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Published: March 19th 2014
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Orbost Tourist Information Centre
This is a slab hut built in 1872, made of wood and bark slabs. We woke at 8.30am and had breakfast then started to get things ready to leave. The first job was to get all the leaves and twigs off the top of the pop-out before we tried to retract it because Barry was worried any trapped seeds or twigs could spoil the seal. Trouble is, it’s very tall and we don’t carry a ladder (maybe we should for the big trip). Barry decided to back the ute up to it, climb on the tailgate and use the broom to push everything off. It worked quite well and we quickly retracted the side before more leaves fell on it (not quick enough). We emptied the grey water and topped up the fresh water tank as we were planning to stay at a free site that night. We arranged for an extension to the departure time as we needed to get a few things from town and there wasn’t really room to park the rig there easily, one of the down sides of having such a large vehicle.
One of the things I required was an anti-histamine as my right ankle was swollen and irritated. Despite putting mosquito repellent all over my feet and
Drummer Rainforest Walk
An enormous, tall tree that is still alive and healthy despite the heart having gone out of it, probably in a bushfire. legs before our dinner the previous night, at least one mozzie had managed to make a meal of me! Not quite the memento of our lovely night out that I had hoped for!
We got the supplies and went back and hitched up. It was already getting close to the forecast 31
o C.
As we left town heading towards Nowa Nowa, we saw a strange RV that looked like a large doghouse built on a small trailer being towed by a little sedan car. It was obviously home-made and looked very different to the usual ones. During our travels all day we kept encountering him, without actually meeting him.
We stopped in Orbost to check out the Tourist Information Centre. The building was a lovely Slab Hut that was built in1872 as a family dwelling about 40 km from Orbost. It was made without using nails, everything being wired together. After passing through a few owners, it was donated to the local Historical Society in 1966. The last owner donated it to Orbost. They decided to use it as the TIC and carefully re-erected it in town in 1987.
After looking at the TIC we walked
Drummer Rainforest Walk
A pretty little lizard encountered on the walk. to Netherbye Gallery, which features a private collection of gemstones and opals, collected from all over the world by finding them or swapping them. The elderly male owner of the museum makes the woodwork clocks and other wood-turned items, like bowls and cups; and polishes the natural gems (including opals from their own mine in Queensland that is worked by their son), to sell or make into jewellery. His wife is an artist and her beautiful landscapes were all over the walls of the shop/museum. She painted mostly the local area and was very good. I would have loved to buy one of them but we are on a budget and we should be thinking about down-sizing soon, rather than adding to our possessions. Unfortunately, the owners are trying to sell the museum collection and house due to ill health. It must be heart-wrenching after taking so many years collecting it all.
We continued down the road and stopped at a Rest Area for a quick lunch of Vegemite and cheese sandwiches (we needed the salt – the mercury had climbed to 36
oC and we were sweating profusely). Then we continued on to the Drummer Rainforest Walk, a 45
Genoa Rest Stop
We parked on a lovely flat site just under some eucalyptus trees. minute track through some lovely trees and grasses along a small creek. One was very tall and healthy, despite having a hollow in the trunk big enough for Barry to stand in. You wouldn't think what was left could sustain such a massive tree!
It was very pleasant and a little cooler under the trees. We heard a few birds but didn’t see any and the only fauna we encountered was a lovely lizard basking in the sun. We thought about staying there overnight but decided to push on a few more kilometres and stay at the Genoa Rest Stop, as we had originally planned, for a free night.
On our arrival, we were surprised to see a large number of RVs already parked there, including a 5
th wheeler even bigger than ours. It was a lovely site with a toilet block and showers (although they only had cold water because some idiot had stolen the water heater), free BBQ and the flattest sites we had seen anywhere (including the paid parks). We didn’t have to level anything.
We got talking to some of the other motor home owners and found most had been travelling for years.
Martin's Home-made RV
This little house has a bed, toilet, kitchen and a little storage. While we were chatting, who should pull in but the funny little home-made “dog house” complete with hang gliders on the roof of the car. I went over to thank him for moving out of our way on the road earlier and he was proud to show off his very cleverly constructed mobile home. We soon attracted a crowd of others fascinated in his home. His name was Martin and he came from Tasmania (although he had a German accent). He had sold his house and was between homes while he travelled. He even had a small black cat with him that rushed out of the car and quickly settled inside his RV. In the rear of his car he even carried some pot plants. He had a solar panel on the roof, too, which kept his fridge running. Some people were especially impressed with the boot scraper he had made by attaching two upturned scrubbing brushes to a swingable steel arm next to the entrance.
We watched a really red sunset, due to the smoke from the bush fires, and then I made us a quick bacon and egg dinner. We both then had much needed showers in the van (we couldn’t face a stone cold one), trying hard to conserve our water as a trial run for our outback travels.
We were told there is a large goanna in the bushes that comes up looking for food sometimes – I hope we see him. We have enjoyed the site so well we have decided to stay tomorrow and give Barry a rest from driving. It is forecast to be around 20 degrees C so it should be much more comfortable.
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Snap Shot Stacey
Snap Shot Stacey
Poor Cat
I can't imagine Martin's cat was too keen on being in a vehicle all the time as they hate that.