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| My first van- 197 Toyota HiAce Safari Poptop |
Cody is a golden retreiver and weighs about 29 kilos. As you can imagine Cody and me in the small van was a bit of a squeeze.
I had joined a group called Solos. This group is specifically for people who drive by themselves 60% of the time . I was driving home from a camp site at Bulli where I had been with the Solos group and made the instant decision to buy a new van; but a bigger one this time. So again I scanned all the adverts and found one that was bigger but still small enough to park in a car space. So again it was a learning curve in driving vans. It is a 1998 Mazda Winnebago Chinook poptop and had only 89,000 Ks on the clock.
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| Cody and me |
MY FIRST BIG ADVENTURE
I read about a motorhome rally being held in Grafton for the Jacaranda Festival so booked in. The first day was quite hectic driving as the traffic in Sydney was heavy and it took a long time to get to Newcastle. Because of the late arrival there I camped in a very small caravan park at Raymond Terrace. Next day I arrived in Grafton and was directed to my site. I didn't take Cody this time and she gets a bit sulky when I leave without her. At the Rally organised by the Manning River Chapter there were tours and shuttle buses running into the town centre every day and in frequent time slots. On one of the tours I went to Russell Crowe's museum. It was interesting and contained many of his garments from his various film roles but I did think that it was a big ego trip for the actor. It was an overload of memorabilia .
At these rallies there is so much to do and so much to see that it is easy to get a bit weary and after one long tour I went to have a rest in the van intending to go with the rest of the motorhomers to the Parade. However I missed the Jacaranda Festival as I fell asleep. What a pity because that was the highlight of the rally. Oh dear.
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| Jacaranda in park |
I also caught a local bus to Yamba and had a pleasant time there. Unfortunately I haven't any photos to show of this trip.
MY NEXT BIG ADVENTURE
It is 25th March 2011 and I am preparing to drive to three rallies. One is in Young the second is Hay which is 712 Ks from my home and the third one is in Deliniquin . I estimate that my journeys will take about three and a half weeks. I will travel firstly to Young where my RV Chapter, The Blue Wrens will be staying for five days before the rally in Hay. After the Hay rally to Deniliquin a further 119 Ks. It promises to be a lot of fun and in the Deli rally there is estimated to be 900 people. Wow! There has been heaps of tours and entertainment arranged and I can hardly wait to be there amongst it all. I intend to take photos this time and will post them when I can.
SUNDAY 25TH MARCH
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| Yass Historical Museum |
Actually getting to Young was an experience. I had stayed for lunch in Yass and the lady in the Information office showed me on the map how to get to Young by going through Boorawa and then Harden. Seemed easy enough until I actually got on the road. I never did go through Boorawa or Harden and drove on other roads altogether. I had taken the first signs I saw to the particular destinations and went on the Moppity Road to Young. Young is a lovely small town with all the amenities that anyone would need.
Well, I have arrived at Young and it is about 4.30pm. I have been following my GPS but when I got to Young it kept telling me to 'turn left' and 'turn left' and 'turn left' and again 'turn left'. So you guessed it. I went around the block and ended up in the same street I had started from. I evenutally found the property where I was going to set up the van and after a bumpy drive over an uneven dirt track (called a road) I came across the other vans in my group.
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| The Solo's Rally at Young |
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| view at Young where I sat |
LEFT YOUNG ON WEDNESDAY 28TH MARCH
The intention this day was to leave no later than 7.30am and we suceeded in achieving this and our little troup of four vans were on the road again. We had a comfort stop at Coolamon and then onto Hay. My petrol was getting very low and I just made it into the township with the petrol gauge on E (that is empty). I pulled into the first garage I came across much relieved. The countryside from Darlington Point to Hay is flat and scrubby with very little habitation. There were a couple of farms on the way but they were way back from the road.
The intention this day was to leave no later than 7.30am and we suceeded in achieving this and our little troup of four vans were on the road again. We had a comfort stop at Coolamon and then onto Hay. My petrol was getting very low and I just made it into the township with the petrol gauge on E (that is empty). I pulled into the first garage I came across much relieved. The countryside from Darlington Point to Hay is flat and scrubby with very little habitation. There were a couple of farms on the way but they were way back from the road.
