And Down Comes the Rain

This morning we finished our stay in Coopernook and moved on towards Coffs Harbour. The final stage of our Coopernook stay was quite relaxing with the boys making friends with a guy from Denmark called Soren and talking him into playing football AFL style.

The trip up the highway also coincided with the return of the rain. Luckily we had already packed up and set off by the time it set in but it certainly changed the look of the scenery on the drive northwards.
We didn’t actually stop until we got got to the Honey Spot in Urunga. This was a little honey producer that had set up a retail outlet, cafe and nursery. The place was pretty simple but had a lovely feel about it and certainly attracted plenty of the passing traffic.

This passing trade also highlighted something else we had noticed on the way up the highway.
Regularly between the campsite and Urunga were signs trying to attract people off the highway into nearby towns that had been bypassed over the years. This bypassing, while obviously speeding up the journey by taking the traffic out of the towns, also meant that those towns no longer had the volume of people travelling through making it much harder for the businesses to attract travellers.

We also went into the central area of Urunga to do some shopping and it had a relaxed and attractive feel about it.

Final stop was at a campsite in Thora, where we are intending to base ourselves for a couple of days while we explore the area. The most impressive thing for the day is that while I am writing this the kids have decided to try their hands at cooking tea and have done a great job with rissoles, mashed potatoes, carrots and peas being served as I finish this post . The experience was also good for the kids as Max is now talking about cooking breakfast tomorrow morning.

A Much More Mundane Day

Taree was on the agenda today. We first heard of Taree when my former boss and his wife (who Liz used to teach with) moved to Bunbury and were therefore interested to see what they had left behind when they moved. We also had a range of small things we needed to sort out after almost three months on the road, so part of the day was going to revolve around ferreting out the types of businesses we really hadn’t worried about much since we left home.

First on the list was getting some washing done, so we dropped Liz at the Laundromat and then set off to find an auto electrician. We had been running with limited use of the car fridge for the past couple of weeks as the second battery wasn’t recharging and wanted to get this sorted before the weather got too much warmer. As in normal in these instances the fault had resolved itself and the battery fully recharged since we left for Port Macquarie yesterday (the last time I had checked it), so it was a cheap fix but we are left just hoping that the fault doesn’t reappear sometime later.

Next was the ubiquitous Bunning’s for some ‘R’ clips and a PVC pipe cap to replace bits lost in the past couple of weeks as well as some more screws and bolts for general repairs, followed by an auto spares shop to get some replacement globes and fuses.

Finally we went searching for a gas plumber. When we bought the camper Coromal through in a Weber Q as part of the deal. We also got a gas bayonet installed on the outside of the van to save needing to unpack a gas bottle for the barbecue every time we stopped. When we first went to link it all together we found that the wrong end was on the bayonet lead and it wouldn’t tighten properly onto the barbecue. Sadly, while I had checked that the barbecue worked and that the bayonet fitted properly, I had never checked this fitting before we set off.

A couple of times previously I had had a shot at trying to get the fitting sorted but we were always either in too small a town or too much of a rush to succeed. At a cam[ping store in Whyalla they advised that there were actually two different threads styles on that size of fitting (which was a learning experience for me) and we obviously had the coarser thread when we actually needed the finer one – but they weren’t able to help any further.

This time we go pointed in the direction of Pirtek while at Auto One. I wasn't convinced about this as I thought Pirtek only did fluid hoses but figured I could be wrong and even if I wasn’t they at least might have a better idea of where to go. As it turned out I was right but they were able to send me on to “The Gas Man”, who was just around the corner. This seemed to me to be a significant improvement, but when we got there he was no more helpful than anywhere else (in that he shrugged his shoulders and sent me onto a plumbing supplies shop). From here I got a little more joy – while they also were unable to help directly they referred me onto a gas business that they were sure would have whatever was required.

When we arrived at this business we suddenly found we were talking to someone who actually understood what was needed and what had happened. It turned out that a gas heater lead had been included with the barbecue rather than a barbecue lead and all that was needed was for me to purchase an entirely new lead and everything would be sorted. As they only had 3 metre leads on premises we now have the ability to move the barbecue within a 3 metre radius of the van, but at least should finally be able to save the need to unload one of the gas bottles every time we stop. This also removes the risk of running out of gas as one can now genuinely operate as a spare rather than having them both being used simultaneously. Another important development before we get into more sparsely populated areas across the top. Given the chasing around it did also prove why I hadn’t been successful in my more half-hearted efforts previously. Needless to say we also weren’t particularly impressed in Coromal Cannington providing us with a fitting that had no relationship to the appliance it was supposed to run – but not much we can do about that from this distance I guess.

after this we had a bit of a tour around the less industrial areas of Taree but decided that we couldn’t see anything more attractive than where we were camped so headed back for a late lunch.

