Big Update - Candelo to Batemans Bay to Camden to Port Macquarie to Ben Lomond to Byron Bay to Chinderah

I've been a bit slow lately on the updates - getting a few headaches again that's slowing down the computer work, but here is what we have been doing in a brief sort of way......


Candelo NSW - Batemans Bay NSW - Camden NSW Maps


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Candelo+NSW,+Australia&daddr=Batemans+Bay+NSW,+Australia+to:Camden+NSW,+Australia&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.323858,86.220703&ie=UTF8&z=7

After Candelo we made our way to Batemans Bay where we visited Jack and Shelia Linquist, old friends of Frank and Betty's from their New Guinea days. We only spent 2 nights there at the Top Tourist park in Batehaven and we enjoyed the town of Batemans Bay. We had the best fish and chips of the whole holiday the first night so it started out impressive.

Our next stop was off to Camden near Sydney to see Fran (Andrew's oldest sister), Gary (her husband), Trish and Daniel (their adult kids), and we had the luxury to stay in the house and not have to set the caravan up in rainy weather. It was great to see them all because we hadn't seen Trish and Dan for about 6 years and the kids hadn't even met their uncle Gary. Fran and Trish were lucky enough to get a day off work to spend with us even though it was raining and cold and windy we went into the city for lunch at Star City Casino which is all that the weather allowed us to do and because we were a bit slow going in the morning we didn't get in there until it was lunch time anyway. We all ate way too much, but that's what happens when you go for a buffet!!! The kids enjoyed going on the train and the tram anyway and getting back to Fran's house was heaven anyway - she has kept all of Trish and Dan's toys from when they were little and Declan absolutely loved it. Dan set up his electric car set for him to have a go at. Kira loved Jeremy their dog and Toots their cat. Both showing a bit of age but Kira just loved the fact that an animal would stay still for her to pat and admire. She's still talking about them.

After Camden we made our way to Port Macquare on the highway and you really don't get to see anything along the way anymore with nearly everything bypassed. It would take you weeks to go in and out of every place that you wanted to see.

Port Macquarie was really nice, we stayed at the Big 4 caravan park right in town and on the water in one of the villas. The villa itself wasn't very well maintained with broken towel rails, broken switches, a hole in the wall, a torn sofa, and a broken kettle. In the end we got about a $60 discount per night for the 2 nights that we stayed there so it was worth it in the end. The caravan park is so well located but I'm glad we didn't set up due to the weather conditions because all the caravans were boxed in next to one another like sardines. A little bit over crowed for my liking.

While we were there we went up to Comboyne where the Hurrell family originates from. It was about 54kms up the mountains and a really nice drive. I think Andrew actually felt at home there. We had lunch at the Cow themed coffee shop (once I remember the name I'll update the detail) and the people were very friendly and great service. We tried to find other Hurrell's that are still living in the town but no one was home!! Apparently there are a few Hurrell that are dairy farmers around the area but we didn't really know where to look so we ventured back down to Port Macquarie.

Because the weather was starting to change for the worse with reported flooding for the Grafton area the next day (don't know if that eventuated or not) Andrew decided that we should head back inland towards Armidale and stay at a farm stay in the area. On the way up you pass through a lovely mountain range and it was all misty and partly rainy and hardly a car on the road. We stopped for lunch at a town called Walcha (pronounced Walca - silent h) at the RSL and we were the only ones in there for lunch even though it was a Saturday. I guess they don't get a lot of rain in their area and stay inside when it does come.

Our next stop on the way to our farm stay was back into Armidale to use up some of our time and to have a look at the place at the end of autumn. I can say that it would be a very dreary winter because in autumn it looks fantastic with all the autumn colours but by the end it's like they have overdone the autumn planting because it's very dull. It's a shame they didn't plan for a bit more all year colour.

Our choice of farm stay was Silent Grove which is just out of a small town called Ben Lomond in between Armidale and Glen Innes. It sits on the top of the great dividing range and gets snow in winter!!! It's true, we saw photos and I can say that it gets very very cold there. We woke to a 2 degree morning and we were just a few hours from the Queensland border!!! We had a wood fire place and we also brought in our little fan heater that we have for the caravan to help circulate some of the warmth. It was a nice stay where Declan got to feed a lamb a bottle and a bit of space for the kids to play.

