Warrnambool

As i was given some leave that coincided with School Holidays, we decided to take ourselves away for a week. Warrnambool proved to be a good choice for this. We stayed at the Surfside Holiday Park, which we rated as a 4/5 with Badgers caravaners reports.

As we had no real plans other than a full week or relaxation we had no plans for what we might do whilst we were in Warrnambool. Our first “treat” was the realisation the park was situated next to the main rail line in and out of Warrnambool. Some train drivers tried to sneak past in the night, ineffectively, and others must of enjoyed the use of the Horn very much . This happened about 4 times a day, with no more than 2 trains at night. All that said we were not disturbed that much by them and this would not stop us visiting again.

Our second “treat” was an explosion during the first night. A power transformer coming into the park exploded, cutting power to the park for most of the first day. That was the extent of surprises for the stay.

During the week we enjoyed some great meals at some local venues, including Maceys and the RSL, which was only a short walk from the park.

We spent most of the days either reading and relaxing at the van, or walking  to the beach, the Breakwater wall, the local park or into town.

During our stay we did venture out of town for a visit to Tower Hill, where we were meant to see some wildlife but only managed to find a Koala. We also went out to Timboon to visit the Timboon distillery and Ice cream shop, as well as the Allansford Cheese factory. Both of these are highly recommended tourist destinations.

 

Xmas 2012–Oberon to Home

Not much to report on the trip home. We had planned to stay out one more night before heading home but after we found a caravan drawer open again and a large mess in the van we decided to make it one last BIG day and drive all the way.

We did stop at Goulburn on the way back, and therefore one last “Big Things” photo for the trip, a big Merino sheep. I should of headed out the back for a second photo because he seems correctly proportioned. The people who made this must of had many a laugh.

Overall we had a great trip. Our van has suffered some damage and we had some near misses, but based on the roads we travelled i think we did great. I have some repairs to make now, as well as some improvements, before we head out on our next adventure.

The Colorado performed flawlessly and i was impressed with how it went overall. Below is the facts and figures, showing a maximum of 16L/100Km but this can easily be justified by the steep ascents the car was making whilst pulling the van. On average a value of 13l/100km is as i would of expected.

The last photo shows a distribution of funds, with the total trip costing around $3000

As i make improvements to the van i will update the relevant pages.=

Thanks for following us on our latest trip.

Xmas 2012– Oberon

Oberon, a great little town on the west side of the Blue Mountains, near Sydney. We chose this town due to its proximity to the Jenolan Caves and the Blue mountains town of Katoomba, and its associated tourist attractions, the Scenic World and the Three Sisters.

After setting ourselves up in a great site and having a well earned rest, due to the great roads we seem attracted to this trip, we planned our next two days. For the first day, a day of high fire danger, we had chosen a trip to the Jenolan Caves. Prior to heading out though we made sure to have a look at the NSW Rural Fire service website to ensure there were no local fire risks. We also packed plenty of water.

The Caves were great, and we ended up on one of the longer tours, with around 900 steps. The caves proved to be cool relief as well with an average temperature of 15deg. It was a big shock then when we came back into the light. As part of our tickets we also got to do a self guided tour of a more outdoors style cave.  On our walk back to the car we also managed to disturb various lizards, some of which waited while i took some photos…

After a great day at Jenolan caves we returned to the caravan park for an afternoon rest and an evening walk back into town, where i snapped this shot of the towns original Cinema building the Malachi Gilmore Hall, its looks great but is no longer in operation it seems.

Day two had us driving out to Katoomba and Scenic World where we rode all the attractions.

After Scenic World we headed back into Katoomba to see the Three Sister from another vantage point, along with all the other tourists.

After all this it was back to the van to begin packing, ready for the trip home.

Xmas 2012–Yamba to Oberon

It has taken some time but i have finally found time to finish the blog for our Christmas 2012 holiday.

From Yamba we travelled to Tamworth, via Grafton and Glen Inness. The day started out cool and slightly overcast but after a few quick stops to ensure the Kayak was properly secure we made it through Grafton and on our way up through the hills to Glen Inness.

