Post by cruisindoug on Jan 17, 2014 14:41:03 GMT 10
Grab a seat, make a cuppa, and get ready for the:
2013 Bah Humbug Mystery Tour!
21/12/13 – Home to Esk (120km)
Ute packed (to the gunnels) and on the road again …. Yeeeehaaarrrr!!
Got away a little later than I was aiming for but life’s like that, also had to go the wrong direction initially as I had to pick up the car club newsletter from the printers; always seem to end up with a mad rush to get it organised before a big trip. On my way down to the printers, I saw that the Bruce highway was a car park so took the back roads around the problem – nicer drive through the rural areas with next to no traffic than sitting on the highway anyway. Popped out at Wamuran and cruised up to Kilcoy, hmmm, been on the road for about an hour … better have a lunch break then!
Found a nice shady tree, got the lunch gear out and then sat back for a half hour or so soaking up the fact that I was on holidays and on the road, the relaxation factor was ramping up all ready! Only about a half hour run out to Esk but I figure why rush, always seems when you arrive to the day’s destination all you want to do is set up, so it usually seems that your starving by the time you do all that. Much nicer to take a chill pill on the way and arrive ready to go.
Arrived to Esk to find that everyone had already turned up – and had made a start on happy hour! Esk as a starting point proved to be a good one, with OB and Lyn, Banno and Joey, John and Di, Richard and Pam, Richard’s brother Phillip and his wife (oops sorry forgot the name!), Trevor and Julie, and Dosse all there and into the swing of it.
Richard and Pam provided a batch of pizza bases and topping to use in the camp kitchen’s pizza ovens, absolutely beautiful they were especially the ones with pineapple toppings … aye Richard!
We were even entertained by a lone bugler who provided us with his rendition of the last post; not a bad effort he put in too especially considering that he could hardly stand up! Banno provided a recitation of the Ode, and we remembered those that have paid the supreme sacrifice once more.
The Esk races were on which meant we were sharing the park with a wide range of other patrons some dressed to the nines and others maybe not so much … A few “interesting” cars about, this ute had me green, but not with envy!
The vans at Esk:
22/12/13 - Esk
Lay over day so spent the morning just relaxing and chatting, catching up with everybody. I got a little more energetic in the afternoon, so I headed up to Ravensbourne National Park, and checked out some of the bushwalks. Great views from the drive up lookout:
Some of the natural features on the tracks are pretty nice:
But the couple of hour trek down to Buaraba “Creek” turned out to be a little disappointing … still very nice way to spend a couple of hours, as they say, its all about the journey!
Then headed back to camp for happy hour and great company!
23/12/13 Esk to Heifer Creek (76km)
Well what a huge day of driving, all 76km of it! Managed to break the drive up with a supply stop in Gatton, and a direction stop in MaMa Creek:
Said our goodbyes to those that had to go back to the real world, the tour was down to me, Banno and Joey, John and Di, and Richard and Pam which actually makes a nice number for travelling. MaMa creek is a pokey little township but set in a great part of the world, amazing how the scenery changes when you can get off the well worn tracks of the main highways. Lovely drive out to Heifer Creek with the exception of the mad truckie that was hell bent on getting to where he was going real quick no matter the cost – overtook me below the crest of a hill, if someone came over it things would have been very ugly for someone – probably NOT the truckie!
Heifer Creek is a free camp, and it turned out to be a great little spot, nice and shady, back off the road, and a cool and deep enough swimming hole to refresh yourself in.
Set up camp …
Started to get a bit relaxed:
Then broke out the camp ovens … oops went to break out my camp oven and it wasn’t in the van! Think I must have left it at Imbil, as I did use it there and haven’t had need for it since. Also had my pot handle if anyone picked it up by mistake??? Anyway, no problem says Di, I’ll just get ours out … ahhh nope forgot to bring it! Hmmm dinner not looking so good, but Richard and Pam came good with theirs – which now has a name, Colin, he had a great time on tour and enjoyed all sorts of sights – and maybe some he would rather forget …
Anyway, dinner was on so curried chook and veges it was for dinner, we were joined for dinner by Lyn and OB who brought along some sweets for us all:
Had to pass a pretty stringent hand over inspection on Colin by Richard, but we managed to score a pass, good enough for Colin to come along for the ride on tour …
24/12/13 Heifer Creek
Lay over day at Heifer Creek was a nice, lazy old day – bacon and egg muffins for breakfast and spent a lazy morning strumming away on the guitar, reading books and doing jigsaw puzzles … Joey and Di knocked over a 1000 piece job in just over half a day! We bid farewell to Richard and Pam as they were off to see family for Christmas, to join up with us later on the tour.
Did a bit of exploring around the surrounding bushland, I was told that there were some caves up in the hills so went for a poke around – found out later that I was in the entirely wrong area but there you go! I still enjoyed getting out and amongst it.
