Idalia Station

What better way to sum up an Australian farm than with this wonderful shot of Mike's of one of the working dogs on Idalia. I will add more details tomorrow but these kelpies were friendly and active members of the property.

Northey Notes

We arrived at Kidman’s Camp at 4pm, peak hour for caravan parks everywhere. They had no record of my email booking of course but fortunately they did have powered sites aplenty and our onsite cabin is spacious and well appointed. We declined the ensuite deluxe log cabins in order to keep the campers company and I/m glad we saved the money – see Rob’s photo of the view they have from their decks! Yes the Darling River (2m, down from its February peak of 9m) is nearby but there is a kilometre of ugly, sandy scrub between them and the river except in flood. The facilities are clean and close by so we have not suffered. In fact the kids were delighted by the sight of a couple of small roos grazing on the park lawn near their campsite (see the slideshow). The grass is green and some flowers are blooming, making it a very pleasant spot to stay a couple of days.
The weather has been generally kind – low 20s and little wind although we came through some sun showers on the drive into Bourke. The sun is yet to rise today but I expect a clear day in the 20s again. We plan to visit nearby Mount Oxley and then walk around the sites of the Port of Bourke. BTW, that was the name of the Pub we ate in last night and I can recommend their beer garden and Bistro (T-Bone and salad). At 2.30pm we hope to catch the MV Jandra (see Mike’s word document in an earlier post) for a one hour cruise along the muddy Darling. Things are not quite as they may be advertised on the Web out here but reflect country common sense – there is no special Sunday cruise and they need a minimum of 4 adults before they venture out but on the plus side, the prices are also generally a bit lower than advertised.
My travelling companions have been enjoying my CB banter as you would expect (call signs “Chatterbox” and “Batman”) while co-driver has been a little less effusive about my GPS Navigator, the Nokia 6110. To be honest, she hasn’t had to say or do much on these long straight stretches, once Mike had finished with his unscheduled detours, which did upset her. I remain impressed with its capabilities – you never know when it might be handy to know the back streets of Nyngan – and the tracker has faithfully plotted our progress – see Google Earth file.
The Darling River Run doesn’t really start until tomorrow but the holiday has been enjoyable already. The Grey Nomads in the caravan park are unfailingly polite and quiet and I am sitting here in a comfortable double bed – Rob has spread his gear over two double bunks – while Bev and her family seem to be sleeping peacefully on the ground next door. Mike caters for all eventualities and his base camp would do Everest climbers proud. The kids are welcome company as this might be Hannah’s (or should I say “Mal”) last family holiday. Her Nikon camera is impressive but Rob and I are pleased with our respective point and shoot digitals. This Blog is not the place for award winning photos anyway.
Time to close. No internet coverage here so this Journal will probably be uploaded in one great burst once I’m home.
C’est La Vie.
Rob


Google Link:

Bourke Bound

2nd Offline Entry
19 April 2008

I have broken up my first entry in order to include a slideshow of our first real day on the road - to Bourke and the start of our exploration of the Darling River Run. Apperently, the river only drops 30 metres in the 2200 kilometres between the Queensland and Victorian borders, hence its slow current and tendency to inundate surrounding land for miles.

Sunday, 20 April 2008
4.50am
Kidman’s Camp
Bourke, Far West, NSW

Up early with the full moon today. Rob has kindly told me I did not have to sneak around quietly as he was also awake so I have fired up the old Toshiba to record our journey yesterday.
We set out from Orange pretty well laden to the gunwales with the overflow from Mike’s vehicle. With four on board, he has a full Prado but it seems to cope effortlessly with it. My Rav has also performed in typical Toyota style ie. Nothing like a Landrover! Mike took us on a few detours from the direct Mitchell Highway route including a visit to Bev’s school; at Molong and a scenic drive to Dubbo which brought us in near the Lion Park.
It was very cold as we filled the tank and searched in vain for an SD card for my video camera. We passed through Trangie and Narromine on our way to our lunch stop at Nyngan. With its brightly painted railway station and old Huey, it provided us with our first photo op. See link below. The food in the local café was acceptable and Rob performed a public service at the ATM for an elderly gent with a few under the belt (it was 1pm by now). He gave Rob his card, told him his PIN and told Rob he was “a gentleman” after receiving back his $100 and keycard. Such trust! I can see Oki doing the same in his rapidly approaching dotage in Kandos. May be a good way to defray fuel costs on outback adventures.
Off again with another driver change in both cars, with Russell accumulating valuable driving hours and Rob learning to use the Cruise Control. Ahead lay a 200K straight stretch to Bourke but we stopped regularly for more driver changes and photo shoots. The road and towns along the way have not been as dire as my Broken Hill born and raised Head Teacher (Hi Di) had warned me they were and so far we have even avoided food poisoning!

