HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY LINDY

Wow --- time has passed so quickly.....  this is our 5th night here.
The weather is fantastic, still quite hot, although some nights are very cold, down to 1C.
I planted bulbs in hanging baskets just before we left home.  They seemed to like travelling in the warm caravan and some shoots are through already.  Chives and thyme are also doing well and I've bought parsley seed.  I bought some seeds for PEAS too.   It has been years since I was able to buy peas in their shells.  When I was young, the kids shelled the peas on Christmas day at my Grandmother Garoni's.  She told us we had to keep whistling so that she could tell if we were eating peas!!
There's a lot of work to be done in the garden here; everything grew so much in the 4 months that we've been away.  There hasn't been a lot of rain, but obviously enough.  The mock orange bush has doubled in size and the banksia rose has heaps of new boughs; it will look a picture in spring. It was wonderful to see the orange bougainvillea in full "flower" still.  It has never been so good at this time of the year. 

I had an excellent massage at the hands of Jill in what she calls "The Palace", her 5th wheeler.  It is very grand!

Saturday night was Lindy's 40th birthday party.  About 70 guests gathered at the Tavern and we had a grand night!   The staff put on a terrific BBQ, with salads and scalloped potatoes in a hot box.  A couple of men kept the BBQ rolling and people were fed very quickly.
We knew a number of people and met many new friends.  One lovely man took a photo of his wife and me on his tablet and sent it to me via email.  They were Croatians, who we called "Joe and Stunna".

Lindy had a marvellous night and was so witty and full of beans that she could have been mistaken for the professional entertainment for the evening.  She sang and danced and put everything into it, despite having the flu.

                                 

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Wednesday ---- First Night in Moree

Steve backed into our angled site first go, without an audience.  We must have arrived at nanny nap time!!!
There's a proliferation of weeds, a hole in the shed roof and the toilet won't flush ---- apart from that, nothing much has changed.  Oh, the tree beside us is missing its top branches but is growing back into a nice shape.  The lopping is what caused the hole in the shed roof.
 As we headed down to the pool, we saw Keith talking to a young woman.  He stopped us and said we should meet her.  She was Jill, a masseuse, who has a huge 5th wheeler just up the road from us.   I booked an appointment!

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Last night on the road

Tonight we are in a pretty, green caravan park at Coonabarrabran.  (I love that name!)   We had expected the view to be one of burnt trees from the bush fires just a few weeks ago, but so far, we've seen nothing.  I think we might see signs of it as we leave tomorrow.
As we've usually found, it became cold as soon as the sun went down, so it's out with the wheat packs.
Lindy rang this evening, to ask where we were and when did we think we would arrive.   This is the 4th time in 5 days that she has rung to ask the same question!  Gwydir Carapark really must be full!!  She isn't going to rent out the site at the front of our site because it would be too hard for us to reverse in.  But with Golf Week on, the park is full to overflowing and they could use that spot.  I've had the feeling that I should tell her that we'll do her a favour by staying away until the week is over.

 I looked up the meaning of Coonabarrabran, an Aboriginal word, as expected but with an unexpected meaning.  
Origins of the Coonabarabran name

Aboriginal in origin. Probably derived from Kamilaroi 'Gunbaraaybaa' meaning 'shit'. A meaning recorded earlier, 'peculiar odour', was presumably a bowdlerisation. (Appleton; 1992). Also: 'inquisitive person'. In the form Coolabarabran it was the name of a station owned by James Weston in 1848. The local contraction is 'The Bran'. (Place Names of NSW - Their Origins & Meanings, A.W.Reed)

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Plans

So much for planning!    
The day began well when I put the washing on at 7.30am.  It wasn't until 9.30am that Steve discovered that the hose was squirting across the top of the sullage hole instead of down into it.  Water everywhere, but it mostly dried up during the sunny day. 
Later, Steve was quietly working inside when he heard an almighty WHOOSHING sound.  He raced outside to see a fountain of water blasting from a pipe that had come unclipped.  This was under the caravan so it hasn't dried up as fast.
I played a helpful part during these waterworks ----  I slept!   11 hours overnight and 3 or 4 hours during the day.   Steve also had a few hours during the day.  We obviously needed the sleep so I'm glad we stayed here, even though our plans to look around didn't eventuate.  Another time.