And found this on my morning walk, think it would be an old Carapark but not too much left:
Lyn and OB came back out for dinner, this time bringing out three courses of desert! Very tempting to stay within range to get yummies brought out to us each night! But onwards the tour must go so we decided to head further south tomorrow.
25/12/13 Heifer Creek to Tenterfield (182km)
Bah Humbug!
Breakfast done, packed up, and hit the road by 815am! No rush, it was just as it happened … funny how if there is a schedule its almost inevitably a struggle to meet it, but when there is no schedule things seem to take no time at all!
We made our way south to Allora to do a spot of Geocaching … for those that don’t know Geocaching involves finding items hidden around the place by people playing the game based on co-ordinates and clues posted on the web. It takes you to some interesting (and some doubtful) places.
Many caches later we arrived in Stanthorpe, after a bit of milling about the place we found the park we thought we might stop at, but it wasn’t for us. So onwards we went to Tenterfield – after a bite to eat by the side of the road – and stopped at the showgrounds. That’s the benefit of short days and no plans I guess, it gives you the flexibility to check out a few different spots to stop to see if they are any good, and drive on if they aren’t!
The showgrounds at Tenterfield are pretty good, the pavilions and grandstands are quite grand:
I found the date on the pavilion quite interesting, can’t imagine that many buildings of this type were completed in 1915 …
And I reckon this grandstand would stretch plenty of builders today to complete in the same time …
26/12/13 Tenterfield
Stopped at Tenterfield for the day, poking about town and finding a great pie shop … best pies “EVA”. Richard and Pam rolled in to camp after running the gauntlet of the Woodenbong to Killarney road … seems some don’t read all the posts on the forums aye! Scrambled eggs in the fridge, and still rattling a couple of hours later they were … but they made it through!
Did a great deal of nothing, very nice to just kick back, shoot the breeze and soak up the atmosphere, Tenterfield seems to have a calmness about it – maybe it was just the mode we were all in, but it seems to have that sort of character.
27/12/13 Tenterfield to Glen Innes via Emmaville (121km)
It was time to hitch the wagons again and head a bit further south, but with a detour out to Emmaville – a nice little town. Stopped for an ice-cream at Deepwater; and were entertained by a couple of the locals having a domestic (!) … but it couldn’t spoil the mood.
Emmaville itself has some interesting old buildings, it was once a quite prosperous tin mining town but now looks to be like a lot of other small towns struggling for its existence.
Spotted this HG ute as we went past the local mechanic’s shop, it has only done a genuine 140000 miles and features a factory 253 and column shift. Pity its been painted but you cant have everything; not for sale either it was the owner’s sons car.
Bill the owner showed us around this great old workshop as well as a couple of his treasures.
Spotted this fibreglass camper, we think a Chesney but couldn’t really get close enough to tell.
The local museum is also well worth a look, especially if you are into gem stones and mining, but also has plenty of other interesting exhibits from the “Olden days”.
Arrived in Glen Innes and tried out the showgrounds there, very easy set up we scored the shed so no need for setting up the awnings.
No Richard … not time for Colin to come home just yet!
Went for a stroll around Glen Innes looking for a bite to eat, most of the cafes were sold out of everything (!) We found one that was still trading - $8 for a toasted sanga seemed pretty steep but we were getting hungry so we sat down … ummm if you want to SIT then the toasted sanga will cost you $13 !!! We left.
We were going to have hot dogs for dinner, but couldn’t get the lid on …
(Disclaimer: Richard, I just took the photo! I just happened to be there, I make no admissions of participating in this venture, or condoning it …)
Dinner WAS good!
28/12/13 Glen Innes
Day dawned bright and clear ready for a day of exploration, and explore we did! A nice spot that Geocahing took us to was the balancing rocks just south of Glen Innes …
Colin looks a little nervous …
Then we decided to follow a couple of signposts to Mt Mitchell and Mt Slow … just to see what was there … well there isn’t much there including not much of a road! Banno’s 4wd SS Commodore did pretty well but was found a bit lacking in the ground clearance department, especially when the road becomes a track complete with grass growing in the centre!
Grrrrrr
Checked out the standing stones, quite a nice place to spend some time:
Nice view over the town from the standing stones:
The showground buildings very different to Tenterfield despite being about the same era … not as nice to my taste but still good to see some of the old buildings still going strong … sort of!
Very nice stop over and it was great to check out a town with a bit more time than the normal drive through on the way to somewhere else; been to Glen Innes plenty of times but this is the first time I have stopped there.
29/12/13 Glen Innes to Armidale (98km)
Onwards with the tour, a nice leisurely run down to Armidale and we were set up by 10am! I’m sure that is some sort of record for us anyway! Armidale is a great town with plenty of interesting buildings in and around it, we went for a stroll around town and did some supply shopping before heading back to camp.
And the showground buildings themselves look great:
Armidale is definitely a very nicely laid out town with lots of green recreational zones along the banks of the river – great use of land that obviously floods now and then. The walking / riding tracks are great, off the roads and through very pleasant surroundings.
