Travelling between Melbourne and Sydney is relatively straightforward. I could have caught the Greyhound bus, which is a twelve hour overnight trip, and was horrendous just coming from Canberra so I wasn't too keen to go the extra four hours to Sydney. Plus I wouldn't see anything. You can obviously fly, but I had time and I hate wasting the chance for adventure by getting on the plane.
So I went back to my second favourite travel discovery (second to house sitting) which is campervan relocation. Within an hour of looking I had scored one, and 24 hours after that, I hit the road. I had about 1000kms ahead of me and two and a half days to do it in. I was alone, just me, and my fabulous 'hippie camper'!
So I went back to my second favourite travel discovery (second to house sitting) which is campervan relocation. Within an hour of looking I had scored one, and 24 hours after that, I hit the road. I had about 1000kms ahead of me and two and a half days to do it in. I was alone, just me, and my fabulous 'hippie camper'!
One of my first stops on the road trip was Culcairn, NSW.
It was an extremely hot day in country NSW. I made an early fuel stop at Avenel...mostly to check whether they'd short-changed me on petrol, which they had! But there was nothing I could do once I'd left so I continued on, and then had to stop at Euroa to ask why my engine warning light had come on. I then had to pull over at Wangaratta for a cat nap because the heatwave in Melbourne had been sapping my energy. So I wasn't getting very far!
I finally crossed the border into New South Wales and left the Hume Highway. 400kms after I'd started, I stopped at Culcairn to stretch my legs and get some fuel. It looks about halfway but it really is nothing of the sort. My route from here on in took me through some places I'd long been fascinated by. But the roads, although reasonable, weren't going to be a straightforward motorway trip.
I finally crossed the border into New South Wales and left the Hume Highway. 400kms after I'd started, I stopped at Culcairn to stretch my legs and get some fuel. It looks about halfway but it really is nothing of the sort. My route from here on in took me through some places I'd long been fascinated by. But the roads, although reasonable, weren't going to be a straightforward motorway trip.
As is the case in many parts of Australia, Culcairn boasted a grand total of zero half-decent food for vegetarians so I decided to push through my raging hunger and on to Wagga Wagga. Pronounced Wogga Wogga, it's one of those places you see on the weather map every morning and wonder what it must be like (well, I do anyway). Here's a picture of the ABC there!
The town is attractive, neat and tidy and easy to get around. It's also big enough to have 'things' in it. I like these inland towns. Their remote nature leads to great community spirit, and I got chatting to other customers in the line at the supermarket as well as the friendly cashier.
The town is attractive, neat and tidy and easy to get around. It's also big enough to have 'things' in it. I like these inland towns. Their remote nature leads to great community spirit, and I got chatting to other customers in the line at the supermarket as well as the friendly cashier.
It was nearly 7pm when I reached Young, the 'Cherry Capital of Australia'. They have a cherry festival here every December and I'd edited a piece about it during an Avid video editing course I'd taken in Sydney.
There was another reason I wanted to go; Bill Bryson mentioned a shop in his book 'Down Under' which sold pet supplies with a surprising sideline. I'm sad it was closed, but the window display was good enough for me....
There was another reason I wanted to go; Bill Bryson mentioned a shop in his book 'Down Under' which sold pet supplies with a surprising sideline. I'm sad it was closed, but the window display was good enough for me....
I'd done my research before I left because although it is mostly fine to pull into a truck stop and stay overnight, I had a pretty tight timetable so I knew how far I needed to get each day. Also, as a woman alone, I'd been asking the local tourist information centres for advice. One of them had recommended a popular rest area between Young and Cowra called Bendick Murrell. I had hoped there'd be other families - perhaps on the way back from their holidays. But there was NOBODY. And it was quite scary! Not only that, but it had been 44 degrees during the day, and it was still 30 degrees at 11pm when I was holed up in my camper, with plastic sheets to cover the windows so nobody could see inside. The sweat was dripping off me in the same way that it would in a sauna. I was forced to sleep with the window open. I figured heat exhaustion and dehydration were bigger threats than a truck driver having a peek inside.
Bendick Murrell had very few facilities. Just a toilet and a tap that you probably couldn't drink from. So I got out of there as soon as I woke up and headed for Cowra. At the visitor centre I washed my hair in the sink, charged my phone at a power point in the bathroom while I was at it, and cooked breakfast in the car park. Proper road life! Making coffee would have been one effort too far and luckily they sold a good cup, so I took my purchase to the visitor centre for what was to be my second viewing of this most spectacular, incredible hologram presentation about the 1944 Cowra breakout.
