12 - Travelling north from Canberra

Entry 12 – Travelling north from Canberra. – 2/7/18 – 19/7/18

Winter mornings in Canberra often commence with sub zero temperatures and heavy fog conditions, at times taking till near midday to clear. That was our setting when departing Canberra. We did manage to deviate with caravan in tow for a mid-morning cuppa at our kids home for a final farewell and cuddle of 6-day old Pippa. Steve did help our son fit 3 window blinds before we had a late lunch provided by Mary. A home cooked cauliflower shop. Yum! We cleared the Australian Capital Territory at about 2pm with a slightly different mind-set from our normal gentle method of travel. We had given ourselves a target to travel nearly a couple of thousand kilometres asap to the warmer climate in the top half of Australia, escaping the cold winter conditions from the bottom half at this time of the year. Our hypothetical first stop at around 1000 kilometres at Pilliga hot artesian springs?

Not long down the road the sun started to set before we were able to clock up some of those needed kilometres with our first night spent at a free roadside stop at Cowra. All was quiet till some trucks pulled up right alongside of us. Steve opened the caravan door with his nose instantly advising we had a couple of cattle carting vehicles alongside.

The following morning Mary had arranged to skype with our daughter in Canada. Late morning, we hadn’t heard from her, so we sent her a message advising we were leaving Cowra and would check along the route when we had phone reception if she was able to talk. About 5 kilometres out of Cowra she notified she was ready. We managed to pull over off the road and proceeded to catch up with one another’s news. At 11 am we were finally on our way, a better departure time than the previous days of 2 pm?

We drove till about 4.45 pm stopping for the night as the sun was setting and the kangaroos were starting to appear on the road sides. Our camp for the night was in the showgrounds at Coonamble about 85 kilometres shy of our planned destination at Pilliga. The below pictures show the water towers in the township of Gulargambone and Coonamble.

We were mobile by 8 am the next morning with incentive for an early departure provided by enthusiasm for our planned destination, Pilliga Hot Artesian Bore Baths. At times it was a slow rate of speed due to plenty of road obstacles, arriving at Pilliga 9.30am.

We found a location to park, changed into the appropriate attire and then immersed our bodies into the hot mineral rich waters within minutes of arrival. After about an hour’s soaking, we felt quite content and warmed through, returning to the caravan and set up camp.

Even the ambient air temperature was around the 20’s where we found it more comfortable in shorts and short sleeved shirts. Possibly our first time in shorts for a couple of months. Previously we had spent a couple of nights at Pilliga late 2013 in the camp ground by ourselves. On this occasion it was rather crowded with many campers, at one stage in the waters someone mentioned the count during the day was at 59 mobs. One night’s stay transpired to two, to three to five nights enjoying the warmer surrounds with the optimum essences provided by the hot artesian bore water, very good for the body and soul.
The below 1st picture shows the setting in the year 2013 with our caravan in the back ground.

We spent 3 to 4 sessions in the water most days and in-between spent time exploring the township (population a bit over 100,) walking along the wetlands created by the flow of the Artesian waters and chatting with a variety of other happy pilgrims. Pilliga Hot Artesian Bore Bath was exactly what our bodies and souls were in need of for a positive mindset reboot.

We so, enjoyed the Pilliga Hot Artesian Bore Bath experience, we thought we would “check out other hot artesian bores in the nearby region.” Leaving Pilliga, about 40 kilometres north was, “Burren Junction Artesian Bath,” with a large camping area, quite full of campers, some appearing to be long term residents. The pool setup was odd making for cramped bathing with a water temperature cooler than Pilliga, barely tolerable in the ambient air temperature of around 20 C. For us it was an unenticing environment and we continued to the next location with an Artesian Bath at Walgett. Walgett bath was rather small with about a dozen young aboriginal children monopolising the pool in contrary to the posted signage and with a coolish water temperature we didn’t have any inclination to consider a dip.

Generally, we try to avoid any negative sentiments, but this is our journal and we thought the below recordings appropriate for our future reference.

Walgett had a good sized IGA store with a couple of fuel stations and a variety of other stores. The town had a bizarre feel about it where we experienced several incidents with people driving vehicles inappropriately and we didn’t feel welcome or safe walking along the streets. Unintentionally we drove down a side street which was full of aboriginal people in front of a building and were spilling out onto the street. That building just happened to be the court house and it was very apparent it was a court day.

We decided to leave Walgett at first light making our way to Lightening Ridge, arriving at the Lightening Ridge Hot Artesian Bore Bath about 9 am. It was quite crowded with people sitting around the outer edge of the pool with their bodies partly submerged. The water temperature felt very hot, taking us about 10 minutes just to get our feet in without the need to remove them for intermittent airing. We also sat around the pool lasting about 20 minutes before we felt light headed, with the need to remove ourselves from the pools edge. Steve did swim from one side to the other for a camera shot and was quickly out of the water.

For us the Pilliga Hot Artesian Bore Bath experience gets a big green √, not too hot, not too cold, just right. The next time we venture into this region of Australia, Pilliga Hot Artesian Bore Bath supersedes thoughts of any other hot baths in this region.