30/12/13 Armidale
Richard spotted a couple of the local machinery enthusiast club at their shed, so of course we trotted down to have a sticky beak, as you do. Some nice gear in there including this recent acquisition mainly funded by a grant:
Steering is pretty, well, agricultural:
Plenty of what you would expect in a rural machinery enthusiast shed:
And some of what you might not expect:
This was the star:
Complete, very original and only light damage to the rear – rub back the house paint and away you go!
Banno wanted this for “evidence” for some reason …
Did the self drive tour of Armidale (well most of it) which was quite interesting, it took us to the rail station which was quite interesting in itself:
But from the station we spotted this:
If you squint you can see it, but we went and had a closer look:
Complete mechanically:
It’s a Bishop Austrans and was meant to be an unmanned light rail vehicle for up to nine passengers; for some reason the project never happened but even stranger is this vehicle sitting in a pastoral supply yard in Armidale! It’s apparently destined for the rail museum but not for certain yet … We all figured it would make a great van!
Back on the tour we were taken to this old orphanage building, very Gothic:
Back at camp and one of the group that might be a little perturbed by the presence of spiders happened to find a huge hairy one (fake) stashed under her pillow … and immediately blamed someone for putting it there! “Wasn’t me, she says … Doug bought it!!” Hmmm some people are just a little too quick to give their partners in crime up, no names from me of course … oh no, I’d never give JOEY up! Oops, did I say that out loud?
Minding my own business at camp and this guy appears:
“Move on” I said, “nothing to see here, move on”.
31/12/13 Armidale to Thora (139km)
I was time to move again so onwards to Thora, at the base of the Dorrigo Mountains. Last time along here the ute nearly lost a wheel, but thankfully this time no problems. A bit of a late get away but when you’re only going such short distances it doesn’t really matter too much – well not at all really! We stopped at Ebor for a lunch break before tootling off down the very big hill to Thora.
Arrived just after lunch and set up next to where Rod had already set up his van, then found a funnel web spider hole just adjacent to the camp which made Di’s day… then found a couple more including one right next to Jellybean!
Oh well, few more of these and there’ll be no probs!
Security arrived to check out the scene:
Went for a swim in the Bellingen river to cool off, it was only knee deep but absolutely perfect temperature:
The free camp:
Rod arrived in the late afternoon to spend New Years Eve with us, and the party got started and was going well until Rod took a big trip over a peg …
Resulted in needing 5 stitches in each of two toes … and a hospital stay overnight! Loaded him into the ambulance right on midnight, bugger! No half measures aye Roddy!
1/1/14 Thora
Well the New Year dawned bright and clear – we got on to Rod just after he was allowed home from hospital, and spent the morning at Rod and Nettie’s place providing great support and sympathy … well in our own way we did.
A great shame that it happened as Rod and Nettie missed out on joining the tour because of it, terrible luck but that was last year so hopefully this year will be on the up!
Rod needed his Chev brought back for him so we talked Di into driving it back for him … it was tough to get her to do it but she caved in the end.
Came back to camp for lunch and used up some leftovers which always seem to taste better than the first time around somehow, then filled in the rest of the day chilling out around camp.
2/1/14 Thora
Yep this place was too good so we stayed another day. John and Di, Banno and Joey, and Richard and Pam went off to check out Urunga, being local for many years I’d seen plenty of Urunga so I headed back up the hill to Dorrigo to check it out and to do the bushwalks:
Nice old pub in Dorrigo:
Dangar Falls, a bit busy so didn’t bother going for a swim:
We finished off the day by heading back to Rod and Jeanette’s where we were treated to some fine Thai cuisine, what a fantastic meal and even better company.
3/1/14 Thora to Lanitza (106km)
It was time to hit the road again so we turned north for my brother’s farm at Lanitza, just south of Grafton. Stopped in at Coffs Harbour for a look at the Jetty precinct, John and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and were invited aboard Aus 1, a racing tri-marron very impressive bit of gear. Unfortunately after three days at Thora with no power my phone was dead so no pics!
Arrived lunch time and it was a stinking hot day, the wading pool got a work out!
4/1/14 Lanitza
Spent a quiet day catching up with the bro, Banno and Joey, John and Di went exploring around the area so I did some dog sitting …
And so did Nettie!
How good is this!!!
5/1/14 Lanitza to Lawrence (58km)
Well, it was another huge drive up to Lawrence, and what a pearler of a free camp it is. Right on the river, close to the shop and the pub, good amenities, this place has it all.
With Richard and Pam heading off tomorrow it was time to part with Colin … here he is wistfully looking off into the distance:
Reflecting on his journey with us:
Heading home to a dull existence inside his sealed bag, only to be brought out rarely:
I’ll just need a moment …
Clyde and Barb turned up from their trip to Yamba to join with us for a few days, so we had 5 vans for one night! Clyde with his best shirt on:
6/1/14 Lawrence
Another fine sunny day, we really had been lucky with the weather especially considering what hit Brisbane while we were south! Di started out well by testing out the lace tablecloth with the hot kettle … fail!
