Needing a break after being home for
some 6 weeks, and with Peter working renovating, and me still sorting
out books and school stuff, we headed off in the direction of
Lightning Ridge, N.S.W. We arranged on our first 2017 Road Trip to
Tamworth, to catch up with friends of almost 30 years, Steph and
Eddie. They were doing a Graham Rogers Country Music Tour that ended
in Lightning Ridge.
We only had planned about 10 days away,
before needing to be home again for other commitments, so the first
few days were long 3 – 4 hour drives and overnighters. After a few
last minute house tasks we headed off.
First stop was Warwick for lunch and
petrol. Next was Inglewood in Queensland for overnight. This is a
free site provided by the town and it is well looked after, even
providing free firewood for the barbecue. There are no toilets or
water available, and one must be fully self-contained, but on the
other side of the highway there are toilets, potable water and a dump
point. The town has a few cafes and a pub, and a great pizza shop. We
stocked up on milk, bread, and ham … and Peter had his coffee
-$4.50 - 7/10 and he was happy.
We next stopped at Yelabon to look at
the remains of the old dingo fence, which was interesting.
We stopped at Goondiwindi for petrol
and continued along the Cunningham Highway to the Barwon Highway. We
saw lots of cotton on the side of the road, so it must be harvesting
time.
Our next overnight stop was Nindigully Pub. We have been here
before and obviously got here a little late as there would have been
about 40-50 vans already here. We camped along side the Mooney River,
across from the pub. There is a short walk along the river that has
information boards about the history of the area.
The pub has a happy
hour at 4.30pm and a bell is rung to let all the campers know. Drinks
are $1 of a middy and house wine. Dinner menu is a little expensive,
but if one can get there for lunch the prices are reasonable. We (as
in Peter) had a few beers in the beer garden and watched as the camp
fire was lit. They do not have moscato or sweet wines, so I drank
water. It is a very interesting pub and well worth a look. Walking back to the van we could hear the cows mooing across
the river as they were herded back to where-ever.
The next day we took a different road, the
Thallon-Dirranbandi Road, which was much better, to Lightning Ridge.
We checked in to the Opal Caravan Park and found Steph and Eddie.
This is a lovely caravan park, although a little expensive. It has
much better facilities than last time we were here, and although it
is a fair distance from town, it is close to the hot artesian baths.
We like Lightning Ridge, and have been
here a few times. Just so much to see and do. This time we chose to
do the Green Car door tour again up to Nettleton's First Shaft. This
was built in 1902 by Charles Nettleton, and although he found no
opals at first, he did in future shafts. There is a labyrinth there
that was built about 2011, no one is sure by who, it just appeared.
One walks around the maze and contemplates good thoughts. Also at the site is an old house made
of mostly cans. It has been added to since the last time we were up
here and now coloured bottles form a part of the structure.
One of the great things at Lightning
Ridge is the duo – Mel and Susie. We first saw them in Winton, and
have been following them (maybe stalking) on FaceBook. They are very
good story tellers, and are now based at Lightning Ridge and perform
6 afternoons a week at the Opal Caravan Park.
As we were meeting up
with friends on their last leg of a country music tag along, we were
happy to see some new artists that we did really like. Trevor Tolton
is a young performer that has a voice that reminded me of Mark
Lindsay – anyone remember him?? Here Trevor (right) is performing with Alan Percy (left).
Here is the star of the Tag-along Graham Rogers. We enjoyed the concerts.
After a great 3 days at Lightning
Ridge, 4 vans with 8 of us headed north to St George. We stopped at Hebel, just over the border on the Queensland side. There is not a lot there. A general store (with terrible coffee) and a pub. It is believed the Kelly gang frequented back in the day.
There is a free
camp north of St George, off the Carnarvon Highway before one gets to
Beardmore Dam and along the banks of Lake Kajarabie. There is room
for a few vans right beside the lake, and room for many more just up
on a flat part of the camp. We set up, keeping in mind the large
overhanging trees, and stayed two nights, simply relaxing. We also were able to have a fire, so we got to use our new fire pit. It was great.
We had a great catch up with Steph and
Eddie, but the next day we parted ways as we headed further
north-east, and they headed south.
We had planned on staying the
night at Westmar camp, but the toilets were closed and it was a
little exposed to the highway, so we continued on to Dalby. We can
upon Bowenville Reserve. How have we not been here before?!?!? It is
a large open grassed area on the banks of Oakey Creek. There are so
many places for vans. The only down side is there is one small toilet
block, so one really needs to be self-contained. We liked it so much
we stayed an extra night before heading home.
So home again for a few weeks and then another road trip - woo hoo!
