Tuesday 30 January 2018

Best Made Plans Often Get Changed

After our two days in Gulgong we headed north-east to Scone (which rhymes with 'bone'). We have driven through Scone a number of times, but never stayed overnight. As we were coming in on a country road, it was strange not to drive through the town but to drive straight to the Golf Club, where we stayed for the night. The Golf Club has a fenced off area for overnight self contained camping. It is situated near the old 1870 lock up and constable's quarters. Today it houses the Scone Historical Museum and Records Centre. Next door is the old courthouse built in 1882, with the first courthouse, built in 1849 at the rear with a large stone wall that backs onto the Golf Club. Today it is a theatre.
We were fortunate that my cousin was also visiting Scone that night, so we had a lovely dinner in the Golf Club. The meal was very good, but so big. Scone is known as the Horse Capital of Australia and there are many horse sculptures throughout the small town. The area was first surveyed by Henry Dangar in 1824, and gazetted as Scone in 1837. There are many old buildings in streets around the main highway, and we may find out about them next time.
Our plan was to head to Chaffey Dam near Tamworth for a few days before our ten days at the Country Music Festival. However, our daughter was in and out of hospital with her pregnancy, so we decided to sadly skip the festival and head closer to home. There were already a number of vans camped around the dam, and we found a flat piece of ground with afternoon sun, so we set up.
I love the sunsets here at Chaffey - I love sunsets.
The next morning we paid our $5 fee and headed into Tamworth to met some friends for lunch before heading to Guyra. I did stop at Spotlight, as one does, to get some purple fabric. We had a good catch up with our friends at a cafe called Nouvelle Cafe, near the Rugby Park on Peel Street.
After lunch, and few hours drive north we came to Guyra. Guyra has a Lamb and Potato (and tomato) festival each January. We drive past the festival each year on our way to Tamworth. We set up at Mother of Ducks Lagoon (free camp), well I set up while Peter chatted to the neighbours. Peter always talks to everyone, and he does find out some interesting facts.
We had a couple of drinks while watching the golfers and then headed over to the Bowls Club for dinner. The food at the club has always been great and good value.
The next morning we went up to the main street to see what the festival was about. There were a lot of market stalls, food and crafts. It was interesting. Apparently there are a lot of local activities in different venues, but we only went to the markets. 
Next stop was our favourite Clifton, back in Queensland. Someone was in our regular spot so we set up next door. We actually liked it there.
For $10 a night for power and water, Clifton Recreation Grounds is a place we often stay before heading home, almost like we don't want to go home and we want to keep camping.
The next morning we relaxed and I got out the sewing machine to make a quick lap quilt... but, best made plans..... we packed up and headed home after only one night, so we could help at home.
This is why 💗
4 hours old.

Thursday 25 January 2018

Step Back in Time

We left Parkes and headed along the Renshaw McGirr Way to Yeoval. What a lovely little town, and childhood home to A.B. Patterson. We will come back when we have more time, and visit all the statues along the way. The next stop was Wellington to see the site of the last recorded pistol duel in NSW. A plaque is situated in Teamsters Park that states that the duel took place in 1954 between Dr Samuel Curtis and Mr B Sheriden due to the influence of liquor. Researching, this may have been the last duel in Australia. B Sheriden was the local magistrate. The duel was over a women who both men thought was 'theirs'. They had been drinking in the nearby Lion of Waterloo and decided to take pistols to the nearby Teamsters Park to solve the issue. The guns misfired and both men fell to the ground drunk.
Not far away is the Lion of Waterloo that is believed to be the oldest licensed hotel west of the Blue Mountains that is still standing. It was built in 1841, not long after the plans for Wellington were drawn up in 1839. The pub and nearby park were used by Cobb & Co as a stop. Wellington was gazetted a town in 1846.
We then continued on the Goolma Road to Gulgong for the night. We pulled into Gulgong Showground, where there were already a large number of vans. The cost is $16 per night for power and water. The caretakers Colleen and Steve were lovely and even invited all the campers to happy hour where they provided cheese and snacks we provided our own drinks and chairs. It was a great idea and we met some lovely people. We decided to stay two nights and spend some time in the town the next day looking around.
 When I read that Gulgong had over 130 heritage-listed buildings I didn't believe it until we walked around the streets. So many interesting and historical buildings. Gulgong is a gold town. Gold was discovered there in 1870 with a large strike at Red Hill. Prior to the gold discovery the Gulgong area was a sheep property.
We parked beside the information centre, which is only opened on the weekend, and walked along the main streets, stopping at symbols on the symbol trail, and not knowing what they were. We stopped at a sign which showed a map of a historic walk and planned our trip, when a local pulled up in his car and gave us a copy of a history walking tour of Gulgong. BONUS, although we did need to walk back to see things we didn't know were there LOL. The booklet also had a symbol trail meaning – good to know. The symbol trail are symbols that swagmen and travellers would leave in the dirt for other travellers to let them know is the places were friendly or not. There are about 70 tiles laid out on the streets.
Gulgong and Henry Lawson are on the first $10. He lived very near to Gulgong. His father was a builder and Henry helped him build some of the houses in Gulgong. There is a Henry Lawson Discovery Centre in the town, and every June long weekend, Gulgong hosts the Henry Lawson Festival. Henry Lawson was born in Grenfell but went to school between Mudgee and Gulgong.
There is also a Chinese Festival in October. The Chinese flocked to gold fields in the 1800's and many gold towns have Chinese heritage. Both festivals would be good to visit.
The main Mayne Street has Australia’s oldest operating opera house, the Prince of Wales opened in 1871, and Dame Nellie Melba performed there. There is a replica mine at Red Hill, wher the first gold strike was, that looked interesting but we didn't go there.
There is a Pioneer Museum which other campers went to and said it was good. It is located in the old bakery and produce store. We have been to so many country museums in the past few years that we don't often pay for museums now, although I do like to see the antique sewing machines. But I guess we will visit next time we are in Gulgong.
We were very impressed with Gulgong. It was like going back in time.