Cruised down to the Ulmarra pub for lunch, what a beer garden!
Spotted this from the road in Lawrence, not sure but I think a Bedford truck:
Joey tried a spot of fishing and caught a few undersize bream and Yellowtail. This was a spot to do not much at all, just soak up the scene.
7/1/14 Lawrence to Kyogle (111km)
Time to up stumps again so headed north to Kyogle, first time we have had rain all trip and it happens to drop while packing up … still, not complaining!
Stopped at Casino to check out the town and it’s another nice old town, a bit run down like many others but still interesting buildings about. But the caravan park is something else; it has everything you would want in a park and is huge, logically laid out, and very reasonably priced without “peak” rates.
It will be a great venue.
Wandered up to Kyogle and set up camp; showgrounds again quite acceptable good facilities and heaps of space to “form a circle”. Nice town too.
Checked out the pumpkin patch at the showgrounds:
Who me?
The cowboys were in town:
Ahem … Clyde …. Its behind you!
8/1/14 Kyogle
Took a day trip (ha ha … see what I did there?) out to Nimbin – certainly is still a different town but from my memories of it seems to have lost its way a little from where I sit. Gone are the wall to wall hippy alternative life stylers, there are still some around but they used to fill the place, and funky little shops that sold what was made locally. Its more “mainstream” now, with shops flogging off Chinese import rubbish for the tourist market, and “normal” cafes. Even the purveyors of the local product seem to have developed a mainstream hardness about them – quite a seedy place in some parts.
Still managed to find a local that was trying to flog off all manner of stuff as ”art” including a standard horse halter; when it was suggested some of the other products in town might need to be sampled before that would happen he had a good old laugh too.
Cruised back to Kyogle to check out the town, lots of old buildings still around and has a nice feel to the place.
9/1/14 Kyogle to Mt Warning (60km)
Quite a nice drive over the ranges to Mt Warning, if a little bumpy, the scenery in places is beautiful:
Stopped off in Uki for a bite to eat, lovely home made pie was very yum!
Rob saw us in town on his way to the park so he stopped and we all headed in to the park together.
Scored an open area in the park to set up how we pleased, which was great. Phil and Louise, and Graham (Earlee) and Helen also came along to join us, and Bob came along for dinner, great to meet up with everyone and party on!
10/1/14 Mt Warning
Quiet day not much going on, I went for a walk up Mt Warning but the weather closed in and I decided to forgo the last scramble up the chains – it was pouring rain and quite slippery with not even a chance of a decent view so I decided to come back another day.
“Views” from Mt Warning:
Had to do a double take with some of my fellow walkers though, that decided to do the track in their thongs! And plenty without so much as a drink bottle … no wonder there are three helicopter rescue points up the side of the mountain!
Helen and Earlee had to go home but we managed to have a good dinner from whatever bibs and bobs we all had, resulting in a smorgasbord of interesting dishes shared among us all.
11/1/14 Mt Warning to Coleyville (200km)
We stayed at Coleyville Lodge and this is another future event waiting to happen … good camp kitchen, fire pit, firewood, toilets and showers, as well as cabin accommodation if needed. Power is available, and Michael the host is very accommodating. It’s a working farm and is in a great spot set up on a hill with a good view.
Spotted this on the side of the road, probably not much more life left in it; it needs saving soon, but not being hidden away I reckon its going nowhere.38ish Ford? 39 Chev Coupe Ute (ed: thanks Rod)
12/1/14 Coleyville
Went for a cruise around the local area, and stumbled across this:
Have got the chassis number down somewhere Bob and will get it to you with some details, from the inside:
We have got some details as it might be on the market reasonably soon, but might not too!
What we actually spotted on the property first though was this:
Its not on the market and probably wont be, hopefully it will find its way into a shed some time soon.
Some other gear on the property:
Spoke for some time with the owners they are nice people, even when our intrusion resulted in a burnt lunch!
Checked out a local lookout (and Geocache) with views of Cunningham’s Gap:
Do you reckon it would pass as a farm ute?
Visitor popped out of the log at dinner time … it is real!
Driveway to the farm is a little rough, but not bad:
13/1/14 Coleyville to Maleny (207km)
Biggest drive of the tour at 207km, geez we needed the rest when we got there! Decided to extend the tour by a few days but needed to go local, so we headed up the hill to Maleny, been there before but it’s nice so why not! Just a couple of days to round out the trip …
Did nothing! (and loved it!)
14/1/14 Maleny
Last day of the tour, and Jellybean woke up feeling a little flat:
But the pit crew flew into action and the problem sorted in no time:
Clear!
So what do you reckon, Jellybeans on Jellybean?
The last supper:
15/1/14 Maleny to Home (75km)
Home and back to reality!
