Our plan had been to leave
today, but with absolutely no fixed plans -
and no definite idea about where we are
going - as it turned out, at midday we
decided to leave tomorrow morning instead.
Our decision was reinforced by it being a
freezing, wintery day, and, when we got
home, finding that the wood heater had
lighted itself spontaneously from the still
hot coals of yesterday. It was very hard to
drag ourselves away from the heater!
 So we
left on Tuesday, now 4 days ago; and we have
come via Wagga Wagga to up near Cowra. the
weather has,so far, not become significantly
less freezing; we have been very glad we had
the diesel heater put in the van, because it
has been used every night. But we have found
some lovely spots to spend the night in, and
in bed at night we are cosy and warm. And
we've been travelling through parts of the
country we've never seen  before.
Now it's the next Tuesday, and we are in
Dubbo. We have been jinxed here! First a
sign came on the dashboard saying "Check
anti-pollution system". The next morning I
googled the problem, and it all turned out
to be - just some dust under the the fuel
tank cap after we refuelled it! But as we'd
thought we'd have to stay in Dubbo till
Monday, so we could visit a Renault dealer,
we decided to stay anyway. And  on
Monday morning went shopping before leaving
town. To find a red light on the fridge! Not
working on gas. No matter what we tried we
couldn't make it work, so it was off to a
caravan shop - where they, despite knowing
lots about it, couldn't either. So now we're
waiting for a new main control board to be
sent from Canberra. Covered by warranty
(sort of) but I would have expected better
from a $3,000 fridge.
As it turned out, the fridge part was
delivered on Thursday, and by that night
everything was working as it should. So on
Friday, we made our third attempt to leave
Dubbo, and this time it worked!
We continued on through Coonabarabran,
and then into the "Pilliga Scrub" - which
sound deprecating, but it is in fact a
lovely area of bush - the largest  area
of bushland in western NSW. Unusually, the
base of the area is sandstone, and the trees
are cypress pines interspersed with the
usual gums; and there are wildflowers all
year round. While I'm sure there are many
more in springtime, there were plenty out
now in winter.
All the roads in the Pilliga are
unsealed. In some places this would worry us
after the fairly heavy rain we had in the
first 24 hours, but the sandstone base meant
that they did not get slippery / muddy.
After a dip in the hot artesian bore
bath at Pilliga, we headed east, to Inverell
and Glen Innes. Our quest for warmer weather
was not bearing fruit; here we woke one
morning to ice on the inside of
the windscreen, and the car's thermometer
telling me it was minus 2º when we
moved out, at 7.45 am!
 Seeking
warmth, we drove down to Grafton; not on the
coast, but near it. We remembered Grafton as
a nice town, and it was. Not only that, but
warm as well - for 2 days running I was able
to wear shorts in the middle of the day. Our
3 -4 week trip north in winter has given us
3 days of fine warm conditions, and now
we're off to Armidale, in the tablelands,
and cold, and then starting  heading
home again.
Armidale was a nice spot, and it
turned out not to be so cold; we even went
on a bus tour one morning around the
historic parts of town, and the Aboriginal
Cultural Centre, and Art Gallery; run be
volunteers. Our guide was a retired school
principal, very au fait with the
town, and very interesting. He guides only
once a week so that his presentation doesn't
become too  formulaic.
(The Art Gallery's collection is worth
$42 million, thanks largely to a huge
painting collection given to them when the
Sydney Art Gallery turned it down!)
Now we're on our way back home again,
back near our old stamping ground of Dubbo.
And, while our plans are not fixed, as
usual, it seems likely that we'll arrive
home in Castlemaine on Saturday (10th
August).
(And then start planning next winter - going
away in the motorhome when it's cold, and
dark by 6pm every night, is not so good for
an extended trip.)
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