Wednesday 24 January 2018

One for the Money, Two for the Show....

The Elvis Festival
WOW what a great festival. They say a picture says a thousand words, well I took over a thousand photos – here are just a few of them.
The 2018 Elvis Festival celebrated 50 Years since the '68 Comeback Special. The festival takes place the second week in February from the Wednesday to the Sunday. There were competitions, displays, a street parade, and heaps of free entertainment, especially in Cooke Park.
Starting north of town, at the Henry Parkes Centre, one can get local information and visit four museums: The Kings Castle houses a good collection of genuine Elvis artefacts; The Motor Museum has classic cars; Henry Parkes Museum tells the history of Sir Henry Parkes; and The Antique Machinery Museum. 
Heading into the CBD, on the left is Kelly Reserve. When we are on a road trip and drive through Parkes, we always stop at Coles and the French Bakery and then we stop at Kelly Reserve to make lunch. There are mini replica gates of Graceland and Elvis' Wall of Fame that we must have driven past at least 20 times, and never knew they were there. The wall has plaques dedicated to rock and roll singers through the decades. 2018 will be the Emmanual Brothers. Apparently the Emmanuel family lived in Parkes and the brothers, Tommy and Phil, went to Parkes High School.
The local Library is one street back from the the main street, Clarinda Street. We went there on the Wednesday morning to see the JFK Photographic Exhibition, 'American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times', which is only being displayed in 12 countries around the world, and Parkes is only the second venue in Australia.
Also in the Library, we saw a video on '25 Years of the Parkes Elvis Festival'. The festival had its beginnings over dinner in the Gracelands Hotel – across the road from the van park. The library also played Elvis movies free throughout the festival.
Walking down the main street, some of the shops have an Elvis display in their windows. An interesting shop is Colouby, with items from the 50's and 60's, as well as clothes to purchase to dress up for the festival. It was definitely a fun shop.
Parkes also has a Public Art Trail at present consisting of 6 art works, all situated along, or nearby Clarinda Street. 'The King' art work is in Court Street and visible from Clarinda Street.
Fun while walking around the festival was looking at the large number of people dressed in costume – clothes of the 50's and 60's, and Elvis and Priscilla wigs, even children and dogs were in costume. There are plenty of cafes, clubs, pubs and eateries, both in Parkes and in Cooke Park. We had a few things in the park, that were ok, and had lunch in one of the clubs which was good, but the best food was at Paragon Cafe on Clarinda Street.
Clubs and venue places had paid and free entertainment. Even the Parkes Radio Telescope held a Elvis Tribute Artist Dinner. There was so much entertainment that it was hard to choose, and the good thing was that most of the entertainment was walking distance from the CBD. The main street had buskers of all ages from the Tuesday to the Sunday. There was Elvis Trivia and Elvis Bingo.
The Elvis Tribute Artists were, on the whole, good. We saw many of them free in Cooke Park. Jack Gatto (ETA winner 2016), Sean Luke Spiteri, Ben Thompson (UK), and Marcus Jackson were the best we saw. We were lucky to see Jack Gatto as his shows were mostly paid shows. We saw his free show at the Cooke Park stage. One fun event was the renewing of vows on Sunday. Ben Thompson sang two songs at this renewal ceremony. He was very good.
Some of the shows, we thought, were expensive ($66) and many were booked out months ago. As well as the ETA, we saw tribute artists for The Blues Brothers, Roy Orbison, The Beatnix, Tom Jones. A girl group 'Amitie' were great and sang all the songs that I grew up with.
We had some very hot days – Friday was a hot 39 degrees C (102 F) but on Saturday for the parade it was grey and rainy and a top of 19C (66F). That didn't stop many from watching the parade. The local morse code group even handed out free raincoats. The parade went for an hour and most ETA were included as well as local and far away groups.
Parkes has for a long time had a statue of Henry Parkes in the main street. This year a statue of Elvis was officially unveiled 12 January, but it was actually unveiled for media on Elvis' birthday 8th January – and that was when we saw it.
Buses do a circuit every hour. At Spicers, there were two buses running on different circuits, which meant people could get a bus every half hour. Fares were $4 per ride, or $16 for the whole Festival – Wednesday to Sunday. Information about what was on was easily available in most places, from a lovely 84 glossy page book ($8) to a fold and take any where free pamphlet – and everything in between.
Everyone should experience it even just once, although I'm sure most will want to come again and again. One 'Can't Help Falling in Love' with this festival. We have booked for next year.

