Mudgee to Stanthorpe

We have spent a great couple of weeks at Mudgee catching up with Fabs, Emily, Elliot and Violet.  It was good to spend time with them and watch them go to school and Kindy.  Elliot received a very good report card at the end of his term and loves going to school.  Garry and Fabian managed several games of golf with Fabs the clear winner.  Fabian takes the group of ‘littlies’ including Elliot and Violet for tuseday afternoon golf lessons and Garry went along to help at a couple of sessions.  The kids loved the lessons and the local Pro is very appreciative for the help.  We also spent last Wednesday evening watching the big screen at the Golf Club in the midst of a heap of NSW supporters.  We were happy with the result. 

In the hills outside Mudgee there is a great area called ‘The Drip’.  It is a gorge along a sandy running creek between sandstone walls and is very pretty. The sandstone walls have plenty of ferns and moss with the largest wall having a small waterfall through rocks and several ‘drips’ dropping from the overhanging rocks into small sandy pools surrounded by ferns.  We enjoyed a peaceful picnic lunch then headed home via the Mudgee Honey farm.  We sampled several different flavoured honeys and took home the large 1kg economy sized tub of bush honey.  The girls enjoyed quite a laugh when Garry decided to share some honey by refilling a squeeze bottle from the large tub.  Honey doesn’t run through a funnel into a small hole like it should!!

riding to school with Dad on their bikes

playing games during hockey training

one of many ledges along the cliffs of The Drip gorge

lost in the ferns

"The Drip"

chillin'

the arty shot

layers of ferns

clear cool water

lovely green moss in the morning winter sun

the 'supermoon' of last weekend

We bid our farewells after a great Queensland win and decided to tackle a big drive to Copeton Dam outside Inverell.  We had contacted friends Russ and Jane and found them camping at the Dam.  The North Shore Park is fairly rough and ready but the fees are very low and the sites are large with good views. Apparently the fishing is quite good with some good cod being landed.  One regular landed a 78cm cod a few days earlier but we did not wet a line.  In fact nothing much interrupted our socialising and we enjoyed a couple of the longest happy hours of our trip.  There is nothing like a good red wine, a large fire, and a couple of guitars spent in good company over a few hours.  There was quite a bit of rain on the way up to Inverell and again on Saturday as we left Copeton Dam and drove up through Bonshaw and Texas where we crossed the Queensland border back into our home state.  There is a really nice grassy free camp site beside the Dumaresq River at Texas and we pulled up there for lunch.  There were a dozen vans in the area and room for plenty more.  We heard a rumble during lunch as 150 motor cycles pulled up opposite the park for a photo near the big Texas Queensland sign.  Lawrence Springborg was in attendance for the photo to commemorate Texas becoming the first “Motorcycle Friendly” town in Qld (or Australia).  The coppers were in attendance and the few dozen bikes that passed us on the road after we had left Texas were all very friendly and thankful for guidance on when to overtake us.  It was showering at the time and I was glad I was in an enclosed vehicle. 

Go Queensland...

Happy Queenslanders

Stanthorpe has not changed since we were through here in October 2011, it was cool.  A bit of sadness has crept in the last couple of days as we have come to realise that our big adventure is nearing its end.  It has given us the opportunity to reflect on the great places we have been, the nice people we have met and the realisation that it really is a great country we live in and how lucky we have been to be able to enjoy so much of it.  

Our last blog will appear in a week or two and will include a summary of our journey and our selection of the 12 best photos from the more than 32,000 that we have taken since we set out 22 months ago.