Now … When is the next one!
Cheers
Doug
2013 Bah Humbug Mystery Tour!
21/12/13 – Home to Esk (120km)
Ute packed (to the gunnels) and on the road again …. Yeeeehaaarrrr!!
Got away a little later than I was aiming for but life’s like that, also had to go the wrong direction initially as I had to pick up the car club newsletter from the printers; always seem to end up with a mad rush to get it organised before a big trip. On my way down to the printers, I saw that the Bruce highway was a car park so took the back roads around the problem – nicer drive through the rural areas with next to no traffic than sitting on the highway anyway. Popped out at Wamuran and cruised up to Kilcoy, hmmm, been on the road for about an hour … better have a lunch break then!
Found a nice shady tree, got the lunch gear out and then sat back for a half hour or so soaking up the fact that I was on holidays and on the road, the relaxation factor was ramping up all ready! Only about a half hour run out to Esk but I figure why rush, always seems when you arrive to the day’s destination all you want to do is set up, so it usually seems that your starving by the time you do all that. Much nicer to take a chill pill on the way and arrive ready to go.
Arrived to Esk to find that everyone had already turned up – and had made a start on happy hour! Esk as a starting point proved to be a good one, with OB and Lyn, Banno and Joey, John and Di, Richard and Pam, Richard’s brother Phillip and his wife (oops sorry forgot the name!), Trevor and Julie, and Dosse all there and into the swing of it.
Richard and Pam provided a batch of pizza bases and topping to use in the camp kitchen’s pizza ovens, absolutely beautiful they were especially the ones with pineapple toppings … aye Richard!
We were even entertained by a lone bugler who provided us with his rendition of the last post; not a bad effort he put in too especially considering that he could hardly stand up! Banno provided a recitation of the Ode, and we remembered those that have paid the supreme sacrifice once more.
The Esk races were on which meant we were sharing the park with a wide range of other patrons some dressed to the nines and others maybe not so much … A few “interesting” cars about, this ute had me green, but not with envy!
The vans at Esk:
22/12/13 - Esk
Lay over day so spent the morning just relaxing and chatting, catching up with everybody. I got a little more energetic in the afternoon, so I headed up to Ravensbourne National Park, and checked out some of the bushwalks. Great views from the drive up lookout:
Some of the natural features on the tracks are pretty nice:
But the couple of hour trek down to Buaraba “Creek” turned out to be a little disappointing … still very nice way to spend a couple of hours, as they say, its all about the journey!
Then headed back to camp for happy hour and great company!
23/12/13 Esk to Heifer Creek (76km)
Well what a huge day of driving, all 76km of it! Managed to break the drive up with a supply stop in Gatton, and a direction stop in MaMa Creek:
Said our goodbyes to those that had to go back to the real world, the tour was down to me, Banno and Joey, John and Di, and Richard and Pam which actually makes a nice number for travelling. MaMa creek is a pokey little township but set in a great part of the world, amazing how the scenery changes when you can get off the well worn tracks of the main highways. Lovely drive out to Heifer Creek with the exception of the mad truckie that was hell bent on getting to where he was going real quick no matter the cost – overtook me below the crest of a hill, if someone came over it things would have been very ugly for someone – probably NOT the truckie!
Heifer Creek is a free camp, and it turned out to be a great little spot, nice and shady, back off the road, and a cool and deep enough swimming hole to refresh yourself in.
Set up camp …
Started to get a bit relaxed:
Then broke out the camp ovens … oops went to break out my camp oven and it wasn’t in the van! Think I must have left it at Imbil, as I did use it there and haven’t had need for it since. Also had my pot handle if anyone picked it up by mistake??? Anyway, no problem says Di, I’ll just get ours out … ahhh nope forgot to bring it! Hmmm dinner not looking so good, but Richard and Pam came good with theirs – which now has a name, Colin, he had a great time on tour and enjoyed all sorts of sights – and maybe some he would rather forget …
Anyway, dinner was on so curried chook and veges it was for dinner, we were joined for dinner by Lyn and OB who brought along some sweets for us all:
Had to pass a pretty stringent hand over inspection on Colin by Richard, but we managed to score a pass, good enough for Colin to come along for the ride on tour …
24/12/13 Heifer Creek
Lay over day at Heifer Creek was a nice, lazy old day – bacon and egg muffins for breakfast and spent a lazy morning strumming away on the guitar, reading books and doing jigsaw puzzles … Joey and Di knocked over a 1000 piece job in just over half a day! We bid farewell to Richard and Pam as they were off to see family for Christmas, to join up with us later on the tour.
Did a bit of exploring around the surrounding bushland, I was told that there were some caves up in the hills so went for a poke around – found out later that I was in the entirely wrong area but there you go! I still enjoyed getting out and amongst it.
