Warwick - Bourke - Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney

On this trip we will be following a somewhat “wayward” route.   While the primary objective is to attend weddings in Melbourne and Sydney we have decided to take the long way there by following the Darling River from Bourke to Wilcannia, a drive we have attempted previously but due to inclement weather conditions had to abandon our plans.   If we succeed we will then visit White Cliffs, cut across the desert to Broken Hill, revisit the Clare and Barossa Valley wine regions, then loop back to Melbourne and Sydney via Adelaide.

Leaving home shortly after 10:00am on Saturday 7^th September our first destination was the small community of Talwood two hundred and eighty five kilometres away between Goondiwindi and St George.   Talwood was initially spelt Tallwood however with the arrival of rail in the late 19^th century and the subsequent misspelling of the railway station it has been known as Talwood ever since although the “locals” still pronounce it “Tall Wood”.   Making a brief refuelling stop at “Gundy” we eventually arrived at Talwood about five hours after leaving home and made ourselves at home in the community camping area.

Our plans for the second days travel were as relaxed as our first day.   Departing Talwood late morning we cut across to Mungindi, a small community straddling the Queensland/New South Wales border then continued towards Collarenebri where we intended to take advantage of the town’s free camping facility.   The road conditions were pretty good even though the first sixty kilometres of the road between Mungindi and Collarenebri was dirt we still managed to motor along quite comfortably at 80kph.

Arriving Collarenebri early afternoon and in accordance with our policy of making a conscious effort to support communities that provide free camping facilities we opted to “top-up” with fuel even though the price was somewhat exorbitant; and that’s when our problems started.

Having finished refuelling, the car just wouldn’t start.   Scratching our heads while being offered a variety of reasons by a couple of farm hands, one who was busily “rolling-his-own” cigarette whilst making himself quite at home with his leg propped up on the bull bar, after about ten minutes the vehicle eventually started on its own accord.   Whilst we were “incapacitated” we’d rung RACQ however decided against cancelling the call out in the off chance there was a major issue.   Needless to say the RACQ technician arrived on the scene within minutes of us parking our rig in the campgrounds and after a period of time came to the conclusion that we’d had a vapour lock in the fuel line thus wouldn’t have any more issues.

 

Now all we had to do was hope he was correct.

As for the campgrounds we were pleasantly surprised.   It was well planned with modern clean amenities, fifteen designated sites all easily accessible, lots of shade and a dump point; surprisingly there were very few folk there.

 

Sunday we prepared for the next leg of our trip with the day’s destination being Bourke some three hundred kilometres away.   Much to our relief the car started first go reinforcing the previous day’s prognosis that the problem was merely a “once off” glitch.

During the early stages of our days travel between Collarenebri and Walgett we began noticing the initial effects of the drought currently afflicting outback Queensland and New South Wales with paddock after paddock looking denuded while at the same time mobs of emu’s and kangaroo’s were on the move foraging for food.   We both commented that we doubted having seen so many emus with regular road kills every kilometre or so, in some cases consisting of two or three birds at a time.

 

 Stopping at a pretty little rest area for a cup of coffee on the outskirts of Brewarrina beside the Barwon River we were once again plagued with car troubles with the vehicle once again refusing to start.   Once again we called the RACQ who dually arrived ten minutes later however by this time (and much to our embarrassment) the vehicle had started.   While waiting for the technician to arrive we wandered over to the nearby bridge to view some of the Aboriginal artwork adorning the pylons.

 

 

Following a lengthy discussion it was decided that it may well be a faulty solenoid, relay, or a computing problem that only occurs when the engine is hot.   With that diagnosis now firmly imbedded in our thought processes, the mechanic suggested we visit “Simmo’s Garage” in Burke whom he believed had diagnostic equipment that would isolate the fault.

Taking his advice on-board first stop after arriving in Bourke was “Simmo’s Garage” (without daring to turn the motor off).   Following a brief discussion with “Simmo” and explaining what was happening we were told to come back the next morning after 10am.   With that arranged we decided it would be very prudent to stay in town at the Mitchell Caravan Park just in case we were left without a vehicle for a lengthy period of time in lieu of our preferred option, the Kidman Camp located some ten kilometres out of town.

 

Next morning after taking the vehicle for a hard twenty kilometre drive to get it nice of hot, handed it over to “Simmo” then went exploring Bourke, viewing its historic buildings, having a coffee at “Grubby Micks” café, wandered over to the Tourist Information Centre in search of information on the “Darling River Run” (to no avail), then headed back to the van park.

