Week 5

 Well here we are - Week 5 (Woo hoo)

 Here's another big thing ( just for Shell ) the old golden guitar at the Long Yard in Tamworth.

 This was the sunset at Tamworth the night before we left, it was very windy all day which made the sunset very red, must have been all the dust?

 We left Tamworth on Wednesday and headed off to Mungindi (yep give it a google, it has a population of about 100?)

Fiona's Sister lives there (Hi Pete & Tidge) we just had a visit and a couple of days off (and a couple of good home cooked meals) but really not much doing in Mungindi.

 This is the landscape around Mungindi - take note, not a mountain in sight, its like an ocean of land ( with no waves ).

 

From Mungindi off to Toowoomba on Saturday. We had a good run but could have done with a servo or two, we didn't see one for about 250km's between Talwood and Millmerran (yes the fuel light came on) kinda gets you thinking when your towing a van......

 This is Spring Bluff at Toowoomba, bit like a minature Floriade - very well done.

 View from the range at Toowoomba, and of Toowoomba itself.

 Couldn't believe it, Toowoomba has a population of around 100,000 and not a single pet friendly caravan park (some-one needs to wake up). We ended up staying at the Toowoomba show grounds, last resort, we didn't really want to but kinda lucky in a way - powered site for $22- a night and pretty bloody good, this is the view fron our van, quite nice - little lake and all, and very quite, only us and two other vans here, we practically had the place to ourselves. (go the show grounds) we will definately have a look at other show grounds if we get caught short.

Week 4.2

Yeah UNI is over (for now). The weather is coming good, still a bit windy but clear and warming up. So off to Tamworth we go (Yee Haa)

 We caught up with some old friends (hey Bob & Lizzy) and went for a drive out to Nundle (Hanging Rock). As pictured is the view from Nundle lookout.

Just so happened that the Chev club of Australia had a weekend event in Tamworth and were having a get-together (Saturday drive) at the Nundle cricket ground.

 Most - if not all the cars were awesome and some as you'll see are Tough as Nails.

 There must have been at least 100 cars, and I'm sorry for only picturing the ones I like more, we do have more pictures but we would never fit them all in.

Saturday night we went out to dinner with Bob, Lizzy, Rap and Rach (hey guy's) it was the first time we've been out for a feed since we've been on the road, the food was tops and the meals are huge - seriously huge. If your ever in Tamworth and you are starving, try "Safari" they do what they call a "Lions Paw" which is a 1.5 kilo T-bone, yes 1.5 kilo and the "Rack of Ribs" is literally a rack of ribs, you had to see some of these meals to believe them, however none of us were quite that hungry or game.

 Sunday we caught back up with Rap, Rach and their three girls (hi Ivana, Shelby and Lilly). We went for a drive out through Kootingal to Limbri, checked out one of our old swimming holes, still a nice spot out there and we had a nice walk around and a little play in the water but only a little play, it was still to cold for swimming.  

Week 4

Chicken and corn, marinated chicken and fresh corn on the cob, all done on the baby Weber (bloody good).

 I (Dom) got bored while Freddy was at UNI and gave the car a detail, poor thing hasn't been washed in a month, took me the best part of half a day but the end result was pretty good (well I thought so).

We found the Easter Bunnys cousin, he didn't have much to say - we think he thought he was hiding (if I don't move, they can't see me).

 We visited Thunder Bolts cave (kinda north-west N.S.W's version of Ned Kelly - sort of, but brobably not really)

 Must have been a nice place to live? (to rent, room with a view?)

Week 3.2

Thursday - off to Armidale (nice short run) for Fiona's UNI "chem prac" and we arrived just at the right time. A very nice cold front thought it would visit just as we got here. The temperature has been awesome - Friday had a top of 8 degrees and Saturday was even better with a high of 6. Sunday we got to 9 degrees and the same on Monday with a frost and -2 over night for Tuesday morning but the sky has cleared and the sun is out and the temperature made it into the teens today (Tuesday) WooHoo.

Armidale should be known for its Gorges, they have heaps - definately worth a look if you're ever in the area.

It was good to have some rain - could have done without the cold. Some of the waterfalls were pretty cool but it would have been nice to get a bit closer.

week 3

Well here we are - week 3 (woo hoo) its now an extended holiday.

We left Yamba and headed through Grafton up the range to Glen Innes - cold country. The car went well - nothing below 3rd gear (60kph) up the big hill, we did hold up a couple of cars but pulled over to the shoulder when we could to let them through (bloody drivers with caravans)

 We did some fossicking and had a lot of fun for our first time at it, this was about 3 hours work. We did find some Sapphires and Zircons - nothing to fund the trip however. It's funny how sifting through dirt and mud could be fun, but when you find a stone or two you tend to look a little harder.

 Some (most / probably all) of the little ones are just quartz, but the larger blueish, green ones are OK.

 One freaky tree..........It looks like that in the middle of the day, imagine a misty half moon lit night.

 Glen Innes has some nice countryside and most of the padocks are full of these large granite boulders, good for cows and sheep - no good for ploughing.

 On a rock.

 One cool balancing rock, and its huge, well kinda large.

 Check it out "Dom's Diesel" and Dom with his diesel.

 The coolest out door setting I've seen, I don't think anyone will be pinching these in a hurry.

 We visited the Standing Stones.

Yeah that's about it, just stones, just standing.

We also stumbled across an old mine in our travels. It wasn't very well looked after, probably because its in the middle of nowhere but it all added to the rustic feel.

 Dropped a rock down - didn't hear it hit the bottom? Couldn't fit a bigger rock through the grate (bugger) Old ventilation shaft apparently.