That red earth of central australia

I know what you're thinking," that red dust has got him." Well you may be right and then again. I do admit that I am really looking forward to getting back there again, but NO it hasn't GOT me...well not yet anyway.

 This photo was taken at a wayside stop on our way to kings creek station near Kings Canyon.

Can you see how RED that sand is? yeah well... I am pointing to the sign showing how far we missed out on visiting all the states this year. 190klms through Aboriginal council land, permit required, no thanks. Perhaps we can do it next year. That sand was very soft and thick as well. just a short run from the main road to Kata Juta, the corrugations were bad enough in a couple of hundred metres let alone 190klms of them..

Treetops at Riddells Creek

Back at treetops for a couple of days. Our daughter  wasn't well and spent overnight in hospital. We were at Waranga basin, near Rushworth. We had stayed at Waranga a couple of times earlier in the year. The park is only a couple of klms out of the historic gold town of Rushworth. The town has a small IGA supermarket a couple of cafes, two pubs and a laundrette. Rushworth has  its own medical centre as well as a branch of the Bendigo bank. A strong community supports other businesses in the town as well. The town is more or less surrounded by one of the largest Ironbark forests in Australia and it also has a deep history of gold. Some say that there are still a lot of nuggets out there to be found. This time, those nuggets have managed to elude me, but their time will come. Waranga basin and the channel system of waterways that come from it are also good fishing spots for redfin, yellowbelly and ,in season, murray crays.

Western Queensland-Camooweal

Yesterdays post got me re-thinking the last couple of months and so, I re-visited those photos from ---Out There..and I came up with this one taken from about the same position as that magic pink/purple reflected sky that was my last post. let me know what you think via the comments at bottom of the page.

Western Queensland

Going through some more of our photos from our earlier trip to Queensland and found this photo. Might I say that of all the place we stayed in Queensland, the most picturesque, the most scenic and the most relaxing was beside a water hole at Camooweal where our good friends Norm and Dot had stayed a couple of years ago and sent a photo of this place via e-mail so that every body could see it. Well we found it Dot and Norm, and pulled in for a day and finished up staying for three or four, not sure now.Cattle coming down during the day, a pair of brolgas that graced us with their presence,and a pair of kites that had a nest high upon a branch opposite us, all shared this water hole.... Queensland magic!!
This photo almost qualifies for one of my  "every picture tells a story" shots but it was such a lovely spot that it deserved some explaination

Every Picture Tells a Story

Post WUDU extravaganza

Well it took more that one day off before we could actually say where we were going or what we were going to do. Then it's not quite all over either. do we free camp or park? we free camp. Will it be Lockwood south or Maldon, no neither, we go on to Newbridge. Aah, peace at last, feel the serenity...
Next day is Thursday 22nd november and it's Claytons birthday so we push on to Echuca Moama and the forecast is for pretty warm weather with 39 predicted for Sunday.So we booked into Shady River for the duration, tea out at the RSL which was a surprise for Clayton.

 Signed the contracts for our house as we had accepted the offer made to us without going to auction.

The Bendigo Leisurefest starts on Friday but we decide to go Saturday. caught up with michael from Epsom Palms caravan centre, Russell Breadmore, from the CIA and Warren Parrot from WUDU. Lynda Groom from Trulux Fifth wheelers was also on their stand. Spoke to several caravan sales people and looked at a lot of vans. And there were a LOT of vans there. bigger than two years ago when we were last there.According to the guy from Elite Caravans, it was a bigger show than Brisbane.
Barbecue tea with jac, mark and the kids here last night was a great chance for a good catch up. The kids took advantage of the jumping pillow and the pool.

Warburton /Healesville to Fed Square

Peter Huth and I 

lovely course at Warburton Golf club

The park at Warburton is tucked away in a lovely setting beside a babbler (brook that is) that becomes the Yarra River. Just down the road and over a bridge is the Warburton Golf Club, the scene for our next challenge.The result of which will be revealed when the series is played from January 6th on OneHD. It's enough to say that we all had a great time....
The concert at hedgend maze Healesville was disappointing, to say the least. We have had greater numbers and a much better response from previous venues. After tea tonight, Dean Allen-Craig (the walking jukebox) played up a storm and Danny P and Wazza both had trouble keeping up with this guys amazing guitar playing knowledge. a SUPER singalong and a great night. We say goodbye to everybody today with a "See ya in Fed. square."We head for the storage yard at Braeside after several heavy showers of rain and a bleak forecast. Get our van and landcruiser hitched up and the gear transferred from one van back into ours and its off to Big4 Dandenong with the Tanami arriving later. Peter and Alison have detailed their van and are taking a cabin at Dandy Big4 as well so it gives us a chance for a last meal together, some wine and a lot of laughs. Their company has been great and they are wonderful people with a great deal of experience and knowledge of the caravan business and park industry. An early rise as the vans have to be located in Fed square by 7.00am so we leave here at about 5.30 and arrived in plenty of time at 6.30. Marg. followed me into the city in the Pathfinder that we have been using on the trip and which had to be detailed for display as well.That was a daunting task, to say the least, get a caravan and 4x4 into fed square by that time,then place the caravan where they wanted it for the mini caravan show, WOW and you know what, It went REALLY well, no probs....

Caravan Corale

Phil Conquest, Marg, Alison Huth and John Adderley

Ivan, Alex,Sally  and Marg.

Now on to the concert and some more rattling of tins and raffle ticket sales. All went well, thanks to the two schools and the lunchtime crowd. Met Ivan, Sally and Alex who were all able to stay for a while. Good to see them again.
Concert went very well, cheque presentation to the Alfred hospital and now a wind down. We take the Nissan Navara ute and the Pathfinder back to Dandy Big4 for delivery tomorrow and end up in a traffic jam on Monash Fwy that meant 1.5 hours home. Now I know why I prefer the bush..Still don't know where we are going tomorrow or what we are doing, anyway, am sure it will happen, WHATEVER....