Day 1 (19 July) – Melbourne to Metung
We left Melbourne on 19 July and headed to Leongatha Airport to check out our new plane (VH-TTY). Have a look at the plane at teletypeaus.com. An interesting time turning our rig around at Leongatha airport as the turning circle with the Jimny is significantly larger than normal. Thanks to Joe for helping us re-attach the Jimny behind the hangars. On to Metung to catch up with the in-laws – Cindy and Brad. We were able to turn the rig around behind Brad’s shed and set up for the evening between the boat and the float!
Dinner at the Metung pub with Cindy and Brad – meeting a number of the locals – a good meal, although Cindy’s was a bit overdone. It was great to meet and have a long chat with Colin and Wendy who were moving into their new house the next day after 8 months in a caravan park. We are just about to find out what that’s like!
This was our early morning view over Lake King and the start of day 2.
Day 2 (20 July) – Metung to Eden
First the weekly newspaper quiz hosted by Metung’s resident Quizmaster – Brad. A great team effort with Brad, Cindy, Jo, Mark, Dave and Lisa with Sammy on the phone.
Next, we headed North, refuelling in Lakes Entrance and having lunch at Cann River. On to Eden where we checked into the Reflections Holiday Park at Aslings Beach. Not many residents and so we took a walk along the beach and then back along the exercise path between the beach and road. Naturally I had to watch the Storm beat the Roosters that evening whilst Lyn watched Netflix in the ‘bedroom’.
That night we had dinner in the motorhome for our first meal aboard the rig.
Day 3 (21 July) – Eden
We decided to stay in Eden for another night and checked out the golf courses in the area. So, 18 holes at Eden Sport and Country Club and then lunch. The golf was a bit tricky and we should have hired a cart as the course is quite hilly – especially on the second 9. I missed 3 birdies with the ball lipping out on each one – I’m not sure I like the greens as we both found them very hard to read. It was interesting hitting off with some very large roos on the course!
Back to the motorhome to watch the Melbourne Demons being shown how to play footy by the Dockers. Lyn went for a walk down along the beach again (I think to avoid hearing my muttering about the Demons).
A quiet evening at home that evening watching some YouTube videos and planning the next few days.
Day 4 (22 July) – Eden to Currarong Beach
We headed off at checkout time, travelled up the coast and stopped for lunch at the Lakeside Cafe in Burrill Lake. The burger I had and salad Lyn had were really good! The cafe is a little off the track down a side street but well worth the detour. Continuing up the coast to Falls Creek (The NSW one, not the Victorian High Fields one) and then headed to the coast at Currarong Beach. A long walk along the beach then back to the motorhome for dinner and blogs.
Gam Gam decided to draw 2 fish on the beach called Wren and Luna. Here is the masterpiece!
Day 5 (23 July) – Currarong Beach to Emu Plains
We departed Currarong Beach, planning to play golf in Nowra on our way to our Sydney base in Emu Plains (between Sydney and The Blue Mountains). On calling the club we found they had a competition and no vacancies until after 13:00. Fortunately, we were able to find an alternative at Shoalhaven Heads – actually we think this was a better option. A beautiful course near the beach. We asked the player behind us to join us for the second nine, Adam, as the play slowed down. We were hassled by the two behind us in a cart even though we were held up on each tee due to the slow play in front. We thoroughly enjoyed the golf and company and I had 38 points (for the golfers) and we both played well (Lyn after a slow start) on this beautiful course.
Then we headed on to Emu Plains and the Ingenia Holiday Park where they had managed to fit us in (thanks to the team!). We unhooked the Jimny and headed into O’Donnahues for a meal a couple of kms away, mine meal was quite average but Lyn’s was good.
Day 6 (24 July) – Emu Plains – The Blue Mountains and Roseville
Today was a day for visiting relatives. First a trip to Leura in The Blue Mountains to visit my Godmother, Shirley. Shirley is a switched on 95-year-old who is unfortunately legally blind. She was a tour guide in her heyday with 74 trips to the US. We spent the late morning reminiscing, then headed to the incredible Bygone Beautys cafe in Leura. It was a fascinating museum with 5500 tea pots and crockery. Leura is a majestic town with significant heritage and a bygone-era charm.
My computer hub had failed on day 1 and we found the Australian distributor (Comsol) on our route between Leura and Chatswood, our next destination. Carl of Comsol couldn’t have been more accommodation as he just gave me a completely new unit as my hub was still under warranty.
Next to Chatswood where we did some shopping before heading to dinner with my nephew and family. Matt is an incredible young man (we maybe not so young anymore) and after starting in commerce, became a doctor and practices in Canberra and Sydney now. His beautiful wife, Lucy, is a doctor also, practicing in Sydney. We arrived to find Penny, Lucy’s mum, who had picked up the kids after their after-school activities. A brief time with Hugh, Tommy and Alice before their bedtime. I made up a story for the boys about ghosts around their street – Glue and Bomb were the name of the ghosts. As I left the room, I turned off the light and closed the door (as I would have done with our boys). Hugh and Tommy weren’t used to that and were a bit agitated when Matt went in later to check on them. I don’t think the combination of a ghost story and lights out worked well. Then dinner with Lucy, Penny and Matt before heading back to an apartment we had rented for the night in Chatswood (closer to our Roseville visit and the visit to Fairlight the following day).
Day 7 (25 July) – Emu Plains – Fairlight
I had ordered a snorkel for the Jimny which was held up for several weeks in delivery from overseas. Before leaving Melbourne, I asked if they could hold it for me to pick up. I’d been told the shipment had arrived last Friday and so called the distributor this morning to try to pick up the item from their shop in Sydney. I was called back to be advised that the snorkel had already been shipped to Melbourne so, instead of a 3-hour drive to pick up the snorkel, we had a relaxing time in the apartment and then a bit of shopping before heading to my cousin, Susan, in Fairlight. Actually, I think the delivery to Melbourne will be a better option for us.
As we had time before visiting Susan, we hit the local Aldi in Chatswood Westfield then headed to Manly for a brew at Starbucks.
We then drove to Fairlight and had a lovely lunch with Susan, walked with her dog Sally who played in the park with a couple of other dogs – I think their names were Flen and Schooner.
Then back to Emu Plains. I can’t believe how hard it is to make sure you are in the correct lanes leading up to the harbour bridge and afterwards. Even our GPS struggled. Luckily, I managed to select the appropriate option and so we made it back without any unnecessary detours.
We tried O’Donahughs again for dinner with better results this time. A night planning our next moves and checking camping options for the next few days before a relatively early night as we were leaving early the next morning.
Day 8 (26 July) – Emu Plains to Gilgandra
What a wild night before we left Emu Plains. The radar image looked like a dog running downwards.
Up early as I had to reconnect the Jimny back before heading off. We left at 07:45, ahead of our 08:00 scheduled time. Due to the length of our road train (13.1 metres long) we couldn’t take the Old Bathurst Rd and so headed west to meet the highway into the Blue Mountains closer to Glenbrook.
Our next point of call was Bathurst where we did a lap of the race track at Mt. Panorama – an interesting experience in a motorhome towing a Jimny. Brunch at Bathurst then we headed towards Orange on our way to Gilgandra.
It was about this time last week we left Melbourne so it’s time to open a new post for week 2.
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