I have taken a few photos also at the Hou Wang Temple which has a small stream next to it. These were taken around mid morning.
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| two dragon flies skimming the water |
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| Shag cooling itself off |
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| Duck sitting on eggs on edge of creek |
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| Water dragon |
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| Water dragon |
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| Sunning tortoise |
Below are photos of the shed that John fell off the ladder building and other sheds around the farm that Glen and John finished before we left Malanda for Victoria . A very busy week for the boys.The size of this shed was 20m x 8m, it ended up being 20m x 13.5m, A great size shed for farm machinery.
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| Shed before the roof and sides were removed |
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| roof and sides removed |
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| Completed shed |
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| John & Glen mixing concrete the hard way for plastering the tool shed outer wall |
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| John plastering the outer wall of the tool shed |
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| This is the calf shelter that we were going to replace first when we got there .Next year's first job. |
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| Anne walking the boardwalk around Malanda Falls looking for the geocache |
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| Marg inspecting the geocache container they found. The first one yah |
Margaret worked at the local RSL in the evenings in the Kitchen helping out doing what ever was necessary.The staff are wonderful and friendly . The meals are lovely and a good price also for travellers. A must place to check out if you are in the area of Malanda. I look forward to seeing you next April and working with you all again.
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| Anna, Sash, Georgia, Michael, Chef Alex the crew at Malanda RSL Restaurant. |
On our last morning in Malanda . Glen suggested that we go down to Lake Barrine for breakfast. A great idea as Ross and Wendy (friends of John from way back, John was milking at Ross's dairy farm) were able to come also which was great. A lovely breakfast that lasted us all day . We were able to watch the boat take tours around the lake and the scenery was lovely .
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| Ross,Wendy, Marg, Anne, Glen , John |
Monday morning the 5th November it was time to leave Malanda . In the ute we hopped, but it would not start so off to Atherton to get a new battery .The old one had died during the night. $250. later plus two new wipers we were off on our next adventure. First calling in to Mum and Dad's to say good bye.
We drove to Tully and had lunch next door to the gumboot with a large green frog on it Just south of Tully we found a road stall selling watermelons. This we could not resist $3.00 each so two where brought for a refreshing taste. We found a lovely freedom camping spot at Saunders beach, just north of townsville. Once we were set up for the evening john and I went off to the beach for a walk. A lovely golden sand beach with a lot of coconuts on the ground. Time for us to find a couple of coconuts that still had milk in them, We were lucky yes we found some. Back to the van we went and John broke them apart with our little Tommy hawk axe we got from Bunnings. Lovely fresh coconut.
We found later that night the house batteries decided to die on us.Not again.
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| Saunders Beach |
We visited friends in Townsville Roslyn and Mick for a cuppa lovely to catch up with them, and find out where the best place to buy battery's from. Battery world were wonderful. After spending another $700.00 for 2 x 12 volt 100AH AGM batteries, with that he gave us $120.00 discount for them . The young lad installed them and away we went on to our next evening stop over which was Guthalungra rest area just north of Bowen . It was great to get our washing done by hanging up between to tree by the van. Life is wonderful when you are having fun . A visit around Bowen in the morning. Time for topping the ute up with fuel. John accidentally left our additive by the diesel tank. Off we went and had a ice cream at the Big mango. Once back in the ute John saw the additive was missing after a quick phone call . Yes it was still there back we went to get it. Had a laugh about it but it all ended up good.
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| Marg & John at the Big Mango Bowen |
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| Bowen beach opposite the big Mango |
Up early next morning on our next adventure we visited Queens Beach and found a dump station at the showground . We must admit that the signage to the dump station was not very clear. Thank goodness for someone who lived on the property was able to direct us to it. by this stage Marg was saying she needed something to crochet while John was driving. Quick trip to Crazy Clark's for a couple of tea towels and some crochet cotton Marg was happy. We drove through to Mackay where we had lunch and then onto a town named Sarina . Quite a interesting town . Gold was found here in 1865 but it was kept quiet for fear of being broken up by the mining claims, also the first cane was planed by a John Spiller in Mackay. 1867 the first sugar mill was a wooden, horse - mill, which crushed cane, The juice was then boiled in a ordinary boiler . The cane planters received 3 shillings per hundred for this. Between 1867 and 1904 over 50000 Polynesians were brought from Solomon Island to work the sugar cane farms.
Sugar cane is one of Australia's most important rural industries work around $1.5 - $2.5 billion a year to the Australian economy. We brought two sauces from the mill store a Ginger sauce and a Sarinashire Black sauce.We look forwarded to trying these out soon.
After leaving Sarina we made our way down to Mackay . Had a little look around but found it difficult to find a car park suitable for us with the van behind .