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The Newell

We bumped along the Newell Highway today, thinking of alternative ways for me to reach Moree, other than by truck.  This is a very busy highway, full of big trucks and the road surface is always in need of repair.
We had a nice meal at the local RSL Club at Parkes but my mashed potato was Deb and I think it tastes more like cardboard than potatoes.  There was a full side of roast chicken on my plate, so there was a lot left over for toasted sandwiches for tea.
When we arrived in Peak Hill, we decided to call it quits for the day and bump no further.
After a relaxing evening, we have come to the conclusion that even travellers need a day off, so we'll stay here tomorrow, Monday, as well.   It's a nice little country town, with a declining population but an energetic one.  Even the empty shops are made to look attractive.  There's an antique shop and an Op shop here and interesting displays of the early years of gold and of arts and crafts.  I would like to go up the hill to the open cut gold mine, now not in operation, but I'll have to see if it's possible to drive to it.  

New owners of the caravan park have taken over and our friends Leighton and Pauline are about to take an overseas holiday as a reward for their hard work here.   We were pleased that the new people had adopted the habit of scones and jam and cream for afternoon tea.

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OOPS.

OOPS.  Sorry, I have probably sent people the wrong address for this blog.  I've also confused everyone, including myself, by having Day 1 after Day 2.    Fortunately I have intelligent friends and family, who will work it out,  Won't you??  YOU WILL WORK IT OUT!!

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 2013
The 2013 trip finally began on Thursday April 18.  The preceding weeks had been immensely busy and the irritations of gall stones, "gord" and hives made it difficult to get the caravan organised.  Nominated leaving days came and went until I finally decided to take no clothes and just buy new ones as I needed them.  HANG ON ------ That was a dream!   Reality was that I decided to take everything in plastic bags and sort it all out later.   Consequently, I can't find anything!

On the first day we travelled for about 70 kms and the truck boiled.   I got out and Steve tipped the cab over; 16 litres of boiling water erupted into the air when he took off the radiator cap.  Eventually, it cooled down and he filled it with the water from our tank.  We were only 3kms from Moulamein so we stayed there for the night and let the truck have a long rest.

It went fine on Friday, no sign of boiling.  Steve thinks that maybe a "bit of shit" (a technical term) got into the radiator and blocked it up but was blown out in the eruption!  So we travelled 282 of worry-free kms.   Lunch was at Hay, at a fabulous bistro and the Op Shop there gave up a lovely, small, ceramic casserole dish.We spent the night in a new caravan park at a tiny town called Goolgowi.  The fees are a modest $16.20 after discounts.
This is new territory for us.  We decided that we needed a change from the Newell Highway and all the trucks.  We've achieved that but I can't say that the Hay Plains are very interesting.  After many kilometres of seeing the horizon in every direction, I'm ready to join the Flat Earth Society.  There's a little scrubby growth and lots of rolly poleys.  I would love to be here when they break off and roll.

Steve has kindly agreed not to stick to a schedule.  Instead of aiming for a particular town or number of kms each day, we go by my stomach.  The travelling is smoother, thanks to new shock absorbers.  (On the truck, not in my stomach, but come to think of it, that is maybe what I need!)  ~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~

REMOTES

Saturday night and we are at West Wyalong.  After setting up, we both relaxed in our recliner chairs and I didn't wake until after 8pm.   Steve was only slightly ahead of me.   We had only a short day's travel and arrived here by lunchtime.  We ate at the Tattersals Hotel which has been in the same family for over 100 years.  My meal of salmon patties and salad was $10 and scrumptious.  I couldn't eat it all so I brought it home in a doggy bag and ate it for tea.  (What I actually did was to wrap it in the serviette and foil which covered the basket of garlic bread.)  I don't know if we can request to take any leftovers home these days.  They were once put in a box and given to us but Health Regulations frowned on this practice.
The scooter was hoisted to the ground for the first time on this trip, as the toilet block is too far for me to walk.  The block is super clean and is one where you have to remember the code to punch in -- C405Y, otherwise you are left dancing outside.   The poor scooter had been hosed down and shined before we left home but it got liberally splashed with dirty water when the radiator blew.  The walker suffered the same fate but I took it into the shower with me last night.
For those who don't know, Steve built a place for the electric scooter on the back of the truck and installed an electric winch to get it up and down.  This is operated with a remote control.  A generator lives in "the front boot" of the van and it is run frequently during travelling, to keep the fridge going.  This is a normal house fridge and operates only on 240 volt.  Turning the generator on and off from the truck is done through the back window, with a remote control.  Of course you know what the two air conditioners need to get them going --- remote controls, of course!!  This caravan is a man's playground!!!     :-)  To top it off, Steve discovered a trick to extend the distance from which a remote control can operate ---- Touch the device to your head and click it from there.  I kid you not.  Try it!!

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