The afternoon then consisted of a few repairs and plenty of footy – including Soren the Dane joining in for an international game much to the enjoyment and excitement of the boys.

Circle Work Required Initially, but Port Macquarie was a Treasure

We headed out of Dungog and once again came across a road that I loved driving, but that my wife was unable to find any enthusiasm for (other than finally leaving it and starting up the Pacific highway). Maybe some Quell’s would improve her humour.

We had already decided to lay up between Taree and Port Macquarie for a couple of days so that we could tour around unencumbered by the ‘van. We decided on to stay at the Coopernook Forest Park, which is just beautiful. This did end up resulting in a game of Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie as the highway had been re-aligned since we had last updated our GPS (we discussed updating the maps a lot before we left but neither of us actually got round to it). Once we had worked out that the exit that Camps Australia Wide (5th edition – also 2007, so prior to the realignment) noted as being North of Moorland was now actually South, that when the highway sign says next exit Forest Road it actually means the exit after the next exit and that while the sign might talk about the Forest Road exit coming up it is actually signposted at the turn as Jericho Road, we finally got onto the right road! Luckily it appears we are not the only people to have problems on this stretch of road as we had never seen as many u-turn run-offs in our lives.

On arriving however we decided it had been worth the hassle – although I think it was lucky I was driving as I was finding it an interesting challenge to finally get the right exit while Liz was getting decidedly peeved!

Next morning we headed up the road to have a wander around Port Macquarie. I had heard a bit about the City over the years having previously worked with someone who had moved over from there and also met up with the Council Economic Development Manager several times. Sadly I didn’t get myself organised and forgot to get in touch with him before arriving, one of the drawbacks of not planning too far in advance I guess.

Port Macquarie itself was lovely, reminding us of a mix of Mandurah, Bunbury and Busselton. Its one major drawback appears to be the lack of an industrial base which means that it has a slightly older demographic than is probably ideal. The waterfront was an absolute activity centre, highlighting one of Bunbury’s major drawbacks, but also proving the opportunity that is waiting for a time when a little more intrepidness is available within the decision makers of the region.

Where Bunbury has a waterfront area adjacent to the CBD (opposite the Entertainment Centre and Bicentennial Square) that has nothing to attract people and little use, the corresponding green belt of Port Macquarie was vibrant and attractive. This activity was driven through opening up limited (and appropriate) commercial development resulting in a range of food and associated businesses were clustered in it, but all at the fringes to maintain the community access to the water via sweeping parklands. In addition the park areas had numerous mature trees providing shade and shelter (and some of them great fun for kids to climb, a fantastic kids playground that nonetheless was still located discreetly and great views for several restaurants and bistro’s to look across the park to the water. In addition the City ran through into this area meaning that the CBD area naturally extended to the water improving the aesthetic qualities of the city itself, while there was also obviously support for water sport style businesses as well, including an amphibious plane offering scenic flights. To me this just proves that well thought out development, planned around maintaining community access and use of important assets can still occur and result in a benefit to everyone involved. The key in this case is to provide access to the area for the types of businesses that are likely to be relevant to people visiting and recreating in that location (ice creams, fish and chips, cafe’s, restaurants and relaxed style tavern style operations) however to make sure that they don’t take over the water itself (unlike Marlston Hill in Bunbury). Needless to say we were very impressed and ended up eating fish and chips on the grass even though we had packed lunch before we left that morning, which just proves the economic impact and benefit of getting this type of area right.

The other highlight of our visit to Port Macquarie was “The Glasshouse”, which is a combined Theatre, Art Gallery, Conference Centre, Visitor Information Centre. When it was built it caused a lot of controversy in the City with the result that the Councillors were removed and an administrator installed – an arrangement that is still current, however to us it appeared a fantastic facility.

It did have a couple of shortcomings, one of which is the fact that it would be virtually impossible to park nearby with a caravan, motor home, bus etc. – something our Visitor Centre at home also has struggles with on a regular basis, but the rest of it functioned really well and it was a landmark in its own right. One other achievement had been the incorporation of the sites heritage within the new building. It had previously held the home of the first Convict Overseer, then been the Town hall and Council Chambers for many years. As part of the construction an archaeological dig had been undertaken to mine the sites history. The result is a number of artefacts on display as well as the footings of both previous buildings also on view in the basement area.

What a fantastic day we ended up having – tomorrow we are heading back South slightly to have a look around Taree, hopefully we get as much out of that as we have today!

Interestingly, on arriving back at camp we were astounded to find that it had virtually doubled in occupancy. We were expecting that a free park like this one would have its peak use on Fridays and Saturdays, but here we are on a Sunday with over 10 separate groups all in place.

