside Hester, listening to the rain and hoping we get out easily tomorrow 🙏🏻En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 20 (114)
3–4 mars, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
120Km Junee to Wyalong NSW

High 28, overcast all day ☁️ with more rain in the evening 🌧️

🏡Home for night
Cooinda Reserve ⭐️⭐️
Free camp
Toilets, BBQ, bins
Dump point and water available
Flat sites, some shade, soft ground when wet
Some road noise
Limited Optus reception

👍🏻 Rejuvinating swim 🙏🏻
👎🏻 Lost wheel hub cap 💰

Before leaving we went to check out the Wetlands and WOW what a difference 45 mm rain makes 🌧️ - there were even ducks playing in the water 🦆

Our journey today took along the Goldfields Way

First stop -Temora
Bundawarrah Centre & Temora Rural Museum - $10 entry
Fantastic, it provides an insight into the lives of families and the farming industry in southern NSW over more than a century.
It has the cottage where Sir Donald Bradman 🏏 spent his early years and memorabilia of showman & boxing promoter, Jimmy Sharman 🥊
It’s also home to both NSW & ACT Ambulance Service heritage collections 🚑

We also stopped at the Railway Station, unfortunately the museum wasn’t open but we did get to learn about ‘Boofhead’ a canine legend of the rail network 🐾

Next stop-Barmedman Mineral Pool
Opened in 1951 and originated from the flooding of the Barmedman goldmines by an underground stream. Reported to be the largest mineral pool in the world, it’s reputed to have healing properties and alleviate aches & pains due to its mineral-rich waters
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity for our aches & pains to disappear, so despite it being a little chilly we jumped in- we were the only ones mad enough (except for hoppy 🐸) so we should have 100% of its healing power 🙏🏻

There’s a bit of water around at the moment affecting roads & campgrounds 🚧
With more rains to come 🌧️

At camp we realised we had lost a wheel hub cap, perhaps when we drove through water over the road 🤷🏼‍♀️
Might have to go back and look for it now we’ve seen how much they are to replace 😳

On a positive note, the clouds dispersed enough for us to witness the blood moon eclipse 🌑En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 21 (115)
4–5 mars, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
57 Km Wyalong to Caragabal NSW

Overcast morning with clouds clearing⛅️, humid, high 29

🏡Home for night
Caragabal Sportsground ⭐️
Donation appreciated- QR code at gate
Toilets- not great (nor those in town)
Flat sites, not much shade
Limited Optus Reception

🚶🏼‍♀️6km Hike

👍🏻 Warm welcome at the Caragabal Pub
👎🏻 Closed trail sign ❌

Before leaving we went to look around the Cooinda Reserve.
It provides an insight into the areas historic past, inc its gold mining heritage, with relics including the True Blue Poppet Head, Neeld’s hut and the huge Liebherr Excavator Bucket.

We wanted to explore the trails in the Weddin Mountains National Park so decided to stop off at Caragabal, park the van at the sportsground and head in.

We started our hike from Seaton’s Farm, the historic site of the 1930’s farm built with recycled local materials. Farm buildings, machinery and equipment scattered around demonstrate the resourcefulness of the family that lived there.

From here we headed into Berthas Gully and falls (grade 4 trail) where we hit an ‘Area Closed’ sign ❌
We then took the trail to Ben Hall’s Cave, reputed to be the hideout of one of the most revered bushrangers in Australia’s history. In 1862, eight bushrangers incl Ben Hall carried out what was then the greatest robbery in Australian history when they held up the gold coach. They escaped with £3,700 cash & 2,719oz gold, the equivalent of over $1m dollars. The proceeds were never recovered and legend has it that the booty is still stowed somewhere in the Weddin Mountains- unfortunately we didn’t find it 🤪

We returned via Ben Hall’s campground to complete the loop- a total of 6 km and 130m elevation.

Back at camp we met Brad, a local, who recommended the pub for ‘a good feed’
So we said we would head in for dinner 🍽️
And so glad we did ‘cause we had a great night 😊
We received such a wonderfully warm welcome and sat at the bar chatting to publican Tanya and local Ruth, who we discovered was Brad’s partner
Dinner was yummy🍔, drinks were cold🍻, aircon was blowing 🌬️and the conversation was great 💬
Would highly recommend and will def return if we are in the area - and Tanya we will let you know if we ever get our church 😜

Walking home we met a very chatty Romani and witnessed a fabulous sunset 🌅En savoir plus
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Day 22 (116)
5–7 mars, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
44Km Caragabal to Grenfell NSW

Sunny with high 30 ⛅️

🏡Home for a couple of nights
Grenfell Historic Railway Station ⭐️⭐️
Donation appreciated (lions club)- box at amenities
Toilets, shower ($2), bbq, shelter, bins
Water and dump point available
Flatish sites, some shade
Optus reception

🏃🏼 13km run

👍🏻 Tough run on amazing trails in the NP
👎🏻 No Pilates/strength sesh for a few days

We woke to a fabulous sunrise 🌅 and then drove the short distance to the historic town of Glenfell, steeped in gold rush history and the birthplace of Australian Poet Henry Lawson.

Once set up Seagull headed out for a run 🏃🏼 in the Weddin Mountains National Park ⛰️
Starting at Holy Camp, he followed an old logging track to the base of the mountains then up a steep climb to Peregrine Lookout, across to Eualdrie Lookout and down through rugged terrain, ridges and deep gullies to Ben Halls Campground. Then he did it all again in reverse- a total of 13km and 758m elevation.

Whilst the Seagull was doing his thing, Justine headed into town. Ruth (who we met at the pub yesterday) invited us to a lunch she ran at the Salvation Army, so Justine popped in to offer a hand and spent some time chatting with the locals.

After popping into tourist information ℹ️, what was planned as a one night stop over is now going to be a little longer as we jump on our bikes to explore more of the area tomorrow 🚴🚴🏼‍♀️En savoir plus
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‘Pre retirement’ trial Voyageur
Day 23 (117)
6 mars, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Sunny with high 34 ⛅️

🚴🏼‍♀️13km MTB ride
🤸🏼Pilates and strength sesh

👍🏻 Silo at sunset 🌅
👎🏻 Life’s admin has to be done even in the road 💻

We jumped on the bikes and headed to Company Dam (Comps Dam to locals), completed 1867 and originally constructed to supply water to gold claims ⛏️then for the steam engines 🚂
There are a number of fire trails in the area and we took the Showground Fire Trail, a 7km trail through eucalyptus, pine and iron bark trees. The trail was often sandy, rocky and very rutted which the Seagull found a breeze and which tested Justine’s limited MTB skills 🚴🚴🏼‍♀️

From the dam we headed through town to O'Brien's Hill, the site where gold was first discovered in 1866 by a shepherd and where remnants of the mining past remain including a stamper and poppet head⛏️
Total 13km and 138m elevation

Managed to get a pilates & strength session in before it got too hot, then spent a quiet afternoon at camp catching up with life admin 💻

Friday night cocktails 🍹and a game of Rummy before walking to the Grenfell Painted Silo as the sun was setting to see the evening light display 🌅En savoir plus
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Fin du voyage
12 avril 2026