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!

Wednesday - FAME the Musical

Fame the musical is an absolute must see with extraordinary dancers and singers creating a spectacular performance from start to finish.

Declan and Kira were hyped up by the time we collected our tickets and when the theatre actually opened. They had a lot of great music playing in the foyer and kids were dancing around having a great time.

We were lucky enough to be able to take them to a matinee show on a Wednesday afternoon and the cast didn't disappoint. Even though the theatre wasn't a sell out they performed like I would imagine them to at night.

FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC!!!

You'll have a hard time getting the music out of your head!!

The week that was....

FPR - Ford Performance Racing (goto Photos also)

On Saturday we got to have a personal tour of where my brother David works and he showed us everything that opens and shuts around the FPR workshop. We had no idea of what was involved in motor sports and the development of the cars. They are certainly more than ordinary.

Andrew and Declan had a great time quizzing David about everything that they could lay their eyes on, and now at least I some understanding as to why he's so busy all the time!!!

It's certainly a place for boys to dream and play with their toys!!

After FPR and a short lunch stop we followed David through the streets of Melbourne to get to David and Jacqui's apartment in Ascot Vale. They are lucky enough to be close to public transport and have trams run down the road out front that Declan absolutely loved. We then caught a train into the city, another favourite of Declan's and had a bit of a walk around Docklands and then headed back for a pub meal near David and Jacqui's.

Sunday - Mothers Day

After a nice slow start to our day - something that doesn't happen very often. We went out to Jacqui's sisters house for a mothers day lunch where we got to meet some of Jacqui's family. Declan got to play with Sarah and Luke, Jacqui's niece and nephew while Kira just clinged to us as usual.

Surprisingly there was still enough time in the day to do some shopping at the DFO in Essendon, but we found us walking around and around. Andrew and David went with the kids and Jacqui and I went from shop to shop.

Monday - Our Venture into the City

We were directed towards the tram stop from the caravan park and were told it was about a 15 minute walk so we set off on our outing. Getting the tram was easy and getting into the city on the one tram was easy but once we got their we didn't really know where to get off so we made a dash when it stopped on Collins street and then stood around trying to position ourselves on a map and figure out which way and what we wanted to do. Fortunately the kids both said they needed to go to the toilet so we headed towards the information centre on Bourke Street Mall and were told to use the toilets in the GPO building which was really close and clean.

Andrew said he wanted to have a coffee in the city so we went to Koko Black an upmarket coffee / chocolate shop in one of the arcades and ordered an over the top coco infused iced chocolate, a cappuccino with a mountain of chocolate poured on the top and baby cinos for the kids that came with teddy chocolates. Not too bad but way over priced fun for the novelty.

After walking around a bit here and there in the mall we decided that we should go to the Pancake Palace for lunch while we were in the city so to top off our already sugared up bodies we all had pancakes that came with whipped butter. YUM. Andrew had some sore of Pancake stack with mince on top, I can't remember what it was called but he seemed to like it.

We then headed to the train over to Spencer street station where there's a DFO and didn't find much to buy so we thought we would try and catch the tram back to the caravan park but found we couldn't fit on most of them that passed and ended up walking about 4 blocks to the tram that was suppose to take us right back to our suburb to link with a bus. Unfortunately the map that we were given by the caravan park didn't help much and the tram continued passed our stop instead of coming to an end where we were told. After walking back 2 blocks and finding a bus stop and being told it was the wrong one we decided on calling a cab to get home.

When the taxi showed up he thought we meant Elizabeth street back in the city and deliberately turned off his GPS to make some extra money out of us until I told him he was going the wrong way and to get us to where we needed to go in Coburg. Really not happy when we realised that the bus stop that we were told was the wrong one turned out to be only a block or so until the start of the Elizabeth street and we drove passed it in the taxi.

The kids were sick of all the walking that we had to do to get anywhere all day and we were very frustrated by the end of it. Once we got back we had to go out again to get a few groceries and we decided because the kids had been so good that they could have a little party with party blowers.