The Executive Suite

Liz rang the Visitor Centre prior to us reaching Dungog, where we were advised to stay at the Showgrounds rather than the caravan park as the floods the week before had inundated the caravan park and it was still very wet. This was reinforced when we reached the town and stopped at the servo to pick up a new gas bottle, with the local paper having a series of pictures of the floodwaters.

In many ways it was nice to be back at a showgrounds, with plenty of space for the kids to wander and explore. I think we were probably better off there even if the caravan park was operational from what we gleaned in our time there. We ended up parked up on a hill that we found was nicknamed the ‘Executive Suite’ later as it was considered the absolute pick of spots to camp. Given there was the capacity to park in about 50 places there it obviously had something to attract people as it was easily our first choice (we were working on our own impressions as we didn’t see anybody until the next morning and just found our way around the facilities provided in the meantime.

The weather was absolutely beautiful for the couple of days we were there, giving us the sense that we were actually starting to move North. I am not convinced that all the cold is behind us but hopefully what we get from hereon in will be more of an aberration, rather than a constant.

Dungog was an extremely picturesque area as well as a friendly and pleasant town. I was surprised to find that the oval at the showgrounds had had the cricket pitch removed in the previous couple of years as the town itself seems quite large against many we have seen and should have easily supported a couple of teams. I can only guess that there is another recreation oval somewhere and this was a spill-over, although we never another oval in town and I would think it would be difficult to find a more attractive venue for cricket, with a quaint grandstand looking over a fully fenced oval. It reminded me of a couple of towns we visited in Victoria which had basic services closing down even though they were significantly larger than towns in Western Australia that support the same services and I started wondering whether the towns in WA are actually the anomalies due to the much more significant distances between places there.

The flood the area had received the week before started me thinking about the country we have traversed in the last month and a bit. Liz and I have discussed a few times that our impressions of many parts of Victoria and New South Wales are probably skewed due to the rainfall that has occurred recently. It has been impossible to identify the areas that we know are coming out of 10 years of drought without asking around, as everything looks lush and moist. The previous 10 years may also have something to do with the reducing services in some areas I guess – but it is hard to be certain of this given the fleeting view we actually get of many of the towns. It was interesting however how many of the businesses in Dungog appeared to be on the market.

Hiding in the Forest

After a couple of days in Sydney itself it was time to continue the pilgrimage North. We decided that a few easy driving days were probably in order, also after the ‘luxury’ of our recent campground we decided that facilities weren't that important for a few days. Using our Camps Australia (5) bible we decided on Watagan Forest, which looked to have several good options.

On the way up we came across the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford. Even though it was already early afternoon at this stage, we decided we were better off to take the kids through the park and potentially pull into camp in the dark than miss out on the opportunity altogether. Even though i hate arriving at camp after dark, in this case it turned out to be the right choice.

The reptile park houses much more than just reptiles, with ‘roos and emus roaming freely, while wombats, dingoes, platypus’, flying foxes, rock wallabies, echidna’s etc. were all on display.

We arrived just in time to catch an educative session focussing on the funnel web spider. It turned out that the reptile park was also the only place in Australia that milked venom from many snakes and spiders for the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory to make anti-venom.

While there the kids also got to touch a range of snakes and other reptiles and discover the different feel of scales and skin some, like the Tegu, that we had never even heard of before.

We then continued up towards Morriset, which was our entry point for the Watagan Forest. When we jumped off the highway (and I now believe the reports about this being the worst highway in Australia – most Western Australian country roads have a better finish. I couldn’t believe the fact that the entire road appeared to consist of patches on top of patches, I would be surprised if there is an original piece of tarmac left. I can’t believe that small patches are the most economic way of keeping a road in order and I wouldn’t think anybody would get away with that sort of approach at home anyway!) we stopped to pick up something to eat and fill up with fuel. Liz wandered off to sort the food requirements out while I continued on to the servo. When I got there I ended up feeling that Slim Dusty needed to be resurrected as it was effectively the Fuel Stop With No Fuel, with only 98 Octane and Gas available. It did however become the cheapest servo I have visited on the entire trip!

As we had expected we did end up arriving at camp virtually in the dark. This was exacerbated by the fact  hat we were in the middle of a mature forest, so I used the remaining gloom to get as set up as I could before finishing off with torchlight. It was all made a little more difficult as the outside light blew as soon as I switched it on and I found I didn’t have any spare globes for that light. When we arrived we were surprised to find around half a dozen other camps set up, so for all the relative remoteness there was still plenty of people around. This was even more interesting as this isn’t the only camping area in close proximity (we had passed another one a kilometre or so down the road that also had a few people set up in it and discovered another couple a little further on over the next few days.

