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1 Don't forget you can click on a small photo to see a bigger version.
2 You can click on a route segment (eg 'Brisbane -> Minnie Water' below) and Google will show you the map.
3 Some of the distances shown by Google will not be the same as those we recorded due to side trips, excursions, etc.
Day 1 - Brisbane -> Minnie Water
Today 336kms / Total 336kms
Finally, we're on our way. We were about an hour later than planned, but we decided that this was not something we were going to loose sleep about. Considering that this was the first day of a big adventure, and that we hadn't really been away in the van for about 8 months, it all went quite smoothly.
Really only two very minor issues raised their heads. From a technical point of view, I needed to fiddle with the van tyre pressures (40psi was too low - increased it to 45) and put another 5psi in the rear air bags of the Land Cruiser. On the home front, someone forgot the can opener! Nothing that a bit of ingenuity and a Swiss Army Knife can't fix, but I'll be getting Butter Chicken Sauce off the blade for ever.
We're heading about 45° south of what our track should have been as the roads we'd normally take have been severely damaged by floods. Consequently we're heading down the Pacific Highway until we get far enough south to turn west for Dubbo. Today's destination was Minnie Water in the Yuraygir National Park. We'd stayed here before when we had the camper trailer and it's lost none of its charm.
As I type this, we're about 8 metres above the beach with a lovely view out to sea and the sound of surf in our ears. A stroll along the sand before dinner showed us how much debris, mainly in the form of dead trees, has been washed down the Northern NSW rivers with the rain and then dumped back on the beaches.
There must be worse campsites.
Seeing we were going to be beside a number of seas and 2 major oceans during this trip, we had a ceremonial dunking of the feet in the Pacific to mark the easternmost part of our trip. Let's hope we get to paddle in them all!
Day 2 Minnie Water -> Apsley Falls
Today 407kms / Total 743kms
Our first power-free camp of the trip (ie: a campsite without mains power) went off without a hitch, so we'll see how a second night goes. Theoretically, we should be able to stay away from civilisation indefinitely as long as the sun continues to shine. However, the current limiting factor is water. We carry 100 litres in two 50 lt tanks under the van, as well as 20 litres in a jerry can on the back of the van. Theoretically, this SHOULD enable us (at 20lt per day) to stay 'unwatered' for 6 days, but somehow it never seems to work out this way. Either some magic bush creature is sneaking around in the dead of night and pinching water, or there's some unauthorised showering going on in the van. I may have to stay awake and catch the culprit!
Last night we went to sleep to the soothing sound of the surf, and it was still there when we woke this morning. Wildlife seemed to figure in our journey today. There was an emu grazing on the side of the road as we left Minnie Water, a beautiful 1.5 metre Carpet Python crossing the road as we climbed up into the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, and 4 wallabies greeted us when we entered the Apsley Falls Nat Pk this evening. Regrettably none stayed around to have their photo taken.
Mainly a driving day today as we're trying to get to Dubbo for our first multi-day stop. We stopped at a shopping centre on the north side of Coffs Harbour to pick up the missing can opener and refuel, then off further south to have lunch on the banks of the Nambucca River at Macksville. Very peaceful.
By the river at Macksville.
We went south as far as the turn-off to Port Macquarie where we start our 'real' journey west. The Oxley Highway is quite steep in places and has numerous winding sections as it climbs nearly 4000ft into the New England Tableland. The half-way point between Minnie Water and Dubbo is near the town of Walcha, so we decided that a National Park at nearby Apsley Falls might be nice. We could see the clouds on the mountain tops as we approached the ranges, and arrived at Apsley Falls campground in steady light rain.
Mmmm, Eucalyptus in the mist.
Looks like we're about to swap going to sleep listening to the surf, for the sounds of rain on the van roof.
Day 3 Apsley Falls -> Dubbo
Today 454kms / Total 1197kms
Before we set off, we wanted to have a look at the falls as the rain and mist/low cloud last night had dampened our enthusiasm for sight-seeing. We packed up and drove the 500m to the Falls picnic ground and walked out to the lookout. This is hung off the side of the gorge and provides a beautiful view of the falls and (from another lookout) right down the gorge of the Apsley River. There was sufficient water to make the falls look like 'real' falls - something that doesn't always happen in Australia!
Apsley Falls, New England Tableland
The countryside around the gorge is typical of parts of the New England Tableland and is about 3500ft (1000m) above sea level. It gets a lot of mist and consequently there are lots of mosses and lichen on the trees and bushes.