Off to Orange

Friday, 18 April 2008

Darling River Run
Offline Entry No. 1
Orange, NSW, Australia

Arrived safely after pleasant afternoon drive from Blaxland. Accident at Blackheath delayed us 15 minutes but was much worse for eastbound travellers. Stopped at Bathurst Subway for possibly worst coffee ever. Searched in vain for a locking wheel nut for spare tyre carrier. Enjoyable dinner with Mike’s family. I hope Bev enjoys the tent! Mike’s fridge is very impressive as it would want to be for the price!
Look for the Google Earth link* below for a map of our route west. Tomorrow, Dubbo, Nyngan and Bourke!

*Coming soon!

http://groups.google.com/group/vinesfam-life/files?hl=en&upload=1

Camp Bourke

Welcome to the first Darling River Run Post. I'm actually back home in Blaxland after the 2110k epic journey but due to technical hitches* I was unable to post during the trip. So I have decided to adopt the Dickens ploy of publishing it chapter by chapter. Instead of charging sixpence a chapter, I will expect at least one comment before I will post the next day's journal. I know it's not quite Dickens prose but then it is free!
This dashingly handsome young man is Mike's son Russell. Occasionally useful around a campsite. More of him later.....


*I forgot to reactivate my optus internet on my mobile before I left so had no way of connecting even in those few outback spots that Telstra deigns to cover. At least each post is considered. Stay tuned for next post if you're good. Rob.

Zero Hour

Tomorrow Rob and I set out for Orange on the first day of our epic Outback adventure. Following in the footsteps of the mighty Leyland Brothers, Mike will be our noble leader as we venture west beyond Dubbo, Nyngan and Bourke with his own daughter playing Mal Leyland on cameras. Rob and I have stripped the Rav down to its front seats so we can fit our luggage as well as Bev's excess! See attached fotos(I am putting in a few deliberate mistakes to encourage readers to leave comments). I have packed my recovery gear so that in the event of vehicle trouble we can be rescued! Tess still wants to stay home. Don't know why.
I will try to incorporate as much technical information like GPS waypoints and Google Earth files for those interested. I wish I had arranged for mobile internet before I left but Mike doubts the coverage would be great. So be prepared for a delay in updating although I remain optimistic that our Homestead stay on the Darling Run will have ADSL2!
Elsewhere in my Blog, I have been playing with photos from our 2001 Top End Tour - see earlier posts - and have worked out how to use Picassa's web galleries. I have put the Queensland shots up first and will do the others later. I am impressed with this free hosting service - makes my Dot Mac subscription look a little expensive but it is not quite as easy. Ironic that I, a Mac Man of long standing, should be playing with PC software just as my sister Rose has finally seen the Macbook Pro light. We don't mention her first macs anymore, or her work with now defunct mac companies. I await rapturous reviews of the hardware from her soon. Leave a comment Rose.
So off tomorrow afternoon. Weather here is grey and drizzling.Forecast is not clear.

Tropical Queensland

Here are the pictures from our tour of Tropical Queensland in 2001. They accompany my travel diary. See link in earlier post.

Outback Map

Route for the Darling River Run
Click on Google Maps link below:
Stay tuned for more.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Orange+%2B+NSW&daddr=Bourke+%2B+nsw+to:Wilcannia+to:cobar+to:condobolin+to:orange+%2Bnsw&mra=pe&mrcr=4&sll=-31.644029,145.524902&sspn=4.554359,10.195313&ie=UTF8&ll=-31.718822,146.260986&spn=4.522444,10.239258&z=7

Darling River Run

Thanks to Mike, I am about to set off on a 4WD trip "back 'o Bourke".
It all starts with a drive west to Bourke via Orange, Dubbo and Nyngan.
We view the sites of the port of Bourke (see attached file) before setting off down the track that follows Australia's second longest river. The Darling River currently has some water in it so it seems a good time to check out this major western NSW waterway and some of the small communities that owe their existence to this once mighty river.
Stay tuned for updates on this Blog once our convoy embarks on the journey.