And found this on my morning walk, think it would be an old Carapark but not too much left:
Lyn and OB came back out for dinner, this time bringing out three courses of desert! Very tempting to stay within range to get yummies brought out to us each night! But onwards the tour must go so we decided to head further south tomorrow.
25/12/13 Heifer Creek to Tenterfield (182km)
Bah Humbug!
Breakfast done, packed up, and hit the road by 815am! No rush, it was just as it happened … funny how if there is a schedule its almost inevitably a struggle to meet it, but when there is no schedule things seem to take no time at all!
We made our way south to Allora to do a spot of Geocaching … for those that don’t know Geocaching involves finding items hidden around the place by people playing the game based on co-ordinates and clues posted on the web. It takes you to some interesting (and some doubtful) places.
Many caches later we arrived in Stanthorpe, after a bit of milling about the place we found the park we thought we might stop at, but it wasn’t for us. So onwards we went to Tenterfield – after a bite to eat by the side of the road – and stopped at the showgrounds. That’s the benefit of short days and no plans I guess, it gives you the flexibility to check out a few different spots to stop to see if they are any good, and drive on if they aren’t!
The showgrounds at Tenterfield are pretty good, the pavilions and grandstands are quite grand:
I found the date on the pavilion quite interesting, can’t imagine that many buildings of this type were completed in 1915 …
And I reckon this grandstand would stretch plenty of builders today to complete in the same time …
26/12/13 Tenterfield
Stopped at Tenterfield for the day, poking about town and finding a great pie shop … best pies “EVA”. Richard and Pam rolled in to camp after running the gauntlet of the Woodenbong to Killarney road … seems some don’t read all the posts on the forums aye! Scrambled eggs in the fridge, and still rattling a couple of hours later they were … but they made it through!
Did a great deal of nothing, very nice to just kick back, shoot the breeze and soak up the atmosphere, Tenterfield seems to have a calmness about it – maybe it was just the mode we were all in, but it seems to have that sort of character.
27/12/13 Tenterfield to Glen Innes via Emmaville (121km)
It was time to hitch the wagons again and head a bit further south, but with a detour out to Emmaville – a nice little town. Stopped for an ice-cream at Deepwater; and were entertained by a couple of the locals having a domestic (!) … but it couldn’t spoil the mood.
Emmaville itself has some interesting old buildings, it was once a quite prosperous tin mining town but now looks to be like a lot of other small towns struggling for its existence.
Spotted this HG ute as we went past the local mechanic’s shop, it has only done a genuine 140000 miles and features a factory 253 and column shift. Pity its been painted but you cant have everything; not for sale either it was the owner’s sons car.
Bill the owner showed us around this great old workshop as well as a couple of his treasures.
Spotted this fibreglass camper, we think a Chesney but couldn’t really get close enough to tell.
The local museum is also well worth a look, especially if you are into gem stones and mining, but also has plenty of other interesting exhibits from the “Olden days”.
Arrived in Glen Innes and tried out the showgrounds there, very easy set up we scored the shed so no need for setting up the awnings.
No Richard … not time for Colin to come home just yet!
Went for a stroll around Glen Innes looking for a bite to eat, most of the cafes were sold out of everything (!) We found one that was still trading - $8 for a toasted sanga seemed pretty steep but we were getting hungry so we sat down … ummm if you want to SIT then the toasted sanga will cost you $13 !!! We left.
We were going to have hot dogs for dinner, but couldn’t get the lid on …
(Disclaimer: Richard, I just took the photo! I just happened to be there, I make no admissions of participating in this venture, or condoning it …)
Dinner WAS good!
28/12/13 Glen Innes
Day dawned bright and clear ready for a day of exploration, and explore we did! A nice spot that Geocahing took us to was the balancing rocks just south of Glen Innes …
Colin looks a little nervous …
Then we decided to follow a couple of signposts to Mt Mitchell and Mt Slow … just to see what was there … well there isn’t much there including not much of a road! Banno’s 4wd SS Commodore did pretty well but was found a bit lacking in the ground clearance department, especially when the road becomes a track complete with grass growing in the centre!
Grrrrrr
Checked out the standing stones, quite a nice place to spend some time:
Nice view over the town from the standing stones:
The showground buildings very different to Tenterfield despite being about the same era … not as nice to my taste but still good to see some of the old buildings still going strong … sort of!
Very nice stop over and it was great to check out a town with a bit more time than the normal drive through on the way to somewhere else; been to Glen Innes plenty of times but this is the first time I have stopped there.
29/12/13 Glen Innes to Armidale (98km)
Onwards with the tour, a nice leisurely run down to Armidale and we were set up by 10am! I’m sure that is some sort of record for us anyway! Armidale is a great town with plenty of interesting buildings in and around it, we went for a stroll around town and did some supply shopping before heading back to camp.
And the showground buildings themselves look great:
Armidale is definitely a very nicely laid out town with lots of green recreational zones along the banks of the river – great use of land that obviously floods now and then. The walking / riding tracks are great, off the roads and through very pleasant surroundings.
