Day 58: Thu 7 Jul - Goondiwindi to Home, 528km, 6-21deg, (must be back in Qld) cloudy early then clear and sunny

Today we complete the final leg of a journey of just over 8 weeks, 12,193km across the bottom half of the country towing our home away from home. 

We left Gundy at 7:30am and two things told us we were back in Qld, 1. The weather had improved significantly. 2. The roads had become fairly ordinary, especially on the stretch to Moonie; talk about rock & roll!! A sign told us that it was a bad road for caravan crashes. So, because we didn't want to crash on our very last day we slowed down. Apart from all the dead wildlife laying around and missing a live (very lucky) wallaby by inches, (heard his tail hit the truck) the last day was fairly uneventful; just the way we like it. 

Picked up a coffee to go at Maccas, Dalby and then a chicken wrap, also Maccas, for lunch at Kingaroy. Struck three lots of roadworks on the Bruce Hwy before Maryborough but still arrived home at 3:15pm, so well done. The garden was full of roos who scattered when they saw the van; they will come back. Everything looked great; thanks to some great friends who kept an eye on the place and did some mowing. 

If we had to describe the trip in one word it would be "fantastic". We enjoyed every minute of the two months; even the s.... weather days had their good points – it was a good excuse to hit the books or go for a drive instead of cycling/walking. 

Admittedly we wouldn't go South again this time of the year because of the rain, but then again we don't enjoy the mad crowds of grey nomads up North in winter either. So each trip, no matter where you go, has its good and bad points. We are just so glad we did the trip, saw so much and came back safely and healthy. Thank God for protecting us. 

Blue sky - we must be back in QLD

Warmest day-time temperature we've experienced in a while - definitlely back in QLD

Nice lot of raspberries waiting for us on our return

Day 57: Wed 6 Jul – Parkes (NSW) to Goondiwindi (QLD), 620km, 3 (feels like 1)-12deg, rain till about 2pm then cloudy but fine

Today we made it back "home" to Qld and coincidentally, (or not) when we crossed the border the weather improved remarkably! Yay, there was a little blue sky and the temp was a balmy 12deg. 

We got away from Parkes at 7:25am and straight onto the well-worn and busy Newell Hwy. It is brilliant in places but it can be very lumpy and in need of some TLC in most other places. As we had travelled this highway many times before we didn't stop much. Picked up a Maccas coffee to go at Dubbo for mornos and lunch was a wrap from a Servo in Coonabarabran. The weather remained pretty ordinary most of the day and we even ran into some heavy fog going over the ranges North of Narrabri. 

Arrived at Gundy at 3:30pm and went straight to the bank to sort out a term deposit that was maturing tomorrow. Then it was off to our favourite van park about a km from the city centre run very efficiently by a friendly Asian lady. Stayed hitched, set up, showered and got dressed for our pub dinner. Same place, Victoria Hotel, we had dinner last time we were here. Great meal again. 

We enjoyed the day; and it is nice to be back in the home state.

A wet and foggy morning

Old Council Chambers Goondiwindi

#5 Rivergums Caravan Park

Our last sunset for this trip

Dinner venue

Town Hall and Clocktower, Goondiwindi

Day 56: Tue 5 Jul – Mildura (VIC) to Parkes (NSW), 687km, 6-8deg, rain most of the day

We had a conference last night and after checking the weather forecast for the remainder of our Eastward journey, we decided it was time to go home more quickly than we'd planned. While we've seen lots of interesting places we had never been to before, caught up with some wonderful people we hadn't seen in ages, well and truly tested out the van and had a great time, the weather from here on isn't going to be conducive with cycling, sightseeing and caravanning. "Tending to snow" at West Wyalong today isn't our cup-of-tea weather wise. So our last few days will be spent driving home, but of course we won't be rushing!

Got underway at 7:30am into a dull, cold and rainy morning; it is winter so it's understandable. First stop was for a cuppa was at Balranald and then lunch was at a rest area at Goolgowie on the Hay Plain, which is like the Nullarbor but smaller. Saw plenty of wheat, sheep, cotton, emus and cattle during the day. The farmers would have been over the moon with the rain we experienced.

Most of the roads we drove today were B-roads (B for b.......) and were quite lumpy in most places which slowed us down for a good part of the day. But, we arrived safely (which is the main thing) at Spicer Van Park (in the rain) at 5:05pm after a fairly long and steady day. Wanted to stay hitched but due to a rather large slope (on a van site!!) had to unhook. Temp at 7deg; a good day to be sitting in a nice warm truck, awful day to be outside. 