Next day we set back off for Morriset to see if we could track down some fuel and also stock up on food as we were almost shorter on food than we were on fuel. This time we were much more successful.

The camp ground again reminded us how much more friendly (in general) we had found the free camps as against the full caravan parks. Now that we were set up we also had the chance to explore the forest itself, with several different walk tracks radiating out from the campsite. It appeared that a small waterway looped around the campsite as we came a cross it on virtually every walk trail, no matter which direction we went in.

For all I was talking about the friendliness of the free camps we still had proof that stupidity hits everywhere. While I was sitting having a cuppa I heard a “crash” and looked up to see a good size tree in the final throes of coming to ground. I wandered over to see what had happened as it appeared reasonably healthy and young only to find that it had been chopped down a few days before but hung up on surrounding trees. Obviously it had finally worked its way free and come down.

Luckily the person camping in that vicinity had packed up and moved on early that day, but the point of chopping it down still defeats me. he only possible reason would have been for wood for a campfire but anybody with any sense knows that you don’t try and burn green wood.

Talking of campfires, the sojourn also turned into another part of firelighting 101 for the kids, with multiple fires being built as they tested different set-ups to see what lit best.

During that day a severe storm warning was issued, so we bunkered down with some trepidation given that we were surrounded by forest and most trees around us would have only had to drop a reasonably sized limb to leave us in some trouble. At least we weren’t in tents like some others. As it turned out, the forest ended up providing enough of a buffer that we hardly noticed the storm at all.

The next day basically consisted of chats a more ‘good people’, wandering through the forest and sitting around the campfire catching up with the blog (entries which i have now managed to upload as signal strength wasn’t good enough to do it at the time).

There was some excitement when a gust of wind picked up Harry's chair (he wasn’t in it at the time) and landed it in the middle of the fire. By the time I pulled it out the back had disintegrated and the cover was no more. Therefore he now has a slightly charred stool, which he has decided to keep anyway – at least until we are able to replace it.

Next morning it was time to pack up and get back on the road. We once again decided that a hundred or so k’s would suffice for the day so set our sights on being somewhere North of Maitland. We had identified about 10 potential spots in the ‘bible’ between there and Taree (the only criteria was that they had a shower after spending several days in the bush) and made the decision to settle on Dungog while having lunch in Cessnock.

The trip out through the forest to Cessnock was magnificent and obviously little travelled. The relatively short distance to be travelled that day was also borne out as we traversed the first 25 kilometres averaging about 20 kilometres and hour. It was also an opportunity to talk to the kids about road etiquette in little travelled areas and we stopped once to clear a tree off the road (which we had to do anyway to get through – but I was able to talk to them about the fact that you don’t just push your way around it or clear enough for yourself as the next time it is used may be in an emergency and therefore the better it is cleared up the safer it is for everybody. A little further down the road we came across a few rocks on the road and we cleared these off for the same reason – hopefully another lesson learnt.

We eventually came out the other side of the forest with the road improving significantly as it started to wind its way past (and through) a number of farms. The kids were interested to find a gate closed across the road at one point as, up until now we had only come across cattle grids when roads ran through farms. I pointed out that it was the last farm on the road before the road degenerated into a forest track and so few people used it that it probably wasn’t worth the trouble of installing a grid.

The other really interesting item for the day before reaching Dungog was in Maitland. There was a repertory performance of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach advertised which almost resulted in us changing our plans as it is one of Max’s favourite stories. The interest however for me was in how widely it was advertised – I had never seen  a repertory club with the resources to produce advertising signage as professional and numerous as was on display as we drove through. We decided it is either the repertory capital of Australia or a sign writer is very involved.

Sydney

Our first full day dawned in Sydney and we decided to take it ice and slow and easy. This meant a welcome sleep in followed by lazy paced breakfast before finally making our way into the city itself.
Our location meant that a quick walk up to North Ryde station took us straight into Sydney. This included traversing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Another (slower) walk got us to Circular Quay, with the kids being fascinated by the ferries and the boat with the shark painted on it (a Sea Shepherd vessel was in port).

We wandered around looking at the world going by before heading towards the Opera House. After several stops to witness performances by buskers and street performers we finally got to the steps of the Opera House. At this point in time the kids decided it was appropriate to put on their own singing and dancing show in response.

For all that I had heard about the Opera House (and witnessed last time I was here (about 25 odd years ago) I was still staggered by the feeling of lightness achieved with a building constructed of huge columns of concrete – a very impressive architectural feat.

