Sunday 31st May part 2

Hill End Hotel

Road to Hill End - perfect fishing spot

And great camping area

We finished the day with a quick trip to Hill End which is again on our return list in the spring. Now under NPWS and heritage zoned. Also Great trout fishing in the area we are told. If you have some time to spare take a look at these 2 places - well worth it.

Sunday 31st May

Robert @ Wolgan River

Coke beehives @ Newnes dating back to 1906

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Today we visited Wollemi National Park and the remains of the township Newnes. The camping ground was fantastic set in the backdrop of Wolgan River & Gorge. It is a definite must to return & explore (although we would suggest in warmer weather). The scenery is amazing and there are numerous walking trails. We then did a quick trip to Hill End which is again on our return list in the spring. If you have some time to spare take a look at these 2 places - well worth it.

NSW FIRE BRIGADE

Open Day at NSW Fire Brigade / Orange
Max is going to be the new recruit.

Day with Max

Pop & Max out for a morning walk

Max enjoying the Train

We had a busy day with Max getting all about Orange and then had to endure a sad loss to QLD in the footy 😞

Grandparents Daycare

Rob & Max reading a book

What a great day!
Max has a few days out of daycare so we got to play with him all day today.
Being Grandparents rock!!

Two week into our trip

Two weeks into our trip and we are now back in Orange staying with Bec, Glen & Max. Bit colder but loving the ducted air (Yes sadly we have moved into the house to keep warm!)

Forbes and Family

We enjoyed a great week catching up and spending time with Shaun, Nic, Keera & Jordan. Sadly I lost at Monopoly again!

Forbes

Now if you've not been to Forbes we can highly recommend this great little town - no wonder Shaun & Nic have settled here. It is a very clean, forward thinking town with lots to see and do. If nothing else do the walk around the lake which is amazing and good on Forbes Shire for completing the path all the way around the ski park.
There is several caravan parks in town plus a great free parking area right on the lake.

Onto Forbes

On the road from Orange to Forbes

So a week since we headed off and a night with good friends Paul & Denise at Kariong before heading back to Orange on the Tuesday, collecting the van and then onto Forbes for a week with Shaun, Nic, Keera & Jordan.

The Central Coast

Ettalong Beach

Enjoying the sights

Three Generations

Alby enjoying playing in the garden

Sadly the visit with Jen & Gary was too short and we were on our way onto Rob & Lucy's the next morning. After the traffic getting through Sydney we are in no doubt as to why we are heading outback soon. But a great weekend on the Central Coast with Rob, Lucy & Alby - it's such a pretty area and it was great having some time to catch up. Miss you all already!

Stage Two

Thursday saw us take a detour to Greenwall Point to surprise Jen & Gary for the night. We decided to take the 'short' route through Bathurst/Oberon/Goulburn however once we got onto the Oberon road we thought we'd try a different route and turned off at Connell to Black Springs. Beautiful scenery and we realized that we had no idea how much logging there is in that area. It was pretty cold going through the mountains and there was snow still lying around at lunch time.
We then decided to take another turn off and go through Wombeyan Caves onto Mittagong - which would have been a great idea if the road hadn't been washed out the other side of the caves. A Note to the Shire/s concerned -- a sign would have been helpful!
The Wombeyan caves are located in the Blue Mountains National Park and are a definite return visit in warmer weather.
After Goulburn we came through Kangaroo Valley into Nowra. Now this is a road we've done a few times but for those who haven't you need to put this on your to-do list. We can highly recommend this for motorbikes.
Now if we had been smart we would have videoed Jen's reaction when she saw us arrive unannounced!  It was priceless and we are so glad we made the detour south.
Jen we appreciate you breaking out the Verve and look forward to catching up again soon.

The start of our Travels

Welcome to our travel diary!  When Rob & I first  thought about heading off around Australia one of our thoughts was how we could best share our travels with family & friends.  We've decided to try this blog and would love some feedback on what we include. 

For anyone considering doing a trip we can only recommend that you plan your trip ahead of time. We don't necessarily mean where you are going but more how you are going to get there.  You need to consider transport, accommodation and budget all ahead of time so that you know what you are in for. 

We headed off from Kingscliff on Monday 11th May with our first night at Goondiwindi to catch up with Elisa, Andrew & Toby (sadly Isabella wasn't home). The trip across through Warwick gave us plenty of time to get used to the way the van towed and to realize why all caravaners travel at that annoying 90km/hr. The difference in fuel consumption between 90 and 100 is frightening! 

Our next stop was Dubbo and a night out with Greg. It was good to see that some things never change and reminded us how much we miss his company. 

Wednesday saw us at Orange and a quick stop over with Bec, Glen & Max

Cheers Robyn 🍸

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