Queenslanders Return from Coledale

[sutcac]

Just got home from Coledale .........can't believe that we fitted so much travel/touring /good times into 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!

Left Coledale early Sunday morning to have a look at the Albion Park Swap meet.......... then on up to Kangaroo Valley and the beautiful Fitzroy Falls and NP.......well worth it.

........next night at Yass ........light frost!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...then on up to Gilgandra viaBoorowa, Cowra , Canowindra , Eugowra , Parks , Peak Hill and Dubbo...........
...........


Cheryl found the mini sewing machine that she had been lookig for all trip at Gilgandra..........happy l'il camper




Jacarandas were out at St George....




...........found my namesake at Lightening Ridge!!!!!!!!!












...........then on up through Coonamble , Pilliga Bore , Wee Waa , Walgett , Lightening Ridge , Hebel , Dirranbandi , St George , Meandarra , Dalby..........and home to Buderim this arvo...... about 4000 km round trip.................and ready to go again tomorrow..............
......the recent rains had made the inland countryside a spectacular vista of colour .............scenes that we will talk about for a long time to come.............

........the highlight of the trip home was undoubtedly our stay at the Pilliga Bore ............ a capped thermal bore in the middle of nowhere..............with the best facilities of any free camp any of us have experienced..................
.......covered cemented pool....33degrees........flushing toilets...............shelter shade sheds....with 240v lighting .....shower.....free firewood....open fires.....free electric B B Qs.....great company..........
....mark it down in your little black book....a real gem......











...........the bore water is supposed to have special qualities that rekindles couples physical desires for each other....but I don't believe a word of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.....








...........beautiful hot water massages...hard to take....NOT








....did tend to make your hair stand on end though???!!!!!!!!!!





...another beaut roast leg of lamb in the camp oven!!











...........the HR yoot developed a bit of a tappet 'rattle' so we decided to check it out............ gave her some fresh oil and filter..........concensus was maybe a worn cam lobe or lifter ....











CANT WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sheppo]

Ya gotta love those bores sutcat, did you try the one in lightning ridge, i'ts the hottest of all the public bores. Your Tappet rattle will be a stuck lifter, a very common prob on red motors so don't worry too much about it. There are a few things you can do like replace it which is easy on the reds or run diesel engine oil in her for a while, it has more detergent in it and may clean out the sludge thats blocking the bleed hole. i see you had the r/ cover off, if it was gluggy on the inside you can bet thats your problem. Your lucky you where up north, i just had 2 weeks around Newnes and Lithgow where it snowed then blizzarded for the saturday, cool not, well, yes bloody freezing.

[sutcac]

HI Sheppo........yep , stuck the big toe in the bore pool at Lightening Ridge ....too bloody hot!!!!!!!!!!.....near 40 Degrees from memory? ........

....we were very lucky with the weather ....seemed to dodge the rain ( and snow) on most of our trip... snowed at Katoomba the day after we left!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.....motor not 'sludgey' at all....only 18 000km's
.....yes, Neil's going to check no 5 lifter before anything else !

Cheers Sutcac ;D ;D

[Deleted]

great pics sutcac .......

gotta luv the last one ......the bush track scene, .......old Holden with bonnet up, .........old caravan in tow.......... and a flurry of people around and under the bonnet ........could be a scene straight outta the 60's ........well ...........er ...........apart from the dress code

Mark

[Deleted]

Hi Sutcacs, NeilnCheryl and John K.
( where is di Homemade1954??)
Glad to hear the stragglers from the tour and Coledale made it home in one piece.
Loos like you guys had a ball on the way back up through the NSW outback.
I am sure that the ute will be up and about again soon. cant be too serious if it made it home under its own steam towing that beaut Rowvan
Enjoyed your company imensley while we where on the road together .
Pity Coledale was such a blow out. Would have liked to have spent a bit more time yarnin with Earlee and the bird too.

Oh bye the way.. i have gone over the pixs with a fine tooth comb...... just cant sem to spot that lovely momento i presented you and Barb with at Katoomba...
"GO THE BLUES""... ;D ;D ;D
Rumour has it that a woman fitting Barbs description was seen disposing of a pale blue metal object into the recycle bin at Coledale...

Your comment............. cant wait for next year..
Yup.. too right mate.
Its always fun.

Cheers
Reddo

[1954homemade]

Hi Reddo,

I'm here. I didn't travel back with N&C, John and Sutcacs.

Only just got back home late Saturday. Back to work today.

Left Coledale on the Sunday and drove to Sydney for a Hot Rod Event that a friend had organised. Then stayed in Sydney for 3 days to catch up with friends and do the touristy things. Had a great time.

Left Sydney on Thursday, stopped at the Hunter Valley on the way north and did a bit of wine tasting, then onto Tiona (near Forster/Tuncurray for the night. Very interesting van park that had what they called a Green Catherdral (outdoor church) built in 1940. Right on the edge of the lake - beautiful spot.