Here is Mike's itinerary:

file:///Volumes/vinesfam1/Public/Darling%20River%20Run%20Part%201.doc

Memorial Service Recording

Dear Friends,
I have been trying to make available for some time a recording of the words spoken at the memorial service for Lorraine Vines held in 2007 at Royal Sydney Golf Club. The recording was made with my phone but the quality is okay. It is a 50MB file. I hope it works.

file:///Volumes/vinesfam1/Public/Memorial%20Service%201.mp3

Top End Tour Part 1

Below is the first entry I made during our wonderful, Ansett frequent-flyer points tour of Australia's Top End - Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. We took some great photos along the way and you may enjoy reading my impressions which can no doubt only improve with the passing of time!

I have decided to place the entire word file in my public folder on .Mac which means you can read it all at once if you like. There is a sample below. I will also publish a selection of the shots we took when I work out how to do it. Click on the link below to go to the Word document:

http://file///Volumes/vinesfam1/Public/Travel%20Diary.doc

21/6/01

Dear Friends,

I'm up at 4.30am after keeping some odd hours during the first 3 days of our Top End Tour. We enjoyed a very civilised start to the holiday with dinner at Amanda Stedman's in Marrickville. The next morning we transferred our luggage from the Magna wagon to her more compact Honda HRV for the short drive to Mascot. Can't think of a more relaxing way to get there. We only had two concerns, the first being how we would get from Cairns to Darwin now that our airline, Flightwest, had just gone bust (a la Compass in '91) and secondly, whether we were lugging a useless laptop on our travels (more later). Anyway, our flight on one of the noticeably aging Ansett 767 jets left promptly with the kids slumming it in economy while their parents were trying the footrests in Business Class. The wines flowed freely up our end even though it was a 9am flight. I was restrained.

Trinity Beach Photos

Of course the hotel transfers we had been promised on arrival at Cairns 3 hours later failed to materialise but a friendly bus operator called George, the first of many Torres Strait (I'm guessing) Islander bus drivers, managed to organise a lift for us. The Roydon Beachfront Apartments are just that - right across a narrow street from Trinity Beach. Very spacious two bedroom/2 bathroom apartment with big white tiles throughout and wide open living room with HiFi and video and fans everywhere as well as air con., which is not necessary in June. A big southerly swell has made the water muddy and the beach unappealing but the sound waves is perfect. Eddie at the desk has been very helpful organising tours and other ways to spend our money. Cairns seems very tourist-centred.

The big attraction is of course the Reef. We realised how many make daily visits on our return to the Port of Cairns last night when we joined a convoy of busses to return to our accommodation. The trip to Green Island had been less than an unalloyed success, however, and in fact in my less charitable moments I considered that I had paid $200 to make Emma seasick. There was a strong wind warning accompanied by gale force winds and coupled with the lowest tides of the year, the snorkelling amongst the fish and coral was less than ideal. I had this nifty disposable underwater camera but given the turbidity of the water, I don't hold much hope for the photos. Fortunately the island itself offered shelter and we were not marooned on it as long as Tom Hanks had been. We hope today's $200 is better spent.

Today we ascend the Atherton Tableland to Kuranda via a quaint old railway that overlooks the Barron Falls. After window shopping in the markets of Kuranda we descend in a cable car called the Skyrail. That is the plan anyway. The weather continues mild with no sign of rain. Will let you know how the day turns out/ Now if only we had splashed out on that digital video camera....

Speaking of technology, we have had our hiccups and our triumphs. The laptop that Rachel Stedman had very kindly given to us had been in for a service - a PC slot modem and a new Flash Memory card all the way from Taiwan. Got it home the day we left for Sydney and it wouldn't work. We had planned to use it given that we were on the road for a month. Tim could write his comparative literature essay and we could keep on the Net too. I was not happy but we packed it anyway and fortunately found that if connected to AC power overnight it works. I'm about to see how the Net part works. That was the hiccup. The triumph has been using the mobile phone to call Mum's mobile at night when it's free (I hope). After a few unexpected disconnections Mum has become expert in its use and we look forward to regular updates. The SMS message informing her of our safe arrival AND Tim's election as school prefect for 2002 was less successful but Oki will inservice her on Friday before the brandies I hope! Will phone our non-Optus friends on the weekend. Better try to send this now. Will try to get Tess's slant on things another day.

In the Beginning ...

Now that I have experimented with Blogs on my Macintosh, it is time to venture into the bigger PC pond.

I have been impressed with the blogger efforts of my friends and family so here goes.
I have been doing some Autumn gardening today and feel quite chuffed as we may be putting the house on the market in the near future. Yes, we've decided if we're to be empty-nesters, we'll downsize and relocate the nest. Abbotsford here we come!
I am going to include links to my Travel Blog and my 2001 Top End Tour site as it develops.
Welcome!