The Gum Ball Music Festival in the Hunter Valley (family friendly rock'n'roll and local bands) the Canberra Music Festival (classical music) were on consecutive weekends. I left home two days before the former and arrived at Araluen in time to go to Canberra and catch three concerts. I started with two nights on a property just an hour from home. I chilled and enjoyed a day watching the geese on the pond. I didn't expect to be able to wash so I wasn't disappointed. I was close to where the crew for Gum Ball were to meet at the Kurri Kurri MacDonalds. We ate breakfast and drove in convoy to Dashville thirty minutes further on. Every year my kids, friends and grandkids observe this ritual and arrive at the festival ready to nab their favourite camping spot opposite the entry and close enough to the stage to render leaving the camp circle strictly optional. Some people have favourite bands, some just come for the camping, and the kids love the range of extra activities. It was my first experiance. After three days of music (and one cold shower) I was really ready for some travelling, so I decided to head for Araluen via the most remote backroads I could find. I went into Singleton on Sunday afternoon, to find a supermarket and to visit their very good Art Gallery singletonartsandculturalcentre.com.au. It was nice to see a work in their permanent collection by Ken Whisson, one of the travellers on the bus I took from London to Delhi in 1970. It's called "Southern European Landscape 2". I rang the Singleton Showgrounds to see about staying Sunday night, but was told they were still cleaning up after their rodeo: so no warm shower again! Deeming it too late to reach the Grey Gum Café down along the Putty Road I found a free camp between the road and the river at Broke. It was supposed to have toilets but I didn't find them. I was looking forward to the Grey Gum Café because it advertised $5 showers. I got there about midday on Monday and found them closed. I wondered if I would ever wash again! I was really enjoying the beauty and quiet of the Putty Road. I've only been along it once before, during the 1970s before the surface was sealed. The café is in a lovely setting but wouldn't have offered the cosy night I had imagined as it is set up to welcome large crowds of bikers. I continued down the Putty Road and, at Colo Heights, turned off the sealed road toward Upper Cole. This is an even more beautiful road, with some old stone walls supporting it that looked like they dated from the Nineteenth Century. The old bridge at Upper Colo had been swept away and replaced with a concrete one which is already showing signs of wear. I would have spent the night on the river bank beside the bridge, except rain was forecast and I deemed it wise to finish with the dirt roads while it was still dry. I'm glad I did because the next section, through Mountain Lagoon to Bilpin was almost impassible already. There was no warning at the east end, but when I came out to the west end there was a sign that said "Traffic Hazard". On Tuesday I wanted to follow up my backroads trip with another direct route, albeit on asphalt this time, but it went even less smoothly. I planned to cross the Divide by the Bell's Line of Road and to avoid going as far as Lithgow by turning left directly to Mount Victoria, and then taking the Jenolan Caves Road from Hartley to Oberon. I got to Mount Victoria without incident but the hill down the mountain was wet and slippery with only one lane open: which lane was full of slow-moving heavy vehicles. When I reached the turn-off at Hartley, the road was barricaded and bore a sign "Closed until 5pm". So I had to go to Lithgow after all, and it would have been better not to deviate from the Bell's Line of Road. The road from Lithgow went past Lake Lyell xxxx where I camped once before, and there were some wonderful views despite the rain. I stopped for lunch in Torana, which has a beautifully maintained railway station to support five services a day in each direction. I felt I'd never hear of the place but I must have, because it is the last train stop before Bathurst where I spent the whole of 1972. It still has five services a day. Form there I called the Oberon Showgrounds and the lady sounded quite aggrieved by my careful enquiries about the temperature of the shower water! Once in Oberon I visited the Information Centre to find out about local attractions and another lady immediately asserted that the showers at the Showgrounds are particularly good! This strong vein of civil pride was explained when I found a shiny brand new shower block infant of an old derelict looking one. The temperature of the water was just perfect. I was tired and it was still raining, so I had a rest day in the Showgrounds on Wednesday. I watched guys exercising their trotters around the track and had an excellent view of the MDF factory on the other side of town. On Thursday I looked around the centre of town and then drove to Goulburn along the beautiful Abercrombie Road. I made two stops, one to investigate the National Parks campsite beside the Abercrombie River https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/bummaroo-ford-campground. It's a must-return spot, but in better weather! The other was in Taralga, where I had thought of spending the night in their Showgrounds https://wikicamps.com.au/site/New%2BSouth%2BWales%2B%252F%2BACT/Campground/Taralga+Showgrounds/19367. However it felt cold, it was starting to rain again and my bad shoulder (the one that used to be my good shoulder) was protesting that it was far too sore to set up Bertha for the night. I gave in gracefully and booked into the Motor Inn. The following morning I visited the Regional Gallery and the Aquatic Centre: catering to mind and body. Then I drove to Araluen, and arrived ready to go to Canberra for the weekend.