More Maps Link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Camden+NSW,+Australia&daddr=Port+Macquarie+NSW,+Australia+to:Comboyne+NSW,+Australia+to:Walcha+NSW,+Australia+to:Armidale+NSW,+Australia+to:Ben+Lomond+NSW,+Australia&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=-35.41331,150.238875&sspn=3.894615,10.777588&ie=UTF8&ll=-32.03602,151.798096&spn=4.050966,10.777588&z=7

We ventured off the next day with the start of the day raining and being a Sunday we found that very little was open along the way. Firstly we went through Glen Innes which looks like a lovely little town and we would have stayed longer but like I said nothing was open and we didn't know what the weather was going to do and what we would do for the rest of the day so after a bit of a drive around and a look at their standing stones we headed off to Tenterfield.

Tenterfield was also a nice little town where we had lunch at heritage listed Stannum house that had great meals at great prices and a fire!! I was hoping to see some great big tribute to the "Tenterfield Sadler" but I didn't see any Sadlery place in town which was a real shame. The information centre was good and they had nice displays but I wanted more of why Australian's know the name "Tenterfield".

After Tenterfield we headed towards Casino and thought we would stay there the night but the prices were too high and we didn't like the idea of paying the asking prices so off to Lismore we went. We had the same problem there with accommodation prices and made the decision that we may as well go to coast. We had planned for only a one night stop over in a motel and up to Chinderah the next day so we were really looking for reasonable prices, but it's a shame that even around the $100 mark that doesn't get you much at all.

We found a caravan park at Byron Bay that had availability of a family room, which isn't always that easy with most not suiting us because of bunk beds, and also being somewhere that has ample parking space for the campervan.

More Maps Link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Ben+Lomond+NSW,+Australia&daddr=Glen+Innes+New+South+Wales+Australia+to:Tenterfield+New+South+Wales+Australia+to:Casino+New+South+Wales+Australia+to:Lismore+New+South+Wales+Australia+to:Byron+Bay+NSW,+Australia&hl=en&geocode=Fa_4Nf4dEB4KCSkzVX6f2kefazG6uaKBoOcfJA%3BFRlFOv4dnlgLCSlhkzHWJbaYazGe8aJokSjP6w%3B%3B%3B%3B&mra=ls&sll=-30.405802,151.615437&sspn=2.060849,5.388794&ie=UTF8&ll=-29.334298,152.63855&spn=2.083103,5.388794&z=8

It was a very brief stay at Byron Bay with our adventure being going out to dinner to have pizza. The next day we didn't plan on going to the lighthouse but because of the caravan and no parking it didn't work out so we head towards Chinderah with a brief stop into Mullumbimby where we got some really yummy organic milk.

This time we couldn't get into the Chinderah Village caravan park so we booked into the Drifters Caravan Park Top Tourist just around the corner. Our first day was great weather with lovely sunshine to really get set up for our 10 day stay and to catch up on some washing. The kids enjoy being able to do their thing in the caravan and they know their routine really well now.

Believe it or not we are all calling the caravan Home!! Never though it would be possible!!

Cobargo - Bermagui - Cobargo Cemetery photos

Declan, Andrew and Kira outside the front of the old general store that was run by Leslie Rivers Hurrell, now a pottery shop.

Bermagui rock pool where the Hurrell family use to go swimming.

Cobargo cemetery (part of) Leslie Rivers Hurrell's grave last on the right at the front in this photo.

Gladys Ilma Jones-Hurrell name plate on Leslie R Hurrell's grave.

(Leslie Rivers Hurrell's wife and mother of Frank - Andrew's dad)

Bega

We visited the Bega Heritage and Cheese Centre where we got to by bargain priced Bega cheese. Bega is famous for Bega!!!

We enjoyed looking through the gallery upstairs with all the farming related material that they had on display. It was nice to see that a lot of the regional families had donated a lot of the collection and it was interesting to see the old ways in dairy production.

The kids enjoyed the nice slow lunch that we had there and looking around the gift shop. I just wished they had a cookbook for sale and a few more interesting things. However, I couldn't pass up the cheese and we have enough cheese to sink a small ship thanks to the add extra (close to 2 kgs!!!) from Alan and Wendy from Bumblebrook Farm Motel where we are staying.

By the way the kids have kissed a cow!!! Not the real thing, just the ones you see in the photos above!