 

Fortunately for us Bourke isn’t all that big so by the time we’d walked back to the van park “Simmo” was on the phone telling us he’d isolated the problem, that it was mechanical, namely the diesel injector pump and we had better be prepared for a sizable bill.   That was the bad news; the good news was that the vehicle was still drivable however if we were going to turn off the engine we’d better be prepared for a short wait until the engine cooled sufficiently.

 

Even though Bourke is located some eight hundred plus kilometres from the mouth of the Darling River it was in its hay day one of the largest inland port in Australia.   Unfortunately there is little evidence left to attest to that fact.

 

We eventually left Burke Wednesday morning to tackle the “Darling River Run”, a drive that essentially follows the Darling River from Bourke through to Wentworth at the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers.   Several years ago we attempted the drive from South to North but only managed to conquer the section between Wentworth and Menindee with that attempt being abandoned due to rain however what we did see was beautiful.

 

With the weather forecasts for the next few days being very favourable, away we went.   Turning off the main highway onto the dirt road we pulled over, lowered the pressure on all tyres to suit the expected road conditions, ensured everything was secured, and then set off on our little adventure.

 

After travelling for heavens knows how many kilometres and only seeing glimpses of the river and passing sign after sign advising “private property, keep out, no shooting, no camping” we eventually arrived at the boundary of the Gundabooka National Park, read up all about it, decided a forty plus detour was not on our agenda, and continued on until we reached the turn off to the Yanda campgrounds located four kilometres off the beaten track on the banks of the Darling River.   If it hadn’t been so early in the day, I think we would have set up camp for the night.   It was indeed a very scenic setting with the camp grounds surrounded by giant river gums with numerous walk trails down to and beside the river.

 

 Arriving at Louth, first made famous by poet Henry Lawson, we parked opposite the pub  did the obligatory touristy “thing” by wandering around Louth which I can assure you isn’t all that big, took a few photo’s, had a coffee while waiting for the engine to cool, then pressed on towards Tilpa.

 

While this section of the drive started providing more glimpses of the river it was still nowhere near as scenic as the Wentworth to Menindee section.   Eventually arriving Tilpa early afternoon, a metropolis consisting of a pub made entirely of corrugated iron, a nearly residence and not much more, we decided it was time a change of plan, that being to take the direct route across the desert to White Cliffs instead of travelling via Wilcannia, a saving of several hundred kilometres.

 

The track from Tilpa to the junction of the Wanaaring - Wilcannia track was good allowing us to travel quite safely at 75 kph although having said that we had to be continually mindful of a myriad of washaways along the side of the track, all conveniently hidden by copious amounts of bull dust.   As the track we were on wasn’t being reflected on the GPS map we were preceding with a degree of caution however after stopping at an isolated homestead and being given the appropriate assurances, we continued on.

 

Eventually joining the Wanaaring - Wilcannia track the surface conditions deteriorated dramatically becoming no more than a heavily corrugated gibber track littered with tyre destroying sharp rocks hence any speed in excess of 30kph just wasn’t possible.   In the end the corrugation won forcing us to find a suitable site not too far of the track where we adjourned for the evening.

 

 

White Cliffs opal fields finally materialised from a somewhat desolate landscape late Thursday morning with the last ninety kilometres taking nearly four hours to traverse.

 

After locating the local community camping ground and getting settled we then went exploring; that didn’t take long.   With the exception of a small corner store, a pub, an underground motel, a couple of underground mines selling opals, a myriad of entrances to underground homes, plus a visit to the opal diggings themselves that resembled a moonscape, there really ain’t too much to get excited about in White Cliffs.   I guess not being ardent admirers of opals plus having visited the Lightning Ridge and Coober Pedy opal fields previously we just weren’t  that impressed with White Cliffs.

 

            From White Cliffs to Broken Hill we had intended to travel across the desert via the Mutawintji National Park however with the onset of rain squalls that afternoon plus news of rainfall in the adjacent desert regions we quickly shelved that plan instead travelling to Broken Hill via Wilcannia on bitumen roads.
 

Arriving Broken Hill early afternoon first chore was to visit the local Nissan dealership for an opinion regarding our mechanical problems, $129 later (their minimum charge) they confirmed that it was the Diesel Injector Pump – the best part was their quote of $8000 for the part plus $129 per hour labour – “Oh really” I thought, “is that because I’m a tourist?”.