We had travelled this way in the past with the caravan being towed by a Commodore, so we did not expect any issues with the Colorado and none were had.  Once we made it to the top of the past we stopped for a quick break, and to let the car rest, before heading into Glen Inness where we stopped for lunch, and to purchase a bag of Sapphire Wash from the Information Centre. This was to be the only fossicking i was to see for the whole trip   (found a few sapphires, but no cutters)

 

The weather in Glen Inness was still cool, around 24deg. The reason i stress this was that pulling into Tamworth, we thought that maybe our temperature indicator on the Colorado was playing up, the temperature had jumped up to 40deg. Wow, it was really HOT.

In Tamworth we stayed at the Austin Tourist Park which turned out to be a great park on the outskirts of town. The Country Music Festival was not due to start for another couple of weeks but people had started arriving already, in small numbers.

Once the van had been setup and we had a quick break we took off into town to get some photos of the Big guitar and stock up on some groceries. Not much else was done in Tamworth due to both the heat and the fact this was only an over night stop for us, on our way to Oberon.

Yet again we fell victim to our GPS navigation, although again in this case i did pick some of the path. The poor van was pulled through some very hilly country on our way south to Oberon. We made it fine but i am sure there were some better roads around we could of used.

One concern we started to have was the real beginnings of the severe fire risk season and bush fires. We monitored the risk via the NSW Rural Fire Service website. Lucky for us there were no real fire risks in the Oberon area.

Arriving in Oberon we were greeted to a great country park, The Jenolan Caravan Park,  that had first class amenities and very spacious sites. We were well located near the main street, allowing us to walk in when the weather cooled down in the evenings, and not far from the regions main attractions, Jenolan Caves (45 min) and Katoomba (1Hr).

Ill post more on this in the next post – Oberon.

Xmas 2012–Yamba

In Yamba we stayed at the Yamba Waters Caravan Park, which is off the beach. Arriving around lunch time on our first day we set up camp at our ensuite site i had decided to spoil Sara and the kids a bit, so no walking down to the showers for the next 5 days.
Unfortunately, due to the time of year, the minimum booking time at many costal parks was 5 nights, otherwise we would not have spent as much time here. That said, we were confidant we could fill our time somehow.
As we drove in we also noticed that there was to be a night market in town, and when booking in, besides confirming the market we were also told a carnival was in town, all within walking distance of the park. So, after setting up and having tea, off we went on the 15min walk into town.
The walk turned out to actually be about 25, but it was a nice evening so no problems. The market, on the other hand comprised of only about 6 stalls, so not much to write home about there. We picked up some ice creams and headed back to the carnival. We also noticed, on the way back, a rainbow in the clouds. With no rain present this was an unusual sight and it turns out rare as well. More photos and a good description of the phenomenon can be found here.
The carnival was in full swing when we arrived so the kids got their customary Cha Cha ride before we headed back to camp for the evening.
We didn't really have much planed when we picked Yamba other than staying somewhere new. In the few days we stayed here we took a drive back up north to Byron Bay, which was amazingly busy to the parking was unavailable at many of the local sights and walking was the only way around. The kids had their hair braided with feathers in the main street and we picked up some trinkets.
After Byron Bay that day we headed inland to have a look at Lismore, with a plan to drive through to Grafton, via Casino. We decided after walking around Lismore to head back home as it would be after 5pm getting to Grafton so the town would be shutting down. We will be heading out through Grafton on our way to Tamworth.
We spent another of our days fishing, at a recommended spot, but yet again, not much luck. Bianca did catch an undersized Bream though so we did manage to catch something.
Lastly we found a great local beach that was great for Kayaking, so we spent a few hours there also. We had hoped that Dolphins we had seen there whilst walking would be around, but not the day we went out.

Lastly, as per normal, the kids spent quite a few days in the pool, with the purchase of an underwater camera providing some amusement. As the water was not clear, no real good photos came of it.

Next stop, Tamworth.