Bumblebrook Farm Motel

We stayed for 3 nights at the Bumblebrook Farm Motel hosted by Alan and Wendy Cross who own and operate a motel style bed and breakfast on their farm just near Candelo. We were lucky enough to be able to leave the confines of the caravan for a few nights to stretch out and relax and enjoy the peaceful surrounds and the simple life for a change.

The kids loved the addition of the animals and talk about Toby their dog a lot, especially Kira. They loved being able to feed the chickens in the morning and see cattle get offloaded from a truck into a paddock. However, I think the highlight for Declan has been the cubbie house up a tree and to be able to run around with a bit of space.

The morning view from the back verandah is beautiful with the outlook being the farm and the Bega valley hills and ranges. This time of year with a bit of the cold the mountains are capped by mist until the sun rises and lights up the valley.

Thank you for letting us share your little piece of paradise and we will be sure to stay again if we every get down this way on any of our future travels. Good luck.

Melbourne - Lakes Entrance - Candelo

On Monday after a quick trip into FPR to say goodbye to David and a few tears by Declan we left Melbourne to find ourselves completely confused by our GPS again. Karen was directing us to the heart of the city instead of out of the city to get onto the Princess Highway. It seemed to be disastrous and we probably added an extra hour onto our trip, but with very little help of "take the next right, take the next right" we managed to find our way out without too much stress, and I was glad to say goodbye to the Melbourne traffic and shift down a gear once we got clear of mass population.

We were surprised to see the amount of power stations that are along the highway and the plumes of smoke can be seen for miles. On approach we didn't even know what we were looking at and then you come over a bit of a rise and there they all are.

Our plan was to go to Bairnsdale but on arrival we changed our minds and continued further to Lakes Entrance. It's a nice sea side town on the south east coast of Victoria. Apparently the locals get invaded every summer holidays and they all complain about not being able to get a parking spot in the main street.

We stayed at the Top Tourist caravan park at Eastern Beach and they had new en suite sites that we very good besides the amount of sand that kept coming into the caravan. The park had a jumping pillow and a really good playground for the kids, just the right size for both of them to play by themselves.

After two nights we decided that it was getting too cold and thought that we would go onto Eden the next day by going along the Princess Highway along and then up the coast. If we were to plan it again I think going through the Snowy Mountains would have been better, but because of the cold it worked out okay.

Instead of staying at Eden we made our way towards Bega and decided to stay in a motel, but we couldn't find one vacant and the caravan park wasn't very helpful with having cabins with no linen and very poor caravan sites. Anyway we ended up at Bumblebrook Farm Motel at Candelo at about 5 pm after traveling all day with the kids in the car, believe me they were happy as we were to stop.

Check out the next blog for the photos and more details of Bumblebrook.

Winton V8s FPR garage

Kira, Sam & Aunty Jacqui

Declan & Kira at the track

Declan working on Steven Richards car with Uncle David

Andrew & David

David, Kira, Declan & Sam next to No. 6 Steven Richards car

Uncle David

Warrnabool

We thought that we would take the opportunity while we're down here to venture the Great Ocean Road by starting off on the inland route from Melbourne to Warrnabool and stay over night there and then head back along the coast line.

We enjoyed the inland drive with getting back out into the country side and seeing a lot of farming land and old towns and stone walls on farms and just enjoying the drive. It's a lot longer than you actually think but once we got to Warrnabool and went from Motel to Motel trying to find a suitable room we checked into the Old Tudor Best Western right in town. It was a nice motel and we were given a really good rate on a 2 bedroom spa room.

There is a council maintained adventure park just down the road from the information centre that had an awesome flying fox set up for little and big kids as well as a maze, swings, play grounds, ponds, bridges, picnic tables and BBQs. It is the best park that we've been to so far and I think it would be hard for us to find anything that would better it, especially considering that it's all free for the public.

Warrnabool itself was a lovely town with everything that you need and it was very neat and tidy. While we were there Andrew wanted to go to Tower Hill - an extinct volcano that is now a nature reserve. Aparently it was the first national park listed in Victoria.

It was pretty amazing to be able to drive down into the volcano just passed the rim and right through the middle. We stopped just before the information centre to take a walk up to a lookout and it was more like a 400 m steep climb, but worth the view and the fresh air and the sound of the birds in the morning. An interesting experience thats for sure.

We did see a few animals - emus, kangaroos, rock wallaby, and a lot of birds. We could hear a frog that sounded quite interesting and the craters help the noise travel, so it must be good for the frogs confidence!