On our way back, we came across a fantastic dance and acrobat troupe performing under the Circular Quay train station. Their performance was probably the highlight of the day. We finished the day with Harry making friends with a young girl on the train home – who like all women seemed to think he was the best thing since sliced bread. If he continues to win the heart of every girl over the age of 15 he meets, in 10 years time he could be in for a very interesting (and possibly enjoyable) time!
Next day we headed off for the city again. This time with the intention to play on the ferries as this is something the kids don't get to experience in Bunbury. When we had gone in the day before Liz had found an add for ‘Sunday Family Day’, which meant each family member could ride the public transport system for just $2.50 a day. We had priced the equivalent ticket the day before and found it was $50 for our family as against $10 on the Sunday, so obviously decided this was the right day for travelling around.

We started with a couple of train connections before ending up at Circular Quay again. we then caught the ferry across to Luna Park (really for Liz initially), with the kids having a fantastic time. They both went on a trampoline bungy thingy, with Max achieving a (sort of) backflip (more back climb using the bungy ropes – but impressive none the less).

We then went back to Circular Quay and caught the ferry out to Manly as I wanted the kids to also experience one of the ocean going ferries and see the Sydney Heads.

On return it was time to make our way back to the campsite as we were due out for afternoon tea.
In the end the kids and I went out without Liz as the two trips to Sydney had effectively done her in. Afternoon tea became dinner and we all had a lovely time. It was great to catch up with people who had been friends of the family for longer than I had been alive – and the welcome they provided was appreciated and enjoyed.

Following a late night, leaving Sydney ended up being a latish affair, but that doesn’t matter as we are only planning on heading a hour or so North and spending a few nights relaxing in the Watagan Forest.
The two highlights of the Sydney excursion for me without doubt were the campsite and the Sunday Family Funday.

The campsite is run by NSW Parks and Wildlife and the addition of the night walk was brilliant – especially considering we encountered a number of the animals we had been introduced too over our stay (including a brush turkey sticking its head in the caravan annexe to see what was on offer).
The $2.50 day appears to me to be an inspired idea to assist families to travel around Sydney. It is my guess that $50 for a family makes City travel out of reach for many families and using the quieter day of Sunday to promote seeing the City vial public transport is magnificent.

The (Slow) Road into Sydney

On the way to Bilpin we had noticed the entry to the Mt Tomah Botanic Garden, which is the cool climate section of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, so we decided to head back up the following morning (given we had decided to stay two nights to free up a full day for exploring.

On the way up we decided to keep going and drive up to Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine forest. This turned out to be a lovely drive, with lyre birds regularly careening across the road in front of the car and fantastic scenery all the way. Parts of it reminded us of the rain forest in the Otways, with huge ferns along the roadside.

When we arrived back at the Botanic gardens we again decided that visits to places that weren’t known about are often the ones that provide real value. The gardens were beautifully set out, with enough information to keep all of us interested. On our way back up to the main building and cafe we chanced across a class room that has been built into the gardens. At the entrance was an info board detailing the way in which the building was heated and cooled through running pipes under filled with anti-freeze under the room and out under the adjacent lawn, with the insulating properties of the soil providing a heat transfer in during winter and out during summer. As the door was open we walked in and immediately noticed the difference in temperature.

The main building had a fungi exhibit in it that also had Max fascinated for a good hour, so all in all the gardens probably kept the kids interest for longer than many places we have visited that are built specifically for kids.

Next morning we headed into Sydney and I realised once again that I certainly don’t miss churning through city traffic. We were staying at Lance Cove River Caravan Park (in the Lance Cove National Park), which is fairly centrally located, within walking distance to North Ryde train station.

The park itself is run by NSW Parks and Wildlife and as part of the service they offer a ‘Night Walk’ run by one of the Parks and Wildlife staff. This starts with an overview of the native animals living within the national park before we headed out to see what we could spot in the trees within the caravan park itself. The highlight was probably the bandicoot which hung around for a couple of moments before (s)cooting off.

Fast Cars & Gold Country

We stopped just out of Carcoar for the evening, part way between Cowra and Bathurst before heading on into Bathurst the next evening. As one of the must-do’s we proceeded to drive the Mt Panorama circuit (with caravan). Even Liz found the lap interesting.

We then proceeded to the National Motor Racing Museum, however as Harry was being a toad and Liz wasn’t really interested, Max and I toured inside on our own. Max found the vision of crashes to be the most interesting thing in the whole place, although, surprisingly for me, he also was much more interested in the motorbikes than the cars.

