(Couldn’t access the internet in my campsite, so have written
this in word each day and now copy it across into my blog.)
April 22nd and 23rd – Driving from Gold Coast to Canberra.
I have driven to Canberra for the biennial Australian
National Lotus Meet which is held in a different State each time. 2 years ago we held it in Queensland, and
this year, “Lotus 2013” as it is called, is being held in Canberra, in our
Capital City which this year is celebrating its 100th anniversary. So an auspicious time to meet in Canberra,
with lots going on.
I left home in Queensland on Monday 22nd
April. I am driving Troopie down, and
towing Elsie on a trailer, and this combination will enable me to camp down in
Canberra instead of motelling it (thereby trying to keep my costs down !) and also, if I do manage to sell Elsie while
I am down here, to leave her and the trailer behind and still have transport to
get me home !! This will be the first
trip in Troopie since I have done a lot of the work inside to storage etc, so
will be a bit of a test for both of us – My first trial run so to speak.
Filled Troopie’s 180 litre double fuel tanks with diesel
($$ ouch) and set off from Qld in lovely
warm sunny weather, and headed south down the coast road, the Pacific
Highway. There are 2 roads south through
the middle of Qld that are much quicker and straighter, but they are so BORING
– Just lots of nothing out there !! I
went down and back that way at Christmas when I went to Melbourne, so decided
to do the coast road this time – Slower, usually lots of road works and more
frequent towns, but at least it is interesting.
I love the northern Rivers part of NSW – You drive along for a couple of
hours with the enormous Richmond river on your right, and later the Clarence River, both always seemingly about to
overflow their banks. And sugar cane fields and then farming country on your
left, behind levees (for when the river does flood, I presume !!) There is lots of sugar cane in the northern
part, and the bigger towns all have a sugar mill – Not all seem to be used now
as bigger companies take over, which is a shame.
Most of the coastal resorts and towns are several miles
out to the east, so unless you are doing a trip specifically to explore the
coast, you don’t get to see a lot of them.
The main Pacific Highway itself is getting better and better as they
make massive improvements and by-passes of the major bottlenecks. The Kempsey Bypass has only just been opened
in the last few days and makes a massive difference. There was an interesting
electronic sign there that was flashing “Kempsey ByPass Open……………..IGNORE YOUR
GPS” !!! Raised a smile, imagining all
the people following their GPS to the letter, and thus missing the new road
which wasn’t yet logged !!
Just on dusk I started looking for a suitable lay-by to
pull over to sleep. I had earlier spoken on the phone to another Qld couple (Colin & Robyn) driving down
towing their Lotus Elan and who were in front of me, and they said that there was a
nice spot in Bulahdelah. So when I saw
that, on the banks of the river, I stopped and made camp. I was quite weary, so after a cold beer while
setting up, I heated a frozen sausage hot pot I had brought with me, along with
some mash, and together with a glass of vino had a pleasant time alone with my
thoughts beside the river. I had got
most of the miles out the way, meaning an easy day tomorrow into the northern
part of Sydney, and then across to Canberra.
I was camped quite close to the road, so there was quite a lot of truck
noise during the night, but it didn’t really seem to disturb me much as I was so tired,
and apart from my usual “wake ups” during the night when I read for a while, I
got a good night’s rest.
I was up at dawn (best time of the day when you are on the road - IMHO !) and had my tea and some breakfast, then hit the road. When I put the new comfortable seats in Troopie last week (with Damien’s
much needed help), I was left with the two old vinyl seats cluttering up the
garage. I didn’t think anyone would want them, but D suggested I put them on
Gumtree – a free website for sales. So I
took a couple of pics and posted them up last Friday, asked for a little money
- and caught a fish within 2 hours ! His name was Fonzi, and he was rebuilding
an old Troopie and needed seats for it !
Perfect. Only trouble was that
he was in Sydney – And he was concerned how much it would cost to courier them
down to him. “Don’t worry”, I said, “This is your lucky day – I am driving down
through Sydney next week and can deliver them to you !” When we found out that he lived within 10
minutes of the road I would be driving on, he was so happy, and over the
weekend must have called me 10 times to check that I was still coming, and
hadn’t sold them to anyone else !!
Lovely chap. Anyway, when I got to Hornsby I made the
short detour, and there he was, with not one but 2 old Troopies in the driveway
!! So we unloaded the two seats that I
had been carrying in the van (made sleeping arrangements interesting last night
!!), and he paid me my money – But then wouldn’t let me go without giving me
something for my trouble of delivering the seats ! It turns out that Fonzi’s family have a big
fruit and veggie farm down near Cooma, and he had boxes of fresh produce in the
garage – So I got loaded down with apples and oranges etc. What a lovely guy, and I hope the seats work
well in his Troopie !
Coming in towards Sydney is always a spectacular drive,
with miles and miles of National Park forests, incredible deep and steep
cuttings through rock, and glimpses of the rivers and inlets crowded with
yachts moored at anchor. Eventually you
drop into a valley with this incredible bridge (Mooney Mooney Bridge ?) over
the river near Wyong. Meanwhile the
traffic is getting busier and busier as you near the city, and after 2 days on
relatively quiet roads, it always jolts my system as the traffic builds up,
especially when you have a wide trailer behind. Everyone rushing rushing, and I
swear the traffic lanes are MUCH narrower in Sydney than anywhere else, which
only serves to bring the pulse rate up a little more !! I do enjoy it, but as always, thank goodness
for Tom Tom who, as usual, faultlessly guided me to Fonzi’s place near Hornsby,
and then on back out to the Toll Road to Canberra. With my terrible sense of
direction, I would truly be lost without my Tom Tom – Or at the least , much
more stressed out !!!
Once past the outskirts of Sydney, and on the toll road
south west towards Canberra, things quickly became less frenetic, and it was an
easy drive. After the hills and forests
through the National Parks north of Sydney, the countryside flattens out and
opens up until after Goulburn you pass the huge expanse of the (apparently) dry
Lake George. I googled it and found out
it was named after King George III, and only fills when there are big rains. In the local Aboriginal language it was
called Werriwa, which means “Bad water” because even when full it is one of the
saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW. When dry, it is used for the grazing of
cattle and sheep. But many years ago there were apparently tourist steamers and
fishing boats on the lake !!
I then dropped down into Queanbeyan, which is just 10 kms
from Canberra, but from past experience I know this is one of the better
campsites in the area, so decided to stay here.
I have Elsie to drive around in, so this is as good a place as any. I was in the campsite by 3 pm, and set up.
Winno, one of my local Elise buddies, had invited
me over to his home for dinner, so along with Randall (who has come in from Northern Territory for the meet) and
Winno’s wife Kerry and son Will, we had a really fun evening over a bottle
or two of red. Thanks guys – Much
appreciated. Temps are much lower in
Canberra, and over night it was right on freezing, so I was well rugged up in
Troopie – Very reminiscent of Alaska temperature wise !! Weather forecast is
for blue skies and 19 – 22 deg C in the day, but at or just below freezing in the
night – Perfect Elise weather for drives around the local countryside !!
Photos of the trip down are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0013GCToCanberra?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-F9MK88La-bg#
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