30/12/13 Armidale
Richard spotted a couple of the local machinery enthusiast club at their shed, so of course we trotted down to have a sticky beak, as you do. Some nice gear in there including this recent acquisition mainly funded by a grant:
Steering is pretty, well, agricultural:
Plenty of what you would expect in a rural machinery enthusiast shed:
And some of what you might not expect:
This was the star:
Complete, very original and only light damage to the rear – rub back the house paint and away you go!
Banno wanted this for “evidence” for some reason …
Did the self drive tour of Armidale (well most of it) which was quite interesting, it took us to the rail station which was quite interesting in itself:
But from the station we spotted this:
If you squint you can see it, but we went and had a closer look:
Complete mechanically:
It’s a Bishop Austrans and was meant to be an unmanned light rail vehicle for up to nine passengers; for some reason the project never happened but even stranger is this vehicle sitting in a pastoral supply yard in Armidale! It’s apparently destined for the rail museum but not for certain yet … We all figured it would make a great van!
Back on the tour we were taken to this old orphanage building, very Gothic:
Back at camp and one of the group that might be a little perturbed by the presence of spiders happened to find a huge hairy one (fake) stashed under her pillow … and immediately blamed someone for putting it there! “Wasn’t me, she says … Doug bought it!!” Hmmm some people are just a little too quick to give their partners in crime up, no names from me of course … oh no, I’d never give JOEY up! Oops, did I say that out loud?
Minding my own business at camp and this guy appears:
“Move on” I said, “nothing to see here, move on”.
31/12/13 Armidale to Thora (139km)
I was time to move again so onwards to Thora, at the base of the Dorrigo Mountains. Last time along here the ute nearly lost a wheel, but thankfully this time no problems. A bit of a late get away but when you’re only going such short distances it doesn’t really matter too much – well not at all really! We stopped at Ebor for a lunch break before tootling off down the very big hill to Thora.
Arrived just after lunch and set up next to where Rod had already set up his van, then found a funnel web spider hole just adjacent to the camp which made Di’s day… then found a couple more including one right next to Jellybean!
Oh well, few more of these and there’ll be no probs!
Security arrived to check out the scene:
Went for a swim in the Bellingen river to cool off, it was only knee deep but absolutely perfect temperature:
The free camp:
Rod arrived in the late afternoon to spend New Years Eve with us, and the party got started and was going well until Rod took a big trip over a peg …
Resulted in needing 5 stitches in each of two toes … and a hospital stay overnight! Loaded him into the ambulance right on midnight, bugger! No half measures aye Roddy!
1/1/14 Thora
Well the New Year dawned bright and clear – we got on to Rod just after he was allowed home from hospital, and spent the morning at Rod and Nettie’s place providing great support and sympathy … well in our own way we did.
A great shame that it happened as Rod and Nettie missed out on joining the tour because of it, terrible luck but that was last year so hopefully this year will be on the up!
Rod needed his Chev brought back for him so we talked Di into driving it back for him … it was tough to get her to do it but she caved in the end.
Came back to camp for lunch and used up some leftovers which always seem to taste better than the first time around somehow, then filled in the rest of the day chilling out around camp.
2/1/14 Thora
Yep this place was too good so we stayed another day. John and Di, Banno and Joey, and Richard and Pam went off to check out Urunga, being local for many years I’d seen plenty of Urunga so I headed back up the hill to Dorrigo to check it out and to do the bushwalks:
Nice old pub in Dorrigo:
Dangar Falls, a bit busy so didn’t bother going for a swim:
We finished off the day by heading back to Rod and Jeanette’s where we were treated to some fine Thai cuisine, what a fantastic meal and even better company.
3/1/14 Thora to Lanitza (106km)
It was time to hit the road again so we turned north for my brother’s farm at Lanitza, just south of Grafton. Stopped in at Coffs Harbour for a look at the Jetty precinct, John and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and were invited aboard Aus 1, a racing tri-marron very impressive bit of gear. Unfortunately after three days at Thora with no power my phone was dead so no pics!
Arrived lunch time and it was a stinking hot day, the wading pool got a work out!
4/1/14 Lanitza
Spent a quiet day catching up with the bro, Banno and Joey, John and Di went exploring around the area so I did some dog sitting …
And so did Nettie!
How good is this!!!
5/1/14 Lanitza to Lawrence (58km)
Well, it was another huge drive up to Lawrence, and what a pearler of a free camp it is. Right on the river, close to the shop and the pub, good amenities, this place has it all.
With Richard and Pam heading off tomorrow it was time to part with Colin … here he is wistfully looking off into the distance:
Reflecting on his journey with us:
Heading home to a dull existence inside his sealed bag, only to be brought out rarely:
I’ll just need a moment …
Clyde and Barb turned up from their trip to Yamba to join with us for a few days, so we had 5 vans for one night! Clyde with his best shirt on:
6/1/14 Lawrence
Another fine sunny day, we really had been lucky with the weather especially considering what hit Brisbane while we were south! Di started out well by testing out the lace tablecloth with the hot kettle … fail!
