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ROADTRIP !!!!

Helleu again, and again apologies for the delay. What can I say, the year’s barely started, and January has already flown by!

For last year’s Xmas break, Roxy and I decided to head out on a roadtrip, and see a bit (or a lot) more of da land downunder. Some we’d seen before, some awaiting to be explorer further.

It all started with a lot of restraint, as there was a final Christmas party the night before, and a lot of pushing and shoving….. of a bag that wouldn’t fir into a very small boot (spare tyre takes up a lot of space). You may notice a greenish weekend bag on the back of the car in a few pictures here and there.

First stop:

Echuca, Northern Victory

For those my age, you may remember the old Australian TV series from the eighties, about paddle steamers on the mighty Murray river. A convenient 3hr drive due north of Melbourne, so a perfect first stop…. After a Christmas party. Couldn’t do the paddle steamer cruise that afternoon anymore, so had a nice relaxing stroll through town, and a great dinner over the river at Oscar’s.

Morning after we did have the 1hr cruise, always fun to see an old steam engine pumping away. But also scary, to see how low the river is at the moment (still in drought conditions over here), and see pictures of how high it could be at times.

Stayed at the Steampacket Inn, by the way, which made us feel right at home in a turn of the (19th/20th) century Echuca!

Long drive, for most of the day (9hrs) to stop no 2:

Dubbo, Country NSW

Had heard and read about it before, the Western Plains Zoo. The zoo where you go around…. On a bicycle! And on top of that, most animals roam around quite freely (well, not on the road, of course). Then, there as also their Zoofari lodge, meaning you could spend a night with your nextdoor neighbours being zebra’s and giraffes! Needless to say, most “people” staying in the lodge were kids, but those who know me, will understand that I fit in quite nicely!

Good food, sleeping in a large (permanent) tent, and 3 tours taking us behind the scenes of the zoo, including feeding animals. Never though I’d be feeding a rhino, and live to tell! Although, the Lions were a bit grumpy, and were not in the mood to wait for the tour guide to finish her chat before they’d get their late night snack. In the afternoon, one of the female cheetahs also got a bit too territorial for most of us.

We spend another long day in the car, after the morning tour had finished, and the torrential downpoor had dried up, heading across to the coast again, to spend Chrismas with Peter and his family, again.

Dubbo, via an unplanned detour to Tamworth, across the ranges to Port Macquarie, and finally Dunbogan, NSW north coast.

The same as last year, Peter and his family were kind again to adopt me for the Christmas period, and Roxy as well of course this year.

There are probably not many small towns along the NSW coast line, that don’t have their own beach. But the smaller the town, the less people you tend to get on the sometimes very long and big beaches. All the better to relax of course.

We spend a day up in Port Macq as well, so we could tick that box again, but it’s always nicer to stay in smaller town with bigger beaches.

Peter’s still doing very well here, new car to zip around in. The kids are growing up quickly as well, as they tend to do. Thankfully, Irish Mick hadn’t grown much, well, ok, maybe his fondness for me of course !

Had a great time, again, and even came away with some nice presents.

Next stop:

Newcastle, via the Hunter Valley

No way I’d pass out on a stop in the Hunter, of course. Although, one of the usual stops was letting me down in service, so had to pop across the road for some more wine tasting instead. Ah, the pain of choices and options. Picked up some good cheeses and snacks as well !

We stayed in Newcastle (Stockton Beach) for 2 nights. One reason was that I’d never really stayed as a tourist, the other was also to chill out a bit before heading to Sydney for New Year’s Eve.

Newcastle is an industrial town, with most of the ores and minerals from the mines passing through here. We did see a heck of a lot of ocean freighters passing by.

It has nice beaches as well though, possibly Stockton being the longest in Australia! Refreshing dip in the morning, and a stroll through town in the afternoon. Evening meal at the local pub after.

Sydney

Slightly disappointed: One of the very few showers on our break, was just the day I’d be driving the old highway to Sydney again….. ah well, more driving to follow soon!

Again, trying something new in Sydney, which is getting hard after 6 years of residing there, so stayed in Bondi beach, in a small studio apartment for 3 nights. Main plan really to show Roxy around a bit, catch up with people, and enjoy the Sydney fireworks for New Year’s. All worked out rather well I think, with a great vantage point for the fireworks in McKell Park, Darling Point.

One new year’s day, we took of heading south. Again, keeping in mind the new year’s hangover, we only planned for s short drive that day, staying in Nowra. Next day, driving onwards to our last stop for the 2 weeks:

Thredbo, Snowy

Roxy by the Murray

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Echuca, VIC

Mountains NSW

Had to take an inland road. One of the problems in NSW around the holidays always is the traffic. It’s a bit like France, for some reason, everyone jumps in the car at the same time. So rather than heading down the coast to Bega, we took the inland road via Canberra, to end up in a part of the country mainly known for skiing!

But like so many other countries, mountains can usually be enjoyed even more in somertime! Especially if it has the highest mountain in Australia in it: Mount Kosciusko!! It’s locally pronounced as Kozzy-usko, by the way.

And yes, we did climb it. Well, sort of. The first 1400m by car, the next 600 by ski lift, and the final 200m on foot! It all adds up. The walk wasn’t that hard actually, but very pretty and enjoyable. Especially with the fab weather that we had that day. The scary part actually going DOWN again in that ski lift, neither of us being heroes when it comes to heights!

We stayed at the Denman lodge, which was ok for accommodation. The best part being the restaurant, where we enjoyed a really great meal! Expensive too, but well worth it! The second night we opted for a cheap pizza….

Last day, drive back to Melbourne. Always sad at the end of any trip, however this was a really great day to drive, and some fantastic scenery. Took 2 hours to get out of the mountains, the next countryside after that being quite pretty, lake Hume being amazing and eerie, and also stopping for lunch in Yackandanda, a place I spent my first easter break in Oz, 8 years ago now.

Soooo, all of that added up to over 3600 smooth kms in the car, with only a small puncture to report.

In the mean time, have been back to Sydney again for Ash’s 40th, to Falls Creek and Adelaide for dragonboating, and are about to throw a little housewarming party….. no wonder the first month has flown by so quickly !

Bye for now!

Rene

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