THE MOTORHOME RALLY AT HAY
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| morning tea at the stagecoach stop |
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| Star Hotel on The Long Paddock |
The mothers of the local school in Booligal put on a terrific morning tea for the two coaches and a donation was given to the school so that the eleven chiIdren attending the school could go on an excursion to Melbourne.
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| Map showing the journey the drovers used to take |
My contribution at the rally in Hay was to conduct a seminar on How to Organise a Funeral and I was really surprised at the rollup for the seminar. It went well and much more attended that I had catered for.
Every evening at 4pm there is Happy Hour where everyone gathers to talk, and exchange information with nibblies and a drink. My computer decided not to work so I have had to continue this in the local Library.
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| Dinking Fountain in the main Street of Hay |
WEDNESDAY 5TH APRIL
Sadly the Rally at Hay has ended and the many motorhomers are moving onto other areas. Some are going home but many of us are going to the next CMCA Rally in Deniliquin which is only 121 Ks from Hay. The rally doesn't really get going until Monday 11th so I have a week to fill in. I decided to travel on from Deni to the twin towns of Moamba and Echuca and arrived in early afternoon and have booked into a Caravan Park right on the Murray River. I could hear the Paddleboat's whistle as it sailed past. I am going to take a ride on it in the coming days as it has been recommended to me and it is one of the Must Do things to do when in Echuca. First stop tomorrow will be to go to the Information office and seek out other sight seeing.
THURSDAY 6TH APRIL 2011
Took the local bus to the Port of Echuca. This busline services all the township of Moama and I was able to see the many new homes and new estates in the area. It cerainly is growing. Went down to the Port and went on a Paddleboat cruise down the Murray River. There were many houseboats which are for hire or have permanent residents.
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| One of the Paddleboats on the Murray River |
The boat I went on was the PS Pevensey.It was built in Moama, Victoria in 1910 and was originally a barge and in 1911 was turned into a Paddlesteamer. It is 33.42 metres in length with a beam of 6.9 metres. It is powered by a 20 h.p. twin high pressure steamengine. P.S Pevensey can travel 8 miles per hour which is around 12 km per hour.It was restored at the Port of Echuca in 1976 and was the paddlesteamer used in the series "All The Rivers Run" and for the film was renamed PS Philadelphia. The cruise was about one hour and when we arrived back at the Port I wandered up the main road leading from the Port. It was filled with quaint shops and offered many unusual and different wares. Lunch was at a Bakery and thoroughly enjoyable.
FRIDAY 7th APRIL
Not too much happening today as I mainly spent time looking around the main shopping centre of Echuca. The roads are extremely wide, mostly flat and there is a lot of traffic either passing through or locals doing their shopping. Echuca is on the banks of the Murray River and although it looked to me as though the water level was low I was cheerfully informed that the river level was actually good. There are two distinct areas in Echuca. One is the historic Port of Echuca area and the other is the township with the usual type shops. I stayed in a caravan park just on the northern side of Echuca at Moama which was a one kilometre walk across the bridge to get into Echuca. The shops in the Port area were extremely interesting and filled to capacity even though it was weekday. On the last two nights of stay it rained very heavily and many of the caravaners packed up and left for their homes. I left on the Monday of the first day of the Deniliquin Rally. It was a very wet drive and also there was some fine fog. The very large trucks and the road trains whoosh past at a seemingly great speed and when driving a van you have to keep your wits about you. One of the presenters at the Hay Rally advises that when these trucks are approaching you from behind don't slow down and don't move over to the side of the road. The drivers judge your speed and steadiness and anticipate overtaking you when they believe it is safe to do so. If you slow down they are unable to calculate the right way to overtake. Still as a van driver it is quite scary when suddenly a great truck looms up behind you in your mirrors.
MONDAY 11 APRIL 2011
Well the entrance into the Memorial Oval where the motorhomes were to be parked was a bit chaotic. The queues extended for about one kilometre and it took some of them an half hour to get in. Vans of all shapes and sizes were in line. The rain had not stopped and the two ovals and surrounding grounds were deep in mud and with so many vans churning the dirt it soon became a quagmire.In the oval where I was directed to there were sections roped off as there was big puddles in them. I thought it was quite funny to see ducks swimming in the middle of them. Of course the mice were still around and mouse traps again became the order of the day. I bought four but didn't catch any mice which was something to be thankful about. The total of vans were 1000 in all with 270 of them being driven by single people and the rest of the vans were couples. The interesting thing to me was that there were also 500 dogs accompanying their owners. Dogs are permitted if they are kept on a lead at all times. Sometimes they hold "Doggie Happy Hours" and all the dogs and their owners gather in one place for chats and dogs running loose. I did not take my Cody as it does restrict movement to a certain extent and I don't like to keep her chained up all the time.