Tuesday - FPR Merchandise Shop and Puffing Billy

We went back to FPR to the Merchandise shop to stock up on a fair bit of gear and to see David again. We got our FPR shirts, hats, accessories, and toys and David held onto a few shirts to have the drivers sign. Apparently I'm not allowed near the shop with my credit card again even though with the discount I did save us $167.00.

After our disastrous day yesterday we decided to head out of the city and take the kids on Puffing Billy - the oldest steam train in Australia.

It's located in the Dandenongs, east of Melbourne so it was a fair drive and we arrived in just enough time to catch the 12:30 train. It was freezing cold and there is no heating on the train and mostly open carriages apart from two. Someone told us it was about 5 degrees but the supposed benefit for the whole thing was that the steam really did stand out and look magnificent against the train.

We stopped for lunch at Lakeside and went down to the cafe with no eftpos and very little selection of food but the kids were happy to have some chocolate cake and get warm enough before it was time to leave again.

The train has a policy that they don't run on complete fire ban days and during summer they run a fire wagon on the line also just in case there is a fire. A nice journey if you want to experience the real thing but save it for a bit warmer day than the one we had. You can get great discounts by looking in all the tourism booklets on Melbourne and we got 25% off our tickets. We are still lucky enough to get the kids for free on nearly everything.

Visting with Uncle David at FPR Photos

Echuca

After Albury Wodonga we headed to Echuca through Sheparton. Sheparton wasn't the most welcoming town with us getting pulled over just on the way through. Nothing major and no ticket or anything but we were left very confused by our 5 minute time out issued, and a "Welcome to Victoria mate".

Echuca was a lovely town built on the Murray river and has several steam boats operating from the port as a tourism venture these days. It's a nice town to walk the streets of and we had a fantastic dinner at the RSL in Moama just next door to the caravan park we stayed in. So far the Big 4's have been more of what they've said they are and live up to a higher standard than some.

We took the kids on a paddle steamer called the Pride of the Murray and the kids got the chance to drive the boat and received a certificate for their efforts which made them very happy. http://www.emmylou.com.au/pride-of-the-murray-daily-cruises.html

Another highlight of Echuca was finding another Beechworth Bakery!! YUM YUM YUM!! and finding a caravan store that had a Handy Wash a hand powered washing bucket) and a replacement light cover that was destroyed on the state forest adventure.

3 States in 1 Day Canberra-Albury-Wodonga

We were glad to leave Canberra and were out of there by 8 am and on our way to Albury Wodonga. We stayed at the Boathaven Big 4 in Wodonga and it was a very quite caravan park with us being the only people using the ensuite sites. On our arrival Andrew got in contact with Melita his cousin and she invited us over for dinner with her family - husband Simon and son Jake and daughter Shylar.

Declan and Kira were a bit tired and standoffish until Declan warmed to Jake and disappeared playing while Kira was like velcro and wouldn't leave my side. We hadn't seen Jake and Shylar since our wedding (5 years ago) and Shylar was just a baby then, so it was nice to see how the kids had grow up, and since we missed Simon at our wedding it was a nice chance to sit down and have a chat with him and Melita. (By the way guys we walked away with one of your stubbie coolers so expect in the mail soon).

Our second day started with a storm passing over with very loud thunder that sounds ten times worse in a caravan at 6am. After it passed and we had a slow start to our day we decided to go visit the town Beechworth. It was great. We went to the Beechworth Honey experience - Yes that's where Beechworth Honey comes from!! and it was very informative and the kids loved seeing the bee hive in the shop and tasting all the different flavours of honey they have.

The next stop was the Beechworth Bakery - Famous in these parts. Andrew ordered a meat pie and the Bee sting after recommended by Simon and Kira and I had a crossiant while Declan had a smily face. Very wonderfully filling!

After the bakery we walked the main street and came across the old telegrah station where they are still sending telegraphs by morse code. It was a great experience to watch the man send our telegraphs to Frank & Betty and to Bob & Gwen. Then it was onto the lolly shop!!!

Our day ended in Beechworth when the kids started to get tired and we then travelled back to Albury and Wodonga to drive through the main streets and have a look before we met up with Simon, Melita Jake and Shylar at the caravan park. Simon couldn't make it to dinner but the rest of us went to the Blazzing Stump pub and was pleasantly suprised. After a long day from all of us and especially Jake running a cross country we had an early night and said our goodbyes.