With that we contacted Gold Coast Diesel who last serviced the injectors and without hesitation he confirmed the problem and recommended a repairer.   We are now getting the vehicle remedied in Adelaide for less than $2000.

Besides being a major mining town the Broken Hill region is also home to some of Australia’s top artists amongst them the late Kevin ‘Pro’ Hart, Jack Absolom and landscape artist Albert Woodroffe to name a few; we already have some of Albert Woodroffe’s works.

 

Saturday morning it was out to the once prosperous but now all but abandoned mining town of Silverton twenty five kilometres to the north.   The landscape around Silverton is quite barren, almost lunar, being littered with crumbling stone buildings testament to its glory days however it’s now a favourite locale for numerous international production companies who specialize in both movies and commercials.   While Silverton is virtually a “Ghost Town”, there are quite a few buildings that have been restored are in use as residences, coffee shops, souvenir outlets, a pub, plus several others that artists including Albert Woodroffe now use as their studios.   Needless to say following our visit to Albert’s studio we are now in possession of a lovely nightscape painting.

Leaving Broken Hill Monday morning and driving into a howling westerly we stopped briefly at the now all but abandoned railway town of Cockburn on the New South Wales /South Australian border primarily to take photos for a neighbour who once lived and worked there many years ago.   One thing that did pique our interesting was the spelling of the town, officially its Cockburn however on some of the 19^th Century era buildings it was spelt Coburn.

From Cockburn/Coburn we continued west towards the Clare Valley while watching the fuel gauge rapidly headed south toward “E” eventually deciding to stop at a rest area between Yunta and the Oodla Wirra quarantine check point in an effort to gain some respite from the howling winds and the driving rain squalls.   With the winds still having not abated, it was quite interesting watching Leigh outside trying to cook on the Barbeque while I was inside preparing the vegetables in comfort.

 

Arriving in Clare a little after lunch and following all the formalities associated with booking into a caravan park we donned our “Drizabone” jackets then set off to investigate a couple of nearby wineries

First stop was the village of Sevenhill stopping at a bakery for coffee and Cornish pasty that I definitely shouldn’t have had, but heck it was nice; Mita in the meantime had a mini quiche which she also proclaimed as being yummy.   From the bakery it was a visit to Taylors Winery where we managed to do some serious damage to our credit card.   From there it was the turn of O’Leary Walker Winery and while we weren’t particularly taken with the wines the views from the winery were sensational. 

 

From O’Leary Walker Winery we returned to Clare via the scenic route visiting the historic settlement of Mintaro, then continued on our way through the picturesque countryside eventually arriving back at the van park just as the weather started taking a turn for the worse.

Wednesday was a wet and gloomy day however not to be daunted we decided that after visiting Clare township we should explore the country side including a visit to a couple of scenic lookouts that reportedly provided magnificent views of the countryside; one lookout is all it took for us to scrub around any further plans for viewing the scenery.

Clare is quite a pretty town with numerous historical stone buildings built by the early settlers from England and Germany hence it has quite a unique style that subsequent town administrations have attempted to preserve.

   With that we returned to the bakery at Sevenhill for a warming coffee then visited the nearby Sevenhill Winery, a winery run by the Jesuits that happens to provide the bulk of altar wines nationally.

Thursday it was a huge drive of some eighty kilometres to the town of Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley stopping firstly at the pretty little village of Auburn for a wander around and later for coffee at Kapunda with its abundance of historic buildings.

The Barossa region is home to a myriad of wineries including some world renowned brands.   While we generally tend to frequent independent wine producers, in the Barossa it’s not quite possible to abide by that parameter especially when you have such brands as Penfolds, Saltrams, Wolf Blass, Grant Burge, to name but a few.

The disappointment of our stay at Nuriootpa was Barossa Chateau that we had visited on a previous occasion.   Barossa Chateau is privately owned and was simply stunning being surrounded by beautiful rose gardens and containing the most amazing crystal collection, a collection visited by HM Queen Elizabeth on one her visits to Australia.   Unfortunately the owner aged in his 90’s had recently passed away and his two children have shown no interest in the establishment; it is now run under a lease agreement and is definitely in decline.

