Having said our sad farewells to family and friends in Brisbane we headed south. (Friends now also include the lovely Dr Lawrence Lee and all his wonderful staff who we got to know very well over the 5 months. If you have a detached retina go see him, he is fantastic.)

The first night we stopped at a free camp, ‘Beardy Creek Rest Area’ near Yarrowford, NSW. Wind so strong the trees were horizontal, thunder so loud it shook the van, lightning like the midday sun, and hail like snow.

The second night another free camp, ‘Rocky River Fossicking area’ near Uralla, NSW. Much quieter.

The next three nights we stayed at the Warrumbungle National Park. Having visited last year just after the devastating fires and then floods, we were keen to go back and see how it was recovering. Good to see green in the trees, such a beautiful place.

After two hours on the road we were alerted by a truck driver (over UHF radio) that one of our indicator lights wasn’t working. Tim tried to fix it but couldn’t find the cause, so as we were in Dubbo we stopped at the nearest caravan park which was next to an auto electrician.  You would think this would be helpful, but they couldn’t find the fault either. Tim figured it out eventually and fixed it.

We visited the Old Dubbo Gaol (but not the rhinoceroses). The ‘paving’ through the entrance is made of wood, apparently to decrease the noise of the horses passing through.

This is Hamish the caravanning cat. He has been travelling since he was a wee kitten. Seen lots of travelling dogs but never a cat.

From Dubbo we passed through Parkes and stopped at ‘The Dish’.

We then passed through Forbes and stopped at very impressive McFeeters Motor Museum. It is privately owned, the building was purpose built because they ran out of room at their home. The husband and wife owners happily told us about their cars, many of which they drive each week. They even drove one to Uluru a few years ago.

Their range of cars include the very old and the very new,

some very colourful,

one white Rolls Royce with the mascot ‘The Spirit of Ecstacy’ in a  rare kneeling pose.

one made of plastic and one made of canvas,

some very attractive mannequins,

a Japanese Funeral car, which can only be driven at midday so as not to cast a shadow on the public as it drives by. It is believed, in the Japanese culture, that if you are touched by the shadow of a funeral car you will be cursed to die.

The Fields Family cars are on display here. The old one their children used to drive themselves to the farm gate to catch the bus to school,  and their Carapark Van used for family holidays.

There was a car with the same name as one of our great nephews, Hudson.

and a half restored car,

and many, many more.

Apparently there is also a privately owned Motor Bike Museum in Nabiac, on the mid north coast of NSW, which has over 900 bikes, we would love to visit that one day.

Our last overnight stop was again at a free camp, this time at Jerilderie  beside the Billabong Creek (believed to be the longest creek in the world at over 320km long). It was damned up with what looked like large pieces of rubble.

After 10 months, 26,000km and countless wonderful (and a few not so wonderful) adventures we are home again. Not sure when or where our next trip will be, but there will be a next.

Cheers till next time.

Helen and Tim