Declan really enjoyed spending time with his second cousins Jake and Shylar and now refers to Jake as his best friend and says "I really love Jake, he's a nice boy". Hope to see you all again soon.

Tomorrow we're onto Echuca on the Murry River.

Canberra

Our trip to Canberra didn't start that well with us showing up to the caravan park that we had booked and finding out that there 4 star rating was more like a 1 1/2 star! The villa that we had booked because there wasn't any ensuite sites was dirty and stinky so we booked out and lost $20 in the process.

We headed off to the information centre and they didn't know much about any of the caravan parks but told us about the closest one to the city. They didn't have any caravan sites left so we booked a villa for 3 nights thinking that we would stay for 4 at the least.

Anyway our adventure around Canberra is a story that so many others can relate to - it was a circle adventure with road works!!! How on earth do they think that if a road runs in a circle and you have road works how does that road actually help anyone get to where they're going??? THEY DON'T!! You drive back around and then get directed towards an outer circle miles away. If your lucky you'll get to where you want to go or have to give up trying.

On the up side we did go to Cockington Gardens which is fantastic for kids. It's a miniature garden of famous iconic buildings and has a small train that goes around the gardens that Declan and Kira absolutely loved!!

We got to the War Memorial where Andrew got to walk around and see everything that he wanted to see while I did laps with the kids to keep them entertained. Declan wasn't too keen on all the exhibits with noise and the kids discovery centre was too noisy and the lighting freaked him out so that lasted 30 secs and we were out of there.

It's an amazing building and they have a new wing for the air crafts that is something to go have a look at. The honour wall in the courtyard is a spectacular sight and when you walk through the gift shop on the way out you can buy a poppy to place next to any family members that might have lost their life in war.

We also visited Black Mountain Telstra Tower and we were lucky enough to have good weather for a very nice view of Canberra. Freezing cold but worth the effort and only a small admission charge.

On our second day in Canberra we went to Questacon after the same drama of not being able to get there due to road works and roads being closed off for a fun run!!! After being redirected 4 times by detours and traffic controllers we were let through the stream of runners and permitted to cross the road to park in the Questacon car park that had been in our view at the last 3 turns.

However, Questacon was great the kids absolutely loved it! There was everything that they could touch and play with for the whole day and the presenter on Dinosaurs was so entertaining and so educational. Worth the whole day, and the kids didn't want to leave. Great value and we would do it again if it's still there on our return to Canberra in probably 20 years time!!!

We didn't have the best experience when we were trying to find somewhere to have dinner. There didn't seem to be any pubs in the whole place and when we did find one we were told it was steak night but there wasn't steak on the menu??!!??!! Try to work that one out!

We got stuck a lot of the time with road works and on one occasion we got stuck entering a shopping centre car park when it looked like a main road intersection, so we turned left thinking we would just be going around the block and ended up on the second level of the car park!! WHAT THE!!!!

Only in Canberra folks!!

Our advice - don't drive, don't try to eat out, don't buy beer - too expensive, don't buy groceries - too expensive, and they had imported strawberries from the USA!!! Not good for our nations capital.

Forbes

We have been pretty busy over the past week so there is a lot to catch up on....

Firstly we went from Dubbo to Forbes (April 27th) where most of my family is from originally and we were very fortunate to have a personally guided tour by Jeanie Forbes one of my relatives. It was amazing to hear first hand stories and to have personal attachments to so many places where Jeanie, Nana, my great grandmother, my father and my grand father had lived. We got to drive the streets and see where each family member use to live and I got to see the street - Thomson street where my great grandmother lived and named after her family. Jeanie also took us to the cemetery to see her grave and where my great auntie Edna's ashes are. It was very touching.

Jeanie then took us onto meet a wonderful lady - Ena and to tour her amazing property. She had her main house at the front of her property but down the back was the farm house that she grew up in. She had moved it from her families original property board by board. She had named and numbered each one and rebuilt it in it's old charm. Absolutely amazing and a wonderful treasure. Each room is furnished the way it was and she has everything from the old washing machine to the radio in the family room to the outhouse built outback!