We spent a couple of hours walking around the main business precinct of Lightening Ridge, including spending time in the art gallery of famous Australian painter, John Murray with plenty of pleasing art displayed including price tags up to $16,000.

We have previously spent time in mining environments quite similar to Lightening Ridge and nothing tingled our taste buds. About four hours at Lightening Ridge was enough for us and we decided to continue driving towards our next destination.

Our next destination was the silo art at the township of Thallon. Thallon even provided a powered site with hot showers for $5.50 a night. The below pictures show the silos late afternoon and the difference the next day with the brilliant morning sun shine with very cold air temperatures. Thallon are trying to be proactive towards drawing tourists to their town with the silo art and also the big Hairy Nosed Wombat. Steve could not resist the temptation to climb the wombat and they even made it easy for him to do so.

The tow tug was booked in for a service at Dalby about 350 kilometres down the road with 5 days to get there. We decided it appropriate to start making our way towards Dalby with our eyes open for any interesting places to explore along the way. Even the road trip provided entertainment along the way. First, we braked hard to avoid a mob of sheep that suddenly ran across the road from behind trees, later stopped for our second Echidna, crossing the road in the last couple of days and the usual cows.

A couple of nights further along down the road we thought a stay at Lake Broadwater conservation park about 30 kilometres out from Dalby would do us. It had a nice quiet setting, just the thing for us. Unfortunately, the peace was only short lived as the hall in the camp ground had been booked for a 21^st party with 100 possibly up to 200 revellers expected to show up. Even the camp ground caretaker was unhappy about the 21^st as the family putting on the party was also noted to be an unruly mob in the district. The below pictures show our setting, be it for one night.

We decided to relocate to one of Dalby’s caravan parks to ease our qualms from unwelcomed exposure to a mob of bogans. We stayed at the caravan park located closest to the township centre for three nights where we used foot power to explore the high lights not needing the tow tug to get us around. Dalby appeared to be predominately geared as a service centre. We did partake in a Chinese meal and other shopping activities even finding some items we had been searching for over the last half year. Once the tow tug was serviced, our pantry and fridge restocked we resumed our travels.

About 30 kilometres up the road we propped to view the historic mansion of Jimbour House built in 1875. The house was closed to the public as it was a private residence, but visitors were welcome to wander through the gardens 7 days a week. We got to touch the walls of the house, walk around the house inspecting all the outer buildings, beautiful garden and also a kitchen garden with so many different varieties of food, spinach, beetroot, peppers, egg plants, lettuce to mention a smidgeon of what was growing in a very large comprehensive vegetable patch. At one stage one of the gardeners stopped to chat. They were one of three full time gardeners and loved their job. Whilst talking to the gardener another elderly gentleman walked by carrying a basket (as it transpired was to collect chicken eggs.) We waved to acknowledge this person who changed direction and came over to join in the conversation. We were casually introduced, “This is Al the owner.”

Jimbour House and surrounding land had been owned by the Russell family since 1923, a respected high-profile family in Queensland with two generations of the Russell family becoming politicians in the state and federal arena. We felt honoured to have met a third-generation member of the Russell family adding to the highlight of viewing the magnificent Jimbour House.

Our next stop about 35 kilometres further along the road was at the township of Bell where we spent time at the Catholic Church and its Biblical Gardens. Ironically the church was exactly the same design and size of the church we were married in at Lameroo. The interior furniture was almost identical other than this churches internal paintings and different material on the ceiling.

When we reflect on our travelling lifestyle it feels really incredible that we are able to travel with our caravan where and when we wish to go, and we can pull up whenever we want to. And then we camp in absolute luxury, not really hard done by at all. Anyone might think we are presently feeling quite relaxed and happy, even enjoying ourselves.

A couple of nights later we camped at a free grassed camping area at Wooroolin with flushing loo’s and a hot shower provided. Nearby was a natural lake, declared a fauna sanctuary with a bird hide all within close proximity accessible by our preferred mode of transport, by foot.

There were many paired birds utilizing hollows in the trees raising families.

We are noticing a marked increase in the volume of small towns providing free camp locations to attract the grey nomads, providing a boost and income to these towns. We do enjoy the small-town environment and do walk around the side streets away from the main roads. There are still many proud home owners about but unfortunately the population is in decline with many buildings falling into disrepair. The two photos below show an unused tennis court and a shed in the process of being reclaimed by vegetation seen during our last couple of town stays.

Initially we thought this entry (12) would be titled “Canberra to Hervey Bay,” with Hervey Bay our pencilled in next targeted destination. Once the weather began to warm to acceptable temperatures, near the top of NSW we found our rate of kilometres travelled slowing and we were spending more time exploring nearby regions along our planned route. As described through this entry we found ourselves winding back, thoroughly enjoying the sights and sounds provided by our nomadic travels. This entry started to get too big and we still had another couple of hundred kilometres to make Hervey Bay with a weeks’ worth of activities planned over the next 50 kilometres stretch of road and minimal research conducted for the rest of our planned route. To quote Steve’s dad, “Life is Good,” especially at our stage of life with good feel opportunities to be pursued.