Thursday, April 7, 2011

On our way again.

Budrem house sit complete, we headed to the thriving metropolis of Brooloo, Qld, to visit an old friend. I must say that it was the hardest place I have ever had to set up our van and Helen was very concerned about how far from the ground the rear near side of the van ended up. We had a great stay with Kym and Jai, however, had to move on. Wednesday, 30 Mar 11, we camped up at the Cabulture Showgrounds for the night before moving on to Capalaba where we will have our van (on and off) until mid July. Acting on some bad information (or was it a bad April fools day joke) we attended Morgan and Wacker motorcycle shop for the pre release of the new 1600cc BMW. Upon arrival we we informed that the showing had been the previous evening. After speaking the Mark Wacker, we were given a private showing of the new bike. At only $39,000 on road, it is BMW's answer to the Honda Goldwing. Saturday saw us attend the Breakfast Creek Hotel where our kids had organised a surprise 60th birthday party for me. A great night was had by all. (will not need to buy any Bundy rum for a while as every one seemed to think that I was partial to a drop of the sugary liquid). Until next time. Regards Col & Helen Old Farts on Tour. Keep the shiny side up.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Still on the road

Well here we are again.
After spending Christmas in Ballarat, we headed to Kangaroo Valley, NSW, to house sit for seven weeks. What a lovely area of NSW. Located in the valley in the hinterland between Mossvale and Nowra, NSW, it is a bike riders dream place for a ride. No matter which way you intend to approach it from, you have a tight, winding and hilly road to travel before arriving in the village. Weekends are very busy with visitors dropping in for the day. The local pub does a roaring trade with meals.
The house we were sitting is located seven kilometres out of the village on the way to Tallowa Dam, on 20 acres of undulating lush green bushland. We were visited, at night, by wombats and kangaroos and occasionally by the odd red belly black snake.

We departed Kangaroo Valley on Sunday 20 Feb with the intention of staying at a free camp at Bendeela camp and picnic ground, however, we had time on our side so we continued out of the valley and onto the dreaded trek through Sydney.

Our first stop was at a wayside stop at Ourimbah, about 10 km south of Wyong. It was a popular overnight stop with vans, motor homes and camper vans everywhere. A late start on Monday morning saw us make our way to Bulahdelah where we stayed in the noisiest park I have ever been in. ( Mental note: don't stay there again). We continued next day to Clybucca, 20 ks north of Kempsey. Very clean truck stop with free camping. If you think of staying there, be aware, it is a truck stop and is busy 24 hrs per day. Wednesday we decided we needed a break for a couple of days, so we headed to Grafton where we camped at the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club Complex. Discount for CMCA members. The following day we found ourselves in a busy car park as the Greyhound races were scheduled for that day. Never having been to the greyhound races before, were strolled over to the track and had a great time. Friday morning were headed to Ballina to spend the weekend with the Ulysses RV Group. Spent time with old friends the left for QLD on Monday.

We set up camp at the Samford Show Grounds and was able to catch up with more friends before driving north to Budrem on Thursday to begin our house sit for the ensuing three and a half weeks.

Departure from Budrem is on Friday 25 March when we will head for Brooloo, Qld.

Until next time.

Keep smiling and don't forget:
Keep the shiny side up

Love to all

Helen & Col.
'Old Farts on Tour'