Tuesday 16 January 2018

First road trip of 2018!

Our first road trip for the year started early January. We feel we didn't get away as much as we wanted last year, with a family wedding and other commitments. Last year we only managed 122 days away, compared with 198 in 2016. I wonder how many days we will be away this year?
As soon as we were able to get away we did. Our plan was to head to Parkes and the Parkes Elvis Festival, then head up to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. This will be our first Elvis Festival, and we are a bit excited.
Leaving home we headed through the Lockyer Valley to Heifer Creek. We have stayed here often, and know there is no phone or internet reception. We have to use the satellite TV, so we pulled up at Ma Ma to get the Vast TV System activated for this trip. We just happened to pull up in front of the Ma Ma Cemetery. Well, what is one to do, but have a walk around. I spoke with a local sexton who told me the church was built in 1912 and that a lot of the 'olden day' families still live in the area. It is thought the name Ma Ma came from European settlers. (The term Ma Ma or Mia Mia in Aboriginal is from Western Australia). The Post Office opened in 1884.
Driving a little further down the road we came to Heifer Creek camping. There were already a number of vans set up, some looked long term, but we settled into the same spot we always stay. Imagine our surprise to find the top drawer had fallen out again. The drawer latches on the Jayco vans are not as good as the older model we had.
My lovely teacup lost it's saucer, and a couple of small plates broke. Lucky we have Arcopal dishes. The camping is quiet and it is a great overnighter. The camp ground is located approximately half way between Gatton and Clifton. The road was built around the Second World War by the Theiss Brothers and there is a plaque at the camp ground.
Day 2, we decided to head to Texas via Inglewood. Last time we went via Stanthorpe, but we thought we would try a different way, because we can. Time wise it is the much the same, but the Stanthorpe way was more scenic. The first stop in Texas was the great butcher. Peter says this is the best butcher in Australia, and I must say that even I like the meat. This time we spent $37 and purchased enough meat for 4 meals for 2. Great meat. Many of the shops were closed for lunch, and after getting a few groceries we went to find a site beside the Dumaresq River. Again we ended up in the same site as last time. It was interesting to note that the river was a lot higher than it was last September. Being January, it was still very hot, luckily we were in the shade of the tree, and only staying one night.
You can read about the history of Texas here.
Day 3, we headed towards Moree and the Newell Highway. We had planned on staying the night at Bellata Golf Club, but as the temperature kept rising we came across a recreation ground at Gurley, not far north of Bellata, with power for $10 night. A great spot, quiet and away from the highway. We were the only ones there. There is a large firepit for winter, and toilets and showers. The caretakers were very helpful and told us about some local sites, that we don't have time to see this time, but we will another time. Gurley is located between Moree and Narribri and is very small and consists of the recreation ground, a pub, post office and a few houses. The railway, closed now, opened in 1897. The name Gurley came about in 1917.
Day 4, on the road again and again it is very hot. We planned another powered recreation ground the night at Eumungerie. $10 a night with power, and amenities. The live in caretaker was out to greet us as soon as we arrived, gave us a little advise about where to park, and went back to his van to watch cricket. We were thankful for the power to run the air-conditioner as the temperature got to 42 degrees, and it was a dry heat. This was the first place that we have run the air-conditioner all night, it was so hot.
Eumungerie has a school, a pub, a post office, the recreation ground and a few houses, much like Gurley. Settlers came to the area about 1872, and by 1874 a roadside inn was established, and the settlement grew. Originally named Coalbaggie after the inn. The railway came in 1901 and a timber mill opened soon after. The name was changed to Eumungerie in 1904, and is an Aboriginal word for Quandong, a native peach tree.
Day 5, and still heading south, we went the short distance to Parkes, where we are staying for a week for the Elvis Festival. We checked into the Spicer Park Caravan Park, and have an OK site – For $25 we are on the gravel, no power, no water, no amenities(cost more to use). I know it is expensive for 'nothing' but there is no where else near by to stay for the week, so here we are. The park is nice enough, a little to far to walk into town, it has a good camp kitchen. We would have liked power, but it was all booked out, being the Elvis Festival, most sites are booked out 12 months before. We went up to the info centre, which was small, however attached is the Henry Parkes Centre. We watched a short film about Henry Parkes. After collecting Elvis info we went for a short drive and then back to the van to start to plan our week. We were surprised to find an ETA (Elvis Tribute Artist) – Arthur, singing in the camp kitchen. He was pretty good too.