Once we had finished in Bathurst we set of for Hill End, which was a gold mining town that has had much of its early history preserved. We headed up what looked to be an interesting access road (from the map) only to find that it was closed part way there, so turned around and found an alternate track. Once finally there we visited quickly at the visitor centre, where we were directed to an unofficial campsite a few km’s out of town. On the way we drove around the town and decided that it looked a place much more suited to exploring over a few days and a drive past would suffice for us this time. The campsite turned out to be a lovely spot beside a small waterway. It looked like it may have had some surface gold mining many years before from the piles of rock and dirt scattered around the waterway and the kids had a ball wandering around.

Next morning we headed straight out for the Blue Mountains, but stopped fairly early on the trip at a town called Sofala. This is another former mining town that has maintained much of its heritage. A rebuilt bridge featured at the entry to town provided interest and a little of the town’s history before we headed off again.

Next stop was Lithgow, which reminded me a little of Bunbury before it went through its recent growth spurt. One thing we did find was a fantastic little bakery. The best part was that the pastries and other items were as good as anywhere we have been while the prices were much more reasonable than most places.

Finally we headed out for our next transient residence – Bilpin – part way between Lithgow and Richmond. This is one of the very few free camps around the Sydney area and we didn’t see any need in having all the trappings as we were already planning to stay in a very comfortable and well appointed park in Sydney itself.

Cowra

Last night we stopped at Boorowa Caravan Park. Once again my pet hate of park trying to turn kids into cash cows arose again. Boorowa costs $22 for a site for 2 adults, however they wanted another $20 for the kids. Luckily we had rung ahead to check the cost and turned up with only the $22, however the whole principal of trying to justify almost double to money for two kids who are going to cost the park two additional showers and a little toilet paper (at most) just seems rude. After all lights and cooking gear etc. is going to be used as much for 2 as it is for 4! While talking to another man parked there he said that they had recently left a park that charged them a couple of dollars extra for their dog, even though the only thing the dog was going to use in the park was a little water. While this can probably be justified it is hard to see how an extra couple of dollars is really worth the angst it can cause. Other than that Boorowa was a very pleasant stay however.
This morning we headed off to Cowra (following a late start as everyone caught up from a late night in Canberra before we left). Cowra is one of those places in Australia that just has to be  visited due to its place in Australia’s history.
It is really interesting to see how a place that already had a significant amount of history when World War Two began, has been transformed by the events on the night of the “Cowra Breakout” (when approximately 1,000 Japanese prisoners-of-war escaped form a POW camp on the outskirts of then town, which over 200 Japanese and 4 Australians eventually losing their lives during the breakout itself and in the ensuing days as escapees were rounded back up.
Interestingly, Cowra has transformed what was most likely a very negative attitude towards the Japanese in the early post-war days into a significant direct relationship these days. In some ways it has very clearly fostered a desire for better cross-cultural understanding throughout the world and a sense of shared loss between Cowra and the Japanese nation.
The portrayal of the breakout has not been ‘prettied up’ in any manner and is reported within the town in a very honest manner. Following the war however a real effort to ensure the Japanese who lost their lives their, their families and those that were able to return home were also treated with respect left me feeling that it had had a similar result to that of Gallipoli, with the local respect being returned through he gratitude of the Japanese for the respectful treatment given. Of all the sites in town, the kids were most intrigued by the hologram depiction of the breakout itself, which screens at the local Visitor Centre.
Once we finished up at Cowra we headed on towards Bathurst, stopping at a campsite 10 km’s before Blayney. For once we actually managed to be set up by mid-afternoon which made the evening much more relaxing and enjoyable. It was also interesting that after not being interested in kicking a football the entire way through Victoria, we ended up having a good game of kick-to-kick today in NSW (including a few questions about why another family kept “throwing the ball'” which had Max especially confused).
It is very noticeable also how much easier free camping is now that the minimum temperature is back above zero. We were talking about how experiences change perceptions, figuring that it is slightly colder than when we were on the South coast of Victoria, where we were feeling frozen, however having spent a couple of nights in the Snowy’s and just over a week in Canberra it no longer feels quite as cold – in fact tLiz is sitting in bed sans beanie!!

Back into NSW

Leaving Canberra obviously also meant we were heading back into NSW. Realistically NSW so far almost entirely consisted of the Snowy’s so it was also going to mean that we managed to hit both the coldest area on the whole trip and the point at which we started moving back towards warmer country.

We didn’t intend to do anything too drastic the first day and ventured up to Yass. At this point we had to make a decision regarding how we were going to et to Sydney. Luckily for us we hadn’t any plans on when we would arrive in Sydney (although we had decided on where we were staying when we did actually get there). In the end we headed up to Boorowa as this would let us continue on through Cowra and Bathurst.

A lot of this part of the trip was actually used partly as a retrospective, both on the first part of the trip itself and over the time Liz and I have known each other. Given a lot has changed in that time it is interesting to discuss future hopes and dreams and see how these have changed over the years as well as checking to ensure we are still working towards things we both want.

