Home again

The visit to the Parkes Radio telescope was worth the visit, made famous in the movie The Dish.
Things to Note:
1) You can not play cricket in the dish.
2) The dish is for Astronomy not communications.
Our last night on the road was at Hay, colder than a really cold thing on a cold night, but the huge steak in the South Hay pub helped to keep us warm.
Good news is that when we were emptying out the van Kathy found my wedding ring at the bottom of a draw. It must have fell off when I was getting a clean shirt.
No more travels until August when we go to the Riverland then Alice Springs

Dubbo Zoo

The Dubbo zoo worth the visit. Being able to drive between exhibits made it easy to get round and also to keep warm.It was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass bedstead, but this also meant that the zoo was quiet and there were no parking problems when we wanted to get out to look around.
We are getting the aftermath of the Low that was over NSW Coast, which is giving us the cold conditions, but fortunatley, not the wind and the rain.
Heading towards Hay tommorow, maybe further if it is still cold.

Dubbo

Had a night viewing the stars at Coonabarabran Sky Watch observatory before moving on to Dubbo. The bad news is I lost my wedding ring somwhere, it was so cold my finger shrunk and the ring fell off. Dont know where.

Going to the Dubbo Zoo tomorrow so there should be a few animal pics to choose from for the blog

Goondawindi

We took a boat trip to Frazer Island yesterday for a day trip. There are many Ranger guided tours that take visitors round to the many picturesque, natural wonders of the island, but the only one that was available to us was a tour of the sewage farm. It turned out to be very informative explaining how every thing on the island is recycled. They have a herb garden that grows all the herbs used in the restaraunts at the Kingfisher Resort. The ticket included lunch and afternoon coffee, but not the beers we had in the picture.
Heading back south today and got to Goonawindi. Coonabarabran tomorrow hoping for clear skys when we visit the planetarium, but not looking good according to the weather report.

Bundaberg

Parked the van at Hervey Bay then went to Bunderberg for the day. Toured the Rum factory and the Ginger Beer factory and got tasings at both of them. The best was the Whales Tale cocktail, which is Royal Liqueur Rum (only from the factory), Cream and Ginger Beer.

After that we went to look at the sailing ship, but was too late to try the Rotary Club Food Van as they had just packed up when we got there. Bundaberg was the most notherly point of our trip as we have to start back for home on Monday.

Picture shows Kathy on the bottle again.

Australia Zoo

A day at the Australia Zoo was worth every penny. It must be the best zoo in Australia with all the animals on show, moving about and in obvious good health. The place was clean with keepers picking up any mess so there was almost no smell.

Planning to go to Hervey Bay tomorrow, if it stops raining.

Ettamogah Pub

We went to the Australia Zoo, only to find cars parked 800m away and people everywhere. The Dalai Lama was there and so were thousands of supporters so we decided to leave the zoo for another day. The Ettamogah pub was up the road so we went in there, read all the jokes, had a drink and went to Noosa. Great walk around Noosa Head national park. We will have another try for the Australia Zoo tomorrow.

Coolum Beach

Arrived at Coolum Beach, near Noosa. Washing day, relaxing day and a bit of tourist stuff. During the set up here we realised we had left the power cord at Ipswitch, but a friendly guy on the next site loaned a cord until we could buy one.

Still deciding how long to stay here, may go to the Australia zoo or Noosa tomorrow, so it wil be at least one more night.

Beautiful place here with lots to do, warm sunny day and cool nights, maybe we will stay here forever.

Caboolture

We have left the van in Ipswitch while we judge at the dog trials. We moved into the Motel and then went round to the trial grounds to see where they are and let the organisers know we had arrived. Saturday and Sunday will be trial days, Monday will be visiting relations then Tuesday will be Holidays. Hope to put up some pictures soon.

Coonabarabran

On the way to Queensland and got to Coonabarabran. First night at Berri then we got through Hay on the next day and ran into a rainstorm. Kathy was driving and it got a bit scary with the Xtrail aquaplaning through water on the road. We stopped at Goolgowie or something like that, so small it is not on the map but the caravan park was OK.
Cousin in Queensland rang on the mobile to let me know his new address, so we will be spending some time there.
Got to go Kathy has cooked tea.

Three weeks in Queensland

Leaving for Queensland tomorrow. We have a commitment here for the morning, but as soon as that is over we will be off up the road. Should be a bit of a rush as we have to be in Brisbane by Friday, so not much time for sightseeing on the way.