After visiting Ena's house we went to the Vandenberg hotel in Forbes for lunch where Jeanie's daughter is the cook, and I'm not being biased in saying it was one of the best pub meals I've ever had!! What a great pub, an absolute must if your visiting Forbes.

Thanks once again Jeanie for being a wonderful hostess, hopefully we'll see you again soon.

Western Plains Zoo - Best Zoo

This is Declan's toy Koala that he dropped into the Koala enclosure. The zoo keeper had to come and get it out for him because he was so terribly upset and we didn't want the Koala's to try eat it!

We had a great day at the Western Plains Zoo. There were babies everywhere!! Baby
Rhino, Giraffe, Zebra, Bison and Cheetah's (but we didn't get to see the Cheetahs). You get to drive around the zoo in your car and stop off at each animal exhibit and get to see them in a real natural environment. I really enjoyed our day there. We had a picnic lunch half way around and there were Buffalo on one side and Zebra on the other.

The best value - Kids under 4 are free and your ticket is valid for 2 days!!! Where do you get to do that??? If you don't want to drive your car around you can hire carts or bikes and travel around the 5 km circuit. We can't praise it enough and it's on the list of things to go and see again.

Western Plains Zoo - Loved It!!!

http://www.taronga.org.au/western-plains-zoo.aspx

Dubbo - Western Plains Zoo Baby Black Rhino Kufara

Coonabarabran - Warrumbungle National Park - Circus

We arrived in Coonabarabran and set up the caravan and decided to head off to the Coona Bowls Club for dinner in the bistro. $7 steak 7 days a week. Not a bad advert and a really good meal. Very enjoyable and friendly people.

Our full day in Coonabarabran saw us venture into the Warrumbungle National Park where not only did we see fantastic volcanic mountain ranges we got to go and see the Siding Spring Observatory and the Warrumbungle visitor centre where we had a picnic lunch. There is a really good short walk up to a look out just as you are entering the national park. It only cost $7 per day per vehicle and the view and surroundings were priceless.


You can do a drive through the Warrumbungle shire and do a virtual tour of the universe with these planet markers. The Coonabarabran Information Centre has workbooks for the kids to do activities about the planets. The observatory is considered the sun and all the planets are in relative distance to it. Fantastic idea - and yes Pluto is still considered a planet.

Siding Springs Observatory. Absolutely wonderful!!! Free entry up to see the telescope. Tours only run during the school holidays but still worth the look without a tour. There is a exhibition in the coffee shop/ gift shop for a cheap fee all about space, maths, the telescope, stars etc etc etc!!! Very good value and even enjoyable for the kids. They had a short movie about the observatory and what it's discovered in the universe. Very interesting.

Coonabarabran Information Centre - Very helpful and clean and the best place to get information about planing your day in the Warrumbungle National Park.
A free display about a prehisotric wombat called a diprotodon this is their website: http://www.coonabarabran.com/vic/diprotodon.htm

At the end of our day we went to the Circus. Yes a circus in Coonabarbran. Not very good but I got to see them pretend to throw knives at Andrew while he was blindfolded. The look on his face was one of fear which was to be expected because the clown seemed to be a bit crazy.

The next day was our pack up day to head to Dubbo and we woke to rain. Andrew was up early for the dawn service (Anzac Day) and by the time we had breakfast and got organised in the caravan I found myself out in the rain packing the car and getting a few things ready for the caravan to be packed down. The only disadvantage of the type of caravan we have is when we are faced with rain. By the time we were packed up my hands and feet were frozen through and a quick trip to the showers to defrost them before we were on the road again.

Coonabarabran was such a pleasant stop, a great little town that you shouldn't just pass through. The caravan park we stayed in wasn't the best for amenities blocks but if you look pass that and get out and enjoy the town and surrounds it's well worth the look. It's on the list to come back to and if you lived in this region you are missing out if you don't go look at your own backyard - it's amazing.

One last thing - before we got to Coonabarabran we passed through Gunnedah (thought it was worth a mention).
The cleanest toilets we've found so far was at the Gunnedah Inforamation Centre. The kids got to buy a touristy koala - more on that later!