Dubbo to Ballarat - (Part 3 of Brisbane to Alice Springs)

20/11/2014

Had a great time with the family in Dubbo but it was time for the next visit to family at Cobar.

(Macquarie Street, Dubbo' main street)

(Below are two of Nancy's daughts and their families)

(Amanda and Clint)

(Kai, Bridie and Piper)

(Jack and Piper in the new pool)

(Martin, Jack and Cassandra)

The inland roads of Australia are long and straight and to drive safely regular stops are required or change of drivers to ensure you arrive at your destination, modern vehicles do not help because you hardly have to drive them . They are quiet, comfortable and with auto gears, soft suspension, power steering and cruise control all you have to really do is steer and that can be done by one finger. No wonder there are so many accidents with speed and fatigue or is it boredom? Not saying I would like to go back to the old cars that had more rigid suspension and strong arm steering that you had to work hard to keep the car on the road in a straight line, those days you had to work at driving and of course they did not have the speeds of modern cars.

(The start of the long roads)

(Emu's and their chicks, not a good thing to hit on the road, if you want to take photos do it from inside the car Emu's are very protective of their young and they can rip you open with their sharp claw)

(There are many old farm buildings out bush, properties sold and many to China)

On the way to Cobar we pass through towns of Narromine, Trangie, Nevertire and Nyngan. These areas are basically farm country grain growing and pastoral and at the moment the land is very dry. These areas are familiar grounds to me having worked for the NSW Rural Fire Service I ended up being the manager of Wellington, Dubbo and Narromine, having over 1500 volunteers, 57 brigades and 7 paid staff. In 1990 just after I started working with the then Bush Fire Brigades as a Deputy Fire Control Officer, we got involved with floods and flood rescue with the April rains, first Dubbo flooded affecting many buildings and people trying to cross swollen creeks, (I don't know why people do this). This was followed by the Nyngan Floods and the evacuation of Nyngan after the levy banks breached. After the flood waters subsided we then went back to Nyngan to help people with the recovery. Nyngan residents were sent out in groups by buses arriving at 0800 hours each day and had to leave by 1600 hours this was to prevent looting and keep some law and order. The volunteers and myself slept on camp stretchers in the Nevertire silos and we would arrive in Nyngan each day with the residents to help clean their homes it was a very sad affair.

(Trangie township)

(Neveritre Silos that we camped in during the Nyngan cleanup)

(Nevertire, it does have a pub)

(Long and straight)

There are a number of towns in this country built where levy banks are required to protect the township from floods I suppose that early settles set up the townships near water for supply. Nyngan is a aboriginal word meaning long water.

(The old mine at Cobar)

(Cobar's main street)

(Cobar mines, we on a viewing platform on a communication tower hill)

(Looking across the top of the mine the Township of Cobar in the background.)

We had a rest at Nyngan before going on to Cobar  on arriving at Cobar we went to Carla and Corey's house and set up the motorhome in the front of their house on the gravel front yard. Carla and Corey are getting ready to move over to Maitland way where they have bought a block of land to build a house. We had fun with the three grandchildren during our few days stay even with temperature of up to 45⁰ C.

 (Nancy's daughter Carla and husband Corey)

(Clockwise- Bella (8), Olivia (7) and Dad Corey, Corey rounding up son Edward (6) and Carla)

(Carla doing a few jumps)

Cobar is a mining town with a number of operational mines in the area the country is more grazing than grain growing and the area has an abundance of wild goats which along with the kangaroos compete with cattle for the vegetation.

Cobar to Ballarat via Hay and Echuca

24/11/2014

On the road again off to see Kerrin and Mark at Ballarat a bit of a zigzag drive from where we started. The roads are long and straight and we will travel the Hay Plains to and from Hay. On these roads you can see for many kilometres, night driving across these areas you can often wonder if the headlights you see in the distance is a stationary car or one going backwards it takes ages before you actually pass each other. People have actually seen a Min Min Light in these areas, I actually saw one in the 70's when I was driving the Hay Plains, I was driving to Adelaide from Sydney to go and see my family and this orange light appeared in front of me but in the paddock adjacent to the road, the light remained at the same distance no matter how fast I went and after quite a long time just vanished. No I was not going mad, these phenomena's do happen and you can read about it through the following website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_%28mirage%29

All we had to contend with is sheep, cattle, goats and emus on the road which at the speed we travel these days is not a problem. We drive at speeds of 85 to 90 kilometres an hour, this makes for easy driving better fuel consumption and probably only adds around 30 minutes to the day's journey.

 (There are plenty of wild goats around these parts)

 (Loan emu putting in the big strides)

 (Kangaroos are about in the day as well as night )

(Sheep are good for their wool and meat and the only time their brains are used is when served up cooked on a plate. I have seen it when one sheep has jumped in front of a train trying to get out the way a number of others followed it, they will do the same in front of a car.)