Next day spent time in Forster, then stopped off at various spots whilst heading north. Stayed overnight at a rest spot and boat ramp near Maclean Bridge on the edge of the Clarance River.

Leisurely drive home via a friends place for a BBQ. Got back late Saturday night.

It was great catching up with everyone on the tour (many thanks) and at Coledale. As you mentioned shame the weather was so blowy at Coledale, it made everyone want to stay in their vans and so catching up and having a chat was very difficult.

I think we took approx 500 photos, so will have to find time to sort through them and then put some photos up for everyone to see.

All the best
Di

[neilncheryl]

Here is a few more photos of the tour home wards

Stopped at a Museum on the way to Berry









This is a treadle powered lathe



Then on to Kangaroo Gully





Very long drop from the lookout at Fitzroy Falls



Sunset at Pilliga Bore




Creek beside Pilliga Bore




Forgot the name of this town but the neatest garden setting


Camped by the River at Meandara


Sunset at Meandara


Then home.

[atouchofglass]

Oct 27, 2010 22:08:18 GMT 10 neilncheryl said:

Here is a few more photos of the tour home wards

Stopped at a Museum on the way to Berry
This is a treadle powered lathe

Have seen a metal lathe version of this.
Would be a lot of work.

But interesting to note the background .........
Nice Propert.


Also jealous of your trip....
Lovely sunrise/ sunsets.
Keep the photos coming and thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Atog

[firefighter]

Hi Neilcheryl & Sutcac

Thanks for sharing your photos on your return trip to Queensland with the forum members .......most of us would not have been out to that part of australia ....special vintage caravans
f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[1954homemade]

Oct 24, 2010 17:25:42 GMT 10 @reddo said:

Oh bye the way.. i have gone over the pixs with a fine tooth comb...... just cant sem to spot that lovely momento i presented you and Barb with at Katoomba...
"GO THE BLUES""... ;D ;D ;D
Rumour has it that a woman fitting Barbs description was seen disposing of a pale blue metal object into the recycle bin at Coledale...

Hi Reddo, I had a search of my photos and I came up with this one, I notice that Clyde has the Blues momento under his arm !!!!



By the way Clyde, did you wear those trousers coz you lost a bet??? ;D ;D ;D



Regards
Di

[1954homemade]

Hi all,

Finally here are some photos from me, re our trip back home from Coledale. We took hundreds and hundreds of photos whilst away, but I won't bore you, so following are a select few.

We left Coledale on the Sunday morning and headed up to Sydney to a Hot Rod event that a friend had organised. Following are a some of the vehicles that were there.





Gary hadn't been to Sydney for 34 years, so we spent a few days in Sydney doing the tourist thing.

Opera House from the Rocks


Darling Harbour - Cockle Bay Wharf

Darling Harbour - Kings Street Wharf and Hickson Road


Views inside QVB (Queen Victoria Building)



Took a ferry to Manly and so the folowing shots are taken from the ferry.








Oceanworld at Manly next to Ferry Terminal


Manly Beach


We left Sydney on the Thursday and started heading north. Stopped near Moonee Moonee on the Hawksbury.







Then headed up to the Hunter Valley for some wine tasting and had a little look at the Hunter Valley Gardens





Then travelled further north to get some more klms under our belt. We ended up at Tiona near Forster/Tuncurry on the Great Lakes. Arrived in the dark so not much to see.

Will show Friday's photos in another post.

Regards
Di

[1954homemade]

Hi all,

On Friday we woke to beautiful weather. The Caravan park we had stayed in was situated between the lake and the sea, so we went out and about to invetigate.

The Lake







The Sea & Beaches





Within the caravan park is an area called the Green Cathedral, It was built in 1940 and still holds regular Sunday Services.

Green Catherdral Sign



The Pews, Pulpit and Altar area. This is situated on the very edge of the lake, so there is a fantastic view from the pews.



The huge palm fronds make up a covering over the area instead of a roof.

We then left the van at the park and went for a drive around the local area. You can understand why it is called The Great Lakes.





More shots of some of the beaches in the area







We then collected the van and headed up to Forster, had a late breakfast and did some shopping in Forster. It's a lovely spot with reasonably price real estate. These photos were taken from the Forster side of the bridge looking towards Tuncurry.









In the afternoon we then started heading north again and ended up staying overnight at a Rest Area/Boat Ramp on the Clarence River at Mclean (just north of Grafton).

Clarance River from the Mclean Bridge



In recent year a pair of Ospray had made their nest on the bridge. When the bridge was upgraded the nest was moved to a specially built nest pole. Which happened to be right next to the boat ramp. Here are photos of the parents and the baby still in the next.





When then had a leisurely drive home via various friends houses and got home late on Saturday night.

It was a very enjoyable trip

Luv Di