We ended our day in the Barossa with coffee and cake in the underground cellars of Illaparra Cellars, an establishment owned by Grant Burge.

Saturday morning we headed for Adelaide staying at the Levi Park Caravan Park, a small boutique establishment conveniently located barely fifteen minutes from the Adelaide CBD and serviced by a regular bus service every thirty minutes.

Besides getting the vehicle serviced we spent our five days in Adelaide visiting numerous attractions including the Adelaide Central Markets (a gastronomic delight), went shopping in the CBD (as you do), plus all the other usual touristy things.   While in Adelaide we utilized the public system which for seniors is either free during off peak or available at vastly discounted rates.

 

Leaving Adelaide for Melbourne our first stop was Hahndorf, a quaint little village with a strong German theme that is very evident with the general building profiles, the range of foods sold, plus other goods sold that all reflected the Teutonic influence.   After spending several hours window shopping it was cross country to nearby Strathalbyn, another town touted as “historic”, stopping briefly for a wander through the streets.

From Strathalbyn we continued towards Wellington via Langhorne whilst skirting the shores of Lake Alexandrina where we crossed the Murray River on a small and somewhat narrow vehicular ferry capable of taking eight standard vehicles at best.

 

Following the river crossing we briefly joined the Princess Highway before once again turning off opting to follow the shoreline of Lake Alexandrina around to Meningie via the Point Malcolm lighthouse and the Narrung Ferry in lieu of utilizing the highway.   Albeit being an additional forty kilometres drive it was a pleasant option with hardly a vehicle being encountered thus ensuring a relaxing drive while being able to enjoy the scenery.

Eventually arriving at the Narrung Ferry that is also the location of Australia’s only inland lighthouse we boarded another vehicular ferry crossing the channel that links Lake Alexandrina with Lake Albert.

Disembarking from the ferry we happened upon a lovely grassed area obviously intended for use as an overnight rest area.   With views out over the lake, the nearby lighthouse, plus the ferry, we found ourselves a level spot and after making ourselves at home strolled down to the jetty to enjoy the views.

The next morning the weather had gone from pleasant to a howling gale with Lake Alexandrina transformed from a relatively tranquil millpond to something reminiscent of a mid Atlantic storm with waves crashing over the nearby ferry station.

First stop for the day was Meningie about an hours drive away.   Imagine our surprise when we arrived and sighted an endless procession of vintage Chrysler’s with some towing caravan from the same era and all in immaculate conditions; turns out the Chrysler Club of Australia was having a national gathering at Warrnambool.

From Meningie we continuing south skirting the Coorong National Park, a park that stretches more than one hundred thirty kilometres and supposedly possessing some of the most spectacular coaster scenery in Australia eventually turning off at the 42 Mile Crossing with the specific intention of doing the nature walk down to the oceans edge.    Arriving at our destination we found much to our surprise that there also excellent camping facilities available; that solved that problem.

After settling in we then follow the 1.2 kilometre walking track from the campgrounds to the ocean; without a doubt it was the longest 1.2 kilometres either of us has walked.   Arriving at the summit of a sizable sand dune overlooking the beach after having trudging over countless other dunes, what greeted us was a wild Southern Ocean pounding the beaches; I didn’t even bother attempting to take a photograph of the scene as we were both being “sand blasted”.   We returned to the campground utilizing the 4WD track, a track that was decidedly easier to walk and seemingly significantly shorter.

Arriving in Robe late morning the following day first task was to reconnoitre for a suitable camping spot and with Robe surrounded by numerous National and Conservation Parks all with basic camping facilities it didn’t take long to decide on “The Gums” camping area located about three kilometres from town.

 Van unhitched and organized, it was back into the all but deserted town for a coffee.   It didn’t take long to realize that as the AFL Grand Final was being played that afternoon virtually the entire town was either at the pub watching the game on the big screen TV or at a private function.

In the 1800’s Robe was a major port servicing this region of South Australia, that is until the advent of rail.   During the Victorian gold rush era Chinese immigrants were banned from entered Victoria however to circumvent this ban, the Chinese entered Australia via Robe then paid guides to take them overland to the gold fields.   It was during one of these illegal overland treks in 1857 that the Chinese discovered the alluvial gold field at Ararat.

We spent three days in Robe before eventually leaving on the Monday for Beachport forty seven kilometres away.   With the forecast for the next forty eight hours being gales it didn’t take long after arriving in Beachport to find a protected spot amongst a strand of she-oaks on the edge of Lake George.

