24th August 2016 Cobar – Cunnamulla Hotel

Another very comfortable night’s sleep and we are getting quite expert at putting up and taking down the camper. Woke this morning to another drizzly morning and managed to pack up without getting too wet.  Heading towards Bourke and Barringun right on the NSW / QLD border approx. 300kms away.  Rain, rain, rain really set in now so not looking too good for a free camp tonight, very happy for the farmers with all this rain, but, not so happy that we are coping it.  Lunch at Bourke and a quick look in the OP shop where I managed to pick up a nice black skirt and Barry had a look at the Crossley 4 stroke engine which hadn’t been running on our previous visits here. We have decided to stay at the Cunnamulla Hotel for tonight as it is just too wet to put the camper up.  Lyn & Kevin have put their camper up in the back yard of the hotel as they have Ellie and dogs are not permitted in the pub.  Had a very nice counter tea and now time to settle in and hopefully wake up to sunshine tomorrow morning.

22nd August 2016 Annabranch Bridge – Broken Hill

Woke this morning to a very fine drizzle on the tent roof and very dull although not cold.  Managed to have brekkie and pack up with no rain or drizzle so all good.  This morning we are heading 190km to Broken Hill where we plan to have a nice shower at the TI.  Rain, rain and more bloody rain, looks like we may be waiting it out at Broken Hill for a couple of days as we have just heard on the radio that the roads north towards Innamincka are closed. As we travel towards Broken Hill there is a lot of water lying beside the road so not looking good at the moment and the waiting game begins. As we were about to leave Broken Hill we heard a strange noise coming from the booster in the car so we have called into Nissan to have it checked out before we go any further.  While we were at Nissan Lyn & Kevin have booked us into a Caravan Park for the night into a cabin and we are going to head towards Wilcannia and then along the Darling River towards Bourke.  The roads are closed from Broken Hill to Innamincka and Innamincka to Birdsville until probably Thursday at this stage so we are taking the long way around.  Lucky we are flexible.

21st August 2016 Hattah Lakes - Annabranch Bridge

We woke to a fresh but magnificent day with not a cloud in the sky.  Toast cooked on the hot coals left over from last night and not a breath of wind.  There was supposed to be a train going through at 8.30am but it actually thundered by at 6.00am, no problem, just rolled over and snuck another half hour in our very comfortable bed. Packed up the camper with no problem at all and was on the road once again at 9.40am.  We are planning on picking up a few necessities at Mildura and then head towards Broken Hill. Stopped for lunch at the intersection of the Murray & Darling Rivers on the lovely picnic area and then on the road again towards our next camp spot. Have found a really good spot for the night at Annabranch Bridge (1142) where we went through a gate and nearly a km away from the road.  Lovely and quiet and potatos cooked in the fire for dinner.

 If you look very carefully you can see that the houses on the other side of the road line up with the garden that has been planted to look like they belong to the house, even the trunks of the trees match up.

20th August 2016 Daylesford - Hattah Lakes

3 degrees when we left Daylesford, very foggy and drizzly as we head towards Mildura for our first night on the road. We have our fingers crossed that we head into some nice weather. My good deed for the day was to stop just outside Donald on the way to Birchip and shift a turtle from the middle of the road to the edge where he won’t get run over. Not big enough for soup!!!!....  Plan on stopping at Birchip for a vanilla slice just because we can and they are yummy. Apparently there was a “Best Vanilla Slice Competition” at Merbein which we have since found out the bakery in Birchip has won. Nice and sunny now and up to a very balmy 8 degrees outside the wind is cold.  Found our camp spot for the night at Hattah Lakes Rest Area 40kms north of Ouyen which was terrific with lots of wood and far enough from the road to not worry us with road noise.  First effort to put the camper up was easy and only took us 25 minutes which I am sure we will improve on.  Slept like a log and was so comfortable and snuggly with feeling no cold whatsoever.  Jaffles for tea and an early night.

19th August 2016 Daylesford

Met with Archie at Paramount this morning to pick out a caravan for Lyn & Kevin and then on the road to Daylesford to spend the night at Lyn & Kevin’s in Daylesford.  Tomorrow morning we plan on traveling towards Mildura for our first night.