(Drovers camp)

 (Roadside stop for a cuppa and stretch the legs)

(Not sure what this is the plaque has been stolen)

(Apostil Birds getting a drink from a tray, we topped the water up for them before leaving)

 (Fruit fly control, if you are carrying fruit you have to eat it or drop it into this unit, which is the same as the toilet a long drop.)

(The toilet at the roadside stop)

(Wanganella Post Office Cafe, this place had been closed for sometime a couple are now renovating the place but still sell a nice coffee, the plumber at his vehicle told us about this cemetery a short drive along a track) 

(A Lot of the graves have been destroyed could have been through floods in the area.)

We arrived in Hay and headed for Hay Plains Holiday Park, a very nice park and nice people, this is located on the southern end of town just across the Murrumbidgee River, Hay had earlier a good downpour of rain and we had to watch where we drove of the roads.

We had a long drive and I was tonguing for a beer so I suggested to Nancy that we go over to the Hay Hotel conveniently located just across the road, I did not have to twist her arm. It is a very nice pub and the owners are nice people , we ended up staying for about three beers.

 (Township of Hay)

(The Murrumbidgee River at Hay)

After returning to the vehicle we had a shower the everyone had a good shower of rain, it poured down, the land really needs it. I cooked dinner in the camp kitchen  and we had a quiet night watching a movie.

25/11/2014

(At a roadside stop on the Hay Plains)

We left Hay reasonably early and headed for Echuca one of my favourite places on the Murray River it has the old charm of the early river days with the paddle steamers that take tourists up and down the river. The docks with the steam driven wood turning equipment. We booked into Echuca Holiday Park, a very nice park just a short walk from the main street and the dock. It has been some years since I have been here and it looks like it has geared up more for tourism. Like most I think they have spoilt it a little especially around the dock area, the wood turning and steam engines used to be in full view as you walked passed, now it is fully enclosed and you have to walk inside a building and pay entrance fees to see it all, it may be the sign of the times with vandals that has caused this I am not sure but I think it would attract more people if it was open. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes around the place if not near the dock in the main street. I was a little disappointed the restaurant on the dock next to the woodturning is closed down and the building is empty, it was a great place to go day or night with the river in view and the steam boat activity.

(Echuca near the waterfront, Murray River)

(The steam machinery and wood turning and timber dressing)

We had lunch at the Echuca Hotel, very good service and meals and the owners are the same people that we met at the Hay Hotel, they own both hotels.

On our return to the park we stopped by the swimming pool in the park and there in the pool were mum and dad duck with seven little ones having a swim in the pool. There are ducks wondering and sleeping all over the park and there were a few others on the wading pool. Ducks have it rough around here.

(Ducks on the pond, the ducks in and getting out of the swimming pool)

(Just a note, "Ducks on the pond" was often said by blokes in the pub or on a work site when women were entering, it was a way of telling blokes to watch their language, no one seems to worry these days, in some cases some women can make a bloke blush.)

Echuca is a very popular place in the height of the tourist season there are house boat hiring and some paddle steamers do overnight trips.

 ('Emmylou' setting off)

 ('Pride of the Murray' I think this one is diesel these days)

('Emmylou' alongside and another steamer on the slips for maintenance)

(Houseboats some for hire)

26/11/2014

We set out from Echuca early and headed for Ballarat we had booked a site at the Eureka Stockade Caravan Park so we are heading there.

(We found this place in Daylesford what a great place for coffee or a meal)

The drive was quite pleasant going through some attractive places and away from major highways. Entering Ballarat it was instant city traffic , Ballarat also has tramways in the centre of the road not that we saw any. We found the caravan park and settled in and later in the afternoon daughter Kerrin came around followed by her husband Mark.

Kerrin left us her little car to drive around in so we could see some of the sights the next day. Ballarat originally a major gold mining town and famous for the Eureka Stockade has quite a lot of history.

27/11/2014

 (Ballarat Gold Museum)

We had a drive around Ballarat and went to the museum which was very interesting after our trip around we went back to the park and got ready to go to Kerrin and Mark's for dinner.

(A Good night with Kerrin and Mark, great dinner good wine, probably too much wine)

What a night we had, Kerrin and Mark cooked roast ducks, yes plural. Kerrin cooked one in the oven and Mark cooked the other in the Weber, yes the competition was on in a fun way of course. Mark's brother and sister-in-law  was also there for dinner and we had a great night. Truth be known it may have been too good a night, I won't say how much wine I drank or should I say we all drank, but I think I had the wobbly boots on when going home. I know one thing though Ballarat was cold that night which I believe is no surprise, it usually is. We shared a cab home with Mark's brother.

We had a great night.

Cheers