Parkes is in the centre of New South Wales and was explored by Europeans from 1813. Squatters came to the area from 1817 and it was not until 1848 that leases were taken out in the Parkes area. Parkes started as Currajong, named after the large number of kurrajong trees, in 1853. Gold was discovered in the Forbes area in 1861 and the following year, 1862 gold was discovered in the Currajong area and the town became known as Bushman's, after the local gold mine, Bushman's Lead. This brought many new settlers, and with the settlers came a post office and churches.
The first wheat crop in the area was grown in 1865 by Henry Harry Cooke and Joseph Harris. Henry Harry Cooke was a postmaster, storekeeper, farmer and became the first mayor of Parkes. Some descendants of the early settlers still live in the area.
In August 1873 Henry Parkes visited, and the name of the town was changed to Parkes. Parkes was officially proclaimed a town in 1885.

Saturday 13 January 2018

Sad, but all good cruises come to an end....

Days 13 and 14, were sea days, and I like sea days. I've already talked about the daytime activities, the quizzes, napkin and towel folding, the music. On sea days there are more activities to help pass the time. On Radiance of the Seas, there are a lot of inside seating, especially with a view outside. It was lovely sitting looking at the ocean pass by. I did miss this on the previous RCI Voyager Class cruises. I'm not sure why I have two 'day 13' - not to worry.
Lifts were not as bad as other RCI ships, although we did do a couple of 'going down to go up' rides. Also, we did a riding the lifts one evening when there was entertainment in the Centrum and passengers were standing two to three deep trying to see. We had a perfect view for about 15 minutes, before decided to go to the Champagne Bar. A negative, when getting off the lifts on Deck 11 to go to Windjammer or the pool, one was hit the smell of cigarette smoke. There was a similar, but not so powerful smell walking into dinner on Deck 5. Maybe the smoking areas should be restricted to areas away from the doors. There was also a lack of activities around the pool area.
Evening shows at the Aurora were pretty good. Some we had already seen, but were happy to go again. There was a lot of on-board entertainment in the evening, mostly in the Centrum. One needed to be there early to see the entertainment. We mostly sat in the Champagne Bar and just listened. There was room for the ship to have more seating overlooking the Centrum, but only the Cafe Lattitudes on deck 5 had seats overlooking the Centrum entertainment. Some evenings passengers pulled lounges over to the glass walls to see what was happening. Day 14 I got to the Cafe two hours before the scheduled dance I wanted to see, just to get a seat, and even then I had to wait for people to leave. It's a shame that more seating isn't provided on each deck overlooking Centrum, as most of the Centrum entertainment was very good.
There are a lot of bars on the ship. My favourites are all on deck 6. In fact, many of my favourite places are on deck 6. I told Jonnie, if you can't find me I'll be on deck 6 or around the adults pool on deck 11. The Champagne Bar made the best sparkling mojitos and chocolate martinis and Peter and I would go there each evening after the show to have a drink or two and watch the entertaining bar staff. We frequented the Colony Club for adult karaoke – just to watch, and the game show The Quest, so funny. Trivia quizzes were also held in the Colony Club and the Schooner Bar. The Schooner Bar always had music late at night, and the Schooner Bar was were we did the napkin folding.
The staff were very attentive and we were looked after very well. Just a shame the RCI booking process is not effective and booking staff are not totally honest. It is like they don't care, and maybe they don't.
Day 15 we arrived in Sydney early morning. Sydney Harbour is always spectacular and we never grow tired of seeing it.
Would we go again? I'd have to say yes, of course we will definitely go on other cruises - we love cruising - if the price is right and the timing good. Would we go on Royal Caribbean again? Yes, but maybe not book through RCI. 
Radiance of the Seas is a beautiful ship, and we do want to try Ovation of the Seas.
Happy Cruising.
 

