Friday 25^th August Cobar

While last night worked – with the combination of having to “hide” to a degree, and the proximity to a busy road – neither of us slept so well. We got up at 7am, packed things up, and drove into town – down to the old port, on the Darling River. After chatting to a couple with a baby there – he was eating something from the bakery – we went to the bakery ourselves and had a coffee (I had a dirty chai, Alison a mocha).

The local paper was there – and on the front page an article about a local well-respected man who had been assaulted in his house, and had his car stolen and then burnt. If I'd read this yesterday we probably wouldn't have camped outside the cemetery!

Back at the van, we followed this up with a normal breakfast. After walking around the supermarket, and finding nothing to buy, we drove out to Tourist Info. We were able to fill up with water here, but there was little else we found to do; we walked around their sculpture garden, and had another coffee in the cafe; and we drove out of town.

It was two hours down the highway to Cobar. We saw masses of goats on the road, and a few more emus; we went to Tourist Information in Cobar, and had lunch (hard tack; no decent bread available around here) in their garden. Cobar seems to have a lot more going for it than Bourke.

We drove down and filled up with fuel (enough to get ourselves home, now) and then up to the Fort Bourke lookout, over the old open cut copper / gold mine, now converted to an underground mine; then back to the tourist info and a walk around their museum. A very good museum.

By now, 4pm. We drove out to the old reservoir, with thoughts of camping there; we found some 30 or so caravans clustered around the reservoir. So we backtracked and parked ourselves off the main entry road, but well away from the reservoir – and away from the smoke that will issue from all the campfires being lit there.

We walked up to Devil's Rock (regarded as evil by the local aborigines) at dusk; and then returned home. Made dinner with all the lights on, revelling in the quietness here!

And long phone talks with Alice and Louise; Alice with a house auction tomorrow, Louise and Netty having a terrible time with Jack and Frankie – pushed by Jack, split her lip, lost a tooth.

Saturday 26^th August Robin's Nest – north of Hay

Unsurprisingly, we slept long and well. And, needing to wash our hair, did so for the first time in the van; put the water heater on for 20 minutes while we amused ourselves in bed, then Alison washed her hair; then I did. It turned out not to use so much water at all – we keep on being needlessly frugal with our water use.

We drove back into town and filled up with water anyway. It's more comforting to set off with a full tank. One of the tyres looked a little flat too, so we went and pumped them all up a bit; then – drove.

It was, as expected, a big driving day. Two hours down to Mt. Hope (which was a pub and little else), then another hour on to Hillston ((a slightly larger town). En route the country became significantly greener; there were more goats, and more emus – including one with a brood of chicks.

(While this was going on Alice and Siddharth were bidding at a house auction; with Ric bidding to help them. But the house ended up selling for too much.)

We had lunch in Hillston, and it finally got warm enough to put on shorts. At 2pm! It is certainly getting colder. We then had a choice of two routes on to Hay; one shorter but partly unsealed. I asked at the pub about the road condition, and they suggested we go that way – via the town of Booligal. So we did; the unsealed part (28km) made the van rattled a bit more, but Alison was able to drive most of it at 70 km/hr. A vast difference to the unsealed roads in North Queensland!

We were heading to Hay to find somewhere for the night, but 50km (at ~ 4pm) short of there found Robins Nest – a rest area with a large waterhole, in which were spoonbills, cormorants, darters, ducks... It's a lovely spot, and, while the road is close, it isn't a very busy one.

So we got out our outside chairs and read in the late afternoon sun, looking over the waterhole. It was lovely.

We expect to be home in Castlemaine tomorrow night, after 50 days away. It has been a very good trip; the White House is an excellent vehicle to travel and live in, and there is little I can find to fault at all. It is small by motorhome standards (but still quite big enough for us) which means parking in towns is not hard, and it can be easily driven along a bush track looking for a quiet spot for the night. It is really nice being out alone in the bush in it.

Caravan parks, and even the free camps in our “Camps” book, we are using less and less. Caravan parks we find we don't need; we don't need power (the rooftop solar panel seems to make all we need) and finding places to fill up with water we are getting good at. And they're often quite crowded.

One of the other reasons we prefer to be alone is fires. Lots of people seem to think they have to light a fire every night, and we far prefer the smell of the non-burning bush to that of smoke.

But is is time to be home, see friends and family again, and have more interesting conversation than that which is the norm while travelling.

Sunday 27^th August Home

Robins Nest was a fine place to overnight. We were woken by the birds in the morning; and, as an experiment and with a full water tank, ran the water heater for ½ hour and had unrestricted showers. As it turned out they were still only 2 – 3 minutes long, and the water was cooling by the end. But the water tank still showed ¾ full!

We drove down to Hay. Over the Hay Plains, which were covered in saltbush with an occasional tree, and were incredibly flat. We saw a hill at one stage, but it turned out to be a pile of gravel. After a stop at the “sunset viewing area” (steel lounge, chair, and table – but still flat) we got into Hay. It was quite a nice, large town; we bought a copy of “The Age” at the newsagent's, and had a cafe coffee. Early, but appropriate.

On southwards. The clouds were more solid than we've seen since we left. It was cooler. Even by mid-afternoon, I was not tempted to change into shorts. The first day for ages I've not worn them.

We got to Deniliquin at 12-ish; went for a walk there as well, along the Edward River and through the town – another good and quite large town, and, for a Sunday, remarkably open. We toured the museum – a very good one, with a focus on sheep and wool – and also looked around the “Bald Archy”s” exhibition there; before having lunch of a pie in a cafe.

Onwards south, to Moama. Here, we had to stop at a red light – and realised that, apart from roadworks red lights, the last one we'd faced was in Townsville, perhaps 2,000km ago! On into Echuca, which was the biggest town we've been in since we left, we think. We had another walk here; it is a very touristy place.

Then on through Bendigo to home in Castlemaine, arriving at ~5.30pm. Just enough light to park the van in its spot easily. We took the basics we need inside and locked the van up; turned on the water and lit the hot water service, and sort of started easing back into our “normal” life.

We've been away for 50 days. Travelled 10,339km, at a maximum speed of 80km/hr; overtook 1 vehicle (Alison was driving) but didn't hold up other traffic too much at all. We spent 7 nights in caravan parks, 3 with Gae & John in Darwin, and 40 in free camps of one sort or another. Many of them have been lovely.

The van has been terrific, with no problems at all.

All in all, I (we) have really enjoyed doing this.

Though – we've had less exercise than usual, and have had less social contact and intelligent conversation than we would like. And we've been very “together” - much more than usual – which was fine, but I think a bit more “apart” time doesn't hurt either.