Cobar

Pulled in to Cobar to a really good caravan park. Big sites with lots of space between vans, grassy areas to walk the dogs and a big area at the back for them too. We stayed an extra night so we could have a look round and do the washing. The pic shows the recreation lake and reservoir at Cobar where we went for a drive, after visiting the Peake Gold Mine and looking at the huge hole they dug for an open cut mine at Fort Bourke. Heading north towards Charleville tomorrow.

Broken Hill

The trials at Broken Hill are over. There was a good pas in UD with a dog getting it's first pass in UD after over a year of trialing. Another pass in Open completed the list, but there were several dogs that had a bit of bad luck that caused a fail.
We did a Rally demo that sparked a lot of interest, and then we went back to the van for a nanna nap.
Tomorrow the holiday starts.

The Big Trip Begins-

tomorrow. Forecast high winds, thunderstorms and rain have persuaded us to delay the start until tomorrow. We have to be in Broken Hill by Friday, so two days will be plenty, we could do it in one if we have to.
Our original plan was to leave on Monday, but Kathy had to work, so we delayed until Wednesday so we could get everything prepared on Tuesday. The weather gods were against us, we have delayed until Thursday.
We have experienced towing the caravan in strong wind and it is not pleasant.
The forecast is for gale force north winds today, easing to westerly tomorrow. As we are heading north west, it could save us $50 in fuel.

Berri

After some time at home we are in the van again. This time we are in the Riverland at Berri on the Murray River. Kathy bid for some time at the Berri Caravan park travel auctions and won so we have 5 days at a really good rate. The Riverland dog club is holding trials so we are using the time to have a holiday and do the dog trials.
Kathy's changes to the van annex work very well. We can now have the canvas pulled tight so it does not flap in the wind and the ridiculous pole in the corners is not needed so we will not be wearing a hole in the roof of the annex.
The pic shows the river across the road from the caravan park where we walk the dogs down a 4 km walking trail. Lots of bird life all along the river bank, very relaxing. The dogs will sleep like logs tonight.

June Long Week End

The June long week end always sees us in Whyalla for the dog trials, and this year, here we are again.
We did Port Pirie for a week end a few weeks ago, but that is all the trips since Warrnambool. Our next trip will be to the Riverland for trials  then in September we will be heading off for a month, starting at Broken Hill and ending at Alice Springs, possibly via Longreach in Queensland.
Not been very success full at the trials, no passes, but some good runs.

Hopkins Falls

Being a tourist is so easy. Get up, have breakfast and wonder what to do next is much better than having the days planned for weeks ahead. We went to the Hopkins River falls which are just out of Warrnambool (see pic) then on the way back called in at the cheese factory for a tasting. The dogs had a run at the falls so they just slept while we went round the museum next to the cheese tasting.

There was a mild panic when the hot water coupling under the sink failed and sprayed hot water through the cupboards. The plastic push on connector failed, just like the one on the Jayco caravan at Orbost, see link to that post.

http://www.knkxtrail.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/orbost.html

At least this time the damage was limited to non perishables, but we still had to pull everything out to mop up and dry the cupboards and floor, and I knew how to fix it from the Orbost experience.

Warrnambool

At last we are away again. It has been a long time at home since November, so being back on the road feels extra good!. The dogs are in competitions at Warrnambool, so we have come down early to have a long break. It took three days to get here, first night was Tailem Bend, then down to Beachport, arriving at Surfside Park in Warrnambool about lunch time on Tuesday. 3 days for 700k, but we did take the pretty way round through the Coorong and the South East Coast. Lucky we did because there has been a serious weather event that is dumping lots of rain along the direct route, so we have avoided a drenching.

The pic shows the coast near the Hopkins River mouth at Warrnambool. You can see the storm clouds passing to the south east of us, all we have is some wind and a few drops of rain.