I went on a town tour of Deniliquin and it is quite a pleasant place to live.
The great Ute Rally is held annually and thousands of visitors from all over the countryside go to Deni to display their decorated Utes and to sightsee and drool over what they would like to own themselves.
The tour included a visit to the courthouse and we were not allowed to photograph inside. Which was a pity as the tables and woodwork had been constructed in the 1800's and was beautifully polished. The seats for the reporters and the jury were long wooden benches so any long sitting on them would be a bit uncomfortable. The dock where the prisoners sit is dirctly over the cells beneath and it was beautiful wood as well. The ceilings were 20 feet high and only fans to keep it cool- no heaters other than one small one against one of the walls at the entrance.
The next port of call was to look at the Anglican church. This is called the "Wedding Cake Church" because of the structure. The tour then went out a little way further to see the rice sheds of Sunrise Rice. No public admittance is allowed. Deniliquin exports to all over the world so it is big business. At the moment of writing there is debate within the town because a large Spanish company wants to buy Sunrise out.
THURSDAY 14TH APRIL 2011
MONDAY 11 APRIL 2011
Well the entrance into the Memorial Oval where the motorhomes were to be parked was a bit chaotic. The queues extended for about one kilometre and it took some of them an half hour to get in. Vans of all shapes and sizes were in line. The rain had not stopped and the two ovals and surrounding grounds were deep in mud and with so many vans churning the dirt it soon became a quagmire.In the oval where I was directed to there were sections roped off as there was big puddles in them. I thought it was quite funny to see ducks swimming in the middle of them. Of course the mice were still around and mouse traps again became the order of the day. I bought four but didn't catch any mice which was something to be thankful about. The total of vans were 1000 in all with 270 of them being driven by single people and the rest of the vans were couples. The interesting thing to me was that there were also 500 dogs accompanying their owners. Dogs are permitted if they are kept on a lead at all times. Sometimes they hold "Doggie Happy Hours" and all the dogs and their owners gather in one place for chats and dogs running loose. I did not take my Cody as it does restrict movement to a certain extent and I don't like to keep her chained up all the time.
I went on a town tour of Deniliquin and it is quite a pleasant place to live.
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| Ute on a pole in Deniliquin |
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| Decorated Ute in Deniliquin Park |
The tour included a visit to the courthouse and we were not allowed to photograph inside. Which was a pity as the tables and woodwork had been constructed in the 1800's and was beautifully polished. The seats for the reporters and the jury were long wooden benches so any long sitting on them would be a bit uncomfortable. The dock where the prisoners sit is dirctly over the cells beneath and it was beautiful wood as well. The ceilings were 20 feet high and only fans to keep it cool- no heaters other than one small one against one of the walls at the entrance.
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| Courthouse in Deniliquin |
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| The "Wedding Cake Church" in Deniliquin |
THURSDAY 14TH APRIL 2011
By this day I felt that the rain was not going to stop and to get to the amenities was like going on a hike in the bush they were so far away. In fact if you took a cake of soap with you on the way you need not have even gone to the shower. I had not been out of my rainboots for the week. I decided to leave the Rally earlier than I was going to and so I started off towards home.
I drove as far as Gundagain and pulled into a motel. Gundagai is a pleasant little place and on the morning of the Friday I drove up to the lookout and the view was beautiful.
It was early in the morning and there was a light mist floating across the valley below and because of the rain everything looked green and clean and crisp.
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| View over Gundagai |
If you know the words start singing NOW:
If you know the words start singing NOW:
"My Mabel waits for me
Underneath a bright blue sky
Where the dog sits on the Tuckerbox
Five miles from Gundagai"
Underneath a bright blue sky
Where the dog sits on the Tuckerbox
Five miles from Gundagai"
My journey was almost over (for this time anyway).
By the time I get back home I will have driven 1800 kilometres. It has been an experience but who knows where next time might find me?