It is interesting to identify both the long-term constants and the changes and in particular try to identify what the catalyst for these changes are. It has also shown the importance of ensuring these conversations continue as while an experience may result in changed life expectations for one partner it doesn’t always translate that this will occur for both.

Anyway, arrival into Boorowa that night was almost the recommencement of ‘normal’ as we unpacked the van and got ourselves set up – once again entirely reliant on just the four of us.

Canberra

Arriving in Canberra was something which had been looked forward to from the time we first started planning the full trip. At the time we had close friends living there, however after the planning stages had begun one of Liz’s closest long-term friends also moved there which added to the desire to spend some time in the nation’s capital. In fact, as it now stands both the boys godmothers are located in Canberra!!

We stayed with the Bruce’s, which worked well for all of us. In the time we were both living in Bunbury they became probably our closest friends. What worked really well was the fact that it didn’t matter which combination of the four of us were around – it always worked. In addition, both our first children were born within a few months of each other with the result that while they moved when the boys were quite young, Max still sees Aidan as his first friend. Now that we both have two kids it means the younger ones have someone to kick around with as well.

Needless to say, arriving into this situation – and on a Friday of all things – resulted in a few drinks and a very late night which slowed the Saturday down considerably (we even managed to get down to one of the local clubs and pick up the West Coast game against Gold Coast, without an alcoholic beverage being imbibed – probably some sort of record for us).

The other person we were looking forward to catching up with – Kerryn – was a little more difficult to tie down as she was away for part of the time we were there, but we still managed to spend quality time with her and her partner which was fantastic.

Being stationary for a few days also worked for me as I had a final assignment due and needed to be able to concentrate on what I was putting together. This was made a lot more difficult due to a lot of the resources I needed still being in WA as I hadn’t finalised the topic when we set off and  had therefore left behind a swathe of information that I ended up needing. Hopefully this doesn’t impact to badly on my final mark!!, but at least it is all now finished and I can concentrate fully on the trip itself. After having struggled with a lack of internet access for much of the trip I have decided to defer next semester as I can’t see this getting any better across the North of the country (I actually expect it will be much worse).

During the trip, as has been mentioned previously, I managed to badly buckle Harry’s front wheel. This opened up a trip to the tip to see what was available from the recycling depot. David was more than happy to come out with us on the off chance he could pick up something else ‘useful’ for their place. The upshot of this was a new bike for Harry as I couldn’t see the sense in coming home with just a wheel when I could bring a whole bike for just $20, especially given the brakes on Harry’s bike hadn’t worked for as long as we could remember.

Following finishing my assignment I took Max for a ride along some of the bike paths. After using Google Maps to estimate the distance it turned out we had covered about 14 km’s, not bad given that our actual destination was only about 3km’s away by road. The intention was to ride out for a while, find somewhere to stop for lunch and then make our way back. This worked perfectly, although my expectations of lunch were completely blown. We ended up at the Woden Shopping Centre, which boasts a reasonable food court. After listening to max talking about how badly he was looking forward to a pie I lead him to all the bakeries I could find to see what appealed only for him to decide that he actually wanted Hungry Jacks. Not necessarily culinary excellence, but it did result in a large amount of food for minimal price.

On the way home Max finally learnt what it meant to be cold. After spending the whole trip in shorts and t-shirt, he had to stop 500 metres from home as his hands were so cold he could no longer hold onto his handlebars. Luckily a cuddle warmed him up enough to get home and for the first time I can remember he voluntary put a jumper on for a few minutes. I am not surprised he was cold as I had jeans and a jacket on and was ruing not putting my beanie and gloves in on the return trip.

One of the major excursions for the week was a trip to the War museum. The previous time we had been in Canberra (about 3 1/2 years ago) we didn’t take the kids as we didn’t feel they were old enough to understand it. This time we decided that Max was and thought we would trial Harry. W got there mid-afternoon as we were going to Kerryn’s that night for dinner and thought a couple of hours would be plenty for the kids. As it turned out this was probably the perfect time for Max at his age, however Harry found it all a bit graphic and tough so he and Liz ended up spending most of the time in the tomb to the Unknown Soldier, which Harry was really taken with.

Max and I on the other hand only made it through part of the displays (as you would expect in that amount of time) with max vacillating between reading every notation on every display and deciding he was bored and had had enough. The interesting thing was that a proclamation of boredom was usually followed with him standing riveted to the very next thing he saw. Hopefully the understanding of the futility of war being juxtaposed with the heroism of many of the people involved will start to become understandable over the next few years – and this visit might assist with that.

