Monday 24th – Up at 7.00am and looking out the window,
we got a view with all the lights overseeing the city and Pauline and Rob about to
drive away. We packed up and met the others at 8.20am. The day started a little overcast but then it got sunny.
We headed off towards
Buxton, stopping for morning tea on Wattle Glen Road
where Robynne found the swings and showed us how its done. We left and drove down the mountain with beautiful views of Yarra Glen,
stopping at
Healesville for lunch supplies. Steve’s E-Type decided it didn’t want to leave so
he had his spanner handy and
lifted the bonnet. After a bit of tinkering we had to push it to start (lucky we were in a car park).
We had a nice drive through the ranges with
pretty ferns along side the road and the tallest and straightest of trees.
Sorry Steve but I felt I had to include
these photos, just to prove that it is not just me that breaks down on
these trips. Anyway a dodgy starter motor is pretty minor in the scheme
of things.
We stopped at Buxton for lunch.
After lunch Steve required another push. Between Taggerty and Alexandra it tried to rain. Alexandra was a good
size town but very dry. But then the weather turned a bit bleak and it did start
to rain. It was still raining when we drove
through Bonnie Doon and then Mansfield. We got to Mansfield at 2.35pm and
waited a few minutes for Peter to catch up, but we didn't stop and look around
because it was raining
quite heavily. We made our way onto
Gough's Bay, where we stayed at Fernleigh Cottages.
We arrived at Fernleigh Cottages at 2.55pm and got settled into
'The Barn', which was one
big building with lots of room. We each had our own bedroom and there was a kitchen and
eating room and big family room where we could all sit around and talk, read
or play table tennis. Steve fixed his car by tightening loose wires on the
starter motor. Nicole, Andrew and myself went for a walk into the small town and
checked out eating facilities and went back to let the others know what was
available then Nicole and myself drove back in and picked up dinner. Then we
just relaxed till bed time.
Tuesday 25th – Up and packed ready to leave at 8.40am we all
then drove into the Gough's Bay township and went to a little lookout looking over Lake
Eildon. It was amazing to see where the water was and where it should have been
if the lake was full. Here we
said goodbye to Graeme and Victoria as they were making their own way home. We
drove back to Mansfield and then over a
mountain which was quite foggy and continued on through Tolmie and Whitfield which
was a little old town where we had a small morning tea break.
Back on the road again at 10.40am, it was still trying to
rain and we
turned at Oxley and Milawa and got back onto the main highway and headed towards
Beachworth, arriving in time for lunch at a great pie shop. While
here, Pauline text'd to say her and Rob were home safely after staying last night at
Mittagong. We went for a walk around the historic town before heading off, following the road to Stanley which turned into a gravel road so
we headed back into Beechworth to try again.
Nicole told us we just went on a scenic tour of orchard trees
and nuts etc. Once in Beechworth we then took the right turn to Yackandandah
arriving at 1.45pm and went for another stroll and ice cream, back in the cars again
and off at 2.20pm. Oops another wrong turn, had to go back to turn off to
Tangambalanga where they have the Devondale Factory and then we were heading for Khancoban.
We crossed the border into NSW at 4.00pm, arriving at the
Khancoban Lakeside
Caravan
Park
shortly after,
where we were staying the night. It was a bit wet underfoot so trying to unload
the car was fun but we managed. We walked over to the pub for dinner. It
rained pretty well all night.
Wednesday 26th – Up and packed and ready to go at 8.30am,
it was still
very cloudy. We were making our way to Narooma via Jindabyne and Cooma.
Going the
Alpine Way, we saw roos and emus on the side of road, which was good for Andrew’s
parents. When we passed through Thredbo at 10.00am, the temperature was down to 7º
and blowing a gale. We arrived at Jindabyne at 10.25am. The lake looked beautiful
and we stopped for morning tea. We had a phone call from Ian and Jan Hissey to
say they were at Goulburn (they were meeting us at Narooma). We then drove
through Cooma and down to Bega pulling up at Nimmitabel for
another break.
The next stop was in a little park called Pipers Lookout for lunch.
After lunch we were scooting along when we came to roadworks with
lights to direct the traffic, Andrew managed to get through while Steve tried to
keep up but got caught just pulling up in front of the red light, so he had to stop and he asked
Graeme to advise when the green light came on so he could take off. The scenery was just beautiful, green as
far as you could see.
We arrived at Cobargo at 2.45pm and thought this was a
good time to stretch our legs and we walked across the bridge to a café made out
of a train car which looked pretty good. We all had an ice cream. We then walked
back to the cars and we were met by the kids after school. Two boys took the time to
stop and ask questions and were mesmerized with Steve’s E-Type. Then we detoured towards Bermagui and turned off towards Akolele and back
onto the highway. A lovely little detour, thanks Andrew. We arrived at Narooma at 3.55pm.
We found the
Caravan
Park
where we were staying for the next two nights and the cabins were very good and
overlooking the beach. Ian and Jan arrived not long after and we all had plenty
of news to tell about our touring. At around 5.00pm we then proceeded out to Garry and
Rhonda Morris's house, who live not very far away at Mystery Bay, for a BBQ tea. A great
night was had by all, with plenty of yarns and we saw Garry’s new toy - the XJS
Convertible, very nice. They have a lovely home and Rhonda was only too
pleased to show us around. The highlight of the night was Steve presenting Garry
with the little “Frog” sitting in the XJS that Robynne had made out of
pottery.