We drove on south of Mackay for about 100k and found a quiet freedom park over called Clearview Beach.On our way driving here we had a phone call from Battery World in Townsville just checking up to make sure we were happy with the new batteries. Brilliant service we thought . Not many company's do that sort of follow up. 10 out of 10.
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| these we came across on the highway between Mackay and Rockhampton |
8th November we left Clearview after John did another small repair job this time left blinker was not blinking.
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| Clairview Beach freedon park |
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| Handy man at work again fixing blinker |
Once again my man of all jobs, did the repair we were off to a small beach town called Yeppon for lunch then onto Emu point . While we were in Yeppon we decided to check our lotto ticket from the big Tuesday draw worth 100 million. We brought a lucky dip for 7 dollars before we left Malanda. What a surprise we won $40.70 cents . Marg had checked the numbers but she thought there was nothing It just goes to say, get it check out at the lotto shop before you through it away. We were happy with that little win.
Thursday 8th November we stopped at a lovely freedom camp again recommended from someone John had spoken to at one of our stop overs. Name Calliope River rest area. Plenty of vans parked there . We had rain for the first night here since we left Malanda. It gave the van and car a rinse for us . There was a lot of road works from Townsville down with many stops . That was fine we were not in a hurry . It was a good leisurely drive.
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| Freedom parking along the Calliope River |
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| Our little place of heaven |
In between all this we were keeping in touch with our friends Peter and Barb while they had a look around Bendigo area .
John seemed to have the pedal to the metal , he just wanted to get down to Pete and Barb. No we did not get any speeding tickets. Very hard towing a large caravan and speeding.
Friday 9th November.
Awoke to a txt message from our dear friend June in New Plymouth forgetting we were 3 hours behind at 4.30am . Thanks June for the wake up call. We were awake then, another lovely day so off we left at 5.00am for Brisbane while it was cool on the road and not a lot of traffic . This would be a big day driving, we had decided to drive to Brisbane around 500 k to our friends Anne & Keith who also have just brought themselves a 22ft caravan and are getting on the road just after Christmas. They are looking at maybe to join up with us somewhere for a while.
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| Anne & Keith beside there caravan waiting to join us on the road |
The roads were good down here with very little stop and start, for road works. We made our way to Bundaberg Rum factory in Bundaberg ( yes we got a bottle of liqueur ) then onto the Bundaberg Ginger beer factory. Had a lovely coffee there called (brand Sexy legs). They had a good special for ginger beer. We bought 48 bottles of 375 mls ( it missed the plane to USA we were told) for $30.00 it had on the box packed for USA.
A few hangovers here
Once back back on the main highway again we made our way to Yandina . Here is the home of the Buderim Ginger factory. We brought some factory seconds ginger for $9.95 a kilo . Then across the road from the factory was the Macadamia factory which we had to check this out. Did not buy any, a little to pricey for us.
With only two hours from Brisbane there was no more stopping until we got to Anne and Keith's at Park Ridge. Keith was waiting at the front door for us . It was a long day and we were both tired. Had a wonderful evening catching up with all the news.
Saturday brought a quiet day for a us . Time for the normal chores to get done.
11th November. We all went for a drive to Coomera to visit friends of ours Sue and Kelvin Coleman - Davis from Paraparaumu . Spent a few hours with them and they informed us that they are also looking at buying a caravan for the odd weekend away. Good luck with the hunt for one . Once we left here we went for a drive down to the Gold coast, did a little hop over the border to NSW then back again to the Gold coast and back home. A wonderful day. Thanks Keith for doing the driving I am sure we would of got lost many times.
Monday 12th November
Keith and Anne had to go to work . So it was a good time for us to try and sort out the back of the ute and remove some of the heavy stuff we had in the caravan ( i.e. ginger beer, and beer ) and put this in the ute. John put in a new led light for the outside of the van, and checked the tyres etc. This is a must when you are on the road travelling doing it on a regular basis . We remembered to do it so that was good.
Tuesday 13th November,
We left Brisbane for Lismore taking the coastal route and stopping of at Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay, Lennox Head, and Ballina. Very picturesque .
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| Lennox Head |
Stayed with friends of Johns from his uni days. It was wonderful to catch up with Bob and Rosemary Sweeney. Had a late night but it was wonderful. Went and visited there farm just out of Lismore . A small beef herd.
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| Rosemary & Bob Sweeney |
Wednesday 14th November
After leaving Lismore at 10.30 am we made our way down to just north of Tamworth were we parked up along the river bank. It took us 6 hours of driving today. Stopped of at a side stall and got some fresh cherries for $20.00 two and a half kilos yummy . I think we may have to cook them as you are not allowed to take raw fruit over the border. But I am sure we will try and eat as much of them as we can.