Hay plains

Cotton bales

Another rainy day on the road

Lots of water everywhere

Day 55: Mon 4 Jul – Burra (SA) to Mildura (VIC), 336km, 6-12deg cloudy with showers throughout the day

We were not sorry to be leaving Burra, although it's a great place.  However, this morning it started to drizzle as we were packing up. That continued for the first hour or so of the trip, then just cloudy till Mildura where there was more drizzle. We arrived at the Calder Van Park, Mildura at 12:30pm; we had a good steady run on mainly back roads which were a tad lumpy. 

After setting up, we had some lunch then went for a walk to pick up some fruit and veg from Woolies, which was only 700m down the road. We were then ready for a real walk (9km), always good after sitting in a car for a few hours. 

Crossing the Murray River

#71/80 Calder Tourist Park, Mildura

Wild honey-bee hive 

Day 54: Sun 3 Jul - Port Pirie to Burra, 121km, 3-13deg (feels like 8) sunny early turning cloudy

Woke to an Election hangover and possible hung parliament; that's all the country needs!! But it was a lovely sunny morning nevertheless, so we'll get on with our journey home and let the pollies sort out the other mess. 

A quick shop at Woolies in PP to replenish fruit & veg surrendered or used up prior to the strict quarantine controls at the WA/SA border. However, there's another quarantine station at Mildura so we can't buy too much. It's a real juggling act and a bit of a pain; but we do understand their mission. 

We were on the road out of PP at 9am, the lovely sunny morning had turned into a dull and overcast day with only glimpses of the sun. A good short drive today through a wheat and sheep region on great quiet back-roads. Saw a massive wind farm, had to be over 100 turbines, all spinning nicely to produce clean energy to about 220,000 SA homes. SA leads the Nation in renewable energy. 

We pulled into Burra Van Park at 10:30am just in time for a cuppa. Then we went walking around town; what a lovely old (19th century) town with beautifully restored/maintained buildings. The discovery of a very rich copper deposit and a subsequent mine kicked it all off in the 1800s. However it was short lived and by the late 1800s it was all over, the copper ran out. Burra's main claim to fame now is tourism, they are lucky it's close to the Wine Region of Clare Valley. Lunch was had back in the van, followed by work for Wendy and another walk for Greg. 

Port Pirie lead smelter

Wind farm near Burra

Burra Creek

Old Town Hall Burra 

Old mine doctor's cottage, now a private residence, Burra 

Burra 

Burra Info centre

Burra 

Old post office now an art gallery, Burra 

Burra Roman Catholic Church and Residence

Peacocks Chimney

Burra Sate School (1877)

Disused railway station Burra 

Burra 

Hole elft over from the copper mining days

Anglican Church Burra 

Burra 

Uniting Church Burra 

Miner's quarters / cottages

Day 53: Sat 2 Jul - (election day) Ceduna to Port Pirie, 559km, 8-17deg cloudy

Not a great deal to keep us in Ceduna, and with showers forecast we decided to continue our push East. Got away at 7:20am just in time to see a nice sunrise. 

We stopped in Wudinna for a treat from the bakery and a cuppa in the van. Saw a nice little stone church and a large impressive granite statue called "The Farmer", built by the local community. An understandable tribute in the middle of a huge wheat/sheep region; well done to the people of Wudinna.

It was then up to Port Augusta for lunch and fuel. We'd stayed there on the way over to the West so another reason we had decided to not stop here and continue on to Port Pirie. PA was very busy with all sorts of travellers stocking up on supplies. It's a very important place for people traveling North, (Coober Pedy, Alice etc) South, (Port Lincoln or Adelaide) East, (Flinders Ranges or Broken Hill) and West (Nullarbor & WA). Add to that a whole mob of Army personnel, on Exercise Hamel at a big training area just up the road, picking up some treats (Maccas; a reprieve from Army rations) and you've got one busy place. PA is also the site for a new Solar Thermal Farm that is currently being constructed which could spinoff 600 jobs apparently. 

We continued the 90km to Port Pirie, arriving at the Beach Van Park at 3:15pm. It is a nice park with drive-through sites so we don't need to unhitch. 

The last few days have been longer drives than we would normally choose to do but in the end we just wanted the Nullarbor and lead-up to be over with. We feel we can relax again now. 

Showered and went for a walk along the foreshore. The Lead Smelter and the Grain Silos stand out in the Port along with a healthy dose of fishing boats. The Smelter has attracted its share of controversy lately with lead poisoning of the local kids being a hot issue. We won't hang around long enough to kill off our few remaining brain cells. 

Our walk continued to the Sportys Tavern where we enjoyed a nice meal and a bottle of NZ Sav Blanc. We were home in time to see the very early results of the Fed Election. 

Sunrise at Ceduna

Wundinna

The Farmer at Wundinna

#5 Port Pirie Beach Caravan Park

The Big Galah at Kimba (half way across Australia)

Solar thermal plant/farm at Port Augusta

Sunset over Port Pirie

Italian Pioneer Memorial

Dinner

Port Pirie marina being renovated