Thursday 27th – We woke to a beautiful sunny morning
(I am writing this report on our little verandah).. At 9.30am (good to have a sleep in and lazy
morning) we waited for Garry and Peter to arrive (Peter stayed the night
with them). We are had our own plans for the day. Steve and Robynne were staying
around the park and just relaxing for the day while Ian and Jan took Graeme and
I with them, Peter went with Garry and the Haighs went together. Garry
showed us where his boat is moored at the river. From here the Haighs went their
own way for a drive around the town. 
I then got in the car with Garry so I could
have a ride in his new car and we all went to pick up Rhonda who had stayed at
home. We then went to Tilba Tilba and had lunch and while Rhonda and Jan went to
look at the gardens, we went to the other Tilba for a walk around the town and
look in all the shops. It was a lovely little town, very old.
We then returned to the cabins around 4.00pm and rested. Garry
and Rhonda met us at the gate around 6.30pm and we all went to the pub for
dinner. We then returned to the park to retire for the night.
Friday 28th – Another sunny morning and at 8.25am we were
all packed up ready for our departure. Steve packed his car then tried to start but it
wouldn’t go, so everything had to come out of the car while he did his repairs
to get it going. While putting the battery back in Robynne asks “if the points on
the battery are clean”, Steve replies “they are ok”. She is a great help
holding onto the bonnet while Steve works underneath. After turning the motor it did
start so we all were relieved not to have to push the E-type over stumps and up
hill in the park. Garry came to meet us with Rhonda (she
thought she may have to stay at home for repair men to come). We left the park
around 9.15am and filled up at a local garage and Steve got two relays in case he had
problems again. We departed Narooma at 9.45am.
We now have 6 cars in tow and we headed towards Moruya for a quick stop. We then went through Broulee and Mossy Point to Maluba
Bay
where we had morning tea. A lovely little park with ocean views. A
great little holiday place. We left at 11.30am and headed off again past
Surf
Beach
and Batehaven, arriving at Batemans Bay at 11.45am. We parked behind the Soldiers
Club and the boys went looking for a car yard which was supposed to have a 420G
- it turned out
to be a 420 and not in good order.
We left the car park at 12.00pm and drove up the highway to
Ulladulla, arriving at 12.40pm for lunch in a little park overlooking the ocean
and small boat marina. The Haighs and Hisseys went for a small drive to the
llighthouse while the Morris’s drove onto Nowra to check something out. When we
were ready to drive off Steve had trouble starting again and needed a little
push to start. We left at 2.00pm for the Walsh’s visit at Falls Creek arriving
at 2.50pm. After seeing the cars and projects in the shed we had afternoon tea.
Soon it was time to say goodbye to Garry and Rhonda who were heading back
home and the Haighs who were spending the night with relatives near Berry,
and we (Lilly’s, Hissey’s, Dwyer and ourselves) were staying in Nowra at the
Caravan Park.
After checking into our cabins it was time to check places for
dinner. Peter and Jan opted to stay behind while Steve, Robynne, Ian, Graeme and
I caught a bus to the Bowling Club and back again . This was great as we
didn’t have to drive ourlselves and the meal was good.
Saturday 29th – Another sunny morning and today we
headed for home. We left the park around 8.30am and arrived at Berry
at 8.45am to meet up with the Haighs. We parked in the main street where we met Nicole
with Andrews parents and the cousins.We had a little time with them before heading off at 9.15am.
We drove back on the highway, through Corrimal and we arrived at Austinmer for morning tea at 10.35am.
We left at 11.15am and drove towards
Stanwell Park, via the coast road and Seacliff
Bridge
and we stopped on the other side and walked back over a bit of the road and took in the
views, absolutely beautiful. We left here and drove up the hill to Stanwell Park, we stopped for lunch and the view was spectacular looking
back towards Wollongong.
We departed at 12.55pm and drove through the National Park and
got back on the highway at 1.30pm. The boys pulled in to get petrol but we
couldn’t get in the other lane so we kept driving till we found a spot and looked
out for them. Peter drove past and he was going to Wilberforce to pick up his
puppy who was holidaying at his sister's place. We called in to the Caltex Service Station and had a break. It was
here we said farewell to our friends. We left at 3.50pm with the Haighs behind
us and when they turned off the freeway we were on our own and it was
very lonely not being able to watch the cars in front or behind us.
We want to say a big Thankyou to Andrew and Nicole who
arranged our great holiday. There was a lot of work and hours put in to
organizing the accommodation not to say the route in which we took. Thanks
to the members who came with us as without them the trip wouldn’t have been as
good. We had lots of fun being together and even though Andrew had car trouble
to start with he kept going and Steve had his problems, Graeme had a few
problems with his car too but was able to be repaired we were all able to get
back home safely.
Thanks Mary for
your kind words, As in previous years it was a pleasure to organise the
trip and I hope everybody enjoyed themselves. As for the breakdowns they
only add to the experience and happily they were shared around this
year, rather than me hogging them all!
Credits