Beachport is a pretty town whose main source of income is agriculture and the lobster industry however like most communities in this region tourism also plays a major part in supplementing the town’s economy.

We’d only planned to stay at Beachport for two nights however it soon became apparent with the arrival of the gale that our stay was going to be extended.   Of course the towns lobster fishermen were less than impressed with the weather conditions as it was the opening day of the lobster season and they were marooned in the harbour.

After three days of foul weather we were starting to suffer from a bad case of cabin fever.   With the weather inhibiting any real prospect of enjoying the town or its environs we still managed to venture into town for either breakfast or lunch, get in some sight seeing plus tackled several bush tracks including one out to the 3 mile and 5 mile rocks.

With the weather finally abated sufficiently we depart Beachport for Heywood via Mount Gambier where Leigh wanted to do some genealogy research. While he was wandering through cemeteries, inspecting headstones, etc, something that is of absolutely no interest to me I attacked the washing.

After arriving in Heywood Leigh went down to the local pub to gather local information plus inspect the menu; reporting back shortly after, it was dinner in town.   Leaving me to my own devices Leigh tracked down the local historian arranging to meet him at the cemetery where he happened to be undertaking maintenance however by the time Leigh arrived he had departed.   Needless to say he filled in his time taking photographs of headstones including that of his Great Great Grandparents.

Eventually tracking down the local historian he came away feeling that the meeting was of no real avail.   He did however learn that one of his cousins had been at the cemetery not more than fifteen minutes prior to him photographing the same headstones.

Dinner that night was quite an interesting affair with the meals being that HUGE neither of us was able to consume them.   Leigh’s meal was interesting to say the least.   He ordered a Chicken Camembert thinking it would be chicken breast stuffed with camembert cheese.   Not so.   What he was served was a whole breast of chicken, copious amounts of vegetables, and literally a block of camembert cheese sitting on top of the pile of food.   As for the glasses of wine, they were brimming – thank heavens we walked to the pub.

With the dawning of another day, we drove down to nearby Portland a very picturesque town overlooking the Southern Ocean.   Driving into the CBD we spied a rather swish eatery in a beautifully restored building.   Entering the premises we ordered our coffee and made a selection from the cake display, then spent some time wandering through the various rooms admiring artwork and architecture.   It turns out the building was the towns original Post Office however was vacant and in disrepair for some time until a retired businessman purchased the building and reportedly spent nearly $1m restoring it.   The end result is that the upper levers with commanding views over the bay are now his residence while the lower section is a very swish eatery.

From Heywood our next destination was Timboon where we had been invited to stay with friends and fellow travellers on their dairy farm.   Travelling via Woolsthorpe and Warrnambool we eventually at arrived Timboon mid afternoon following several arguments with the GPS.

 

We spent an enjoyable few days at Timboon visiting various landmarks including the famous Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, plus the towns of Peterborough and Port Campbell.   Of course we also visited a variety of naughty places including Whey Cheese a boutique cheese manufacturer who have won swag of awards for their product, Gorge Chocolate (naturally), plus lunched at the Railway Shed Distillery in Timboon.   We were thoroughly spoilt by our hosts.

On the Monday we left Timboon for Colac, a town literally surrounded by ancient volcanic lakes and craters.   Eventually arriving at Colac after once again travelling on country roads our first stop was the local tourist information office in search of relevant maps and information on our subject of interest; that accomplished next stop was a local café for lunch.

Suitable sated we made our way out to the Red Rock Volcanic Reserve sixteen kilometres north of the town that purportedly provided panoramic 360 degree views of the countryside including numerous lakes that dotted the countryside.   Arriving at the lookout we weren’t disappointed with views of a myriad of smaller lakes cradled in now extinct volcano craters plus the rather significant Lakes Corangamite and Colac.   Surprisingly many of the lakes in this region have very high salinity content, in some case fours times that of the ocean.

From the Red Rock lookout it was a pleasant drive through farmland dotted with stone buildings and dividing rock walls separating the various fields all built by using the abundant volcanic rock.   Heading back into Colac we happened upon Meredith Park, a free bush camping site maintained by the shire on the edge of Lake Colac.   Meredith Park became our home for the night.