Thursday 11 January 2018

Cruise Ship Destination: The Sounds of New Zealand

WOW, what a wonderful day of cruising the sounds in the Fiordland National Park. We ordered room service breakfast so we could sit on the verandah and watch the sounds go by. The first sound we cruised through was Dusky Sound. Dusky Sound is the largest sound in kilometres. 
In olden times Maoris would camp beside the water while hunting. Captain Cook recorded the sound on his first voyage to the southern waters in 1770, and it was Captain Cook who named the area Dusky Bay. On his second voyage in 1773, Cook established a camp and stayed for almost two months, repairing sails and other ships needs, including brewing beer. It is believed that this was the first time beer was brewed in New Zealand. We cruised past Anchor Island turning at Long Island to cruise past Resolution Island. Resolution Island is the largest island in the Fiordland National Park, and the seventh largest island in New Zealand. It was named after Captain Cook's ship Resolution. The sound has much bird life and many of the geographical features are named after birds. We sailed through Acheron Passage, past Resolution Island. Captain Cook named the passage 'New Passage' and it was also known as 'Resolution Passage. Acheron Passage was named by J. L. Stokes.
The next sound was Doubtful Sound. This is a long sound and the ship only cruised a section of it. This fiord has dolphins and seals, but we only saw tiny  black and white dolphins. We had time to have lunch in the Windjammer, and then head to the Schooner Bar. We were lucky to get a seat right next to the window and the views were amazing. Jamie and Karen joined us later. It was lovely sitting there listening to the odd announcement about the history or the geography or wildlife, and sipping chocolate martini's. We didn't go to far in, but cruised around Secretary Island.
Doubtful Sound was named Doubtful Harbour by Captain Cook in 1770, and he didn't actually enter the sound as he was uncertain if the sound would be suitable for a sailing ship.. I really need to look up Captain Cook's journey as I've learned a lot about his sailings both here and in Canada, and I realised that I didn't know much about Cook's expeditions.
We have stayed at Queenstown many times over the years, and also Te Anau and Lake Manapouri. My mum and I stayed at Milford Sound and enjoyed a half day sightseeing cruise to Mitre Peak. We have traveled to Milford Sound via road, but never by ship. I must say here, that I think it is more spectacular taking a half day cruise up to Mitre Peak. Don't get me wrong, the scenery was still amazing, but I remember it more so in a smaller ship.
Milford Sound is only a small sound, but seemed to have more waterfalls, and it must have been a deeper fiord, as the ship went right up to Milford. It is a World Heritage Site. Maoris have a long history with Milford Sound, and many Maori legends are derived from Milford. In Māori legend, Milford Sound was formed by Tu-te-raki-whanoa. He was  in charge of making the sounds / fiords. Early explorers didn't explore the sound, thinking it too small. In 1823 a sealer named John Grono named it Milford Sound after Milford Haven in Wales.
 A wonderful day, of beautiful scenery and great company and mmmm chocolate martinis.
 

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Cruise Ship Destination: Port Chalmers, New Zealand

The following day, Day 11, the ship docked at Port Chalmers for tours to Dunedin. There were no buses put on by the local council for cruise passengers, so the ship charged $15 return to drop passengers off in Dunedin.
Marg and Steve's booked tour was great and we will do that next time. They booked it in Akaroa and paid for it at Port Chalmers when boarding. $99 each and it was a whole day including the Scottish Lanark Castle. Well worth the money. 
Peter and Jonnie had a walk around Port Chalmers. 
I stayed on board and enjoyed the view of Port Chalmers from the Colony Club. Staying on board when most passengers get off is great and one can get good photos of the ships different areas - without people!
The town was founded in 1844, and settlers started arriving around 1848. It is named after Thomas Chalmers, the Free Church of Scotland leader who died in 1847.
 The first frozen meat from New Zealand to the northern Hemisphere was from Port Chalmers in 1882. The Victoria Channel was dredged to make it suitable for container ships and in 1977 Port Chalmers became the South Island's deep water container port.
The passenger terminal had fast internet, and tables were set up for passengers to use.