19th January 2015 and after some last minute running around we rolled out of Brisbane at 10am to begin our Loopy Lap of OZ.
We travelled out towards the west via Warwick and Stanthorpe, wanting to escape the heat and humidity of Brisbane and from here went across the border into NSW. We visited Armidale, had a wander around town marvelling at some old churches, then heading onto our first night stop - a free camp by a little creek just north of Glen Innes.
20th January 2015 we headed off again with Dubbo our destination for the end of the day. This was a very long haul and resulting in several fuel stops as we seemed to continually be climbing ranges and only managed to average just over 300kms per tank! (lucky fuel prices are lower than budgeted) A quick run through Tamworth and a detour to see the golden guitar - the music festival was on and the town was full, we exited before having to join in a line dance. Lunch on the side of the road (next to a cattle truck so there was a nice waft in the air) then off to Dubbo we went. We arrived around 5.30pm at the BIG 4, setup, had dinner and crashed early all excited about out next 2 days at the famous Taronga Western Plains Zoos.
21st - 22nd January 2015 Dubbo Zoo - Sue had always wanted to go to the Western Plains Zoo so up and away we went. Entry provides a 2 day pass and you can drive, walk or ride bikes around and stop at each animal exhibit. We decided to drive and lasted about about 4 hours then back to the BIG 4 where the kids loved the jumping pillow & pool, they made some great friends and enjoyed a break from each other. Day 2 saw us back at the Zoo to see the parts we missed the day before. Back to the BIG 4 for a swim as it was a very hot day, 3 loads of washing and then we packed up ready to head on to Bathurst the next morning.
23rd January 2015. Out of Dubbo heading to Bathurst with our first stop of the day being Orange - a place Sue has always said we should one day up and move to over the many years. First stop was the information centre to plan out the day then a wander around the main town centre, which includes a Myer, and then lunch in a lovely park.
Orange is a beautiful city with so much history and amazing buildings and we decided it would be lovely to see the Autumn colour or the city covered in snow. That afternoon we decided to stop at Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve to break up the drive to Bathurst. The reserve has a natural cave you can wander through exploring as you go. The kids felt like adventurers and Minecrafters as we climbed through the caves with the added bonus that it was a free to visit. Next stop Bathurst to stay with Sue's Cousins, Tom & Emma and their beautiful kids Olivia and Maison. Setup was in the front lawn and had we have a great BBQ for dinner.
24th January 2015. Mount Panorama and the National Motor Museum, Gem & Fossil Museum.
We headed straight for Bathurst's famous race track, drove to the pole position and we raced - well drove as it has a 60km speed limit for the whole track. But very cool that you can drive the entire circuit as many times as you like, so we did 3 laps to make sure. I wanted to take the van around and GoPro it traversing the circuit but the cutting and some of the famous mountain turns would have been a bit of a challenge for towing the van around and Sue had declared she was not join us to drive the circuit towing the van. The National Motor Museum was pretty cool as well, the kids loved being able to get up close to some of the racing legends cars and bikes. There was so much history and it brought back many memories for me seeing some of the old race cars from when I was a kid watching the Hardie Ferodo Race. The Gem and Fossil Museum in the centre of town was an amazing collection of gems from a private collector and the kids loved seeing all the minerals, gems etc, especially diamonds and gold, uranium along with fossils - a well setup display. Back to our camp on Tom's lawn for another great BBQ and then an early night ready to head off in the morning.
25th - 26th January 2015 AUSTRALIA DAY we found a stunning free camp site by the water at Lake Wallace - Wallerawang NSW. There were plenty of people set up for the long weekend and given it was Australia day we thought we may have a rough, noisy night with revellers around but thankfully they must have started fairly early in the day as they didn't kick on past around 10pm. Up and off to explore - we drove off through the national parks on an off roading adventure to find the Glow Worm Caves. The track took around 45mins to drive along we way we found some great tracks, what looked to be old mining structures, heaps of campers and motorbike riders our enjoy the long weekend. I will have to remember this place for a week ride with the 'Bike Boyz' one day! The Glow Worm caves were amazing to see and the surrounding setting were just as spectacular as we walked through sandstone caverns and surrounding cliffs to get in the caves. A big walk for all which hopefully will mean everyone will sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we head off to Lane Cove in Sydney for a week exploring my (Blake's) home town.
