Issue 8 Nov 2017
Brodie’s next 15,000 klm
On th e road again
Lakes Entrance to Tomago River Thursday morning started overcast with the promise of showers, with not a lot planned we went for a bike ride. The bike paths are very good although fairly short, about 15klm all up, due to the sea and the surrounding hills. The town virtually exists for the holiday makers and fishing, most of the houses were holiday lets and the 6 or 7 or 8 caravan parks mainly holiday cabins ... there were even 3 mini golf establishments. The place must really buzz in holiday time although very quiet at the moment. With 600 sq klms of lakes, cruises were very popular, unfortunately the lunch cruise was fully booked so we settled for the cheaper afternoon cruise with a small group, all older than us. The cruise was due to leave around 2pm so we rode our bikes to the jetty ticket office and they kindly stored the bikes in their office. The cruise started on time and even though we were younger and fitter we were beaten to the outside seats with the best views. This as it turns out didn’t really matter as it started to rain and we had the best dry seats. With the rain pouring down the scenery wasn’t as good as it could have been (you could hardly see a thing) but we did see a pod of dolphins. It was still raining lightly when we got back so it was a damp ride back to the park. The next morning we were packed up early and heading along the coast towards Batemans Bay NSW.
The Princess Highway seems to run along the bottom of the Great Dividing Range, through the forests and no where near the sea, so it was a fairly boring drive in the rain. We stopped for lunch in Eden NSW, a very pretty harbour but once again the rain spoilt it. We were catching up with Lex my cousin, who lived in his parents holiday home at Rosedale overlooking the sea. Lex made us very welcome and the view from the balcony was spectacular. After a bit of catching up Lex had to go to work and we had to get a site for the night. The park was only a few ks down the road but just after we setup the rain came down.
Not the waterfront we really want!
The view from L
Lex’s balcony
Coast to Canberra It didn’t stop raining all night and I was pleasanty surprised to find, at 6.30am, that we were not totally surrounded by water. It was umbrellas to the shower block while making a mental note “DON’T GET A GRASS SITE IF ITS GOING TO RAIN!!” What a mess! Packing up wet stuff isn’t fun but we were finally on the way. After looking at the weather pattern I had decided to head inland to hopefully avoid the wet weather, It was still raining as we passed through headed towards Batemans Bay and west over the range towards Canberra. Jan wanted to know why she gets all the twisty bits ... simple she insists on driving most of the time ... fortunately I don’t suffer from an inferiority complex LOL! On a sunny day it would be a very scenic drive but with the rain we were glad it was only 150ks ... although it is on our visit again list in good weather.. Queanbeyan was our first stop, well it was the first McDonalds we saw then into Canberra. We decide we would sightsee before finding somewhere to stay. The Australian War Museum was first stop, it had ample parking and everything (once you got in) was out of the rain. We really enjoyed our visit , even Jan’s attention span didn’t run out, we had joined one of the free tours, it gave an insight into particular campaigns while still leaving plenty to see after the tour finished. Admittedly I think they got their design layout from IKEA as we had to ask directions several times to avoid some of the many circles we walked in., Several years go the AWM started to collect portraits of the remaining WW2 Diggers before there were none left. Dad had taken part in this so we asked where they were displayed. The attendant took us to a video display where she told us all 8000 that were photographed were displayed one at a time on a 6 foot screen, she said it took 18 hours from start to finish. She hadn’t heard of any relatives seeing their portrait they wanted, but said your welcome to wait (well at least to closing time) and got us some chairs. Jan had her camera ready, always the optimist (thats why she plays pokies) but after about 5 mins of watching portraits of men we didn’t know and just as my attention span was failing Jan shouted LOOK! and there was a 6 foot portrait of Dad! Jan tried to get a photo but the camera locked up .. and then he was gone ............He always said he would send a message..........