Tuesday morning we joined the freeway and headed for Queenscliff, a town situated at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay.   As our ultimate destination in Melbourne was Berwick located on the eastern extremities of the city we’d decided as an alternative to catch the vehicular ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento on the opposite side of Port Phillip Bay thus negating the need to drive through Melbourne and do battle with freeway traffic.

Of course there was also the added bonus that the 07:00am and 08:00am ferries offered special prices for caravans regardless of size.

The town of Queenscliff was once an important tourist and transportation hub in early days, this reflected in the town’s architecture however over time that popularity waned for a variety of reasons although you would never know it judging from the prices being charged for meals by the local pubs; at one establishment it was $42 for a steak, at another nothing under $30.   Needless to say we didn’t eat out that night.

 

However the one exception was the Chocolate Room where we just had to patronize.

 

 

 

Catching the 07:00am ferry the next morning was definitely stress free as we joined the queue with five other vehicles to board the ferry for the forty minute trip to Sorrento.   Once aboard we located the lounge area, ordered breakfast, then sat back in comfort and enjoyed the passing scenery.

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We eventually pulled into our friends driveway at Berwick mid morning, unloaded what we needed, then took to Bushtracker out to a property on the outskirts of Melbourne to be stored while we attended the wedding of the daughter of our long time friends and hosts for the next few days.

Five days later we collected the Bushtracker and started making our way to Sydney to attend another wedding, this time the youngest son of another good friend whom Leigh has know for forty years plus.

Once again we travelled on the back roads enabling us to enjoy the scenery, “smell the roses”, and travel stress free.   First stop of the day was a brief affair at a supermarket in Warragul to collect a few essentials.   From Warragul next stop was the small village of Glengarry for lunch where they served possibly the nicest pies we’ve had in ages.   Needless to say we purchased a few extras and popped them into the freezer for a meal at a later date.

That night we stayed at Heyfield in the community camping ground where no sooner had we arrived when we were met by a “greeter” who duly presented us with a raft of pamphlets about the town and the surrounding environs included eateries, attractions, 4WD tracks, plus much more.

 

The next morning it was into “downtown” Heyfield for breakfast at “Stoddies Café”.   I doubt very much whether “Stoddies” would have passed a health inspection however we figured that since there hadn’t been any reports of a salmonella outbreak recently we weren’t about to die from food poisoning.   Making a healthy choice from a menu that included such gems as “Hang Over Heaven” wasn’t an easy task however in the end we did have a relatively healthy breakfast and lived to tell the story.

With time against us and with only two more nights available before we had to be in Sydney, it was an early departure from Heyfield and while it definitely wasn’t the quickest route we’d decided to travel to Sydney via the Snowy Mountains.

From Heyfield we travelled to Maffra, joined the Princess Highway at Stratford and then continued north eventually stopping at Orbost for “smoko”.   From Orbost we continued north eventually turning off onto the Monaro Highway at Cann River and commenced the climb up into the Snowy Mountains.   We eventually stayed overnight in a picnic area beside a stream about thirty kilometres from Bombala.

When we awoke the next morning it was fairly evident we were at altitude as there was a noticeable nip in the air.   Following a light breakfast we continued climbing through the mountains whilst enjoying the view of distant snow capped peaks.   We eventually stopped at Cooma for a break.

From Cooma it was all downhill with our next planned stop being at Goulburn to refuel.   Again we had decided to take the “Cook’s Tour” route travelling via Queanbeyan and Bungendore bypassing Canberra and travelling on the eastern side of Lake George.

After refuelling in Goulburn at a truck stop and grabbing a quick snack we continued towards Sydney while at the same time interrogating the GPS for suitable overnight camping area.   Once again we ended up staying in a community camping area in the historic town of Berrima.   While we would have loved to have stayed an extra day in Berrima, time was against us and as it came to pass we may have been stranded by the fires that ravaged the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highland region the following day.

Thursday morning we timed our departure from Berrima to arrive on the outskirts of Sydney after peak hour traffic and hopefully we’d have a relatively easy drive to the Lane Cove caravan park.   Arriving on the outskirts of Sydney Mita and I were horrified to find eight lanes of traffic all driving at breakneck speed and five zillion signs pointing in all directs, and neither of us really having any idea what lane we should be in.

Needless to say we eventually made it to Lane Cove in one piece and regardless of the stress of getting to Lane Cove it is still probably the most convenient park to access the city and a variety of attractions with an subway station barely seven hundred metres from the park with trains running every fifteen minutes.