Cruised down to the Ulmarra pub for lunch, what a beer garden!
Spotted this from the road in Lawrence, not sure but I think a Bedford truck:
Joey tried a spot of fishing and caught a few undersize bream and Yellowtail. This was a spot to do not much at all, just soak up the scene.
7/1/14 Lawrence to Kyogle (111km)
Time to up stumps again so headed north to Kyogle, first time we have had rain all trip and it happens to drop while packing up … still, not complaining!
Stopped at Casino to check out the town and it’s another nice old town, a bit run down like many others but still interesting buildings about. But the caravan park is something else; it has everything you would want in a park and is huge, logically laid out, and very reasonably priced without “peak” rates.
It will be a great venue.
Wandered up to Kyogle and set up camp; showgrounds again quite acceptable good facilities and heaps of space to “form a circle”. Nice town too.
Checked out the pumpkin patch at the showgrounds:
Who me?
The cowboys were in town:
Ahem … Clyde …. Its behind you!
8/1/14 Kyogle
Took a day trip (ha ha … see what I did there?) out to Nimbin – certainly is still a different town but from my memories of it seems to have lost its way a little from where I sit. Gone are the wall to wall hippy alternative life stylers, there are still some around but they used to fill the place, and funky little shops that sold what was made locally. Its more “mainstream” now, with shops flogging off Chinese import rubbish for the tourist market, and “normal” cafes. Even the purveyors of the local product seem to have developed a mainstream hardness about them – quite a seedy place in some parts.
Still managed to find a local that was trying to flog off all manner of stuff as ”art” including a standard horse halter; when it was suggested some of the other products in town might need to be sampled before that would happen he had a good old laugh too.
Cruised back to Kyogle to check out the town, lots of old buildings still around and has a nice feel to the place.
9/1/14 Kyogle to Mt Warning (60km)
Quite a nice drive over the ranges to Mt Warning, if a little bumpy, the scenery in places is beautiful:
Stopped off in Uki for a bite to eat, lovely home made pie was very yum!
Rob saw us in town on his way to the park so he stopped and we all headed in to the park together.
Scored an open area in the park to set up how we pleased, which was great. Phil and Louise, and Graham (Earlee) and Helen also came along to join us, and Bob came along for dinner, great to meet up with everyone and party on!
10/1/14 Mt Warning
Quiet day not much going on, I went for a walk up Mt Warning but the weather closed in and I decided to forgo the last scramble up the chains – it was pouring rain and quite slippery with not even a chance of a decent view so I decided to come back another day.
“Views” from Mt Warning:
Had to do a double take with some of my fellow walkers though, that decided to do the track in their thongs! And plenty without so much as a drink bottle … no wonder there are three helicopter rescue points up the side of the mountain!
Helen and Earlee had to go home but we managed to have a good dinner from whatever bibs and bobs we all had, resulting in a smorgasbord of interesting dishes shared among us all.
11/1/14 Mt Warning to Coleyville (200km)
We stayed at Coleyville Lodge and this is another future event waiting to happen … good camp kitchen, fire pit, firewood, toilets and showers, as well as cabin accommodation if needed. Power is available, and Michael the host is very accommodating. It’s a working farm and is in a great spot set up on a hill with a good view.
Spotted this on the side of the road, probably not much more life left in it; it needs saving soon, but not being hidden away I reckon its going nowhere.
12/1/14 Coleyville
Went for a cruise around the local area, and stumbled across this:
Have got the chassis number down somewhere Bob and will get it to you with some details, from the inside:
We have got some details as it might be on the market reasonably soon, but might not too!
What we actually spotted on the property first though was this:
Its not on the market and probably wont be, hopefully it will find its way into a shed some time soon.
Some other gear on the property:
Spoke for some time with the owners they are nice people, even when our intrusion resulted in a burnt lunch!
Checked out a local lookout (and Geocache) with views of Cunningham’s Gap:
Do you reckon it would pass as a farm ute?
Visitor popped out of the log at dinner time … it is real!
Driveway to the farm is a little rough, but not bad:
13/1/14 Coleyville to Maleny (207km)
Biggest drive of the tour at 207km, geez we needed the rest when we got there! Decided to extend the tour by a few days but needed to go local, so we headed up the hill to Maleny, been there before but it’s nice so why not! Just a couple of days to round out the trip …
Did nothing! (and loved it!)
14/1/14 Maleny
Last day of the tour, and Jellybean woke up feeling a little flat:
But the pit crew flew into action and the problem sorted in no time:
Clear!
So what do you reckon, Jellybeans on Jellybean?
The last supper:
15/1/14 Maleny to Home (75km)
Home and back to reality!
Now … When is the next one!
Cheers
Doug
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That takes a fair bit of time,effort and thought to post up. 
