 |
| Tasmania to Townsville 2010 |
| 25 March. Arrived 7PM. Went for a pizza and beer somewhere
before finding a spot for the night. It was nice and warm and sat outside
talking to another Dutchman who happened to be parked beside us in his
motorhome. Next day to the Victoria market. They sell everything there. Bought a heap of vegetables. Then off to Geelong where we had a few things to do and off to the Goedegebuur family. We stayed here two days and headed for Bendigo. On the way we spend a few hours at Hanging Rock. This is where we had fatal mechanical problems last time we were here. Bendigo is an old gold mining city which shows off his rich past with a lot of magnificent sandstone buildings. |
|
|
Hanging Rock. Bendigo inner city. |
  |
Chinese dragon. Chinese museum. |
| 31 March. There are a lot of antique shops here which
Susan likes. I am more interested in the buildings. Visited the Chinese
museum. The Chinese made a significant contribution during the gold rush
years, 1850s. And there is still a large Chinese community here. We stay
in Bendigo for a while because I wanted the bus registered in Victoria
which has several advantages and we have to pick up the mail which did not
arrive on time and everything is closed for four days because of the
Easter festivities. But we did get the bus registered in Victoria. It
looks funny with a picture from Queensland on the back and a Victorian
number plate. Luckily there are heaps of things to do over the four days.
We are staying in the showground of Bendigo for a week. The main feature
is a 2 hour procession, but was a bit of a disappointment, the Chinese
were very impressive with their very acrobatic and entertaining displays.
As it turned out Ineke de Rijke was still in Bendigo. "We thought she had
gone to Horsham" She had dinner with us in the caravan park. 6 April. The mail arrived and after that we went to the R.S.L. for lunch with the Dutch club. In the afternoon we drove towards Albury. Passed through Rutherglen. In the region they produce Morris port.This is the one we have in the bus. The road is as flat as in Holland which is a bit of a change from what we have done the last two month. From Albury we followed the Murray River again. I love this part of the river. A very winding road and magnificent views. We spend the night beside the river and crossed the Victoria and NSW border at Walwa. Now the road got very hilly again. And when you see signs slippery when snow and ice. Also the leaves are getting the Autumn colours again. This means it is time to head north. Had lunch in Tumut. From here a shortcut to Canberra. This takes us trough Brindabella. The first 50 Km is a good sealed road primarily because there is a lot of plantation pine here and the logging trucks need a good road. At the start of the road it said already that is was not suitable for caravans and 50 Km was unsealed. The unsealed section is very windy and narrow but the surface is not too bad. We spend the night in the bush somewhere. |
  |
This sign put Rutherglen on the map. View of the Murray river from the bus . |
| 9 April. Next morning to Canberra and Ria van der Zand. When we arrived in Canberra after driving an hour over a fairly rough road we spend 4 Hours in the war museum. Arrived at Ria's place in the afternoon. Ria was as usual very hospitable. She drove us all over the place. We visited Hans and Nelda van der Zand and Maarten and Norma Black. |
| We intended to stay only for one night but stayed for
three. |
  |
View from the war memorial towards parliament house. Susan and Ria. |
|
|
|
|
| 12 April. Left for Sydney. It was bitterly cold and a lot of trees are showing their autumn colours. Luckily it warmed up towards Sydney. normally we stay away from here but I wanted to buy a stone guard for the bus and the manufacturer is in Sydney. We got there fairly late in the afternoon but a new guard was made the next morning and were on the road again. The roads around Sydney are narrow and a fair bit of traffic but we got through. The freeway to Newcastle was busy and we got off at Gosford to follow a more interesting coastal road. The school holidays just started and all the parks have families enjoying themselves everywhere. Stopped for lunch at The Entrance. From here the Thunderbolt way. Gloucester, Walcha, Uralla. The road had very steep sections in it but the upside of this is that the views were magnificent. We are only doing about 300KM a day but it takes us from 9AM to 4PM with little sightseeing. We have never travelled this fast but we have to be back in a week. |
| 14 April. We have travelled the New England Highway
several times now but some places like Glen Innes are worth walking
through several times. Glen Innes must be the Art Deco capital of
Australia as far as buildings is concerned. Continued through Tenterfield, Stantorpe, Warwick to Toowoomba. Just north is a German clock shop. Hundreds of cuckoo clocks from $300 to $2500. All types of clocks sold here it is like a museum. |
  |
German clock shop. Nikaela, Luke and Susan in Thai restaurant. |
| 16 April. We back in Queensland. From Toowoomba followed
the Burnett highway via Nanango, Gayndah, Mundubbera, Monto, Biloela,
Mount Morgan, Razorback road, Rockhampton to Malborough. This was nearly
800 KM in two days. Spend the night behind the pub in Malborough. The show
was on but just winding up as we drove in. Fireworks at night. 18 April. Arrived in Mackay at lunchtime. They have markets in town on a Sunday but they were just finished when we walked through. Arrived at Luke and Nikaela. Went out to a Thai restaurant. The meal and service was exellent. Whenever you go to Mackay go to the Hot Wog. Luke had planned to go fishing the next day but the weather did not cooperate. We drove south to Bowen. We had planned to stay here for the night and go home the next day but the it rained and was miserable. So we decided to drive home. We got home Sunday 19 April at 4.45 PM. |
|
|
|
|
Stats. |
 |