The two other significant things from Canberra were:

• A farmer direct store in the Curtin shopping centre. The thing I particularly liked about this (apart from the actual produce) was the fact that every item on sale identified the exact farm it had been sourced from, which I though was fantastic. It is one thing to buy something ‘local’ and another thing altogether to be able to identify exactly where it was produced.
• Not long before we left we went out for pizza with the Bruce’s. When we arrived at the restaurant it included a full set of brewing equipment behind the bar area and I was excited as I have always had a (small) dream of opening up my own brewery restaurant, with a menu revolving around pizza. On this night there was a rapid come down however as the brewery aspect wasn't in operation.

Finally it was time to move on from Canberra, which while sad due to the fact that we were leaving such close friends, who we never seem to manage to catch up with often enough, I must admit I was well and truly ready to keep going. I think this was mainly due tot eh context of the trip which is actually focussed on travelling around experiencing places and things that are completely new and Canberra wasn’t really achieving this. Admittedly I wouldn’t have changes anything though – it was still a fantastic sojourn within the trip and in some ways I think the trip will end up naturally broken into before pre-Canberra and post-Canberra in future years.

Snowy Mountains

The journey to the Snowy Mountains ended up starting with one of the biggest days we have had in the car for the entire trip. We set out without a definite idea on where we would end and had a ball for much of the initial trip tooling along back roads that seemed to be heading vaguely in the right direction.

We eventually made it to Holbrook for lunch. Holbrook like a number of other towns we have visited) has a fantastic history. During the 1st World War it changed its name from Germanton (for what were then obvious reasons). a decision was made to name the town after a Victoria Cross winner – hence Holbrook. The medal had been won for an astonishing act of seamanship in the Dardanelles, in a submarine and since then Holbrook has maintained an ongoing relationship with submarines, even though it is located nowhere near the coast. This relationship includes a number of static displays and a submarine museum, not what we expected to come across as we re-joined the Hume Highway. Sadly, we were also told that the Hume was about to be diverted around Holbrook, and while this will obviously alleviate the need for people to slow down when they come tot he town I also expect it will significantly reduce the number of people who stop there on their travels as there will no longer be the visual cues, and at reduced speeds, to attract them, which is likely to have a considerable impact on the town.

After Hilbrook we continued up to Gundegai, then back up to Tumut and on to a camp site called ‘The Pines’ on the shores of Lake Blowering.This campsite was very different to the pictures we had seen as the lake level was much higher. It was also our first free camp for a while and we certainly noticed the cold!

Next morning we kept going up to Adaminaby, which was a beautiful little town with the best appointed general store I remember seeing. We then headed on towards Jindabyne – stopping at a recently rebuilt travellers hut, just as a Parks and Wildlife man was checking it. This resulted in an overview of the past few years, including impacts of bush fires etc. on the park. Max was very taken with a story of two men who died in the original hut – but I will leave you to read his blog to find out any further details…

At Jindabyne we spent a hour or two wandering around the visitor centre, which was a lovely building with a wealth of knowledge. Even following the cold of the previous night, while there we decided that another free camp, half way between Thredbo and Jindabyne was in order (a place called Thredbo Diggings). Although Liz almost froze, this turned out to be a fantastic decision. The site itself was nestled part way down the mountain side beside a little river.

In the morning the kids were greeted with the site of their bikes completely iced up, even though we didn’t venture out of bed until 8.30am. In fact, one canvas bed end on the caravan was still still covered in ice when I packed up a hour or so later.

We then worked our way back around and up to Charlotte’s Pass, where the kids and I then walked to the topmost chairlift on Charlotte’s Pass where we found enough remaining snow from the snowfall a couple of weeks previously for the kids to have what they thought was a snow fight (I eventually stopped it when they started chucking what were effectively just big lumps of ice at each other). we eventually headed back down the mountain and into Cooma, however didn’t stick around long as it was getting late and we had decided that we should round off the Snowy’s in another free camp since we had managed to survive Thredbo Diggings. The site we eventually decided on was about 20km’s further down the Monaro Highway, leaving us a relatively short hop into Canberra the next day.

That night however Liz and I decided that as we weren’t due in Canberra until about 4pm the next afternoon we should head back in to Cooma and take the kids through the Snowy Hydro centre. In addition to the place the Snowy Hydro Scheme holds in Australian history, this was particularly important to me as Mum had spent some time working in Cooma.

The centre itself was fascinating and, as we were about to leave, we were accosted by the manager who had been alerted to the fact that he had some visitors from Western Australia. It turned out that he had only moved to Cooma in the last couple of years, having previously managed the Perth Visitor Centre and he was always on the lookout for visitors from the west.

Mid-afternoon we headed out of Cooma again, picked the van up from where we had left it and made our way into Canberra, looking forward to catching up with some very close friends.