We travelled out towards the west via Warwick and Stanthorpe, wanting to escape the heat and humidity of Brisbane and from here went across the border into NSW. We visited Armidale, had a wander around town marvelling at some old churches, then heading onto our first night stop - a free camp by a little creek just north of Glen Innes.
20th January 2015 we headed off again with Dubbo our destination for the end of the day. This was a very long haul and resulting in several fuel stops as we seemed to continually be climbing ranges and only managed to average just over 300kms per tank! (lucky fuel prices are lower than budgeted) A quick run through Tamworth and a detour to see the golden guitar - the music festival was on and the town was full, we exited before having to join in a line dance. Lunch on the side of the road (next to a cattle truck so there was a nice waft in the air) then off to Dubbo we went. We arrived around 5.30pm at the BIG 4, setup, had dinner and crashed early all excited about out next 2 days at the famous Taronga Western Plains Zoos.
21st - 22nd January 2015 Dubbo Zoo - Sue had always wanted to go to the Western Plains Zoo so up and away we went. Entry provides a 2 day pass and you can drive, walk or ride bikes around and stop at each animal exhibit. We decided to drive and lasted about about 4 hours then back to the BIG 4 where the kids loved the jumping pillow & pool, they made some great friends and enjoyed a break from each other. Day 2 saw us back at the Zoo to see the parts we missed the day before. Back to the BIG 4 for a swim as it was a very hot day, 3 loads of washing and then we packed up ready to head on to Bathurst the next morning.
23rd January 2015. Out of Dubbo heading to Bathurst with our first stop of the day being Orange - a place Sue has always said we should one day up and move to over the many years. First stop was the information centre to plan out the day then a wander around the main town centre, which includes a Myer, and then lunch in a lovely park.
Orange is a beautiful city with so much history and amazing buildings and we decided it would be lovely to see the Autumn colour or the city covered in snow. That afternoon we decided to stop at Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve to break up the drive to Bathurst. The reserve has a natural cave you can wander through exploring as you go. The kids felt like adventurers and Minecrafters as we climbed through the caves with the added bonus that it was a free to visit. Next stop Bathurst to stay with Sue's Cousins, Tom & Emma and their beautiful kids Olivia and Maison. Setup was in the front lawn and had we have a great BBQ for dinner.
24th January 2015. Mount Panorama and the National Motor Museum, Gem & Fossil Museum.
We headed straight for Bathurst's famous race track, drove to the pole position and we raced - well drove as it has a 60km speed limit for the whole track. But very cool that you can drive the entire circuit as many times as you like, so we did 3 laps to make sure. I wanted to take the van around and GoPro it traversing the circuit but the cutting and some of the famous mountain turns would have been a bit of a challenge for towing the van around and Sue had declared she was not join us to drive the circuit towing the van. The National Motor Museum was pretty cool as well, the kids loved being able to get up close to some of the racing legends cars and bikes. There was so much history and it brought back many memories for me seeing some of the old race cars from when I was a kid watching the Hardie Ferodo Race. The Gem and Fossil Museum in the centre of town was an amazing collection of gems from a private collector and the kids loved seeing all the minerals, gems etc, especially diamonds and gold, uranium along with fossils - a well setup display. Back to our camp on Tom's lawn for another great BBQ and then an early night ready to head off in the morning.
25th - 26th January 2015 AUSTRALIA DAY we found a stunning free camp site by the water at Lake Wallace - Wallerawang NSW. There were plenty of people set up for the long weekend and given it was Australia day we thought we may have a rough, noisy night with revellers around but thankfully they must have started fairly early in the day as they didn't kick on past around 10pm. Up and off to explore - we drove off through the national parks on an off roading adventure to find the Glow Worm Caves. The track took around 45mins to drive along we way we found some great tracks, what looked to be old mining structures, heaps of campers and motorbike riders our enjoy the long weekend. I will have to remember this place for a week ride with the 'Bike Boyz' one day! The Glow Worm caves were amazing to see and the surrounding setting were just as spectacular as we walked through sandstone caverns and surrounding cliffs to get in the caves. A big walk for all which hopefully will mean everyone will sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we head off to Lane Cove in Sydney for a week exploring my (Blake's) home town.