We finally heading home, back to Tassie. We are going on the Toll ship instead of the one of the Spirits, mainly because we were late booking.
We had an uneventful trip home, off the ship in Burnie and only 15 minutes home to Penguin. Our first trip finished, now all we have to do is wait for next year.
Ashley Gardens Caravan Park
We left Beechworth and head to Ashley Gardens Caravan Park and set up. A couple of days to check out Melbourne before heading home on the Toll ship instead of the TT Line Spirits was because of late bookings. It probably cost us. a bit more but we got on when we wanted.
Melbourne
We purchased a day pass for Melbournes public transport, caught the bus outside the gate and headed to the Queen Victoria Market. The bus dropped us off right outside. We then used the trams and trains and had a good look around the sites of Melbourne.
Beechworth Lake Sambell Caravan Park
Leaving Cowra, we made our way to Beechworth. We are now back in Victoria and we will soon be heading home. We checked into th Lake Sambell Caravan Park and it had been raing and it was cold. It would be a fantastic place if the weather had of been warmer.
Beechworth
We went and checked out the town centre and it was full of history. The rain had stopped and while we were rugged up, we didn’t get wet and we had a good look around town.
We were cosy in the van but the next morning was very cold (freezing). Dianne slipped down the steps of the van as the rain had frozen on the steps. The tv antenna would not wind down as it was frozen solid. Throwing hot water in the general direction of the antenna on the roof soon rectified that problem. The water hose was frozen and we had changed to our tanks and while I was packing the hose and electrical cord up, Dianne was inside and proceeeded to wind the slideout in. I was right by the slideout when a large slither of ice speared into the ground beside me. It was over 12mm thick at its thickest and was imbedded about 75mm into the ground. Goodness knows what would of happened if it had of hit me.
Cowra Van Park
Checked into the Cowra Van Park, a tidy little park on the edge of a small river for one night.
Cowra Visitor Information Centre
The information centre has a must see “Holographic” presentation of the Cowra breakout. After seeing the presentation we went and checked out the site of the POW camp. There is also a Japanese Gardens nearby and while it was quite nice outside we didn’t feel that the entry price was worth the effort.
There had been gale force winds in Sydney and we delayed travel for a day. It worked in our favour a little as we travelled around the outskirts of Sydney on a Sunday. We kept to the major highways but they were very narrow lanes, even though there was 3 lanes. We stayed in the middle lane till we headed onto the Great Western Highway. Heading up over the Blue Mountains it was still windy. The Volvo come into its own towing a light load for 480hp. It was so easy to maintain the 80km/h speed limit.
In Bathurst we stayed in the Bathurst Panorama Holiday Park. We set up for the night and as it was getting late virtually it was time for tea.
No trip to Bathurst would be right until we checked out Mt Panorama, home of Australia’s most iconic race. We even completed 2 laps of the track. It is quite amazing how steep it actually is and for someone to average over 100mph around it is mind blowing.
Doing a lap around Mt Panorama
The Volvo and 5th Wheeler on the Mountain
We also had to check out the museum at the race track as well.
Peter Brock’s Commodore
We stopped for a couple of days at the Umina Beach Resort and Holiday Park
We caught the train from Woy Woy station and checked out the sites in Sydney
Checking out the Sites in Sydney
Brunswick Heads
Brunswick Heads was just a stopover that created a few dramas as we arrived late and the first two caravan parks we checked out were unsuitable, one had no spots suitable for us and the other said they did and we headed to a spot that was totally unacceptable, trees in the road and narrow laneways and just crammed sites. It was just a caravan park that hadn’t changed as vans got bigger. We finally found the caravan park next to M1 and next to the river. We had passed it by earlier but it was clearly the best, but it was now pitch black dark and we had to set up for the night. Another lesson learned today, don’t leave it too late to find somewhere for the night in case things don’t go to plan.
Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie was our highlight for our first trip. We stayed for 3 nights.
There is always someone with a bigger rig for towing a 5th wheeler. He had the bunk removed and three seats complete with seatbelts added so he could take the kids on holiday.
500hp Freightliner for Mum Dad and 3 Kids
Wauchope and Timbertown
Timbertown
Timbertown
Timbertown
We left Caboolture and drove through Brisbane on our way to the Jacobs Well Caravan Park for a couple of days. We chose it as it was only 20mins to Movie World and it was away from the hussle and bussle of the Gold Coast. A couple of days lazing about after checking out Movie World.
Movie World
A trip to Movie World was going to be our only indulgence on the Gold Coast. We had brought the kids up here years ago and did the whole lot in 10 days. This trip was going to be laid back but i wanted one last go on “Lethal Weapon” the ride. Big mistake, I finally realised I’m getting too old to be an adrenaline junkie.
Movie World
I will have to be happy with someone else doing all the action stuff, just sitting back and watch
Movie World
WE spent 3 nights at the Caboolture Showground. A great spot to check out the local attractions. We also had the batteries checked out after the truck failed to start several times. The good news it was one flat battery that wouldn’t charge properly as the other one was fully charged. It was charged separately and no more problems. The problem was caused by hooking up 5th wheeler to one 12v battery in a 24v system.
We caught the train into Brisbane and spent the day checking out Southbank and taking the river taxi for a round trip checking out the recent flood damage.
Brisbane River
A similar ferry to which we were aboard
Caboolture Historic Village
We had a quick look at the Caboolture Historic Village. It was well worth the admission fee but a little more time would have been good. A step back in time has been created in a village setup.
Caboolture Historic Village
Caboolture Historic Village
Leaving Maleny we headed for Australia Zoo and spent the day checking out all the shows and animals. It is just a great place and you can easily spend the day there.
One of the Locals
Crocodiles used to grow this large
The handler keeps his distance
Everything was going great until the truck wouldn’t start. (someone left the fridge on 12v and as the truck didn’t have a caravan isolation switch it drained one battery in a 24v setup.) The Honda generator was fired up and the battery was charged enough to fire up the truck. Dianne had to fill the jerry can up with petrol with the help of Australia Zoo staff who took her up to the local servo as we only had what was in it when we had bought the generator a few days earlier
We eventually got on the road and headed for an overnight stop at the Glasshouse Mountains Campground, a basic little caravan park. We only just had a quick look at the Glasshouse Mountains as we were having trouble with the truck starting. It was a pain starting the generator to charge the batteries in the truck as we were not sure what was actually wrong. We will get it checked out in Caboolture.
Chris and Dianne's Ultima adventure 