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I attended the first half of a weekend on Deep Ecology (https://www.deepecology.net/) at Narara Eco Village (nararaecovillage.com). It held an important message about our overheating planet and was rather fun, but my legs couldn't tolerate the terrain and I left early. I stopped at the Moss Vale Village Park (https://hampshireholidays.com.au/park/moss-vale-park-village-park/) on my way to Santi. Overpriced. It rained a lot. The next day the rain cleared until Ajahn Brahm had finished speaking, and it rained cats and dogs at Santi (https://santifm.org/santi/) as well. It wouldn't be the end of the summer holidays without four nights at the NRMA Ocean Beach Holiday Resort (www.nrmaparksandresorts.com.au/ocean-beach/). First there was good family time at The Steps at Barrington (www.thestepsbarrington.com.au). Short hikes, mountain biking, river swimming and campfires allowed in January. I hate it when Weebly's links don't work. I really should blog somewhere else. In the meantime here are three YouTube shorts: My cicada at The Steps Barrington: https://youtu.be/9CE58CVi5jI Luka at The Steps Barrington: https://youtube.com/shorts/PhfH406D3s0 Steve at The Steps Barrington: https://youtube.com/shorts/UN1D6qInAT8 I spent one night roadside at Kundabung, on my way to Bellingen for Camp Creative. As usual I stayed in the Showgrounds there. I didn't make it to my class in urban sketching every day because I kept damaging my ankle. On the Friday evening, after visiting friends in Urunga I pulled in beside some other vans outside the sailing club in the dark. I found out later that wasn't permitted, but it was an ideal spot beside the river and great fun watching the local dragon boat team arriving to practice. The urban sketching was great fun; you can see what I did at https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Sv5P3oxYm/ or https://youtube.com/shorts/KEHT-ACfhPQ I drove from there straight to Macksville Hospital, arrived there at 8:30am saying that I thought my foot needed X-raying. I spent a hungry day in the emergency waiting room (café closed on weekends) and left at 4:30pm with the advice to get it X-rayed when I got home. Stopping at the Lyons Park beside the river was nice, and I got to Gosford Hospital the next day, where I was seen to in less than 60 minutes. If only I'd decided to drive straight through!! Driving was no problem, only walking, and it turned out to be only a sprain with no bones broken. I needed somewhere to stay in the Quakers Hill region, and found Ingenia Holidays Avina (www.ingeniaholidays.com.au/our-parks/new-south-wales/western-sydney/avina/) with the help of Google. It's nothing like as highflying as its website suggests, but was a useful place to be for three nights. Between other visits, I slept in Bertha two nights at Santi Forest Monastery (santifm.org/santi). The view remains the same even as organisational details develop!
Day One: Maitland Regional Gallery. I always visit when driving through. Nights 1&2: Lake Liddell Recreation Area, a wonderfully peaceful place on the edge of a big lake. I intended one night and stayed two, will go back. Missed: Muswellbrook Regional Gallery. Also see Upper Hunter Galleries. Scone Art Gallery. A gem of a surprise, free, hidden behind Scone Visitor Information, had Rembrandt etchings. Missed: Tamworth Regional Gallery. Night 3: Wooldridge Recreation and Fossicking Reserve. I didn't hire a gold pan and take my chance, but it was a lovely spot to stay for free in the bush. Armidale Art Gallery. Excellent place. Night 4: Glen Rest Tourist Park. A useful and friendly spot beside the highway. Night 5: Blue Topaz Caravan Park, near Stanthorpe, Qld. Another useful and friendly spot beside the highway. Night 6: Ipswich Showgrounds. Convenient, but extremely small sites rather like a parking lot! Nights 7-9: I left Bertha out in the cold for three nights and stayed in a nice apartment hotel near the Gabba. I visited friends John one day, and on the second Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art. Night 10: I slept in the street outside a different friend John's place in Windsor . Night 11: at Robert's place in Wynnum. Nights 12-14: Pine Ridge (Retirement) Caravan Village, Runaway Bay. I went here because all the oceanside holiday parks were booked out. But nicer and cheaper. Great place! A 20-minute drive to Surfers Paradise. Friday night: Welcome dinner at a surf club, and Luka's birthday. Saturday: Millie's dancing competition. Sunday: I took a rest day at Pine Ridge. Monday: I went to watch Millie's group dance in the street, and then drove off. Night 15: Reflections Ferry Reserve, Brunswick Heads. A bit close to the highway (but an advantage if travelling) and the unpowered sites have the best position, right on the riverbank. Visited friend Anne for morning tea. Night 16: at friends Russ and Jeannette's place on Goodwood Island. Night 17: Nambucca River Tourist Park. I shredded a tyre just before reaching Nambucca. I had hardly drawn breath when one man stopped to help me, and straight away a truck driver stopped to help him. What nice people! I stopped in Macksville the next morning and purchased two new tyres. Night 18: Morisset Showgrounds. They said they were full although there appeared to be heaps of space, so I stopped just outside the entrance beside their dump point. So I had another night at the Killcare Surf Club, always a good place to park ... ... and then - I no longer remember why - drove north before heading south ... ... a month later I was back at Santi, for several nights parked down below somewhere secluded. After the it was back home to Gosford, not really sure where Bertha and I might go next.
I spent my 78th birthday at Patong with Bertha, of course bookending that with visits to both my kids. One night at Copacabana ... ... and then a wonderful weekend at The Entrance for the Giracool Blues Festival, staying at El Lago Tourist Park ... ... followed by a couple of nights at Blue Bay, in the Blue Bay Caravan Park ... ... then back to my favourite place, Fishermen's End at Putty Beach. Unfortunately they've banned overnighting here, so I had to move on before dark ... |
AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
May 2024
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