Goondiwindi

We pushed through to Goondiwindi today so we could be sure of making Caboolture on Saturday. This meant an early start - By 8:30 am we were on the road. The pic shows Kathy and Tiffy looking at the camels and goats in the Nygan Caravan Park, before we left.

The drive was uneventful, apart from having to get off the road while a 6 metre wide load went past, and having to stop for 5 minutes while a herd of cows went past. That gave Tiffy something to bark at!

School holidays have started here, which means the caravan parks are full, so we may have trouble finding somewhere to stay next week.

Nygan

Nearly 600 km today, from Broken Hill to Nygan. The pic shows the van at Spring Hill where we stopped for a coffee and to give Tiffany a run. The Navara was hidden by the trees.
The council at Wilcannia are trying to promote the area as a tourist destination by making facilities available such as parks and local tourist drives. However, everyone you talk to says do not even stop to buy fuel at Wilcannia due to the high crime rate. The town looks nice, until you see the pub, the petrol station and the police station have weld mesh over the windows.
Nygan caravan park is really nice, on the banks of the Bogan river with grass sites and dolomite drive through sites. Only here for one night, trying to get to the Queensland border for tomorrow night.
The freezing cold night will continue with the forecast for Nygan being -3 C. My niece in England sent a stirring email to let me know they are having a heat wave over there.

Cold Night in Burra

After starting out late, as usual, we got as far as Burra before the light started to fade, so we pulled up on the Burra Showground. Great spot for an overnight, as I could stay hitched up. Lots of grass, plenty of room for Tiffany to have a run and all for $10. Just pull up at a power pole, plug in and you are set up. A lady comes round about 6:00pm to collect the money.

It was a cold night. The heater was running non-stop and when we got up the Navara was covered in ice, see pic. It was so cold, I had to put the bread through the toaster twice before the bread got warm. It took 4 goes to get the bread brown!

In Broken Hill tonight so we get a full day to get past Wilcannia, without stopping.

The Next BIG trip

Here is the Plan

We have to be in Brisbane by Friday, so we will have to rush that bit.

We will have a few days with Relatives then we will head north as far as we can get. The return will be through Mt Isa, Tenant Creek, Alice Springs and home.

It should take about 12 weeks, but if we like it, we may not come back at all!

Tiffany's Title

Tiffany finally made it to her Champion Title. We had a week end in Red Cliffs, Victoria for the final two shows that made up her 100 points.

As usual, we started out late on Friday, pushed the Navara all the way to Red Cliffs, about 500Km, and got there just before dark. Setting up in the dark is not much fun, so all we did was the bare minimum. The shows were on the oval next to the caravan park which allowed us to walk over for the show, then slip home for a coffee and finish setting up in the daylight while the other groups were on.

We left late on Sunday, because the all important last certificate was not ready until about noon, and got as far as Lameroo, just over the SA border, pulled up in to the Community caravan park to find our next door neighbour was a friend from the dogs that was off to a square dancing competition in Albury. Small world isn't it?

Port Pirie Trials

Port Pirie for a weekend of trials may not be every body's idea of a holiday, but we are glad of a chance to get away for a while. We stopped at Port Wakefield and called in at Mathews Fish Sales and bought Whiting and Oysters, which were eaten for dinner Saturday night.

We had some drama with the van last night. The power kept popping the circuit breaker, but our RCD did not trip. After some investigation, the RCD in the van been installed with a loose connection on the neutral, which caused the connection to heat up and the insulation to melt on the leads into the RCD, creating a short circuit between the active and neutral leads. If I found out who had jammed the neutral in the connector on the wrong side of the clamp, then wedged it in place using the Active lead, I will castrate him with a rusty spoon.

Back Home for a while

We have been traveling briefly to Mt Gambier for the Easter shows and Trials, where Tiffany got another 18 points. Then Keith had a couple of days in Sydney at the Easter Royal Show Judging Agility. We will be at Port Pirie for a weekend before we head off in June for Queensland. The van is currently in for some minor warranty stuff just making sure it will be ready for the Queensland trip.