Ingham and Atherton

After the Cairns trials, we stopped at Walkamin for a few days. Lovely place, all around us was rain, but Walkamin was dry most of the time and the solar panels were able to charge the batteries.

The ADAA trial was very interesting, some differences from ANKC agility but not too much, just enough to get you in trouble if you forget which one you are doing.

Heading back north, we stopped at Ingham for lunch, (fish and chips from the Wild Caught Prawn) and went to a park behind the Information centre to eat. It turned out to be a self-contained RV park, $10 for the night so we stayed there. The pictures show the views we had from van. Top pic is looking across the wetlands. Lots of birdlife and a pleasant walk around the lakes.
The bottom pic is looking across the sports field behind the van at the mob of kangaroos. A good place to stop, bush/wetlands setting and only 10 minutes walk to the shops.

We are at Walkamin again, trained the dogs at Atherton last night and will be competing on the weekend.

Roaming aqain.

After staying home for too long, we are on the move again to Queensland for a few weeks of dog trials, touring and doing nothing. The pic shows the van at MacCullochs Range Rest Area where we stayed on the second night out. Good place. good views and an amazing view of the stars at night. The emu was easy to see.

It was our second night free camping as we stopped at Mt Bryan the first night (OK we know its not far but we always start late) While the camp was free, the night in the Mt Bryan Hotel was not free, but it was a good meal and we had lots of entertainment from the locals and the publicans Kymm and Simon. Great night.

We took the back roads from Hughenden  to Mt Garnet and had no trouble with the dirt roads. It was on the bitumen that the van blew a tyre that did some damage. However, the tyre shop in Atherton fixed the rim with a big hammer and fitted a new tyre. Bunnings had all the bits for the damaged plumbing under the van and so we got out of the mess for $225. Could have been a lot more expensive.

We got to Cairns on time and competed in the trials there. Tiffany passed her 7th Jumping Master course and now has a Jumping Master Dog (JDM) title to add to her long list of titles.

We have got a couple of weeks being tourists before we go to the Atherton dog trials, There is an ADAA trial on next weekend so we may go to that just to see what it is about.

Base Camp

Not so much Wandering due to the set up of the new home. Lots to do including knocking down the old house and building a new one.
The top picture shows the view from the side of the house across the vineyards,very pleasant view with breakfast.

The next picture shows the dogs in the backyard. It is fenced in with the driveway going round the back of the sheds and out to the front. We have an exit and entrance gate. The dogs are enjoying the freedom of a huge backyard where they can run and get up a good speed.

Picture 3 is looking up the driveway towards the sheds and beyond. There are two great big sheds, one is having a concrete floor poured that will house the caravan and the two cars while the other shed will be my workshop and Kathy's sewing room.
The  workshop shed is just visible behind the bushes, the building in front of the bushes is a wine  cellar.

Picture 4 shows the end of the block past the sheds. There is a small orchard covered in bird netting that was also a chook run. Behind that is a row of trees that are on the end of our block and if you look carefully you can just see the vines belonging to our neighbour Hahn wines.

Canberra

Tourists at the Nations Capital. The pic shows us at the War Memorial with Anzac Parade leading to the Houses of Parliament in the background. The first white building is the old Parliament House, with the new one behind it. Click on the picture to get a bigger view.
After Warrnambool, we went to Albury via Ararat for their trials, where Tiffy got a Jumping Masters pass. We stayed in Albury for a few extra days then went to Canberra for the dog trials. Very Busy weekend judging, with no success for Kathy running both dogs.
Currently in Cooma for a few days before heading for Bega and more dog trials next weekend.
The Easter traffic was amazing on the drive to Cooma. Fortunately, it was all going the opposite direction to us. We took the Cooma turn just outside Canberra and were met with a constant stream of traffic heading for Canberra, and that was at 10:30 am. We can see the road from the caravan park, and the traffic did not reduce until about 3:00pm. There will be a lot of tired travelers by tonight.

The Black Stump

Have you ever heard of the saying "Beyond the Black Stump" when someone is referring to going out in the Bush? Well, we have been to where the Black Stump was. It has rotted away years ago, but it was at Timboon.
Timboon was the end of the railway system that was in Victoria, and the Black Stump became the symbol of the end of civilisation for Melbournians,
The town is now a tourist destination with many things to see, but the most interesting for me was the Railway Shed Distillery. We sampled some of their wares and bought some of their single malt whisky and a coffee liquor. Took the dogs for a walk along the Railway Trail, but not all of the 32 km track, then had a drive around the town.
We were at Warrnambool for the dog trials, not very successful, but we had a good time with friends. There was a surfing carnival on too and the park was full of screaming kids going berserk all night little cherubs playing in the evenings.
We stayed on an extra night and were close to the last to leave the caravan park this morning after a quiet night with just the sound of waves crashing on the beach to lull us off to sleep.
We are in Ararat tonight (yes a whole 150 km in one day) making our way to Albury for the weekend.

PS it seems there are several Black Stumps, Queensland and NSW have them too.

Barossa

We are in the Barossa Valley testing the Landcruiser and the Desert Sky to see how they work together. So far very good. Hills do not make any difference and the Toyota drives like a car.
We have a second objective in the Barossa, we are looking for a home, preferably on a big block with room for the dogs and the caravan. So far there are a couple of places we are looking at but it is not easy finding the right place. Some are a great place but very expensive, while others are cheaper but need a lot of work. Life was not meant to be easy.

Land Cruiser

Here is the new Tug for our wanderings. The latest model Toyota Land Cruiser GXL,with a few extras to be fitted. Soon we will have a bullbar, towbar, snorkle, electric brake controller and tinted windows at the front. Already had the leather seats installed.
It has a 4.2 litre twin turbo V8 diesel, 6 speed auto gearbox and should be able to pull the off road caravan anywhere we want to take it. Tiffany anf Hannah have already given it their seal of approval and Kathy loves it.
We have to do about 1000 to 1500 km before we can tow with it, so it is getting the run around to clock up the kilo metres.
As soon as we get the Toyota fully optioned we will be out to the Barossa Valley to make sure everything tows OK and then we will be ready for bigger journeys. Planning for a visit to Canberra and Victoria in February as the first real run with the new rig.