Lichen and a bit of Spanish moss.
While we were taking in the majestic scenery, a majestic bird turned up on the far side of the gorge about half a kilometre away. It would seem to be a young-ish Wedge-Tailed Eagle, as this one was brown and they tend to get darker as they age. This is Australia largest eagle and can have a wingspan of up to 2.3m (7 1/2 ft). To say I was surprised to actually get a shot of it with my 'point-and-shoot' camera would be a huge understatement! As I said, the bird was on the other side of the gorge and at least 400+ yards away. Isn't current digital camera technology wonderful? :-))
Aquila Audax - Monarch of all it surveys!
(For the photo buffs: Canon PowerShot SX20is at full zoom - 560mm equiv - then cropped to about 1/4 original size)
Mainly a travel day today. The objective of this part of the trip is to meet up with Peter & Pam. Initially they were leaving a week later than we were and we were to rendezvous in Western Australia, however we had a text message from them when we got in mobile range this morning that they had left Brisbane and would meet up with us in Dubbo. Great News!
Day 4 Dubbo
Today 10km / Total 1207km
A rest day where we're catching up on "Where did you pack the xxx?" and getting back into our caravanning routine. I might even wash the car if it stops raining as the trees at Apsley Falls dropped sap on the bonnet.
Day 5 Dubbo
Today 0km / Total 1207km
Peter & Pam should arrive today, so we're taking advantage of the hiatus in our journey to catch up with things we didn't do around the caravan prior to departure. We're still playing "Where did you put the xxx?", the most obvious being the power supply for the 12v monitor/TV that we purchased for the trip. We'd both turned the van upside down in a fruitless search for the power lead/transformer. Visions of frustrating visits to Dick Smith or Hardly Normal came to mind before today's calamity provided the solution.
At washing up time, Sue let out a quiet yelp and said she couldn't turn the hot water off. Thinking that a red-blooded, slightly overweight male could obviously fix this small problem, I found I couldn't turn it off either! I ended up turning off hot water system and the supply tap at the mains and pulled the tap to pieces. The internals are all made of some sort of nylon/plastic material and it seemed that the hot water had swelled the shaft inside the tap to the extent that it locked solid. Letting it cool fixed the problem after I'd extracted all my tools from the locker under my bed. Guess what was also there? Yes, the power supply for the TV!
You can tell we had a really full day when plumbing problems are the high point!
Day 6 Dubbo - Western Plains Zoo
Today 20km / Total 1227km
What a delightful day! We were at the gate about 5 minutes before opening time and parked in the queue next to a rather ironical sign, given where we were here to see!
The Western Plains Zoo is a part of the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Obviously being on such a large area of land gives the zoo authorities the ability to show large animals off to their best advantage in more appropriate settings. Consequently, the 'cast list' here is limited to the big animals such as elephants, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, etc. that are far better seen on acre-sized lots than in small concrete enclosures. Rather than rant on about each animal we saw, here are a few shots, including a couple from the 'cute' file.
Barbary Sheep
Rhino mother and calf
Giraffe portrait
Mother Eland and smoochy calf
Big game hunter Pete and friend
Sue's favourite big cat
Sumatran Tiger sizes up lunch.
A beautiful Diamond Firetail
Day 7 Dubbo -> Baden Park Rest Area
Today 470kms / Total 1697kms
Today is the first of 4 travel days. The aim is to get to Ceduna in South Australia where we'll take a few days to prepare to cross the Nullarbor Plain. Ceduna is the last town of any size (pop 5000?) before we get to either Kalgoorlie or Esperance 1400 kms later in Western Australia. The target is about 400kms per day, so we're not really pushing it too hard.
We got away at a reasonable time and headed west, watching the countryside change from wheat and sheep stations to cattle stations as we got near Cobar.
"Welcome to Cobar"
We had lunch in Cobar at a rest area on the eastern side of town that has a huge mine-themed sign featuring the town's name. It's certainly still warm in this part of NSW and we were glad to get back on the road and back in the air-conditioning. We finally stopped at the Baden Park Rest Area between Cobar and Wilcannia, coincidentally where we had all stopped about a year earlier when trying to follow the Darling River. The soil around here has obviously been wet and has dried out, and luckily the storms in the area left us alone.
The storm in the distance missed us by about 10 miles.
There's no mobile reception here (and may be none tomorrow night) so this part of the log may have to be loaded as a group of days when we get to somewhere with a signal!
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