The girl steps out of a photograph and interacts with real-life objects in the cabinet, as she tells the story. She sits on a box, leans against the other picture, and lights a candle. It was totally mind blowing and I can't believe a tiny place like Cowra boasts such an amazing display for tourists. My fellow viewers were an Australian couple who'd clearly been many times before and said 'we come here every time we pass Cowra'. I don't blame them.
The girl steps out of a photograph and interacts with real-life objects in the cabinet, as she tells the story. She sits on a box, leans against the other picture, and lights a candle. It was totally mind blowing and I can't believe a tiny place like Cowra boasts such an amazing display for tourists. My fellow viewers were an Australian couple who'd clearly been many times before and said 'we come here every time we pass Cowra'. I don't blame them.
Another interesting visitor centre is the one at Lithgow on the edge of the Blue Mountains. After Cowra I'd stopped at Blayney and Bathhurst and I was making good progress. I called in at Lithgow to check that there wasn't anything bushfire-related that I needed to know about before I headed into the mountains.The visitor centre sits underneath this huge miner's lamp!
I headed up the 'Bells line of road' which is a name extremely familiar to me after working for the ABC on the NSW bushfires in October. The damage was clear. I drove for about an hour and not once within that time was I able to avoid evidence of the fire.
The bush actually recovers amazingly well from fire, but to see the proximity of homes and businesses was frightening. My goodness the firies did a fantastic job up there.
I stayed at Catherdral Reserve Camping ground, again, totally alone, but it was such a peaceful area and beautiful in the morning when I went out to take pictures.....
I headed up the 'Bells line of road' which is a name extremely familiar to me after working for the ABC on the NSW bushfires in October. The damage was clear. I drove for about an hour and not once within that time was I able to avoid evidence of the fire.
The bush actually recovers amazingly well from fire, but to see the proximity of homes and businesses was frightening. My goodness the firies did a fantastic job up there.
I stayed at Catherdral Reserve Camping ground, again, totally alone, but it was such a peaceful area and beautiful in the morning when I went out to take pictures.....
The settlement near my camp ground was called Mount Wilson. It's full of beautiful big properties with fancy gardens and views second to none. I took a number of shots from a lookout near the fire station, an area that had been decimated. I was staggered - it appeared they'd been able to stop the flames literally just feet from the fire station, and subsequent houses.
I had another car park breakfast at the Botanic Gardens at Mount Tomah. That's where I took this shot. Any guesses where the Blue Mountains have got their name??
A few hours after I took these shots I'd reached Sydney, and handed the van back. 1022 kms my final distance.
There are two main routes through the mountains from Sydney and this is the less touristy one....but I had plans to come back to see the rest...
A few hours after I took these shots I'd reached Sydney, and handed the van back. 1022 kms my final distance.
There are two main routes through the mountains from Sydney and this is the less touristy one....but I had plans to come back to see the rest...
Blue Mountains: revisited
I'm lucky to have a friend who lives in the mountains so a few days later I went back, minus the campervan, for a day of hiking and seeing what most visitors to the Blue Mountains see...the 'Three Sisters' at Katoomba.
Amy very kindly drove me around and we stopped at Springwood for a coffee, Leura for a lovely pie, and then somewhere near Wentworth Falls for a three hour hike in the rain. It reminded me of home!
Amy very kindly drove me around and we stopped at Springwood for a coffee, Leura for a lovely pie, and then somewhere near Wentworth Falls for a three hour hike in the rain. It reminded me of home!
It was extremely misty and I loved how it looked, although Amy assured me the views would have been spectacular if we could have seen them!
I regret not spending more of my time in this wonderful area, but I never waste a day and when I was living in Sydney I was often working seven days a week, so days off would be concerned with organising myself for the next stretch of work.
But it's places like this that make Australia so much more than just what you see in the soap operas. It's not all heat and beaches. There are mountains higher than anything we have in the UK, cold places, extremely hot places, mad characters, vast stretches of nothing, rain forests, rolling countryside, coral reef, farmland, and of course terrific cities and spectacular coastline. This will be the last of my 'travels' for now. Next stop, the place I've fallen in love with more than anywhere else on earth so far: Central Australia. I am moving to Alice Springs to see what it's like to live and work in the middle of the desert! :-)
I regret not spending more of my time in this wonderful area, but I never waste a day and when I was living in Sydney I was often working seven days a week, so days off would be concerned with organising myself for the next stretch of work.
But it's places like this that make Australia so much more than just what you see in the soap operas. It's not all heat and beaches. There are mountains higher than anything we have in the UK, cold places, extremely hot places, mad characters, vast stretches of nothing, rain forests, rolling countryside, coral reef, farmland, and of course terrific cities and spectacular coastline. This will be the last of my 'travels' for now. Next stop, the place I've fallen in love with more than anywhere else on earth so far: Central Australia. I am moving to Alice Springs to see what it's like to live and work in the middle of the desert! :-)
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