Thursday 15th November.
Hannun House Tenterfield
We left Bendemeer at 8.00am and made our way to Tamworth. We had a look around the town and stopped off at the Golden Guitar . This was around 28 degs and it was only 10.00am .So it was back on the road again or another 500k . Tonight we are staying at a Rig park over.
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| Marg and the Golden Guitar at Tamworth |
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| Wheat as far as the eyes can see south of Dubbo on left hand side of road |
We met up with Pete and Barb on Friday 16th November at Rutherglen Police Paddock State forest freedom camp site. It was great to get here and finally catch up with our friends.
This area has a lot of history and manyh winnery's.
We were parked in on National Park there was a island that consisted of 1000 acres . This island was used for the police horses in the 1886. Hence the name Police Paddock freedom park. A lovely quiet area except in the evenings when you got the bird life choir. There are over 200 recorded bird species in this area. The island is on the Murray river and a branch of the Murray river goes around the Island and this is called the Murphy river. We were talking to a couple who had a canoe and they rowed around the island taking them 3 hours . We had a go at fresh water fishing but did not get anything. We were told that the season did not start until Decemebr 1st due to the swaming of the different spieces of fish. So that put a stop to that.
One evening it was decided to cook dumper over the open fire we had and have them with local honey. They turned out very nice with Peter supervising the cooking of these has he had done this many times in NZ. I think we will be doing this again in another camping spot around Aussie.
We spent 4 days and nights here relaxing and sampling the local food.
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| Murphy River sub to the Murray |
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| our vans in the trees to the left |
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| Peter fishing along the Murphy river at the Police Paddock ,Shepparton |
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| John & Peter cooking damper over the fire (yummy) |
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| First happy hour with Barb & Pete along the Murphy river at Shepparton Victoria |
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| Barb & Charlie a pet Cockatoo at Police Paddock camp |
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| Snake looking Rock |
From here we went to Chilton and looked at the local Musuem which was very interesting having a lot of the history of the war. Looked at the old building and saw a old 1948 Ford Mercury which John and Peter were delighted to see.
The first settlers in the area were graziers which made a townships first called Black Dog creek in 1858.
The town was later named Chiltern after the Chiltern Hill in England. Gold was laster discovered in the area and the population grew to over 20,000. Gold mining continued here until early 1900s. The main mines in the area included the Golden Bar Mine 10,200 ounces, Golden Bar Extended 4,000 ounces and the Pass By party crushed 1757 tons of rock etc for 2843 ounces at it height.
We stayed at the camp 135 Pioneer Bridges (Australia wide Camps 6 book) next to the Ovens River . Here we end up spending another lovely evening with 3 other couples from different areas of NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania. Had a go at fishing here but kept getting snaged so gave that away .
22nd November 2012,
It was time to settle down and start looking for employment. We all booked into the Victoria Lake holiday Park were we decided to book ourselves into it until April next year. $110. plus power a week. It is a lovely area with the lake on the outer edge of it and a walk way right around it. The township is only 5 minutes walking to the main supermaket Coles, and Aldia's that we have found to be be very good with there prices. Spc also have a factory shop here where we can buy by bulk if you wish, there products are very cheap. We also found Tasman Market fresh meats. Great meat buys and cheap. The staff here were wonderful especially Kylie who helped us out, even to go to the extent to suggust where we may be able to find employment etc. We think between these 4 stores we will be doing most of our shopping.
We have registered with Spc cannery and hope to hear next week . The cannery starts with the fruit in mid December and this is when the main work begins here. A lot of people come from around Aussie to work here in the summer . Today the tempurture is 24 and its only 10am going to around 30 + today.
These cows are placed all over Shepparton. Some with fruit painted on them. Watch this space more to follow of the colourful cows. There are a total of 90 cows placed through out the area.
Went for a drive around the area today visited Mooroopna, then Tatua, then down to Rushworth where we looked at the Museum . Then to Stanhope where Fonterra have a dairy factory.then to Gilgare population 150 then a short drive to Kyabram population 6902 , this town was a large rural town, the centre of a dairy area.
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| Waranga Basin This lake is 5880 hectares and is used to supply water for the area |
All four of us are going for a interview at SPC cannery hopefully to work there until April next year.
29th November,
There is a heat wave going through Victoria at the moment. Temperatures around 33 - to 42 . Here at Shepparton it is 33 degs at 12.30m and they are expecting 38 - 40 today .
Below are some photos of Victoria lake which is situated next door to the caravan park in Shepparton where we have based ourselves. We go for a walk around the lake every day approx 3k
Barb & Pete's Van on left our second on right