When we ďŹ nally got around to looking for a park they were full, not wanting a grass site in case of rain we booked in at Queanbeyan about 10ks from Canberra. We managed to dry everything out and get some washing done so all good. The next morning and the Royal Mint was on the agenda as we had done a lot of the others on earlier trips. The Mint was really interesting, being the weekend the factory wasn’t working but there collection of coins and the video was well worth the visit. We decided to treat our selves with lunch at the revolving restaurant at Black Mountain ... it had closed down, but next best thing was the food court at the shopping centre near the airport ...just class I know.
Jan is trying to match this collection of $1 coins
From the Mint
The Tomb of the u Australian Wa Canbe
unkown soldier ar Memorial erra
n Anzac Parade with arliament hgouses in view
Looking across at both the old and n
Lake Burley GriďŹƒn new Parliament House
Off to Cowra One couldn’t leave Canberra without a visit to Parliament House, especially on a “sitting”day. We were suprised we could actually park the motorhome under Parliament House .. and for free.. so up the steps and lets see how our leaders perorm. Whoops! Parliament is not in session, the prime minister had delayed it for a week ..damn.
One of the many embassies
We then drove around the embassy area, the size and shapes of some of those embassies is mind blowing and the biggest one is home to the US Ambassador. This drive is well worth doing but would be better on bikes as there is not a lot of place you can park to take photos.
From big things to little things, we visited Cockington Green, a miniature village. We last visited here in 1990 with the kids, it has certainly grown since then, the gardens and the details are amazing. The main section has a recreation of the English Cockington Green and a variety of old English buildings and monuments, there is also an international section with iconic buildings from different countries on display
A small sample of Cockington Green
Still off to Cowra Finally on the road again after Devonshire tea at Cockington Green, heading north west on the minor highway Lachlan Valley Way’ We stopped at a typical town that had once seen its fortune due to wheat, Boorowa. It had big old stone colonial buildings and houses and beautifully presented parklands and sporting fields, a real credit to the town. Next stop Cowra, Cowra, in my mind, main claim to fame is The Japanese break out at the POW camp during WWII. Over 1000 prisoners broke through the fences, more tha 300 were killed or injured with 4 Australians killed and many more injured.. After setting up our site we hopped on the bikes to ride out to the old POW camp, we were told it was a faitly steep road .. phew! both the rider and the batteries were puffed by the time we got to the area. Not a lot to see but there was a replica guard tower and a PA system that told the story of the breakout. There were signboards explaining the various areas, The next morning we saw an excellent holographic display at the Tourist info centre explaining the breakout from the towns point of view.
On the way to Dubbo After watching the hologram display we headed off for D u b b o v i a Canowindra and Parkes. When I was very young my uncle had a property at Canowindra that we used to visit o c a s s i o n a l l y. There was a small hill (it was big when you were 10) that my uncle said the bushranger Ben Hall, had hidden his loot and many hours were spent looking for it. I had no idea where the property was but thought the Ben Hall connection would help someone locate it for me. We spent about an hour at the Canowindra Tourist Office with there very helpful staff ... to no avail. I rang my cousin Lex and he remembered the property was called “Whybalena” a quick google search gave a location and we were on the way. Unfortunately we came across a washaway that I wouldn’t take the motor home through so we had to turn around. Looking at some images on Google I thought I recognised “Ben Hall” hill but the location of the farm didn’t fit with a 10 year old’s memory.
Another movie icon “The Dish” The radio telescope at Parkes
Western Plains Zoo
The computer just crashed and I l After settling into The Big 4 at Du day.
We got an early start, riding the 3k ,It was a really great day with mos from us. We sent about 6 hours at
Its o to coast tomorrow for our la
lost a couple of pages so this just a shortened version. ubbo we spent the afternoon in the pool with the next day planned as zoo
k out to the zoo and about another 18 in the zoo checking out all the exhibits st of the animals deciding to be photogenic, except for the cheetah who hid t the zoo but Jan got a bit too much sun so we gave the pool a miss..
ast week wending our way home and probably the last blog.